The Ooze is a just a story about the Dawn Era isn't it? By the Merethic era the chaos of the Dawn Era had subsided thanks to the sacrifice of the gods and Earthbones. So The Ooze tells Y'ffre's tale, no?

That said, the Monomyth backs your point:

Auriel pleaded with Anu to take them back, but he had already filled their places with something else. But his soul was gentler and granted Auriel his Bow and Shield, so that he might save the Aldmer from the hordes of Men. Some had already fallen, like the Chimer, who listened to tainted et'Ada, and others, like the Bosmer, had soiled Time's line by taking Mannish wives.

This places the Bosmer as a distinct race of elves (presumably) in Valenwood during the Dawn Era.

So fast forward to the First Era as seen in PGE 3Ed:

The history of Valenwood stretches back to the very beginning of recorded time: the date traditionally used as the start of the First Era is the founding of the Camoran Dynasty by King Eplear of Valenwood...Eplear's success in uniting the inherently wild Bosmer must be counted among the greatest military feats in Tamriel's history....

So who were they fighting, the "salmagundi of creatures and strange civilizations" or Ayleids? is it possible Topal the Pilot's "Bird Men" were part of these strange civilisations?

That'd be interesting. if the Bosmer drove the Ayleids out of Valenwood only to let them set up cities, trade routes and finally welcome them back as refugees centuries later. That's pretty cool.

I don't think Ooze tells Y'ffre's tale, because there are elves in the story and there were nether elves nor men when Aedra sacrificed portions of their power to stabilize Nirn. The elves are a result of when some of the et'Ada "had to marry and make children just to last. Each generation was weaker than the last, and soon there were Aldmer". (The Monomyth)

I think that Camoran's success to unify warring Bosmeri tribes is considered the beginning of Valenwood history (probably simply because the records only go that far). The fighting was among themselves, not among the Bosmer and Ayleids. As for "inherently wild" they would certainly seem so to an outsider. It is true even in the 4E. 

We're straying into dangerous territory when we start treating myths as legitimate facts. The Ooze is a children's story so is probably pure allegory, useful for the purposes of illustrating a point to baby Bos but not so useful as a reliable account of what happened. Like Noah's ark. I think the Monomyth is the same as each cultural viewpoint describes similar events couched in fable.

I think that Camoran's success to unify warring Bosmeri tribes is considered the beginning of Valenwood history

That's the problem here. Bosmer may have been inhabiting Valenwood long before the first Aldmer walked into central Cyrodiil and said, "hey, I'm an Ayleid" but because they failed to record it we can only guess.

The Bosmer Wars sound pretty cool as tribe fought tribe until all were united. They must have engaged in conflict with the indigenous creatures too, though, if indeed giants and centaurs and basilisks (oh my) did at one time inhabit the woods.

Very nice! And I do like your little pet name at the end... Manky C :p

Ooze is not just a myth. There is a place in Malabal Tor - Ouze, where the spirits of "oathbreakers" rest. You can even converse with those spirits and learn about the place and how they got there. It's almost identical to the description I've given earlier.

Video

I've written about it in my The Spinners and the Valenwood article.

No one has ever seen the Ooze, or heard the souls trapped in it, or met the one who can relieve the condemned of their punishment. But if you ask a Wood Elf if he thinks the Ooze is "just a tale," he will invariably reply, "There is no such thing as 'just a tale.'"

Even more reason not to trust this source then all this mer stuff is too contradictory even for me. None of the sources are reliable as each one recounts a different version of elven genesis on Tamriel. Take this one, for example:

In the wilds of most every province of Tamriel, descended philosophically if not directly from the original inhabitants of the land are the Ayleids, commonly called the Wild Elves. The Wild Elves

This is the root of my belief that the progenitor s of each elven race were the Ayleids. Except the source is immediately refutable thanks to their being no Ayleid ruins in Skyrim, Morrowind and Valenwood (prior to the First Era).

Hell, I was reading a book by Fenlil The Wayfarer which asserted a theory that Altmer are the descendants of Ayleids!

Thanks Ylva

That's one of the most awesome parts about Bosmer culture. They can literally will things into being. Spinners can shape the story of Tamriel by simply altering events in the past or future, without any need to use Elder Scrolls. I can only put Shadow Magic as comparable to that power. 

And that's why there is no "just a tale" for Bosmer. Every tale, especially the ones passed to the younger generation by Spinners is very close if not outright true. 

As for your assertion, this book throws it into the Deadlands  Also this and this.

Hey it's not my assertion I never considered the possibility of Ayleid=Altmer before. I like the fact that it exists as a possibility, the blowhard Phrastus' claims notwithstanding. It does illustrate the idea that the accepted orthodoxy on the subject of merish ancestry isn't as cut and dry as we are led to believe. All it would take is one more piece of lore to undo it all.

As it stands anything occurring in the Merethic era is hard to  pin down exactly, leaving us only interpretation based on biased sources on the subject.

They can literally will things into being. Spinners can shape the story of Tamriel by simply altering events in the past or future, without any need to use Elder Scrolls. I can only put Shadow Magic as comparable to that power.

I'm calling Tonal Architecture on this one. It is a theme which should have an equivalent in each culture. Obviously we've seen the Dwemer use it, we know the Thu'um is on the same ladder, we can hypothesize that the Sword Singing of the Yokudans is the Redgaurd version while the Tsaesci have Kai.

I can't wait to see what the Altmer have!

Filled with valuable info, Phil. This article taught me a ton I didn't know about Mehrunes, great job man!