Lyg's nine oceans as an allegory to Dante's Inferno

In the Mythic Dawn commentaries, the dreughs were said to have ruled the "nineteen and nine and nine oceans" of Lyg during what is seemingly the Dawn Era. Let’s ignore 19 for now and focus on the two 9s. The number 9 is significant in Elder Scrolls lore for being the number of the divines (plus Lorkhan/Talos) and the number of Tamriel’s provinces.

Lyg is speculated to be an early design document of what would eventually become Tamriel during the early days of Bethesda, which seems to be hinted at in this obscure text by MK. Lyg is said to be one of the Adjacent Places, described by Vivec as being an “illusion of the vocal or the middle realms of thought.” The general idea seems to be that Lyg was one account of the creation of Tamriel during the Dawn Era that split off into an alternate universe.

What does this have to do with Dante’s Inferno? I believe Lyg had nine provinces, just like Tamriel, and each is a reference to one of the nine circles of hell. The most obvious reference to Dante’s Inferno is the city of Malbioge, mentioned twice in the commentaries, which is similar in name to Malebolge, the 8th circle of hell in Inferno. Malebolge is the circle devoted to Fraud.

>Answers are liberations, where the slaves of Malbioge that came to know Numantia cast down their jailer king, Maztiak, which the Xarxes Mysterium calls the Arkayn. Maztiak, whose carcass was dragged through the streets by his own bone-walkers and whose flesh was opened on rocks thereon and those angels who loved him no longer did drink from his honeyed ichors screaming "Let all know free will and do as they will!"

>…

>Under the mires, Malbioge was thrown down, that old City of Chains, slaked in newbone-warmth and set Free.

The first paragraph sounds suspiciously similar to another account of the Dawn Era, where Lorkhan is cast down by Trinimac in front of his followers, the armies of men.

>Auriel could not save Altmora, the Elder Wood, and it was lost to Men. They were chased south and east to Old Ehlnofey, and Lorkhan was close behind. He shattered that land into many. Finally Trinimac, Auriel's greatest knight, knocked Lorkhan down in front of his army and reached in with more than hands to take his Heart. He was undone. The Men dragged Lorkhan's body away and swore blood vengeance on the heirs of Auriel for all time.

Maztiak is called the “Arkayn,” obviously a reference to Arkay, god of life and death. This leads me to believe that Maztiak is not Arkay himself but somebody who is heavily associated with life and death, such as Lorkhan. According to many Aldmeri legends, Lorkhan was said to have tricked the other divine spirits into the creation of Nirn which caused them to become trapped in the cycle of life and death, aka mortality. In this way, Maztiak/Lorkhan committed fraud by manipulating other spirits with false promises, which is why he is referred to as a “jailer king.” From Mankar’s point of view, Mundus is a material prison and the mortals are its prisoners. Malbioge is possibly Lyg’s central province, the seat of power for the Maztiak, just as Cyrodiil is the seat of power for Talos on Tamriel.

It's also worth mentioning that Malebolge is described to be a series of pits, and Mankar says in the commentaries "Nothing but woe for NRN which has become The Pit and seven curses on its Dreugh, the Vermae NI-MOHK!" The Pit could also be a reference to Peryite.

Unfortunately, the rest of Lyg’s provinces are far less detailed and we know virtually nothing about them, save for Horma-Gile. It’s name seems to be a corruption of Herma-Mora, Daedric Prince of tide and fates. Mora was said to be the thrown-away ideas used to create Mortality in the Dawn Era, and the dreughs are said to have existed when the Aurbis was a tidal ocean with “left behind ideas.” Morrowind’s Vvardenfell was said to be “Hermaeus Mora-shaped” in a developer interview, so it’s possible Horma-Gile is Lyg’s version of Morrowind. However, which circle of hell Mora’s sphere could correspond to I’m unsure of, if it even corresponds to any specific one.

The other nine oceans could be a reference to Dante’s Paradiso, as there are nine spheres, most of which correspond to planets. Remember that in the Dawn Era spirits are also worlds, and such is the case for the Aedra, who became the other planets of mundus. The nineteen oceans is the outlier here, since in Dante’s Purgatorio there are only seven terraces. Still, it would be interesting if Lyg’s provinces symbolized hell, which would fit Mankar’s view of Mundus as a material prison.

I’m by no means an expert on 14th century literature, so I hope someone more knowledgeable than me can make more sense of this.