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 Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:24 am
Skyrim worships Gods, Goddesses and Daedra.
Here is a list of them for quick reference.
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 12:11 pm
The Nine Divines are the most important religious order in Tamriel. The religion combines the eight Aedra with the founder of the Third Empire, Tiber Septim (Talos). There are 6 gods and 3 goddesses. In Cyrodiil, there is a chapel in each major city, venerating the divines. There are also wayshrines along the roads that are devoted to the Nine Divines. These Aedra also appear in various combinations in the pantheons of other cultures.
Akatosh - The Dragon God of Time and the chief god of the pantheon
Akatosh, the Dragon God of Time, is the chief deity of the Nine Divines, the official religion of the varying Cyrodiil empires, such as the Septim Empire and the Reman Dynasty. He represents the qualities of endurance, invincibility, and everlasting legitimacy. Along with Lorkhan, he is one of two deities found in every Tamrielic religion. He is generally considered to be the first of the Gods to form in the Beginning Place. After his establishment, other spirits followed his example, and the various pantheons of the world emerged. Before the Ages of Man suggests that he and Auri-El are the same being, but further confirms that after his formation, time began. Akatosh is considered the god defender of the Empire.
Arkay - God of Life & Death
Arkay, colloquially known as the God of the Cycle of Birth and Death, was a major divinity of the Nine Divines, the official religion of the Cyrodilic Empires, and represented the qualities of birth and death. Arkay was not only a member of the Nine Divines, but was a popular divinity across Tamriel and could be found in many diverse pantheons. Arkay was often more important in those cultures where his father, Akatosh, was either less related to time or where his time aspects were difficult to comprehend by the layman. He was the god of burials and funeral rites, and was sometimes associated with the seasons.
Dibella - Goddess of Beauty
Dibella is the goddess of beauty and love. In Cyrodiil, she has nearly a dozen different cults, some devoted to women, some to artists and aesthetics, and others to erotic instruction.
Julianos - God of Wisdom and Logic
Julianos, the God of Wisdom and Logic, is one of the Nine Divines. Often associated with Jhunal, the Nordic father of language and mathematics, Julianos is the Cyrodilic god of literature, law, history, and contradiction. Monastic orders founded by Tiber Septim and dedicated to Julianos are the keepers of the Elder Scrolls.
Kynareth - Goddess of Nature
Kynareth, called Kyne by the Nords, is a goddess of the Nine Divines. She is the strongest of the Sky spirits and is the deity of the heavens, the winds, the elements, and the unseen spirits of the air. Patron of sailors and travelers, Kynareth is invoked for auspicious stars at birth and for good fortune in daily life. In some legends, she is the first to agree to Lorkhan's plan to invent the mortal plane, and provides the space for its creation in the void. She is also associated with rain, a phenomenon said not to occur before the removal of Lorkhan's divine spark.
Mara - Mother Goddess and Goddess of Love
Mara, a goddess of the Nine Divines, is considered the mother-goddess and goddess of love. Some consider her as a universal goddess. Origins started in mythic times as a fertility goddess. In Skyrim, Mara is a handmaiden of Kyne. In the Empire, she is Mother-Goddess. She is sometimes associated with Nir of the 'Anuad', the female principle of the cosmos that gave birth to creation. Depending on the religion, she is either married to Akatosh, or Lorkhan, or the concubine of both. She appears in nearly every culture's pantheon in Tamriel.
Stendarr - God of Mercy and Justice
Stendarr is the God of Righteous Might and Merciful Forbearance. He is the inspiration of magistrates and rulers, the patron of the Imperial Legions and the comfort of the law-abiding citizen. Stendarr has evolved from his Nordic origins into a deity of compassion or sometimes, righteous rule. He is said to have accompanied Tiber Septim in his later years. In early Altmeri legends, Stendarr is the apologist of Men.
Stendarr is also known as the God of Mercy.
