#really interesting and well-researched

[aethuviel]

A comprehensive study of the Ancient Snow Elves

By Eltirions

(Picture added by myself)

Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/teslore/comments/1foensm/a_comprehensive_study_of_the_ancient_snow_elves/

Greetings! Almost two years ago I wrote a theory in this post pondering on the connections between the dragons you fight in the Forgotten Vale and the Snow Elves who lived there. Since then I’ve spent a good deal of time thinking about and researching the Snow Elves, crafting theories to fit their existence into the wider history of Tamriel. The end result is this: a collection of all the relevant knowledge I could find about these mysterious Mer and my thoughts and hypotheses about them.

So, first off I’ll quickly summarise the basic facts we know about the Snow Elves:

Their civilisation existed in and around Skyrim from somewhen in the Merethic Era to the early First Era.

They fought with the Atmorans and early Nords, eventually being defeated and almost completely exterminated by them, with the survivors either seeking shelter with the Dwemer (and turning into the modern-day Falmer) or hiding away in secret places like the Chantry of Auri-El.

The Atmorans/Nords destroyed all traces of their civilisation, to the point that we only have two confirmed sites of Snow Elf habitation remaining.

By the time of 4E 201, we only know of two Snow Elves who are still alive: Knight-Paladin Gelebor and his brother Arch-Curate Vyrthur.

What does this tell us? Not a lot. But, thankfully, we have some more information, most of which comes from conversation with the aforementioned Knight-Paladin Gelebor during Dawnguard’s main questline, where we also visit the Chantry of Auri-El and kill Arch-Curate Vyrthur. 

Gelebor is a treasure trove of information on the Snow Elves. He tells us that the Chantry he guards was built in the early First Era, that it was the greatest centre of religion for his people and that Auri-El was their chief god, while Trinimac, Syrabane, Phynaster and Jephre had smaller chantries. He calls the Snow Elf civilisation an empire, but also mentions that they only ruled a portion of Skyrim. He mentions uneasy alliances with the Dwemer and tells us that there were Snow Elves who resisted the Dwemer’s deal, but they all ended up dead, disappeared or ultimately gave in. When you meet him again after killing his brother and fighting your way through the Forgotten Vale, he mentions that he still holds out hope for hidden enclaves of his kind and that he believes the Falmer may one day become something like they once were.

This is all valuable information, and the Dawnguard DLC offers us much more. It gives us a look at Snow Elf architecture, religion and armour within the Forgotten Vale, and there are also four books added by the DLC that are records written by Snow Elves of the early First Era, which have to be decoded from their alphabet and language (more on that later). These books give us the term Ice Elves as another name for the Snow Elves, mention ‘Old Ones’ and ‘Young Ones’, it gives us an example of a method they used to reckon time, and gave us a description of what the pilgrimage through the Chantry of Auri-El was like.

Finally, let’s look at Arch-Curate Vyrthur. He was the leader of the Chantry of Auri-El, and he claims to have been able to commune with his god. This ultimately didn’t avail him from vampirism however, hence why he created the Tyranny of the Sun prophecy to defeat Auri-El. This is important: the Sun is typically ascribed to Magnus and has little to nothing to do with Auri-El (or indeed, any of Akatosh’s other aspects, as far as I know) but Snow Elf religion seems to create a connection between Auri-El and the Sun. This makes it unique amidst Tamrielic religions.

All of this information allows us to create a more complete view of the Snow Elves. Their religion has clear overlaps with Altmeri belief, but also strange differences. Their culture is also clearly divergent from the Aldmer to the point that they created their own language and alphabet, and their architecture is unique, though similar to Ayleid and older Altmer/Aldmer architecture. 

But we still don’t know many important things. Allow me to present answers, or theories, to a few of them.

When did the Snow Elf culture begin?

The Aldmer began colonising Tamriel in the middle Merethic Era. While hard dates don’t exist, I think we can estimate that the creation of Snow Elf culture happened around that time, corresponding roughly with the rise of the Ayleids in Cyrodiil. We can’t say anything conclusive without more evidence.

Where did the Snow Elves live?

