The Forbidden Theory: The Definitive Dwarf-Orc Argument SUMMARIZED
As everyone knows, the theory that Orcs are transformed Dwarves is very controversial.
After first debating it a few months ago, I've finally written a definitive review of the lore and theory behind the argument. I've realized that unless you spent a long time reading each part on each day I released them, you really probably didn't catch the whole theory.
Just to make it easier for everyone, I've decided to create this post as a summary of the argument, so that you don't really have to read the other parts if you don't want to. Also, I've developed my own understanding of this theory which has evolved since I first proposed it. This represents the whole argument in its most concise, considered form. This should be my last post on this subject alone.
Here is my long version in four parts: Part I Part II Part III
Here is Part IV in three posts (to fit): A B C
And here is my short version:
The Gods and Spirits existed as 'multi-fold' beings. This means that each being inhabited multiple realities, as multiple forms, at once.
When Nirn was created, it's landscape shared this 'multi-fold' nature, where multiple realities inhabited the same lands at the same time.
This was Aldmeris; Ada-Mantia was its natural beginning, Snow-Throat its natural middle, and Red Mountain its natural ending.
At some point, perhaps as the result of many events, the realities of Nirn were consolidated into one timeline. The provinces of Tamriel are the remnants of former realities.
Some elves built towers to create realities artificially, copying Ada-Mantia. The Bosmer and Y'ffre used nature, the Green Pact, and Green-Sap to form their reality. The Altmer built Crystal-Like-Law and the idyllic Summerset Isles were the result. The Chimer sought the Heart of Lorkhan at Red Mountain. The Ayleids built White-Gold. The Khajiit had the Lunar Lattice. The Hist with the Argonians had a Mnemic Egg.
The Aldmeri were Prismatic Elves. They existed as multiple forms at once, having that 'multi-fold' nature. This existence grew more and more difficult for spirits as they grew lesser and lesser in their mortality. This is why they built or otherwise relied on towers. In one sense, the Aldmeri are nothing more than the eternal spiritual beings that followed Auri-El since the beginning of time.
Each Elf race is a product of the tower influence refracting a single form out of the multi-form Aldmeri. The Altmer claim that they alone escaped Aldmeris, and that other elves are descended from them, migrating to the various corners of Tamriel from the Summerset Isles. This is probably propaganda, since historical knowledge is pretty scarce. The one source which documents the Altmer origin theory is Before the Ages of Man, written by a guy from the second era Aldmeri Dominion who literally is titled "Sapiarch of Indoctrination". Probably, only the Altmer originated on Summerset. Everyone else refracted out of Aldmeris by the magic of towers.
Xarxes, a little-understood god, was called a scribe. It says he began as a scribe. I have theorized that because the gods are made of stories, that the art of keeping and writing narratives is equivalent to crafting material things from a mythic point of view. I assume that Xarxes might be a scribe and craftsman. One way of looking at this is taking the God Xen/Zen (Tsun/Zenithar), and combining him with Arkay. Xen'Arkay becomes Xarxes. It is later that the two aspects are separated.
I am assuming, only to fit with future events, that the "Orc" that bothered the Nords to their East in the Velothi Mountains are the People of Xarxes. People of Xarxes = Xarxians = Zorks = Orcs. This is substantiated by the confusion of Orkey, the Nordic adversary god. Orkey is either Arkay, or Malacath, and the lore specifically states that we're not sure which. Arkay/Xarxes/Tuwhacca are associated in the lore. Trinimac/Malacath are as well. In Orkey stories, we read Orc and assume Malacath. For now, I'm assuming a race of scholar/craftsmen that traditionally vex the Nords from the East.
One scholar/craftsman race that has trouble the Nords from the East is the Dwemer. They are stated to be from the Velothi Mountains. Only later did some of them migrate to Vvardenfell and found freehold cities involved with the Heart of Lorkhan. This Velothi Mountain culture is who I'm calling the "Orcs" from the stories that mention Orkey. They look very much like Dwarves however - they are still the Children of Xarxes. Note, I'm not saying they worship him, only that they are racially his mythic reflection (hence, his children, reflecting his ideology and nature).
The Chimer started out as advanced Daedra worshippers, whose society declined. It became primitive Ashlander tribes, until in the South the great houses built a culture which nevertheless didn't equal the old "High Velothi Culture".
Red Mountain represents what is supposed to be the end of the Kalpa. The Nords invading it represent the resurgent armies of men fighting to reclaim Lorkhan's heart prior to the final battle. During the final battle, Alduin will appear to defeat Lorkhan, Lorkhan will remove his heart, and a new Kalpa will commence. This final battle is also the first battle of the new cycle. Or rather, this is what is supposed to happen. The Songs of Wulfharth reflect this.
