The Forbidden Theory: The Definitive Dwarf-Orc Argument Part I - Xarxinimorcay
The Forbidden Theory: The Definitive Dwarf-Orc Argument
The central thesis of the Dwarf-Orc Theory is that the story of Boethiah eating Trinimac - the Orcish origin story - is in fact the story of Red Mountain. Boethiah represents the Chimer, and Trinimac the Dwemer. Whatever happened to the Dwemer is multi-fold, that is it includes multiple outcomes as befitting a dragon break. Malacath, also known as Mauloch, is Dumac Dwarf-King transformed along with some portion of his people. Any other details are irrelevant to the thesis. For example, some Dwarves might not have become Orcs. Also, just because this event was the focus of the dragon break doesn’t mean that there weren’t Orcs prior to the event according to some calendars.
This theory is not simply a reaction to the phrase “Dumalacath Dwarf-Orc” with some intent to craft an outlandish idea for the sake of weirdness. The exegesis of the theory lies in a critical examination of the overall meaning of the Trinimac transformation myth according to various clear textual hints left in plain sight in the Red Mountain accounts.
Part I: Xarxinimorcay An Examination of The Divine Scribe
One aspect of the Trinimac story which is unquestioned is the notion that Malacath the Daedric Prince of Scourned and God-King of Orcs was once the God Trinimac. There is a connection between these two.
In the Nordic tradition, Orcs are considered a traditional foe. Their God, Orkey, plays an important role in Nordic myth. One might therefore draw a link between Orkey and Trinimac, if one assumes this being is the same Orc-God as Malacath.
However, Orkey in Nordic tradition is considered to be more aligned with Arkay.
First, who is this Nordic Orkey?
>Orkey (Old Knocker): A loan-god of the Nords, who seem to have taken up his worship during Aldmeri rule of Atmora. Nords believe they once lived as long as Elves until Orkey appeared; through heathen trickery, he fooled them into a bargain that 'bound them to the count of winters'. At one time, legends say, Nords only had a lifespan of six years due to Orkey's foul magic. Shor showed up, though, and, through unknown means, removed the curse, throwing most of it onto the nearby Orcs.
-Varieties of Faith in The Empire
>God of mortality, Orkey combines aspects of Mauloch and Arkay. He is a "loan-god" for the Nords...
We also hear about him here:
>The third song of King Wulfharth tells of his death. Orkey, an enemy god, had always tried to ruin the Nords, even in Atmora where he stole their years away. Seeing the strength of King Wulfharth, Orkey summoned the ghost of Alduin Time-Eater again. Nearly every Nord was eaten down to six years old. Boy Wulfharth pleaded to Shor, the dead Chieftain of the Gods, to help his people. Shor's own ghost then fought the Time-Eater on the spirit plane, as he did at the beginning of time, and he won, and Orkey's folk, the Orcs, were ruined.
This alone doesn’t definitively link Mauloch with Arkay, but it implies a connection. One might say that Orkey is simply a Nordic mistake, but matters of the divine are rarely just cultural accidents. Even so, the case isn’t made, only implied. Why would it be implied?
Who is Arkay?
In the Cyrodiilic system, the God of the Cycle of Life and Death. There is a specific parable concerning a shopkeeper that studied so many mysteries only to realize that they pertained to life and death and then before his death Mara gave him charge over life and death. (Ark'ay, the God of Birth and Death). This is reconciled when Arkay is compared to Tu’whacca.
Tu’whacca-
>Yokudan god of souls. Tu'whacca, before the creation of the world, was the god of Nobody Really Cares. When Tall Papa undertook the creation of the Walkabout, Tu'whacca found a purpose; he became the caretaker of the Far Shores, and continues to help Redguards find their way into the afterlife. His cult is sometimes associated with Arkay in the more cosmopolitan regions of Hammerfell, and he is often worshiped in that name by Forebears.
Varieties of Faith, The Forebears
The link to Arkay is strengthened by Lady Cinnabar of Taneth-
>...We begin with Xarxes, as his worship, at least as recorded in written history, predates that of both Arkay and Tu'whacca. An Elven deity who records the life-stories of all the races of Aldmeri, Xarxes appears in multiple creation or origin stories, many of which are inconsistent with each other. While some of these origins may be "false," their multiplicity may also merely be a reflection of Xarxes' many-fold nature...
>...In the two most common origin myths, Xarxes appears either as Auri-El's scribe, recording events at his side since the beginning of time, or as a Merethic Aldmeri priest of Auri-El who was elevated to divinity by the higher deity. The latter story is consistent with the High Elves' conceit that they are directly descended from the Aedra, and can, in certain miraculous circumstances, apotheosize and re-ascend to godly status. For the Altmer, Xarxes records not just the life stories of individual Elves, but all the connections of lineage and heritance that bind them together and link them to their ancestors. As nothing is more important to an Altmer than his or her ancestry, it is easy to understand Xarxes' paramount role in defining and maintaining status and stability in Summerset society...
>...To come to the point, I believe I may well finally have enough evidence to confirm Sedulus' speculative "Theory of Arkayn Convergence." Most of my readers will doubtless be familiar with Sedulus' proposal that the Arkay of the Eight Divines is, in origin, a fusion of aspects of the Elven deity Xarxes with those of the primal Atmoran death-god Orkey. My new translation of the Death-Song and its (formerly ill-understood) "plea for soul-guidance" passages make it clear that the psychopomp being addressed possesses attributes of both the Elven and Atmoran deities. And, once the proper vowel-shift is applied, what is the name of this god? "To-Arcka." Which brings us, inevitably, to the Yokudan deity Tu'whacca. How long he was worshiped in that name by the human tribes of Yokuda is now unknowable, as all our race's records were lost in the cataclysm that sank the archipelago. But as even old Phrastus had the wits to note, it cannot be a coincidence that Tu'whacca performs the same functions for the Redguards that Arkay and Xarxes do for Tamrielic Men and Mer. Are these gods really separate and distinct deities, or are they all aspects of the same deity, worshiped under different names in different cultures?
This overview of these Gods reveals the following, very clear, pattern:
Xarxes, Auri-El’s scribe, in his pursuit of deep mysteries, unlocks the secrets of the cycle of life and death. He then, in the new world which now has mortality, becomes the mortals’ god.
There are important conclusions that can be drawn from this. First, what does it mean to be Auri-El’s scribe? To answer this, the nature of reality pre-Dawn pre-Second Creation must be understood. Second, in what way does the Chief Anuaic’s record keeper become a keeper of mortal life and death in the post-Convention disaster that is Mundus and mortality? The universe changed in a very significant way because of ‘Convention’. How would Xarxes have changed?
Finally, as keeper of the secrets of life and death, what is the specific connection between Arkay and the ‘Far Shores’. Though this is a sensible role for a mortality god, it seems to have grander connotation than merely keeping the dead in their dream-sleep. Moreover, if Arkay is a fusion of Orkey the death-god, and Xarxes, what does that mean?
And why are Orcs connected to this story?
On a final note, we must acknowledge that the Yokudans worship this “To’Arka”, and we know for a fact that they come from a previous Kalpa.
The Altmeri ‘ancestors’ are in fact something different than what a mortal would reckon.
Thus, we see a number of significant Gods: Arkay, Orkey, Malacath, Trinimac, Xarxes, Tu'Whacca; which all exist in the same orbit. Xarxes/Arkay/Tu'Whacca are clearly linked. Trinimac and Malacath are as well. Orkey is the wild card, relating to either Malacath or Arkay. Or perhaps both? We will understand why in the end.
In Part II, the nature of existence prior to convention will be examined.