Two Theories on the Left-Handed Eles

The Left Handed Elves are one of the several races on Nirn who almost nothing are known about. In doing research I have come across two theories about who they were and they both have enough merit that I decided to just present them both to you.

Theory One: They are the Descendants of Vivec

To begin with we must assume the LHE were not a splinter of the Aldmer like the other races of Mer are. It seems strange that they would leave the Starry Heart for Yokuda in order to build a Tower there. Tamriel is the most mythically important place in TES lore and so going away from it seems to be counter-productive. That is if it’s from an Elvish standpoint. I think the Yokudans may have built Orichalc but that’s not for this post. Anyway, it seems strange for an Elvish race to leave Tamriel to build a Tower and so I believe that they were not an original split from Aldmer and their genesis lies in the Muatra (get your ShittyTeslore jokes in now).

In the Sermons Vivec writes

They came to the west where the black men dwelt. For a year they studied under their sword saints and then for another Vivec taught them the virtue of the little reward. Vivec chose a king for a wife and made another race of monsters which ended up destroying the west completely.

This is confirmed in his Sword Meeting where he is named Ansu-Gurleht and is called the greatest pupil of the Ansu. What is most important here though is that the race he spawns with the kings of Yokuda ends up “destroying” the continent. One of the main theories of why the Pankratosword was used was in a war against the LHE. We also see in the Sword Meeting a description of statues that are thought to be kings but then dismissed as women because they are pregnant.

Those kings, they aren’t Dunmer, they’re Raga. No, they’re women, see. All of them is with child.

These are also right outside the temple to Ansu-Gurleht, or Vivec. So Vivec spawned a race of elves by impregnating Yokudan kings. Cool. But, when he fights Cyrus, he fights with his left hand

Vivec then drew his own sword, slow yet perfectly, whipping around to angle it to his left.

To his left does not mean he stood like this but like this, also I’m sorry for the incredibly corny stock photo. Now just because he did doesn’t mean all of his children would but he is the greatest swordsman to ever walk Nirn. So great that the Yokudans built a temple to him. Why wouldn’t his descendants try to emulate that. This would then mean that they would be very close or identical to Chimer in appearance or even a mix of Chimer and Yokudan.

Theory Two: There were no Left-Handed Elves

Mhmm. No LHE. Let’s start with the fact that they only source that concretely calls them the Left Handed elves is Varieties of Faith. That’s it. No where else is the word elf or elves used. They are called Left Handers or something else like that, but the e word is oddly absent. And that’s because they weren’t elves. They were a separate group of Yokudans who fought with their left hands. Let’s head back to the Sword Meeting with Vivec where Cyrus picks up his sword after absorbing knowledge from a memory stone placed under his pillow by the Ansu. Due to the obsession with swordplay in Redguard culture it is not unreasonable to assume that they all fight with their right hand. Or both at once. You learn swordplay from a master and you emulate them as closely as possible. Yokudan fighting has very little room for “natural feeling” or making things up as you go. It is very regimented and choreographed. Look at the Meeting again where very strict motions are taught, not instincts or improvisation

Bellguard down, over, hold. The Bone Shaver. Strike at 80 grams, any degree but this one. The Ephemeral Feint. Breathe in and then forget the breath; you cannot replace it until he is down, to fight as if dead: second principle of pneumansu. The Vectoring Cygnet. Arm out, knee down, coal on the teeth to hide your smile. The Pankratosword, but this is forbidden. Arc the bones that otherwise cannot bend. The Threat of Mirrors. Using the Math Athlete, you could occur several places during a single duel, illustrious and sure. Paint fake eyes all over your face and then hide your real ones among them; the opponent can no longer read where you look. The Premeditated Modesty. The Fingers-Knife serves as five, protecting your cardinal points and your central theory; five thrusts, spaced microseconds apart, like tapping the desk bored, waiting for morning bread.

During the high point of Yokudan affluence there would have been several different schools of war with different leaders and masters having slightly different philosophies of war and styles. One of these was to fight with your left hand.

One of the other theories (and the one I find more probably) was that the Pankratosword was used in a civil war either by a spiteful group of Ansei or in order to defeat an “evil” Empire. Evil is subjective and no matter which way it is viewed it was a fairly renegade group of Ansei. It is also not unreasonable to think that these could have been Ansei who fought with their left hands, I mean especially considering that the pankratosword is a left handed move. This also goes further to explain why no one would fight left handed, the Pankratosword is forbidden so why not avoid teaching people to even use that hand?

So, where did elf come from? From contact with other Tamriellic races. The Ra’Gada came to the shores of Hammerfell and after an awkward getting to know each other phase started trading with other races. Naturally stories are shared and the description of bad people or even demons who fought with their left hand and then talk of Towers made those who heard these stories think of them as Elves. It wouldn’t be strange for a Yokudan merchant to say those who destroyed their homeland were not like him. They weren’t after all. They fought different, followed a different ideology and were part of a different political group.

So there are my theories. Thank you for the read and as always I welcome any and all input, questions and criticism.