Elder Scrolls Lore » Discussions
The Ancient Nordic Pantheon
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The totems are cool. It still seems still strange to me that the Nords changed their religion.
Been noodling this through, have a proposal: Jurgen Windcaller's Way of the Voice marks the end of the Traditional Nordic Totemic Pantheon reinstated by Wulfharth. Here's my hypothesis:
The Last King of the Ayleids says that in 1E 361 the Alessians gained control of the Empire and enforced the Alessian Doctrines throughout its domain.
On Oblivion says In a later tract by King Hale the Pious of Skyrim, almost a thousand years after the publication of the original Doctrines, the evil machinations of his political enemies are compared to "the wickedness of the demons of Oblivion...
Extrapolating on that it is safe to assume by the time of King Hale the Pious' rule of Skyrim the Traditional Nordic Pantheon was gone, replaced again with the Imperial Divines. That gives us a time frame of between 1E 361 and 1E 1361.
We can then further cut that down when we look at Hoag Merkiller's reign and Wulfharth's succession as the Battle of Glenumbra Moors marks the end, or at least the decline of, The Alessian Order and it's Seventy Seven Inflexible Doctrines. Even though Merkiller shared the xenophobic view of the Order, he still sided with the Direnni Clan of High Rock. he died in that battle was succeeded by Wulfharth in the 480's.
After the defeat of the Alessian army at Glenumbria Moors, where King Hoag Merkiller was slain, Wulfharth of Atmora was elected by the Pact of Chieftains. His thu'um was so powerful that he could not verbally swear into the office, and scribes were used to draw up his oaths. Immediately thereafter the scribes wrote down the first new law of his reign: a fiery reinstatement of the traditional Nordic pantheon. Five Songs of King Wulfharth
Wulfharth rules as High King until 533. So now our 1000 year gap is reduced to about 830 years. During this time the religion of Skyrim sort of goes off the grid until 1E 700 and the Battle of Red Mountain. The repercussions of that war were felt in Skyrim when Jurgen Windcaller, himself a mighty Tongue and War Leader of the Nords, began his seven year meditation and voice-swallowing magic:
The Tongues at Red Mountain went away humbled
Jurgen Windcaller began His Seven Year Meditation
To understand how Strong Voices could fail. High Hrothgar Tablets
I propose that the might of Jurgen-now-the-Calm and his unshakable mastery of the Voice, his commitment to peace and the conversion of the Seventeen Disputants to his new Way of the Voice marks the final nail in the Traditional Nordic Pantheon's coffin. Following his remarkable example and being the single most powerful guy in Skyrim, the High King or Queen of Skyrim at the time would have had no choice but to follow suit. Culturally the mood would have been grim after Red Mountain and the Imperial Eight Divines may have seen a huge rise in popularity in it's own right.
But, alas for the Nords, one of the mightiest of all the Tongues, Jurgen Windcaller (or The Calm, as he is better known today), became converted to a pacifist creed that denounced use of the Voice for martial exploits. His philosophy prevailed, largely due to his unshakable mastery of the Voice PGE 1Ed
Jurgen's acts and the cultural mood is, in my view, the reason why the Nords of modern Skyrim only vaguely remember the Old Ways.
And it's all Hermaeus Mora's fault
Edit: I know you're probably saying, "Jurgen? That's obvious." But remember the sources are completely silent on the reintroduction of the Divines afaik. I am simply trying to add one more achievement to Jurgen's trophy shelf using deductive reasoning.
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I'll tidy it up a bit later.