Gelebor says they ruled a portion of Skyrim. Aside from the Forgotten Vale, with its entrance located in the northern Reach and the Vale itself found in the mountains between northwestern Skyrim and western High Rock, we know of one other pre-Dwemer Snow Elf settlement site: in ESO, we can visit Snow Elf ruins located under Fort Greenwall in the Rift. Skorm Snow-Strider’s Journal, found in Forelhost in Skyrim and dating to 1E 139, also mentions King Harald fighting Snow Elves around Lake Honnith (an older name for Lake Honrich, the lake Riften lies on) and the eastern Rift. Finally, though they aren’t settlement sites, we know that the Snow Elves’ last true battle was fought on Solstheim in the Moesring Mountains, indicating that they had some settlement there (although no Falmer are found anywhere on Solstheim during Skyrim or Bloodmoon); and that according to the book Songs of the Return, Vol 7, the entirety of the Whiterun plain was uninhabited by the Snow Elves due to fear of the Skyforge, which predates Elven settlement in Skyrim. It also mentions that when the Companions went south from Saarthal, they found many Elves who they all slew, indicating settlement through Winterhold and Eastmarch. 

Put on a map, this forms a very strangely-shaped realm, though perhaps not if we consider that the Snow Elves seem to prefer colder climates. I would theorise that they inhabited the northern part of the country, including the northern parts of the Reach (and perhaps westwards into High Rock as well), Haafingar, Hjaalmarch, the Pale, Winterhold (minus Saarthal, naturally), down to Eastmarch and the Rift, and of course the island of Solstheim, though it was apparently shared with the Nords (perhaps the ancestors of the Skaal). This would leave Whiterun empty and the rest of the Reach and Falkreath open to others, perhaps Nedes and Orcs. An interesting note is that neither Falkreath nor Whiterun contain any Dwemer ruins either.

Who ruled the Snow Elves?

It’s hard to say. The Snow Prince, famous for being so good at killing Nords they gave him an honourable burial, is the best example of a race-wide leader we have, and Gelebor explicitly calls their civilisation an empire. The Snow Prince himself was widely recognised as the last hope for his race by the time of the Battle of the Moesring, so perhaps he was the descendant of a line of rulers. We can’t say much else. We do know, from antiquities found in ESO, that he had a throne.

Speaking of ESO, I already mentioned the ruins under Fort Greenwall, but ESO has several other pieces of content related to the Snow Elves. During the quest The Rise of Sage Svari we see a flashback where several Snow Elf warriors attack the sons of Ysgramor; these are ghosts, however, and are identical to High Elves, using High Elf gear and models. We can also find two other antiquities (a system of archaeology added by the Greymoor Chapter DLC), namely the Font of Auri-El, a shrine-like house furnishing that is described as distinct from the architecture of other Mer; and the Snow Treaders, a pair of enchanted and masterfully crafted boots. The Antiquarian Circle’s notes on the parts needed to create the latter item confirm that Auri-El occupied a special place in Snow Elf religion, that the Snow Elves had some collaboration with the Dwemer and were skilled craftsmen themselves, that they bred a type of tree called a snow-cedar and used its wood as a crafting material, and that they also used animal products such as snowy sabre cat fur in their clothes. It’s not much, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Let’s get back to some theorising, hm? I already mentioned that the Snow Elves’ pantheon featured Auri-El as chief of the pantheon, though with an unique focus on the Sun; their other gods we know of for certain are Trinimac (who likely served as the patron of the Paladins Gelebor is a part of), Syrabane, Phynaster and Jephre. This is interesting for a couple of reasons. Auri-El and Trinimac are staples of virtually all Elven pantheons, but Syrabane and Phynaster are continually referred to as Altmer, who were raised to godhood after their lives. In Syrabane’s case especially, he shows up around 1E 2200, far beyond the early First Era when the chantries were supposedly built. Phynaster is a traveller god and not officially considered a member of the Altmeri pantheon. Other members of the Altmeri pantheon such as Magnus, Mara, Stendarr, Xarxes and Anu(iel) go unmentioned. Ignoring this strangeness (perhaps Syrabane is much older than we know; he is known as an extremely skilled mage, after all), we see that the Snow Elf pantheon is unique. 