Talos/Tiber Septim - God of War and Governance
Talos, once known as Tiber Septim, Ysmir, or the Dragonborn, Heir to the Seat of Sundered Kings, is the greatest hero-god of Mankind, and is worshipped as the protector and patron of just rulership and civil society.
Tiber Septim conquered all of Tamriel and began the Third Era, as well the Third Empire. At his death he ascended to godhood as the God of War and Man. Less prominent sects, such as the Talos Cult, were inspired by his apotheosis.
Known as Heir to the Seat of Sundered Kings, Ysmir, the Dragon of the North, and Dragonborn, he is also invoked as patron of questing heroes. He is referred to as the One in the phrase "The Eight and the One", as there were originally only Eight Divines before Tiber Septim ascended to godhood.
Zenithar - God of Work and Commerce
Zenithar is the deity of wealth, labor, commerce and communication. His priests have demonstrated that through earnest work and honest profit, not through war and bloodshed, peace and prosperity will develop. Zenithar is understandably associated with Z'en. In the Empire, however, he is a far more cultivated god of merchants and middle nobility. His worshipers say, despite his mysterious origins, Zenithar is the god 'that will always win'. He is a member of the Nine Divines.
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 12:32 pm
Daedric Princes (sometimes referred to as Daedra Lords or The Old Gods by Reachmen) are the most powerful of the Daedra and thus most commonly worshipped as deities. While Daedra can manifest as either male or female (being in reality genderless), all of these high Daedra are typically referred to as "Princes".
Throughout the series, a number of Daedric Princes, along with the other worshipped gods, play a major part in the events of a game's main storyline. In all, there are sixteen widely known Princes. As with all Daedra, Daedric Princes operate on a different plane of existence than humans and other mortals, and as such possess an incomprehensible concept of 'morality'; it is for this reason that none of the Daedric Princes can be considered objectively "evil". However, a number of them have been known to consistently inflict harm on the inhabitants of Tamriel, leading to most being considered sinister by mortal standards. Dealings with the Daedric Princes are not unheard of, and often end up harming the summoner as opposed to bending the will of the Prince. It should be noted that dealing with the Princes sometimes causes changes in appearance, such as black dots in the white of eyes or strange eye color.
Every Daedric Prince has their own plane of Oblivion.
Azura - Prince of Dusk and Dawn, the magic between Day and Night.
Azura is the Daedric Prince whose sphere is dusk and dawn, the magic in-between realms of twilight. Azura is always depicted as a female, and is also known as "Mother of the Rose," "Queen of the Night Sky," and the Anticipation of Sotha Sil. Azura is usually represented by her artifact, Azura's Star, a reusable soul gem that can be found in Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. Azura is one of the few Daedra who might be considered "good" by mortal standards, due to her concern for her followers' well-being. Azura's plane is known as Moonshadow, a realm said to be too beautiful for mortals to comprehend.
It was Azura who told Nerevar that Dagoth Ur's knowledge of the Heart of Lorkhan was accurate. This caused a war with the Dwemer (whose king denied knowledge of the Heart, although Azura only denied it due to lack of her own personal knowledge of the subject), from which Nerevar emerged the victor, and the Dwemer did not emerge at all. Later, when the Tribunal of Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil used the power of the Heart of Lorkhan to make themselves gods (and thus breaking their oath to Azura), Azura cursed the Chimer (which caused their skin to turn a dark greyish color and their eyes to turn red, thus making them Dunmer, or Dark Elves) and claimed that she would cause Nerevar to be reborn and that she would make things right again. Later, Azura aided the Nerevarine in defeating Dagoth Ur and toppling the Tribunal Temple (due to the differing accounts, told by various factions and individuals in Morrowind, this should be taken with a grain of salt). Azura is also credited for making the Khajiit from Bosmer stock in Elsweyr. She is also thought to be the sister of Nocturnal, but whether this is true or not is yet to be known.
