Elder Scrolls Lore » Discussions


Lore Event: Nords: Soul, Breath and Focus

  • Member
    March 15, 2016

    I think you're spot on, although Pelly was one of the visions given to Alessia by Kyne. The difference is, as you point out, the degree of significance between the role Kyne has in Nord myths and the role Kynareth has in Imperial myths. We're seeing the Nordic influence on the Cyro-Nords and a bit of mythic dilution as it crosses into the fecund culture of Cyrodiil.

  • March 15, 2016

    Hmm, by the way, isn't that somewhat off, that Alessia prayed to Kyne, not Kynareth? 

    Of course there is a coonection, but it seems like the Imperials are more prone to call every significant hero of theirs an avatar of Akatosh, while Nords would say Kyne)))))

  • Member
    March 15, 2016

    Kynareth hadn't really been invented yet. That name wasn't applied until after the fall of White Gold. So it's these Nedic tribes with their mishmash of Elven and Nordic deities and Al-Esh picks a very Nordic one to pray to.

    Your last point is on the money I reckon

  • March 15, 2016

    Whoa! This makes things even more interesting))) And... I guess Akatosh wasn't invented as well... which gives the whole story with the Amulet of Kings absolutely new perspective...

    Huh? Money?

  • Member
    March 15, 2016

    It is interesting isn't? This is why it is my favourite myth and Imperials are my favourite subject. Alessia is called "Mother of Dragons" because she dreamt up Akatosh as a manish God. Then we have the AoK, the Chim-El Adabal which was an Ayleid artefact. Plus the fact that Akatosh being a time God then may have retroactively always existed. It's crazy!

    On the money means spot on :)

  • March 15, 2016

    It's one of my favorite myths too) But you know I always want to find the history behind the myth and get a notion of what really happened (more or less).

    And now I wonder how Alessia actually aquired the AoK... I'm starting to suspect that it was not Akatosh/Auri-El who gave it to her, but the old buddy Morihaus...

  • Member
    March 15, 2016

    Excellent work, Phil. Of all the gods, I've always considered Kyne to be more intimate and real (for lack of better words). The Nords can feel her touch in the wind, rain, and snow. They sense her pleasure and displeasure by the varying degrees of weather and storm. Her lore among the Nords is quite amazing. The Elves believe that they are merely the ancestors of Auri-El, but the Nords believe that they were formed/created by the very breath of Kyne herself. Although not avatars, a Nord could argue that the collective race of Nordic people represents the essence of Kyne on Nirn, since they were created from her essence - breath. If breath equals soul, then a Nord could further argue that the Nord people, as a whole, represent her soul.

  • March 15, 2016

    Finally got some time to comment. I really love this, Phil, because it´s something I was thinking about for some time. So for Nords, Wind - or Air - is everything. It´s their magic, it´s their essence, their soul. 

    And what of other races? Altmer have sun light apparently, Ayleids had star light, Bosmer have Earth - or nature. And others?

    And other thing that this got me thinking about...Elements. Four basic elements. Fire, Water, Earth and Air. But what if there are actually more elements? Like Light, Darkness, Life and Death? How would that fit into TES?

  • Member
    March 15, 2016

    That comment about Wulfart is quite interesting Phil. To paraphrase a line from a fanfic I read, "Truth, becomes rumor, rumor becomes legend and myth, the wheel of fate keeps turning."

  • Member
    March 15, 2016

    Spot on Patriarch and thank you.