We can see from the wayshrines of the Forgotten Vale that the Snow Elves were skilled mages which would explain Syrabane’s presence (but makes Magnus’ absence all the more strange). Phynaster is a wayfarer god who also taught Altmer to lengthen their lives; this connects well with Gelebor, who is one of the oldest living individuals in the setting that is not a vampire or a lich. Perhaps the first Snow Elves were devotees of Phynaster and further developed his techniques for long lifespans. Finally, there is Jephre, better known as Y’ffre elsewhere in Tamriel. He is the god of nature, and Snow Elf reverence for him is presumably based in the beauty of Skyrim’s nature. 

If we look at the Chantry of Auri-El, we see that those who wished to enter the Chantry to seek enlightenment had to go on a pilgrimage, carrying an ewer of water which they would gradually fill as they passed by several wayshrines on their way to the Chantry itself. This process is described as arduous, and many were known to fail, which was considered disgraceful, while those who succeeded were rewarded with some form of enlightenment. The Chantry is one of the most impressive religious buildings seen across all the games, and Gelebor claims it was the greatest of the ones the Snow Elves built. And it was built in the First Era, after Ysgramor had returned and begun his extermination war on the Snow Elves. Snow Elf society must have been truly dedicated to religion to complete such a structure in a time of war and strife. And yet, while it is a grand structure, I wouldn’t call it ostentatious. The Chantry is beautiful, sure, but it isn’t richly decorated (except for the gold everywhere) and everything seems more built for function than for aesthetics.

All of this evidence leads me to believe that the beginning of the Snow Elves as a group distinct from other Mer lies in their spirituality: they came to Skyrim in order to distance themselves from the affairs of other Mer. They gave primacy to several gods of the Altmeri pantheon, namely Phynaster (who, as a god of travellers, wayfarers and pilgrims, would have appealed to them), Jephre, Syrabane (who I still can’t explain properly), Trinimac and Auri-El, who they gave Magnus’ connection with the Sun as well. They focused very much on enlightenment, perhaps to ascend in a similar manner as the Altmer seek to. This focus on spirituality would also explain why, despite being described as a great civilisation, the Snow Elves were so thoroughly defeated by the Atmorans/Nords.

Phew. Now that I’ve touched on all of that, I want to muse on a few things before the end. One of these is the original topic of my post about the Forgotten Vale: what is the connection between the Dragons and the Snow Elves? Mind you that the entirety of Alduin’s rule over Skyrim, including the Dragon War, happens between the Night of Tears and the fall of the Forgotten Vale. The connections between dragons and Akatosh is obvious, but it doesn’t seem to feature at all in Snow Elf (or indeed any Mer) religion - with one possible exception of a dragon's head being depicted on the chest piece of the Ancient Falmer armour, but I think that's a stretch. As I mentioned in my Forgotten Vale post, there’s a strong possibility that the Snow Elves of the Chantry had a good relationship with the dragons slumbering in the lake there (especially after the Dragon War, when both were being hunted by the Nords) and that their presence explains how the Forgotten Vale remained safe. While I touched on it in the post, I now think that Vyrthur (who, it stands to reason, could communicate properly with the dragons thanks to his connection to Auri-El) purposefully kept the dragons (who were sleeping at the time) from waking up, which might also explain why the lake is frozen over; we see in the Chantry that Vyrthur is a skilled frost mage. The dragons only awaken when the player comes by because they sense a fellow dragon soul. But I digress.

Another thing to consider is the Night of Tears. It’s commonly speculated that the true reason for the Snow Elf assault on Saarthal was that they knew the Atmorans had found the Eye of Magnus and feared its power; this gains new meaning when we realise that Magnus himself receives no mention in Snow Elf religion, whilst they are undoubtedly a people of great magical skill. When we consider that the Snow Elves considered the Sun to be Auri-El’s gateway to Nirn, and that they possessed both his Bow and Shield, one has to wonder what would have happened had they obtained the Eye and used the Bow on it. 

A final curiosity is the Great Statue of Irkngthand, which you might remember from the second-to-last Thieves Guild quest in Skyrim. It’s a magnificent statue built in secret by the Snow Elves after being enslaved by the Dwemer, so it seems that even while enslaved and (partially) blinded they were capable of creating great works. Most interesting.

