The Theology of The Elder Scrolls

Welcome to The Theology of.... Series!

So, in November I picked up The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. After I'd finished with it, (sometime at the end of December) I realised it was the perfect starting point for my new series of posts looking at the theology to be found in games. Strap in guys and gals, this is going to be a long one!

Summary

The Elder Scrolls games take place on the fanatsy world of Nirn, and all five of them take place on the continent of Tamriel. Each game places you as a hero in a certain crisis point in time, in one of the provinces of the continent, and the games are often named after the provinces they are set in, such as Morrowind or Skyrim. However, the player is able to chose how they interact with the world. The developers were keen to let the player forge their own mark on Tamriel, so if you want to become an assasin, or a thief, or work your way up the ranks through the Mages' Guild all to top, or just get on with saving the world, then you can.

Gameplay Style

The Elder Scrolls are a First Person Western-Style Role Playing Game. It is a sandbox style game and therefore non-linear. This means a player can get halfway through the main storyline quests before deciding they'd like to join a guild and follow a different storyline.

Choosing one of several races, the player will wander around Tamriel fending of wild beasties, monsters, and doing quests for either common folk or their employers. It's possible to join specialist guilds, such as the Thieves Guild, all of whom have benefits for joining up and rising through the ranks. Or, you could just go out raiding caves for loot and buy a nice house in that town you like.The choice is entirely yours. Want to be a spell casting Orc? You got it. Prefer sneaking? Go for it. Each game is set in a vast part of the continent, so even if you just want to go exploring a fantasy world on a horse, you could do that too.


The Theology- Primals, Aedra, Daedra and the Ascended

So now we get to the real meat and potatoes. Bethesda have shaped Tamriel since 1995, and with that have come books for the player to read, beasties to fight, baddies to thwart and many places to go. Over the years, the developers have created heroes and villians, great historical events and lore that have spread across five games and 17 years. Part of this lore revolves around the gods of Tamriel.

Religion in the Elder Scrolls is a polytheistic affair. There are many divine beings that watch the affairs of the mortals of Tamriel, some benevolent, others malicious. There are three main groups of deities- the Primals, the Aedra and the Daedra.

The Primals

The Primal gods are named so because they were the first, and all the other gods spawned from them. The two ancient forces are Anu, the force of stasis, and Padomay (also called Sithis) who is the force of chaos and change. All of the gods that follow have some sort of assosiation with one of these primal forces. All faiths across the continent recognise the two primals in some way as part of their pantheon, but there apears to be no organised religion regarding them, save for one.

The one group that worship a primal directly are the asassin's guild known as the Dark Brotherhood, who regard the primal Sithis as their patron deity. Their founder, the Night Mother is regarded as Sithis' mouthpice and husband, which leads to the group refering to Sithis as 'Father'. Brotherhood members are often heard saying "Hail Sithis!"

As well as being the patron of the Dark Brotherhood, Sithis also plays a role in how the guild recieves it's muderous contracts. Anyone who wants to contact the Dark Brotherhood for an asassination contract have to perform the Black Sacrament, in which an effigy of body parts is chanted over in order to gain the ear of the Night Mother, who as the bride of Sithis will inform his worshippers, the Dark Brotherhood, who requires their aid.

The Dark Brotherhood's worship of Sithis is as follows. Their asassination contracts are mereley a buisness deal brought about by the Night Mother, but the souls of the murdered are dedicated to Sithis and sent to the void in which he is said to reside. This is their offering to him, and in turn he continues to support their efforts in being his agents of chaos and change.


The Aedra

The Aedra were born from the primal force Anu. It is said that these beings were involved in the creation of the world of Nirn. In the game, there are generally referred to as the "Divines". Worship of the divines is the state religion of the Empire. Each of the divine beings represents a certain sphere. The chief deity, Akatosh, controls the sphere of time, as well as being the creator of dragons. Some others include Mara, who is goddess of love and compassion, or Julianos who operates in the sphere of wisdom and logic.

The interaction of the Divines with mortals is usually unseen. This is partly because they are so tied up to the world they created, that they can actually be killed. (One of their kin, the Daedric Lorkan, was killed and his remains actually formed part of the cosmos, specifically the two moons that orbit Nirn.) While the Aedra tend to act in unseen ways, occasionally they will chose top aid mortals in times of great crisis. For instance, to Perinal Whitestrake, an ancient hero, each being donated part of a siut of armour. To the founders of the Empire, the god Akatosh gave the Amulet of Kings, which held in place a barrier stopping a Daedric invasion of Nirn. This was the cental piece of Oblivion, the fourth game in the series. When things reached their climax, and the Daedric lord Mehrunes Dagon invaded Tamriel in a physical form, the God Akatosh, summoned by the destruction of the amulet by the emperor, also arrived in person to banish Dagon and seal up the barrier for good. So for the most part, the divines will rely on their followers to continue their work until they have no choice but to intervene, but when they do, they do it powerfully.

Being highly regarded in the Empire means that followers can be found far and wide across the Elder Scrolls games. In Oblivion, which is set in the Empire's heartland of Cyrodiil, each city has a grand temple dedicated to one of the divines, which include Talos. I'll discuss Talos later. In Skyrim, there are also temples in the major cities dedicated to each of the divines. The Cyrodiilic temples are more like cathedrals, with great spires reaching to the sky, resembling Western Christian cathedrals. In the province of Skyrim, the temples are not so grand, and could be mistaken for just another person's house. (Which I did a few times. I thought I was entering a shop or inn and found myself confused when I discovered it was a temple)

Worship of the divines is done at altars dedicated to them, and people are often seen praying in front of them. Each of them have their own dedicated followers who try to follow their ways and help their work however they can as an act of worship. For instance, priests of Arkay, the god of funeral rites, will often be found tending to tombs. In Skyrim, the player may happen upon the Vigilant of Stendarr, who try to bring justice to the world, as this is his sphere. Specifially, they try to root out and destroy their opponants, Daedra and their worshippers.

