Religions of Morrowind

[kungfubellydancer]

I'm a bit confused about the religions in Morrowind. First, there are the Nine Divine, then there are the three Tribunal (or whatever they are called), and the Daedric Gods. Where does Dagoth Ur and Nerevarine and the Saints fit in (such as St. Lothis, St. Delyn, etc)? What set of dieties do the ashlanders and each of the 5 Houses worship? Are the Ashlanders ancestor worshippers? I am guessing the official Temple worship the Tribunal, and the saints, and the Imperials worship the Nine. Please help me clarify this confusing subject, thank you.

[Marxist ßastard]

Where does Dagoth Ur... fit in?

The Tribunal Temple has set up Dagoth Ur as a sort of Satan-like entity. All manner of bad things are attributed to him. Dagoth Ur is seen as evil and irredeemable---in contrast to the Daedra, who are to be respected yet feared, and are said to test and tempt the Dunmer.

 

Where does... Nerevarine... fit in?

The Temple asserts that the Nerevarine prophecy is heresy, and that any claiming to be Nerevar reborn are false prophets. The original Lord Nerevar, however, is celebrated as a saint by Temple faithful.

 

Where does... the Saints fit in (such as St. Lothis, St. Delyn, etc)?

Saints (such as Saint Nerevar) are simply figures that the Temple has chosen to canonize. They have no existence different than that of any other dead Dunmer heroes.

 

What set of dieties do the ashlanders... worship? Are the Ashlanders ancestor worshippers?

The ashlanders worship the spirits of their ancestors, just as other Dunmer did immediately before the rise of the Tribunal.

 

What set of dieties do... each of the 5 Houses worship?

Ostensibly, most Dunmer belonging to a great house worship the Tribunal. However, they differ in the extent to which they worship and the manner in which they do. Houses Indoril and Redoran both cater to the most devout members of the Tribunal Temple, but focus on Almalexia and Vivec, respectively. In contrast to this, most Telvanni don't care for any sort of organized worship.

[Stampede]

A lot of this info can be found on the UESPWiki and wikia. There are still lots of gaps and points of debate and confusion for me but I hope this helps.

 

The religion of the Elder Scrolls universe can indeed be complex. The Nine Divines are the 9 different deities worshipped primarily in Imperialised culture. (Cyrodiil and its provinces) Their chief deity is Akatosh. Akatosh is not worshipped by the dunmer, however certain aspects are said to be reflected in Almalexia. (More on her in a bit.)

 

The other imperial deities are:

 

Dibella, Goddess of Beauty

Ark'ay, God of the Cycle of Life and Death

Zenithar, god of Work and Commerce, Trader god

Mara, Goddess of Love

Stendarr, god of Mercy

Kynareth, Goddess of Air

Julianos, God of Wisdom and Logic

 

and Talos, Tiber Septim, the Dragonborn

Talos was the great conquerer in the name of the empire. Who through his legacy has become a god-emperor worshipped by his own cult.

 

The Tribunal are the 3 demigods

Vivec

Almalexia

and Sotha Sil

 

Then there is the fourth, Dagoth-Ur

 

Collectively the Tribunal are known as the Almsivi. They were mortal once. They gained their power from The Heart of Lorkhan, a remnant of a meteor that struck the Vvardenfell region...which was discovered to be the actual heart of a god. The 'heart' was controlled and maintained by the Dwemer originally. The Dwemer were planning on using the heart to power a god-like machine by their own making. Once this information got out a war broke out between the Chimer and the Dwemer, ending in the Dwemer disappearing and the Chimer becoming Dunmer. The heart was a sentient evil thing.

 

When the Dwemer were gone, the tools for manipulating the heart fell into the hands of the Chimer. (Who were ruled by Indoril Nerevar) discussions began as to what must happen to the tools. Dagoth urged for them to be destroyed. Nerevar could see then that Dagoth was trustworthy and not power-hungry and appointed him to guard the tools while he consulted his advisors (the future Tribunal) Nerevar then returned to destroy the tools, but Dagoth had become a bit deluded by now and had a connection to the heart. He refused to let anyone touch them, including his lord. The two battled. Dagoth was driven off (thought dead) and the Nerevar was badly wounded, he was then betrayed and murdered by the Tribunal. The Tribunal used the heart to become gods. Dagoth-Ur then became stronger in secret due to him working with the heart instead of against it. Becoming even stronger than the Tribunal and cutting them off from recharging their powers.

 

Ashlanders are native nomad dark elves. They know of the betrayal against Nerevar and despise the Tribunal. The Ashlanders pay homage to their ancestors through wise women and hope one day the Nerevar will return to free them from Imperial supervision.

 

The saints are patrons of various Dunmer houses who are recognised for the contributions they have made.