I think that, for now, I’ve covered everything I could find on the Snow Elves. I’ve not worked in theories about the Ice Tribes of TES Travels: Dawnstar’s connection to the Snow Elves or mentions of Arena’s Laintar Dale settlement being built on top of a Snow Elf settlement, due to the dubious canonicity of either source. I’ve also passed on mentioning the Falmer as we know and love them, perhaps I’ll reserve that for a future post (just who or what is Xrib, hm?). 

If I’ve missed anything of relevance, please do let me know: I’ll happily talk about it or add it to the post. And I do apologise if this document is a bit of a mess; I’ve done my best to make it somehow cohesive, but it was all written in one burst of inspiration and my mind wanders a lot when writing. All that said, please let me know what you think, and maybe in two years I’ll have another post talking about the mysterious Snow Elves.

[canisalbus]

doodled your little guys!!! I have so many thoughts about them. As someone who lives in Italy it has been absolutely wonderful seeing your characters express the country's culture and history!!! It's not often that I see characters be based off Italian history in such an artistic manner.. But that might be me living under a rock, LOL. Anyhow, keep doing what you do, YOU ROCK!!!!

.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

hope you feel better soon!

I am riddled with ailments, but I stay silly!

[fatehbaz]

weekly navel-gazing update: this week is most consequential event in long time. keyword search: "scared" "is it ok to be scared" "beaten and tortured by the ogre"

[fafodill]

So someone asked me for Snape headcanons regarding food/drinks and oh boi is it even more complex than I originaly thought haha

Like I need to do some research on what he might have eaten as a child before he went to Hogwarts to really be able to construct a logic around his life's eating habit. So if anyone knows where to find resources about the poor working-class eating habits in 1960 in (central?) Great Britain... I'm interested.

All of that for a man who's skin and bones hahaha

Or I can get myself out of this and just say : he never eats. He just drinks potion supplements thrice a day and that's it. He runs on vitamins, coffee and spite.

[sleeplesssoporific]

OKAY, HEAR ME OUT!!! NIE MINGJUE AS A FU DOG. They're "lion-dogs", with the male ones emitting yang energy, which represents strength and warding off evil. It SCREAMS the man to me, but of course it is such a suggestion. OR A XIEZHI, a mix between a unicorn and dragon which can apparently decipher between right and wrong, and wipe out the wicked by biting and goring them - which is so Nie Mingjue core. Nie Huaisang, could be a Fenghuang, a bird-type creature who, while representing love between and a husband and a wife, is said to "appear during the good times and disappear when trouble arises" in some traditions. If that's not him I don't know what is (once again just a suggestion, be free)

WAIT OKAY IM SEEING THE VISION-

As much as I like the imagery of Nie Mingjue being a big ass lion-dog, THE XIEZHI ONE IS SO FUNNY TO ME

The resource that I read specified that they will just full on murder and stab any corrupt officials and that is so on brand for me. So I think I want to go with that... I'll mess with the design later on today because SUPPOSEDLY they're goat or ox like... but also all the depictions of them do NOT look like that.

I was going to make Nie Huaisang just like... a more chill version of whatever Nie Mingjue was, like make him a little more animal than mythical, but the idea of him appearing during the good times and nopeing out during the bad times is also really really funny. Especially when it's not just a character trait but actually like... an assumed instinct??? It fits in with his character so well. I can just imagine the arguments with his brother about it...

also the connection to birds!! I like that.

[sailorsun546]

I still can't believe this is a real animal, somehow.

[parasitoidism]

Famitsu Magazine feature for Devilman (PSX, 2000)

Famitsu PS, July 23 1999 issue

[ignatiusteto]

i think sacred music in the kryn dynasty would be very cyclical and repetitive in form to symbolize the idea that life is a continuous thing (at least those who are consecuted right right) and is a cycle across lifetimes and yeah

[lucky-draws]

a few of the latest pages from my sketchbook .... 🌿

[artifeast]

Holzmann (and a Margot I thought I'd throw in) catified! Thanks for the ask!