Boethiah - Prince of Plots, who rules over deceit, conspiracy, secret plots of murder, assassination, treason, and unlawful overthrow of authority.
Boethiah is depicted (often female) as a great caped warrior, often taking a stoic pose and is also known as the Anticipation of Almalexia. Attribution’s Share is the Plane of Boethiah; she frequently holds the Tournament of Ten Bloods in said Plane.
Boethiah loves competition and battle, and this nature is manifested in her quest in Oblivion, transporting the player to her realm of Oblivion for a tournament to decide who is truly worthy of Goldbrand, an enchanted katana with a gold-colored blade (rebuilding her shrine near Khartag Point in Vvardenfell is enough to claim the blade in Morrowind). In Skyrim completing the quest Boethiah's Calling awards the player with Boethiah's daedric artifact, the Ebony Mail. The infamous Pillow Book is also named in her honor.
Heralded by the Prophet Veloth, Boethiah is the original god-ancestor of the Dunmer. Through her illuminations, the eventual 'Chimer', or Changed Folk, renounced all ties to the Aldmer and founded a new nation based on Daedric principles. All manner of Dark Elven cultural 'advances' are attributed to Boethiah, from philosophy to magic to 'responsible' architecture.
Clavicus Vile - the Daedric Prince of Power, Trickery, Wishes, and Bargains.
Clavicus Vile is the Daedric prince whose sphere is the granting of power and wishes through ritual invocations and pact. His dealing with Mundus (the mortal realm) are usually with individuals who wish to have something and, by summoning him, Clavicus Vile gives it to them. However, he is known to take back his deals at inopportune times (for the summoner, not Vile). Why he does this is unknown. Clavicus has a companion named Barbas. While capable of selective shape-shifting, the form it assumes most of the time is that of a dog. In the past, Clavicus Vile has worked through mortal representatives to gain what he desires.
Hermaeus Mora - the Daedric Prince of knowledge and memory.
Hermaeus Mora is the Daedric Prince of knowledge and memory. His sphere is the scrying of the tides of fate, of the past and future as read in the stars and heaven, and in his dominion are the treasures of knowledge and memory. His realm is known as the "Apocrypha," an endless library where all forbidden knowledge may be found.
Hermaeus Mora's appearance is probably the most bizarre and perplexing of all of the Daedric Princes; most commonly, he represents himself as a rotund mass of tentacles with an abundance of eyes and four disproportionately large lobster-like claws. In Skyrim, he appears as a purple and black void. In all appearances, Hermaeus Mora has a deep, menacing voice. He may be based on one or more deities from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos.
He may be the "Woodland Man" of Nedic myth who catches villagers lost in the woods; the secondary set of his name, Mora, is one word for "wood," "woodland," or "tree(s)" in Elvish. His artifact, the Oghma Infinium, is an ultimate skill book that selectively improves character traits. His other artifacts, known as Black Books, are esoteric tomes of powerful, forbidden knowledge that grant various powers and effects to the reader. Six Black Books have been discovered so far. Many people attempt to travel to Apocrypha, and for those who succeed, most spend an eternity wandering the endless halls and libraries searching for powerful and forbidden knowledge about their own lives, never to succeed in finding what they want.
Hircine - Daedric Prince whose spirit is the hunt; the sports of Daedra; the greatest game and the chase and sacrifice of mortals.
Hircine the spirit of the hunt's past leads many to argue. He himself was never mentioned or heard of in the early histories of Nirn. Some scholars believe because of this that Hircine was not one the original Daedric Princes and is therefor a spawn or offshoot, similar to Malacath. However this is often shunned on account of Hircine creating Lycanthropes, and the disease existing well into the Merethic Era. Hircine also appears within the mortal realm once every thousand years; but not to destroy, like most but to enjoy a great hunt known as the Bloodmoon Prophecy.
Jyggalag - Daedric Prince of Order.