It is possible for the players to visit the temples of the divines. Touching one of their altars will grant a boon of some sort, such as the curing of  diseases, or a bonus to a certain skill or attribute. (Say for instance, your bartering skills, so you get better deals in shops that day) The action has been left ambiguos, and whenever an altar is highlighted, the text often reads as 'Activate Altar of...' However, if the player has been up to some naughtiness, the boon will be refused. The player must repent by paying off any bounties on their heads, or doing good deeds until their reputation as a good guy is restored.

It's clear that the worship and general feel of the religion of the Divines was designed by the developers to look a bit like Christianity. It's clear this is an aethstetic choice so that when people look, they see a religious building or person. This is apparant when you look a bit closer- there is an in-game book called The Ten Commands which are the ten laws the Divines wish mortals to abide by. The temples in Oblivion, as I mentioned earlier, look like they could be any European cathedral. Inside, there are pews and stained glass windows. Often the followers look a lot like the traditional image of a western style monk- robes and all. Whilst the buildings and altars change slightly in Skyrim, the followers of the Divines are wearing the ever- present monk style clothing and can be seen kneeling at pews. But that's enough about the Aedra, let's talk about their counterparts.

The Daedra

It is said that the Daedra were born from the conflict of the two primals, the same as the Aedra. In fact, they are kin. But whereas the Aedra gave of themselves to create the world and became bound to it, the Daedra refused to have a part in it, residing in their own realms, the realms of Oblivion. As a result of this, it is known that it is possible to kill the Aedra (However you do that!) but the rules are different for the Daedra. If you destroy them, their spirit is simply cast back into their realm of Oblivion.

This said however, the Daedra are derived from the primal Padomay, who is all about the chaos and change. Which means that the Daedra will often meddle in the affairs of mortals. Like their kin the Aedra, each of the seventeen Daedric lords have their own particular field of influence and interest, although their spheres tend to be a bit more worldly. For instance, Sanguine is the daedric lord of revelry and hedonism. Peryite is the lord of pestilence, while Sheogorath is all about madness and creativity.

As worship of the Divines is the state religion, there are not many daedra worshippers to be found in the cities. Instead, those who follow the deadra lords do so in secluded covens out in the wilderness. Because of their worldly spheres of influence, and the fact that they have threatened the world on more than one occasion the daedra are considered to be evil, malevolant beings. The exception to this rule is the province of Morrowind, where the worship of daedra is the more common practice.

Not all daedra are considered to be evil, because their spheres of influence are such that they fall more into the realm of the Aedra, but they are still to be viewed with caution. Azura, who watches over Dawn and Dusk in one such daedra, as is Meridia, who is associated with the energies of living things, and thus has a hatred of the undead.

Of the gods of Nirn, the player is more likely to interact with the Daedra than the Aedra. The most obvious reason for seeking them out is they will often grant the player one of the Daedric Artifacts, items of great power that will greatly assist the player. However, gaining these artifact will come with a price: the Deadra do not unterstand morality as mortals do, and so obtaining these powerful artifacts involves doing some questionable things indeed. As an example, in Skyrim, to gain the favour of Boethia you are required to take someone who trusts you to their shrine and murder them in cold blood. In Oblivion, Sanguine asks that you gatecrash a boring party and and liven it up with a spell he gives you. The result of the spell? Everybody gets naked and starts dancing, something the city guard is not pleased about!

Of course, there are one more group of divine beings to discuss- the Ascended.

The Ascended

Being a realm infused with magic, it's possible for mortals to become gods. The four most important culturally are Talos and the Tribunal.

Talos was the founder of the empire in which the Elder Scrolls games are set. By all accounts, Talos who as a man was known as Tiber Septim, was was a great hero of a man, who conquered the whole continent and eventually became emperor. When he died, it is said he ascended to godhood and became part of the Aedric pantheon, and is revered by many in the empire.

The Tribunal are three rulers of Morrowind, who had ascended to godhood ceturies ago by magical means. Remeber how the Aedra could be killed? Well long ago one of them, called Lorkan died and left behind parts of himself in Nirn. The most notable being the two moons visible in the night sky and his heart, which was located underneath Morrowind. Using special tools, the Tribunal discovered how to make themselves divine, and did so, ruling over Morrowind for thousands of years. The events of Morrowind change this however- the Tribunal are stripped of their divinity by the intervention of an ancient enemy and of the player.

So then, there we have it, the first in my Theology of games series. This one I'll admit was a bit tough, as there was seventeen years worth of histroy to work over, but the next one should be a bit easier. Stay tuned for that one, as I'll be covering the Bioware franchise Dragon Age. See you soon!

Legal Blurb- The Elder Scrolls, Oblivion, Morrowind and Skyrim are all copyright of Bethesda Softworks. Images are copyright of the folks that took them!

Linkage:

Most of my information came from the rather excellent Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages wiki, a fantastic source for pretty much everything Elder Scrolls. Below are a few links to some of the pages I used.

Elder Scrolls Wiki- List of gods and deities.





Elder Scrolls Wiki- Aedra

Elder Scrolls Wiki- Daedra

Elder Scrolls Wiki- Talos / Tiber Septim

Elder Scrolls Wiki- short description of the Tribunal

Some reviews of a few of the Elder Scrolls games.

Morrowind

Oblivion

Skyrim