Dragon Priests as Totemic Representatives

There are, in base Skyrim, 8 named Dragon Priests plus a single unclaimed mask (Konahrik). The Dragon Priests were the heads of the Dragon Cult, and answered only to the Dragons themselves.

We know basically nothing, from a practical standpoint, on the actual religion of the Dragon Cult-era Nords. They worshipped dragons, yeah, but they also retained some semblance of the totemic religion from Atmora (hence totems on all of the puzzles locks). Also, the “dead” gods like Stuhn and Tsun were still venerated as bears and whales appear in the puzzle locks.

I have an hypothesis, a sort of model of how I head cannon their religion as working. There’s zero “evidence” in game to support this, it’s just an idea that occurred to me that I liked and have been working with.

Basically: the totemic divines of the Atmoran religion were still venerated, but Dragons were venerated above all others, just as dragons are feared above all other animals. Each dragon priest would, thus, be the representative-on-Nirn of a specific totem. Basically, that totem’s connection to the people of Nirn, representing that totemic god to the early Nords, and subservient to the Dragons.

As such, each Dragon Priest was given a title, an enchanted Mask, and a kingdom befitting their totem. Importantly, we have no idea what gender any of the dragon priests were. They’re skeletons now, after all.

Below are my first passes at assigning each Dragon Priest to their totem, arranged by how strong I think the connection is. Each of these assignments are highly debatable, but I’ll present them as a given here and folks can discuss below which ones make sense (if any) and which don’t. One useful thing to do would be to look at the totems on the dragon claws in each priest’s dungeons and at the inscriptions on the word walls for clues, which I haven’t done.

Alduin the Dragon represented himself.

Ysmir (Talos) the Dragonborn didn’t exist yet. However, the Dragon Cult luckily made an unclaimed mask, Konahriik. I think the Dragon Cult knew a Dragonborn god would eventually come into being, and had a mask ready for a Priest to one day claim. This was likely what Miraak would have likely claimed, had he not become the representative of Herma-Mora (see below). Incidentally, the ghostly dragon priest summoned by the Mask of the Dragonborn could be a representative of Shor's ghost...

Herma-Mora the Woodland Man was represented by Miraak. I doubt that was the original intent of the Dragons who raised Miraak up, but I think that one’s the most solid.

Jhunal the Owl was represented by Morokei, Glorious. I put these two together given Morokei’s dominion over Bromjunaar and possession of the Staff of Magnus. His mask is enchanted to be very mage-y. Arguably he could be Magnus, but Magnus doesn’t have a totem, so it’s unclear if early Nords venerated him.

Orkey the Snake was represented by Otar the Mad. Orkey is a testing god, a symbol of strife, and Otar is the only dragon priest who was definitely sealed away by contemporaries (the two Draugr warlords who, apparently, overthrew him).

Kyne the Hawk was represented by Volsung, “Horrific Air”. Volsung is the only dragon priest who is both entombed outside and has a city. Also, Volsung’s mask has enchantments that all relate to breath (water breathing, speech, and stamina).

Mara the Wolf was represented by Krosis, Sorrow. Mara is Kyne’s shieldmaiden, and Krosis is the only dragon priest entombed outside and without a city, so it’s possible that Krosis in life lived alongside Volsung. Also, “sorrow” could be a motherly attribute.

Stuhn the Whale was represented by Hevnoraak, Brutal. Taking prisoners of war is pretty brutal business.

Tsun the Bear was represented by Nahkriin. This is entirely because Nahkriin was charged with guarding Sovngarde which, y’know, is very Tsun-y.

Maloch the god of the Orcs was represented by Rahgot, Rage. Rahgot was the last surviving Dragon Priest, and Maloch was probably the last addition to the pantheon. Also, being the last surviving Priest, Rahgot was something of an outcast. Maloch is a testing god like Orkey, and Rahgot slew all of his/her followers in a ritual poisoning. Also Rage is a pretty Maloch-y name.

Dibella the Moth was represented by Vokun. Only because there’s one totem and one dragon priest left. Vokun’s also associated in the game with a quest involving a scroll. It’s not an elder scroll, mind, but moths and scrolls are linked in TES lore. As I said at the beginning, the ones at the top are the assignments I have the most confidence in, so Dibella and Shor (see below again) are the two I have least confidence in.

This just leaves Shor the Fox represented by the early Nords themselves. I’m guessing the religion set up by Alduin did not recognize Shor with a specific Priest, and so Shor may have simply been the “god of the masses”.

I went back-and-forth with Miraak having been "intended" to represent Shor the Fox or Ysmir the Dragonborn. Rebelling against Alduin is a pretty damn Shor-y thing to have done, but I can't imagine he was intended to be Shor's representative in the Dragon Cult religion (why would Alduin want a representative of his #1 enemy? but then, why would he want a representative of Tsun...).

That said, if Miraak was supposed to be Shor, and betrayed his position to "become" Herma Mora, that would make Vahlok specifically going after him quite sensible. One could imagine that Miraak (Shor) and Vahlok (Tsun) were incredibly close before Miraak's fall, giving their ultimate duel a cool poetic nature. A fallen priest fighting against the shield-thane he betrayed.

I didn't include any of the other Solstheim priests because they may well have been a heretical order unaffiliated with the broader Dragon Cult, and so could either 1) not represent any totem or 2) be duplicates. Basically, I don't think they were "raised up" by Alduin or the Dragon Cult hierarchy specifically, so I don't think they played a role in the religion of early (non-Solstheim) Nords.