He represents logical order and deduction, and has taken account of every detail of the world and of every action that has ever taken place, whether mortal or Daedric, long before they actually happen. As a result, he believes in certainty and determinism, and that the concept of individuality is an illusion. He is the only known prince not to have a known corresponding artifact.
Jyggalag was at one time a powerful Daedric Prince, so powerful that the other Princes began to fear his power. As a result, they cursed him to live in opposition of everything he stood for, to live the life of a madman and bring chaos and insanity rather than order and logic. Henceforth, Jyggalag became known as the Daedric Prince of Madness, Sheogorath.
However, Jyggalag is allowed to return to his original form once after every era, an event known in the Shivering Isles as the Greymarch. During this period, Jyggalag's personality resurfaces and exerts control over "his" realm to summon the Knight of Order, his emotionless, vicious, minions to attack and burn everything in the Isles to the ground. Near the end of the Greymarch, Sheogorath "leaves" the Isles and Jyggalag appears in person to finish the Isles off. In reality, Sheogorath simply transforms into Jyggalag. Sheogorath then "returns" to recreate the Isles and its inhabitants, causing him some suffering.
Malacath - Daedric Prince of the spurned and the ostracized, the keeper of the Sworn Oath, and the Bloody Curse
He was created when Boethiah ate the Aedra Trinimac, causing the Orsimer ("Pariah Folk" in Elvish), or Orcs, to be created, as they were Trinimac's devout followers. Malacath is not recognized as a Daedric Prince by his peers, which fits his sphere perfectly. He is worshiped by orcs and is considered to be one of the few good daedra. Malacath is also called Malauch by Orcs and Orkey or the Old Knocker by Nords, who blame him for stealing mankind's long lifespans. Malacath spurns physical weakness; hence, the above-average strength of the creatures associated with him
Mehrunes Dagon - Daedric Prince of Destruction, Change, Revolution, Energy, and Ambition. He is associated with natural dangers like fire, earthquakes, and floods.
Mehrunes Dagon is the foe of all mortal races, and has attempted to conquer the physical world Nirn many times. The common reasoning behind his many plots is his belief that Tamriel is in fact a plane of Oblivion which is rightly his. He constantly invaded Tamriel from the First Era onward.
The most famous of Dagon's invasions of Morrowind is certainly the attack on the capital city of Mournhold at the end of the First Era. Dagon was defeated by the living gods Almalexia and Sotha Sil, but not before he destroyed the entire city and devoured its populace. Mehrunes Dagon was also behind the destruction of Ald Sotha, where he destroyed House Sotha. During the Imperial Simulacrum, in the years 3E 389-3E 399, Lord Dagon conspired with Uriel Septim VII's power hungry Battlemage Jagar Tharn to imprison the Emperor in Dagon's plane of Oblivion while Tharn assumed the Emperor's likeness and ruled in his place. Further, Dagon assisted Tharn by attacking the Imperial Battle College in the Battlespire.
This attempt at taking over Tamriel was stopped by a mere mortal. Brooding over his many defeats, Dagon eventually came up with his next attempt to conquer Tamriel. This attempt was to become known as the Oblivion Crisis. He had his Mythic Dawn cultists assassinate the Emperor and all of his heirs, but one was unknown, and survived. The heir, the Blades, and the Hero of Kvatch continually defeated him until the assault on the Imperial City, where Dagon was defeated and banished back to Oblivion by Akatosh himself.
Meridia - The Daedric Prince of Life and Lady of Infinite Energies
She almost always comes in the form of a beautiful woman. Like a siren, calling mortals in to do her bidding, Meridia has always had a passionate hatred for all things undead. She takes great joy in rewarding mortals who purge the realms of the wretched walking-corpses, along with any Necromancers who have tampered with Meridia's life-giving energies. It is stated that Meridia is one of the few Daedric Princes to be benevolent and not wholly evil, if at all.
Molag Bal - the Daedric Prince of domination and enslavement of mortals.