Whereas the Ayleids are Aldmeri who built White-Gold to become Ayleids, the Dwemer and the Chimer are Aldmeri who came to be because of the power of Lorkhan's Heart. The Chimer sought the Padomaic power of the Heart, the Dwemer pursued it out of scholarly interest and an obsession with the secrets of the world.
Like the Altmer, these Mer would have simply considered themselves Aldmeri. To the Dwemer, the Chimer were simply heretics, rather than a distinct race. The two of them self-refracted to the end of time together.
One myth about Arkay references an allegory of a shop-keeper obsessed with the secrets of the universe. This obsession cost him his life, but he trades his mortality in for the responsibility of overseeing life and death. I believe this is the story of Xarxes, or rather his children, and represents their complete arc. For now, one can imagine the Velothi Mountain Dwarves as similar to this shopkeeper: completely obsessed with deep knowledge. One of the few things we know of Xarxes is that he was also obsessed with knowledge, in his keeping of records, and that his wife was Oghma. The Oghma Infinium is Hermaeus Mora's tome of incredible knowledge. I'm not suggesting Hermaeus Mora was necessarily involved with the Dwarves (he obviously was with some of them). I'm suggesting that the narrative of the pursuit of forbidden knowledge ties the Dwemer to this story about Arkay.
The Freehold Dwemer of Vvardenfell discovered Lorkhan's Heart, and Kagrenac a master tonal architect developed three tools to manipulate its power. Their society debated what to do, some favoring using the heart, and others opposing it.
The Dunmer claim that the Dwemer had used the Heart of Lorkhan to gain immortality and god-like power. This is before Numdium and before their defeat. I suggest that by using the Heart of Lorkhan, the participating Dwemer achieved a collective Godhood - just like the Tribunal later did. This God, which was the Dwemer collectively, is what Trinimac is. Trinimac means son of three, and could refer to the three tools of Kagrenac.
The Secret Song of Wulfharth says Lorkhan reclaimed his heart, but Dumac, Nerevar, and Alandro Sul used Kagrenac's tools to remove it from him. In Shor Son of Shor, it is always Shor who removes his own heart using Kagrenac's tools (or something like them) and sends it into the next Kalpa. In Nirn's creation, it is Trinimac who removes Shor's heart by arcane magic. I'm suggesting that the God-Soul of the Dwemer is responsible for defeating Shor at the end of time at Red Mountain, after Shor defeated Alduin/Auri-El in the spirit plane. The story of Trinimac appears at the beginning of Nirn, however. I'm proposing that the act of defeating Shor at Red Mountain started a reverse of the Kalpic cycle. That Trinimac(The Dwemer God-Soul) now marches back in time undoing the Kalpas. Trinimac of the future gives the Heart to Auri-El of the past, each time.
19)Trinimac (People of Xarxes made divine) has an ideology of order and logic. He believes everything should have its proper place, and that cycles and motions should follow proper and predictable patterns. This matches the love of logic shared by the Dwarves, and is a harmony between narrative and craftsmanship (Xen/Arkay). It is natural that the Dwemer (like the Altmer and Ayleids really) would seek a return to the Aetherial past of the Aldmeri. The reverse of the Kalpas is fitting with their Elf nature. It is also fitting that some of them would want to take this ideology to its extreme with Numidium.
Not all the Dwemer knew of Numidium. Nerevar found out from Azura, and confronted his friend Dumac about it. Dumac was offended. Dumac did not know about Numidium and thought that Nerevar was referring to the Dwemer's general use of the Heart and its power. This suggests three distinct factions of Dwemer. First, those against using the Heart of Lorkhan in the first place due to the risks involved. These are the tradition People of Xarxes, the Orcs. Next, those who used the Heart to attain a collective divinity as Trinimac. Finally, those aligned with Kagrenac whose ambitions were even greater than what they considered to be the inadequate and offensively false goal of a return to Aetherius.
The Chimer themselves represent yet another faction, in reality, since all were of Aldmeris. These sought enlightenment by Daedra worship.
Prior to the formation of the First Council, the Dwemer - Trinimac - sought to punish the heretical Chimer for following the teachings of Veloth - Boethiah. They might have succeeded, but the First Empire of the Nords intervened, and Nerevar joined with Dumac. Trinimac became "House Dwemer" of the First Council of the Boethian Chimer. Nerevar is known to have had a magic ring that could convince people to follow him. Where once Trinimac might have punished Boethiah, Boethiah has now 'eaten' Trinimac. At Red Mountain, Dumac fights alongside Nerevar, "son of Boethiah".
Dumac was betrayed by Kagrenac, who kept secrets from him. He was betrayed by Dagoth and the Tribunal who would have the Nords overrun the Dwemer before coming to their aid. And, presumably, he was betrayed by Nerevar who would see the Dwemer destroyed rather than allow the completion of Numidium. It's very likely that those who wanted to participate in the Numidium project had already joined with it, and this is the first betrayal of Dumac. This act likely greatly weakened the Dwemer lines, since many would disappear.
