Research into Skaal Religion

Addressed to: Georges Devereau, Chief Scholar, Imperial Geographical Society

Concerning: Recent research into the religion of the Skaal

14^th of Frost Fall

Honourable Chief Scholar,

I write to you yet again. This time, however, I will not bore you with a obscure theory of mine, instead giving you the results of my research into the religious practises of the Skaal people of Solstheim, as ordered. I, my department, and a lost Dunmer scholar I found making my way back to the Imperial City were very interested and enthusiastic about the results (knowing the history of my department, this does not say much).

Solstheim will appear slightly familiar to the avid traveller, as it appears very similar to the north of Skyrim. After some days of hiking through the snow and forests, we found the Skaal village in the high north of the island. Surprisingly, the Skaal were very hospitable to me and my assistants, and we were allowed to speak with the Chief and the Shaman, as they call their spiritual leader. We were treated fairly by them, and they shared whatever few they have.

The first thing we set out to do was collecting the local myths. I have to say, the Shaman was of great help to us, and understood our purpose, and was forgiving to our ignorance in the ways of the Skaal.

While the Skaal are ethnic Nords, they, at first sight, do not share anything with the culture of the Nords of Skyrim. Instead of worshipping the Aedra or Daedra, like anyone on the mainland does, they worship just one god, which they call the All-Maker. the All-Maker is responsible for the creation of all and everything. Since the All-Maker is responsible for all that happens with the Skaal (their view of the world does not extend outside of Solstheim), and is, in effect, nature itself, the Skaal view nature as sacred. As a result, they are relatively peaceful, and will only kill out of necessity. This extends to not only internal or external conflict, but also to hunting and woodcutting.

The All-Maker is not alone though, as there is another alone standing deity, the Adversary. This Demon-spirit is responsible for all bad that happens to the Skaal. The All-Maker is almost always powerful enough to combat the Adversary, although barely at times.

The next step for us was to draw conclusions from this information. This was a hard task, but I hope the information will be reliable enough.

Seeing the unique role of the All-Maker, it will be very hard to identify him. It is commonly believed that the All-Maker does not represent an Aedra, or all Aedra at once, but Anu itself, with the Adversary playing the role of Padomay, being the anti-pole of the All-Maker. This theory is mainly based upon the fact that Skaal culture is very conservative, and that the status quo is seen as the best possible status. In short, the Skaal worship Stasis, resenting Change.

While there is certainly something to say for this theory, I believe that it is based upon a misunderstanding of Skaal culture. While the Skaal are indeed conservative, they also seem to have developed some form of moral duality. They attribute all positive things to the All-Maker, while all negative events are the work of the Adversary. With this duality in mind, I would like to propose another identity for these two beings, a identity that finds itself on a very different level than our understanding of the forces and beings present in our world.

I propose that the All-Maker and the adversary do not represent any known being, but purely the concepts of Good and Evil. I base this of multiple points, which I will detail hereafter.

Firstly, I wish to debunk the Anu-Padomay theory, to make way for a revised thesis. The main fact I base this of, is the fact that the Skaal see life as a positive thing (like most races of man do). As we know, Lorkhan was a strong Padomaic force. Seeing that he would be incorporated in the identity of the All-Maker does not add up to the theory that the All-Maker is Anu, or a purely Anuic force.

Secondly, I wish to point out the strong link the Skaal make between the All-Maker and all positive things and events in their society. As stated earlier, the Skaal see the All-Maker as purely good, and the Adversary as purely evil. It is not a far stretch to consider these two beings to be the (might I add: mortal) concepts of Good and Evil.

Finally, another curious fact would be that there are no divine forces recognised beside the All-Maker and the Adversary, or they are seen as a subgradient of these two forces. This is fitting with the moral duality theory, as there is morally nothing besides Good and Evil (some might argue neutrality, but I see this as a lack of good or evil, and not a force or state in itself). Without the need of anything besides these two primal forces, they will not develop a third deity.

And with this I will conclude my letter. It is very curious that the religion of the Skaal is so vastly different from the religions we see on the Mainland. I believe that we should study the Skaal more closely, as they seem somewhat neglected in scholarary circles. I hope this letter will enlighten you, and I hope this will spark further discussion and research.

Warmest regards,

Marcus Flavi, Researcher, Anthropological Department, Imperial Geographical Society