The Primordial Forces
Before all of existence, there was only Anu and Padomay: two opposing forces, eternal and boundless. Anu embodied stasis, order, and permanence, while Padomay embodied change, chaos, and possibility. Their interplay gave birth to the Aurbis, the totality of all that exists.
Neither force is truly good or evil. They are simply the raw principles from which everything emerged. Without Anu, nothing could hold form. Without Padomay, nothing could ever change. It is from their eternal conflict that creation first stirred.
Anui-El and Sithis
From Anu arose his soul, Anui-El, the essence of all order and light. And from Padomay arose Sithis, the great void, the spirit of chaos and limitation. Where Anui-El sought to preserve and define, Sithis sought to undo and return all things to nothing.
"Sithis is the start of the house. Before him was nothing, but the foolish Altmer have names for and revere pseudodeities they call the Aedra." — Sithis, author unknown
Anui-El, in turn, gave rise to Auri-El (also known as Auriel or Akatosh) the soul of the soul of Anu, and the chief of the et'Ada who would come to shape the world.
The Et'Ada: Original Spirits
From the swirling energies of the Aurbis, countless spirits formed. These were the et'Ada, meaning "original spirits" in the language of the Aldmer. They were beings of immense power, born from the conflict between Anu and Padomay's forces.
The et'Ada took many forms and had many desires. Some aligned more closely with Anu, others with Padomay, and many fell somewhere between. Among them were figures whose names would echo through all of history:
- Auri-El, the dragon god of time
- Magnus, the architect of Mundus
- Lorkhan, the trickster, the missing god
- Mephala, spinner of lies and secrets
- Mehrunes Dagon, prince of destruction and ambition
The Great Division: Aedra and Daedra
The most consequential moment in the Dawn Era came when Lorkhan proposed a grand vision — the creation of Mundus, the mortal plane. Some et'Ada agreed and sacrificed much of their power to bring this world into being. These became the Aedra, a word meaning "our ancestors." They gave of themselves so completely that they became bound to the world they created, diminished but ever-present.
Others refused. They kept their full power and retreated to their own realms of Oblivion. These became the Daedra — "not our ancestors" — powerful, unchanging, and forever separate from the mortal world.
Further Reading
If you'd like to learn more about the Elder Scrolls universe, here are some useful links:
- The UESP Lore Section is the most comprehensive resource available
- The Imperial Library archives many in-game texts and developer writings
You can also explore the Aedra and the Daedra on this site.