 

As far as who the Dunmer houses worship, they all pay homage to the Tribunal in various ways:

 

House Indoril is deeply religious and acts as guardian to the Tribunal

 

House Redoran is similar to Indoril in that is first duty is to the protection of the Tribunal. Their Bouyant Armigers serve alongside Ordinators.

 

House Hlaalu is a bit shaky on the whole religion thing as its trying to curry favour from both the Empire and its countrymen. They pray when they have to.

 

House Telvanni care little for the temple. Their mage lords are powerful enough for its members to turn to them for protection instead.

 

House Dres are resentful of the temple due to the armistice, but support it in times of need.

 

The Daedra are beings from another plan of existence. They are not demons. A lot of them are not even monstrous in appearance. However a lot of them are eccentric. These personality quirks extend around them and shape their lifestyle, appearance and choice of followers. These quirks or personality traits are often interpreted by mortals as good or evil.

 

The Daedra have many different races, sects and levels of power. Daedra princes are the most powerful of the Daedra. There are 16 powerful princes with their own domains and worshippers. The following are named in the book of Daedra:

 

Azura

Boethiah

Clavicus Vile

Hermaeus Mora

Hircine

Malacath

Mehrunes Dagon

Mephala

Meridia

Molag Bal

Namira

Nocturnal

Peryite

Sanguine

Vaernima

Jyggalag

Sheogorath

 

There is no cultural or ethnic restrictions as to who can worship what Daedra. It is up to whatever laws govern the province as to how public the worship can be. Another prince, Malacath is worshipped by orcs.

 

I am running out of steam now and have work to do. Hopefully another poster can provide more details or correct my mistakes/provide alternatives.

 

I hope it helped.

[theron08]

Where does Dagoth Ur... fit in?

The Tribunal Temple has set up Dagoth Ur as a sort of Satan-like entity. All manner of bad things are attributed to him. Dagoth Ur is seen as evil and irredeemable---in contrast to the Daedra, who are to be respected yet feared, and are said to test and tempt the Dunmer.

 

Where does... Nerevarine... fit in?

The Temple asserts that the Nerevarine prophecy is heresy, and that any claiming to be Nerevar reborn are false prophets. The original Lord Nerevar, however, is celebrated as a saint by Temple faithful.

 

Where does... the Saints fit in (such as St. Lothis, St. Delyn, etc)?

Saints (such as Saint Nerevar) are simply figures that the Temple has chosen to canonize. They have no existence different than that of any other dead Dunmer heroes.

 

What set of dieties do the ashlanders... worship? Are the Ashlanders ancestor worshippers?

The ashlanders worship the spirits of their ancestors, just as other Dunmer did immediately before the rise of the Tribunal.

 

What set of dieties do... each of the 5 Houses worship?

Ostensibly, most Dunmer belonging to a great house worship the Tribunal. However, they differ in the extent to which they worship and the manner in which they do. Houses Indoril and Redoran both cater to the most devout members of the Tribunal Temple, but focus on Almalexia and Vivec, respectively. In contrast to this, most Telvanni don't care for any sort of organized worship.

 

I'm sorry to reply on such old message but I bumped into these message which obviously is not true and acts as a dissinformer.

 

Dagoth Ur is not evil; Dagoth Ur is not mean. He is only a Lord of a religious house which uses unusual methods for new recruitment and expanding: the conversion. Anyone who got Blight and couldn't cure it (curing blight requires a special cure disease which needs more restoration proficiency) becomes a powerfull idiot (idiot because his intelligence is 0 and powerfull because his strengthand endurance rises) which does his bidding. However there is a new way of conversion: dreams. Which besides several NPC's your character gets it too. Expanding thru conversions is a more noble way to gain power than killing (which the other houses do). This is one good reasons to put him on the good side. Of course the powerhungry way of the house is not new, except Telvanni everyone else has it!

 

The Ashlanders also worship Nerevar. Since they are the only one who call you that way; the houses call you Hortator.

 

What houses, what whorships?

Yes, Redoran and Indoril worship the Tribunal. Telvanni do not worship anyone (their reach the dwarven smartness and just like the last one thay become atheists). Hlaalu will worship whoever has more power (economical) or money. This proves they worship only one god...Kaching. Dres is little known but i think they do worship the Tribunal.

 

The foreigners all follow the Imperial Shrine.

 

Also there are some dumners (and not only) who are fet up with the "false gods" (these are they telling the Tribunal is, which obviously is a lie) and form a revolutionar group known as Dissident priest.

 

All 6th House followers bielive in the Tribunal butfollow Dagoth. ~beware there are not 5 but 6 houses~

 

And some follow the Daedra (beware most are antisocial).