u/VerySpicyLocusts

So here I made a little bit of art around a line from the Songs of Pelinal featuring Morihaus the man-bull rallying an army of Nedes (Humans). I drew them in the Legion type armor that the later Cyrodiilic Empire would be familiar with as possibly a kind of anachronism, sort of like how some medieval paintings depicting scenes from antiquity in garb more common to the current day.

Alessia’s the centerpiece of the painting, I’m not sure what to consider that sun thing I had her hold, maybe you could consider it something like the Chim-el Adabal or just a vague magic of the Gods.

Pelinal and the Ayleids (Elves) I’m especially proud of, someone in the discord had done Pelinal before so I took a bunch of hints from how they drew him. And with the Elven soldiers he’s facing off I first tried doing something like their depiction in ESO which is why I kept the golden color but they kinda transformed into something vaguely resembling bronze age warriors which I also kinda like.

Anywho this my first piece in sandbox I hope it look good

Alright so this is half theory half personal head canon cope to harmonize the lore idea of Alduin as an actual God and world eater with the Alduin presented to us in Skyrim. Feel free to tear it a new orifice if it turns out to be dumb.

So on the uesp discord we’d discuss a lot on how Skyrim kinda screwed with the lore on Alduin, turning him from the Nordic equivalent of Akatosh and a God in his own right into just a really powerful Dragon but subservient to Akatosh. I am familiar with the idea of Alduin being equal to Akatosh and only subservient to the Aka oversoul, but I had another idea, what if the Alduin we
fight in Skyrim, was trying to mantle the real Alduin?

So as most of us are aware the concept of mantling goes “walk like them until they must walk like you” but I guess in this case it’d be more “fly like them until they must fly like you”. Alduin as the oldest son of Akatosh who is Alduin (the god) who is Auriel wanted to become Alduin (the god) who is Akatosh who is Auriel, being a Dragon and therefore divine he had a bit of a head start on this. So the Firstborn Dragon began fashioning himself as Alduin, demanded to be worshipped as Alduin, and in the minds of the people became synonymous with the god Alduin.

Shown by his invulnerability without the Dragonrend shout, it’s clear he was really close to becoming fully divine, but close only counts in horseshoes and handgrenades (or fireballs ig since this is Skyrim). And he woulda became fully Alduin if it weren’t for one thing: didn’t eat the world. And since in mantling you have to walk (fly) like the god until the god walks (flies) like you, his mantling was incomplete, leading to the Dragonborn being able to defeat him.

Thus concludes my theory on how to reconcile the Skyrim lore stuff with earlier lore. Is it likely? Perhaps not. Is it stupid? Maybe. But thas my two cents feel free to tell me how wrong I am lol

The Elder Scrolls: St. Alessia, Pelinal Whitestrake, and Morihaus

Alduin is real, and he ent…Alduin? A theory