Elder Scrolls Lore » Discussions


Who is Stendarr to the Altmer?

  • Member
    September 26, 2015

    Hello Lore Forum, I have a question concerning the God of Mercy, Stendarr. I recently read Stendarr's lore page on the UESP.net, and came across a statement that sounded well, odd to me. "In early Altmeri legends, Stendarr is the apologist of Man." What does this mean? I read further into the article, and it says that Stuhn, the God of Ransom, was the Nordic precursor to Stendarr. It also states that he is a warrior god that had fought against the Aldmeri pantheon.

    From what I understand, the Altmer heavily revere the Aldmer in every way possible. That said, why is Stendarr, evolved from Stuhn, allowed in their pantheon?

    This is my first discussion post, hurray! I'd also like to note that I'm not much of a lore expert, if I missed a vital point about Stendarr that would justify his place in the Altmer Pantheon, please let me know!

    Hoping I put this in the right place.

    Thank you for your time!

    (Did I tag this correctly? I read the rules for tagging lore articles, but could not find any specifically for lore discussions, so I improvised.)

  • Member
    September 26, 2015

    Very good question, worthy of it's own discussion Generally we tag all discussions which aren't articles as "Lore: General Discussion".

    I think the source you mention, Varieties of Faith, was up until recently the only in-game source about Stendarr from the Altmeri point of view. Here's an ESO source from the elven perspective in case you've not read it: Rituals of the Harmonious Masters

    Now I'm not sure how you feel about out of game sources but I find Shor, Son of Shor very useful in shedding light on Stendarr and how the Eight Aedra, the planets, are able to be present in most pantheons and also share each culture's values so as to be seemingly opposites of themselves. Does that make sense? Basically, how can Akatosh be on Pelinal's side, yet his Khajiiti counterpart Alkosh be against him? If any of that does make sense, try applying it to Shor, Son of Shor.

  • Member
    September 26, 2015

    The Rituals of the Harmonious Masters actually helped quite a bit, it made it easier to picture an Altmer embracing the concept of mercy, and extended it towards those who are considered 'lesser' than themselves. I'm afraid Shor, Son of Shor went quite over my head, and I do not yet know who Pelinal is (though I will find out). I am not sure what I was meant to take away from that source.  Also, corrected the tag! :)

  • Member
    September 26, 2015

    I'm glad that source helped a bit but I am sorry I confused things with Shor, Son of Shor which I know is quite heavy. It's a Nordic creation myth to some extent, dealing as it does with their views on the Kalpic cycle and talks about the war of Convention with the Aldmer deities, which is to say war with their other aspects.

    I thought it relevant mainly for the fact that it mentions Stuhn (the Nordic Stendarr, Tsun and Trinimac as being the same - or aspects of the same - deity. My point was that the Nordic and Aldmeri pantheon are quite similar and, as the Altmer recognise Stendarr as one of the Eight, he needs to be represented in some form. You'll notice how in Varieties of Faith that the Eight are pretty much always present, just with different names.

  • Member
    September 26, 2015

    I haven't the faintest idea what the Kalpic cycle is, but I shall keep digging. I didn't realize the Nordic and Aldmeri pantheons were so similar. Either way, Stendarr is considered one of the Eight by the Aldmeri, and therefore considered one of the Eight by the Altmeri, because no matter what, an aspect of this deity regardless of name, needs to be present in the pantheon?

  • Tom
    Member
    September 27, 2015

    Please keep in mind that the "Eight" or the "Divines" is an artificial construct from Alessia. There isn't anything about those particular eight deities that makes them special. They're just the eight Aedric spirits that the early Cyrodiils and Nords could agree on without sparking a bloody religious war.

    Nords f*cking hate elvish deities in all forms, Cyrodiilic men worshipped elvish deities from their enslavement by the Ayleids. Nords only started worshipping the Imperial Divines between the Oblivion Crisis and events of TES:V.

    It's a compromise to appease the Cyrodiils, elves, and Nords. There are far more Aedric gods.

  • Member
    September 27, 2015

    Please keep in mind that the "Eight" or the "Divines" is an artificial construct from Alessia. There isn't anything about those particular eight deities that makes them special.

    Maybe not the names as people can call them what they like, but surely you agree that there are eight planets, corpses of the gods, visible from Nirn?

    Traditionally it is believed that these et'ada or Greater Spirits variously called the Aedra, the gods or the Divines, were those who sacrificed themselves or otherwise fell for Lorkhan's trick so that the world could survive.

    When I say Eight I am normally referring to those planes, the standard model if you like.  Seeing as how THENDR was considered a planet by the Dwemer way back in the day I think it firmly establishes this spirit as one of the Eight.

    In that respect it doesn't matter what he's called due to mythopoeia - each corpse-ghost will be shaped by the stories of the cultures anyway. So to the Nords he could be a warrior with a comparatively large merciful streak, to the Imperials a god of justice and righteous rule and to the Altmer he could be a god who preaches mercy to all but have most of his war-like characteristics stripped away.