One account of Red Mountain says that Nerevar and Dagoth used the tools on the Heart to separate the Dwemer from their divine power after Dumac had fallen (presumably in the battle with Shor and Wulfharth). This is the second betrayal of Dumac. One account says that after Trinimac's betrayal, Boethiah cast a ritual to scar and twist his appearance and send him to a plane of choking air and ash.
The Anticipations says that the followers of Boethiah and Trinimac rubbed the soil of Trinimac upon them to change their skins. We know for a fact that the Dunmer had a change of skin during Red Mountain. It appears that the Orsimer were created out of the same event as the Dunmer according to this text.
In two texts, Dumac is called "Dumalacath Dwarf-Orc"
The Battle of Red Mountain is associated with something called the Year of "Sun's Death" or the "Year of Winter in Summer". This is associated with Mauloch, saying Mauloch's rage caused this event in Varities of Faith.
In his burning pit of ash (Dumac's mortally wounded, discarded, betrayed, formerly part divine body left for dead in the eruption of the mountain), Mauloch cuts the shame out of his heart, and emerges reborn as Malacath. Trinimac's most devoted followers change their skin too.
Going back to Arkay, perhaps the shame of Dumac was the pride of his people and their unhealthy obsession with secret knowledge. This obsession led to Numidium, which divided the Dwemer and anti-created a great number of them. So "Xarxes" cut out his shame, "Arkay". He was left with "Xen".
It is very very well established that while Malacath is a Daedric Lord (though not accounted as such by other Daedra, befitting his realm), Mauloch might also have an Aedric aspect. That is, Mauloch is the Orsimer version of Zenithar. The Bosmer and Orsimer share a ritual site to Xen/Mauloch (craftsman's god) in Valenwood. Both Dwemer and Orsimer are master craftsmen in their own way. The Dwemer were also incredible scholars, and at one point powerful and partly divine. The worship of Mauloch as a god is something that occurs after the transformation, since Dwemer didn't worship Gods, but became divine and lived according to logic and science.
The Dwemer devoted to Dumac (Trinimac's most devoted followers) became Orsimer with him, and Dumac specifically is Mauloch God-King. This is slightly different than Malacath who is equated with the Oblivion realm of the betrayed, though Dumalacath earned a proper mantling of this realm. The Dwemer not devoted to Dumac were convinced by Kagrenac's plan involving Numidium. Any Dwarves not devoted to Dumac, who thence became Orsimer, disappeared to become the skin of Numidium. This disappearance obviously greatly weakened the Dwemer during their seminal moment during the Battle of Red Mountain, and counts as a mighty betrayal of Trinimac/Dumac.
That's the theory. Whether the "Orcs" of history prior to Red Mountain looked like Dwarves, or whether Mauloch's birth represented a dragon break which retroactively remade the souls that didn't join up with Numidium into green-skinned Orsimer - well, we don't know.
But, you can read the longer parts of the theory for a comprehensive discussion and lore sources.
Thanks everyone!
ADDED TOPICS DUE TO DISCUSSION:
u/tak-in-the-box mentioned Volendrung
True, Malacath's possession of Volendrung is hardly proof of anything. But if the Dwarf-Orc theory is true, imagine this: after his betrayal Dumalacath gathers what remains of his transformed people and they flee the Dunmer to the West. They are beset upon by Nords the whole time. They make it to Saarthal, in the unforgiving northern wastes (according to Varieties of Faith: Mauloch). The Year of Sun's Death rages on. The Nords continue to harass their old enemies, who are now desolate. The Orsimer's Vvardenfell colonies are destroyed or overrun, the Nords drive them out of the Velothi Mountains. So, they appear to go to Saarthal, but in reality are seeking Blackreach. They no longer possess their brilliance, and can't access the all the old holds under the ice and rock, nor defeat the hordes of Falmer recently liberated from their oppressors. They have to fight, to make tools and armor of unmatched quality from improvised materials. The Orsimer begin a long painful trek to the West, in order to escape the Nords once and for all. They eventually make it to Volenfell. Mauloch was hoping to reunite with the Rourken clan, figuring these potential allies surely must have survived the tragic events of Red Mountain. They arrive to find empty halls, unaware that any Dwarves not among them as Orcs were anti-created to summon Numidium. Mauloch sits upon the Rourken throne, taken Volendrung in his hands, and declares Volenfell and the halls of Rourken to be their new home. Tragically, or fittingly, the Ra Gada arrives shortly thereafter to make this people pariahs once again.
Next topic: Vvardenfell
Again, not proof of anything, but interesting: Vvardenfell = city of the strong shield. Trinimac = the strong knight. Could the Dwemer freeholds have been initially established to defend Red Mountain against Shor's Ghost? To build a defense to prevent Lorkhan from reclaiming his heart? Really would frame everything else quite nicely.