Dragons and Daedra

Rontabs77

It became very clear in the Elsweyr prologue that a dragon is a demon. Makes sense as a dragon is essentially a serpent. Then are the Daedra like the watchers, angelic princes? Where there are malevolent and benevolent Daedra?

Ghanima_Atreides

Ummm no. None of that is true. Dragons are not "demons", nor are they serpents. The legend in the prologue was an intentional misinterpretation of what dragons are. They are actually offshoots of Akatosh, also known as Auri-el, also known as the Dragon God of Time, who is a Divine. Because of this, they are immortal unless their soul is consumed. They are not strictly speaking evil, and dragons have been known to collaborate with mortals from time to time, but they have a strong will to dominate others and are very territorial, so often they are seen as evil.

As for Daedra...they are simply god-like entities from before Tamriel was created who did not participate in its creation, therefore not relinquishing part of their power to do so. The ones who did are the Aedra, also known as the Eight Divines. They are neither benevolent nor malevolent, but rather beyond such mortal concepts of morality, their motivations go far beyond good and evil. Given that they are quite willing to use mortals as pawns in their schemes however, most are considered evil, and even those who are seen as "less evil" (like Azura and Meridia) have been known to play the villains as well (see: Knights of the Nine the Oblivion DLC, where Meridia was the villain).

More reading, because this barely scratches the surface:

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dragons

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Daedra

ArchMikem

Demon is just the Khajiiti label for Dragons, not a literal title.

Rontabs77

Thanks @Ghanima_Atreides , that was a very comprehensive explanation and clears a lot of things for me.

bantad87

Ghanima_Atreides wrote: »

Ummm no. None of that is true. Dragons are not "demons", nor are they serpents. The legend in the prologue was an intentional misinterpretation of what dragons are. They are actually offshoots of Akatosh, also known as Auri-el, also known as the Dragon God of Time, who is a Divine. Because of this, they are immortal unless their soul is consumed. They are not strictly speaking evil, and dragons have been known to collaborate with mortals from time to time, but they have a strong will to dominate others and are very territorial, so often they are seen as evil.

As for Daedra...they are simply god-like entities from before Tamriel was created who did not participate in its creation, therefore not relinquishing part of their power to do so. The ones who did are the Aedra, also known as the Eight Divines. They are neither benevolent nor malevolent, but rather beyond such mortal concepts of morality, their motivations go far beyond good and evil. Given that they are quite willing to use mortals as pawns in their schemes however, most are considered evil, and even those who are seen as "less evil" (like Azura and Meridia) have been known to play the villains as well (see: Knights of the Nine the Oblivion DLC, where Meridia was the villain).

More reading, because this barely scratches the surface:

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dragons

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Daedra

Auriel, the Dragon God of Time, is one of the Aedra - as are the rest of the Divines. I'm not sure it has been discussed, but Mer, Men, & Dragons are likely just lesser Aedra, as they are descendants or "off-shoots" of Akatosh and Lorkhan.

So in some respects, the Daedra, Dragons, Men, and Mer are somewhat similar.

Bruccius

bantad87 wrote: »

Ghanima_Atreides wrote: »

Ummm no. None of that is true. Dragons are not "demons", nor are they serpents. The legend in the prologue was an intentional misinterpretation of what dragons are. They are actually offshoots of Akatosh, also known as Auri-el, also known as the Dragon God of Time, who is a Divine. Because of this, they are immortal unless their soul is consumed. They are not strictly speaking evil, and dragons have been known to collaborate with mortals from time to time, but they have a strong will to dominate others and are very territorial, so often they are seen as evil.

As for Daedra...they are simply god-like entities from before Tamriel was created who did not participate in its creation, therefore not relinquishing part of their power to do so. The ones who did are the Aedra, also known as the Eight Divines. They are neither benevolent nor malevolent, but rather beyond such mortal concepts of morality, their motivations go far beyond good and evil. Given that they are quite willing to use mortals as pawns in their schemes however, most are considered evil, and even those who are seen as "less evil" (like Azura and Meridia) have been known to play the villains as well (see: Knights of the Nine the Oblivion DLC, where Meridia was the villain).

More reading, because this barely scratches the surface:

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dragons

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Daedra

Auriel, the Dragon God of Time, is one of the Aedra - as are the rest of the Divines. I'm not sure it has been discussed, but Mer, Men, & Dragons are likely just lesser Aedra, as they are descendants or "off-shoots" of Akatosh and Lorkhan.

So in some respects, the Daedra, Dragons, Men, and Mer are somewhat similar.

The Aedra and the Divines are seperate things. The Eight (Nine) Divines are specifically part of the Imperial Cult, and even of the Eight, one of them is possibly not an Aedra (Arkay). Of the Nine, that's even two, considering Talos isn't an Aedra either.

But that's a different topic.

tuxon

Rontabs77 wrote: »

It became very clear in the Elsweyr prologue that a dragon is a demon.

What a hell man??? Elsweyr hasn't been released yet, and you write something like this on a forum. That's called spoiler

What a n'wah...

VaranisArano

tuxon wrote: »

Rontabs77 wrote: »

It became very clear in the Elsweyr prologue that a dragon is a demon.

What a hell man??? Elsweyr hasn't been released yet, and you write something like this on a forum. That's called spoiler

What a n'wah...

The prologue quest is already Live and has been for a while...

Rontabs77

tuxon wrote: »

Rontabs77 wrote: »

It became very clear in the Elsweyr prologue that a dragon is a demon.

What a hell man??? Elsweyr hasn't been released yet, and you write something like this on a forum. That's called spoiler

What a n'wah...

Ah, apologies @tuxon . That info is revealed when you do the prologue quest, which has been available for a while already.

Thanks for clarifying things @VaranisArano

LennoxPoodle

Ghanima_Atreides wrote: »

Ummm no. None of that is true. Dragons are not "demons", nor are they serpents. The legend in the prologue was an intentional misinterpretation of what dragons are. They are actually offshoots of Akatosh, also known as Auri-el, also known as the Dragon God of Time, who is a Divine. Because of this, they are immortal unless their soul is consumed. They are not strictly speaking evil, and dragons have been known to collaborate with mortals from time to time, but they have a strong will to dominate others and are very territorial, so often they are seen as evil.

As for Daedra...they are simply god-like entities from before Tamriel was created who did not participate in its creation, therefore not relinquishing part of their power to do so. The ones who did are the Aedra, also known as the Eight Divines. They are neither benevolent nor malevolent, but rather beyond such mortal concepts of morality, their motivations go far beyond good and evil. Given that they are quite willing to use mortals as pawns in their schemes however, most are considered evil, and even those who are seen as "less evil" (like Azura and Meridia) have been known to play the villains as well (see: Knights of the Nine the Oblivion DLC, where Meridia was the villain).

More reading, because this barely scratches the surface:

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dragons

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Daedra

I think there are far more aedra than those who are part of the eight. The Magna-Ge and Ehlnofey are supposed to be quite numerous. There also could be quite a large amount of lesser Aedra being in a state similar to the divines, be it at a lower level.

Back to topic, as it was already, the dragons are creatures of Akatosh the god of time and chief deity of many Pantheons. So they are even more angelic than demonic, although both terms are ill fitting. As the eventual bringers of the apocalypse (according to prophecy), they even represent a pretty important aspect of time. Funnily enough the elven Auri-El version of Akatosh seems to not at all be affiliated with Dragons. Makes sense I guess, these guys are all about eternity and such. Mortality really isn't their cup of tea and dragons are more affiliated with human history after all.

Kelces

On the question about benevolent Daedra, I would suggest the book "Aedra and Daedra"