My designs aren't really specific breeds per se, but Holzmann is certainly inspired by Oriental Shorthairs. They just feel very him

[servuscallidus]

I never liked Melanie as a person but was very intrigued by her as a character, since she's as deep and well written as any other on the show, (until fandom made me hate her). I'd forgotten though that the dislike was immediate + from her first appearance we get to know one of her most fundamental (and insufferable) traits, that is that she does exactly what Jon does, worse-ish* even, but she thinks she's better than him because, well, because it's her and she just is. Which will come back full force later on to such wonderful effects

[puckpocketed]

reading fic and there’s an NHL mention . i forgot that hockey does exist and is a cultural staple in places and ooh okay can i be mad that this person is talking about a hiatus (10 day strike, first of its kind in NHL history) that didn’t happen until 1992 or a lockout that didn’t happen until 1994-95. like what do you MEAN the date is february 1990 and the NHL isn’t going yea it fucking IS i checked !!!!!!

[thedreamsofgalaxies]

Since my earlier professor jayvik rant has been living in my head for few days, I just wanna share how I view they'd act as professors.

Viktor is very kind to his students and helps them out the best he can. He answers questions patiently and falls into long rants because of small innocent questions. He tries to do his best to make the students actually understand the subject, encourage them, and give them opportunities to shine.

However, Vik would be awful at actually understanding how other people think. Even though he thinks he's helping, a lot of the time he just makes everything more confusing. But those bright enough to get him, would love him. Viktor would not know what to do with lazy students or those who don't care about the subject, so he just ignores their existence. Maybe at the beginning of his career he tried to ask them if he can help them in some way, but soon realized talking to them is beyond his area of expertise, and let them be.

He isn't social at all and he doesn't like lecturing; lecturing would be a mandatory evil he has to endure in order to stay employed. He likes the one-on-one sessions with the students he helps, but he doesn't feel comfortable with an audience. His lectures are strickly to the point and quite boring for those who are not already inspired. Lectures are moslty a lot of theory and no practice.

Jayce on the other hand, is all practice and little theory. He does his best to get people to care about his subject and always demonstrates things when he can. He's all bravo and amazes the students with his brillanse on daily basis. Jayce treats the lecture hall as his stage and is always ready to totally bewilder everyone. Mind you: not with his personal drama but actual science! Jayce plans his lectures to the tee and gets ready for them early. He is really proud of the reputation he's gathered around the Uni.

From his students, he appreciates ideas and imagination more than technical knowledge. He encourages them to think out side the box and always try new things, even if it would result in failure. He gives more points to students whose essays have more original deliberation rather than students with good grasp on facts and theory but no insights.

As co-workers and academics, they are also very different from each other. I suppose this part would follow the Arcane quite literally, though. Jayce is the one who knows all the faculty and is always pulled to mingle with people, even if he'd rather just do his research. The research, he is really truly passionate about, and knows it will be noticed and well-received in the academic circles. While Viktor is happy to hide way in his lab and let his curiosity run free with no pressure to socialize. He doesn't really care for the glory of academic recognition, he just does it purely out of his own interest.

They disagree about each other's teaching methods, but they still respect each other and the results. Of course Jayce is most comfortable and most himself while his in the lab with Viktor. All the show and social smiles he puts up all day tend to get to him, but with Viktor he can just let all his masks down. Vik teases him about it, but never in a hurtful way and Jayce answers to the same measure. Because guess what, that's how actual banter works (looking at some of you fic writers).

They have the most heated academic debates which spread out for weeks. It's never obvious outright fighting but subtly leaving research papers on each others' desks while bringing them a new cup of coffee. Jayce is more verbally argumentative though, while Viktor more passive aggressive, but the debates are never personal and always respectful. They often end up blowing up the lab with questionable experiments just to prove a point.

They'd make a perfect team.

[gingermintpepper]

I've seen so many interesting and fun greek myth ships over the years both divine and mortal supported by text and just for fun, and yet I fear tonight, I will be throwing my hat into the ring as a propagator of niche greek myth ships because like, no seriously how is Aristaeus/Dionysus not already thing.

[skitskatdacat63]

I drew all of my historical AU Sebs!!!!

In order they are(with relevant links to lore info if you are curious!!): Napoleonic Hussar Seb(x), Renaissance Muse Seb(x) and Boy King/Emperor Seb(x)

Let me know which you like best!!!