The Secret History of the Dragon Cult - Part 5

This one's a good one, ladies and gentlemen. Whilst playing Skyrim again, I accidentally stumbled onto the motherload of Dragon Cult information. Rejoice my fellow Cultists for we finally have proof!

There is a book, which exists at only one point in Skyrim, and it is stealing to take it, which might be why no-one has ever paid heed to it. I did a double take though, this time around. Just as you return after retrieving the Dragonstone, Delphine and Farengar are having a conversation about a book called the "Holding of Jarl Gjalund"

Farengar: "You see? The terminology is clearly First Era or even earlier. I'm convinced this is a copy of a much older text. Perhaps dating to just after the Dragon War. If so, I could use this to cross-reference the names with other later texts."

Right, let's just go through the information here: The Dragon War was pre-First Era, which was practically certain. Remember that the last Dragon Cultists were wiped out in 1E 139. (Skorm Snow-Strider's Journal)

The Dragon Language was transcribed and presumably remained for many years after the Dragon War.

The text itself (note that the dragon text has been automatically transliterated into the English alphabet by Reddit. The capitalised words are in Draconic):

As Witnessed by Slafknir the Scribe, so Sworn by the Old Gods and the New

Whiterun - AHROLSEDOVAH - The Jarl's Holding, with Plentiful Water and Pasturage. Home of Jorrvaskr, the Far-Famed Hall of the Companions.

Rorik's Steading - RORIKHOFKAH - A Small Farmstead in the Western Plains. Grain, Leather, Horses.

Granite Hill - QUETHSEGOL AHROL - Three Farms and an Inn, just North of the Falkreath. A Market is Held here Weekly.

H'roldan - AHROLDAN - A Spacious Wooden Hall and Pasturage, recently Seized from the Reachmen. Silver and Iron as Tribute from the Natives.

Bromjunaar - BROMJUN1R- An Old Settlement, much Reduced from Former Days. Lumber and Stone.

Korvanjund - KORVANJUND- A Small Fortified Settlement. Hides and Meat.

Volunruud - VOLUNR5D - A Fortified Wooden Hall near Giants' Gap. Meat and Worked Ivory.

Hillgrund's Steading - HILLGRUNDHOFKAH - A Large Farmstead Near the Base of the Monahven. Grain, Mead, Honey.

Now, from the text itself: "Survey of the Holdings of Jarl Gjalund" Jarls existed in the time of the Dragon Cult. "As Witnessed by Slafknir the Scribe, so Sworn by the Old Gods and the New" There was a mixed worship/respect for the Old Gods (the Dragons and the Ancient Nordic Pantheon) and the New Gods (the Eight divines). I would say that this is evidence for a gradual transition between the two. (so gradual thatpeople still worship the Ancient Nordic Pantheon in the 4th Era: Froki Whetted-Blade) A primarily non-violent transition too, it seems. After the Dragon War was won by banishing Alduin, the people stopped rebelling but they kept their religion. Perhaps this is the evidence that the Dragons weren't gods but merely masters, in contrast to the divines who are gods.

"Whiterun, Rorik's Steading, Granite Hill, H'roldan, Bromjunaar, Korvanjund, Volunruud, Hillgrund's Steading" These are the places from the survey and they all exist in the 4th Era, thus giving validity to the document. (Granite Hill is mentioned in dialogue with the steward of Falkreath and Hillgrund's Steading is Ivarstead) If you plot these on a map of Skyrim (and I have but can't upload it- request to a redditor here?) and draw the boundary, you've got one of the holds of Skyrim plotted for just post Dragon War times. Whiterun hold was at least 40% larger back then! (it was also runs up to the Northern shore of Lake Ilinalta through the mountain range to the North so it's a less elongate shape). From here and the boundaries to Skyrim itself, you can fill in the rest of the holds post Dragon War and that could give a strong indication of what they were like pre-Dragon War. (especially if you subscribe to the Church vs. State theory of the Dragon War, which you should :p )

Another point is that Bromjunaar, Korvanjund and Volunruud were all occupied post-war, not just avoided out of hand, and that they were all settlements, not just tombs/temples. They made tradeable goods, "meat","worked ivory","lumber","hides","stone". This is yet further evidence that this was a decent civilisation, not a permanent reign of terror. Note, that the Draugr can't have been constantly attacking the settlers too; you can draw your own conclusions from there.

Note well too that Hillgrund (the same Hillgrund as Hillgrund's Tomb) was an important man (but not a Jarl) who could hold land (due to his steading and tomb) and have a religious position (due to the Draugr in his tomb).

Can I request to crowdsourcing this, there's just too much to do now? Come up with theories based on the evidence in here please! (And I'm fairly sure there's another Dragon Cult breakthrough on the horizon /u/BrynjarIsenbana )

There's some text that Farengar says when you ask him about the Dragon War (can't find a direct quote - sorry guys), which basically discredits the book "The Dragon War". He's like, "Yeah, no-one really knows what caused the War, there's almost no evidence." Since he's an in game expert, rather than someone outside the game. If there were historical sources in the universe, which we didn't have access to, he would know about them.

Finally, I've recently begun wondering if the knowledge to convert someone to be a Draugr was not lost after the Dragon War. I have a suspicion, which could rewrite some of my earlier stuff, that Draugr could and were "made" post-war by people with the know-how. Am I crazy?