Molag Bal is the Daedric Prince whose sphere is the domination and enslavement of mortals. His only desire is to harvest the souls of mortals and to bring mortals' souls within his sway by spreading seeds of strife and discord in the mortal realms. As mentioned above, this is not inherently evil, although its effects are generally negative. His realm is called "Coldharbour," a twisted dark version of Tamriel.
Molag Bal is said to be the father (along with Vivec, whom he seduced) of a population of mutant degenerates living in the region of Morrowind bearing his name, who may have been the first eventual vampires, a corruption of Vivec's ties to the Heart of Lorkhan transmitted to mortals. However, some other cultures disagree with that theory, claiming the creation of vampires to be in Skyrim.
Namira - the Daedric Prince of sundry dark and shadowy spirits.
She is associated with all things generally considered repulsive, including various creatures such as spiders or slugs and disease that cause any kind of unattractive physical abnormalities. Namira's followers keep to themselves and prefer living peacefully in dark and squalid conditions but will react violently at any attempts to "save" them from their abysmal, minimalistic lifestyles.
Nocturnal - the Daedric Prince whose sphere is the night and darkness.
She is also known as the Night Mistress and "Lady Luck". The Cyrodilic Thieves Guild leader, the Gray Fox, has the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal, which truly represents the sphere's darkness quality; it permanently removes the wearer's specific identity from all history. Regardless, the Cyrodiil Thieves Guild venerates Nocturnal by ending talks with the saying "Shadow hide you." The summoning date of Nocturnal is 3rd of Heartfire.
Nocturnal and Azura have been referred to as sisters, though whether in the literal or the metaphorical sense is unknown
Peryite - Among mortals, he is considered the Lord of Pestilence; among the daedra, he is charged with ordering the lower planes of Oblivion.
Beyond his interaction with the mortal world, Peryite is believed to have a specific duty within the realms of Oblivion. He is known as the Taskmaster, and seems to be charged with maintaining the proper order among the lesser daedric species and the lower planes of Oblivion. He and his followers frequently cite their desire to see the "natural order" maintained. This appears to be distinctly different from the meaning of "order" as applied to Jyggalag. Peryite works to maintain the proper, normal order among the daedric races, while Jyggalag works to impose an unnaturally rigid order upon the planes.
Sanguine - the Daedric Prince whose sphere is hedonistic revelry, debauchery, and passionate indulgences of darker natures.
He also has domain over the darker natures of man, such as lust, sin, sloth, gluttony, and greed. He is the patron deity of sinners and is often seen with a bottle of wine or beer (ale) in his hand. Sanguine enjoys playing pranks on others, one such example being a spell that removes the clothing of everyone within the spell's radius. Although a joker, Sanguine prefers to drag mortals down to sinful lifestyles by means of temptation and humiliation.
Sheogorath - Prince of Madness, whose motives are unknowable.
Sheogorath came into existence with Nirn as the "Sithis-shaped hole in the world." It is learned in Shivering Isles that the other Daedric Princes feared the Daedric Prince of Order (Jyggalag) was becoming too powerful, and so they cursed him into a body of madness (Sheogorath), everything he stood against. Though Sheogorath seems to prefer this new existence and to care in his own way for the residents of the Shivering Isles, Jyggalag is nonetheless able to return at the end of every era, leading a "Greymarch" (destruction of the realm using the Knights of Order). The curse would then revert him to Sheogorath, leaving Sheogorath to once again re-assemble his realm.
Not wanting to see his beloved Shivering Isles destroyed again by the Greymarch, Sheogorath called for a champion from Nirn. At the end of the 3rd Era, Jyggalag was struck down by Sheogorath's Champion.[4] With this, the Greymarch was ended prematurely, releasing Jyggalag from the cycle, and the Hero was crowned the new "Sheogorath." Jyggalag says that the hero may one day grow into their new role.
Vaermina - Daedric Prince whose sphere is the realm of dreams and nightmares.
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