Elder Scrolls Lore » Discussions


Lore Article: The Shezarrine

  • Member
    March 25, 2015

    Fascinating and interesting. Lorkhan always was my favorite of all the rest Aedras.

  • Member
    April 30, 2015

    So, on the whole Shezzarine malarkey, I know of Pelinal saying its blasphemy (But considering the guy went on murderous rampages, almost wiped out a race unaflliated with the Ayleids, and thought Akatosh was watching him watching Akatosh), but, are there any sources on this. Also, are Shezarr and Shor the same?

  • Member
    April 30, 2015

    It's a funny thing but the whole concept of a Shezarrine, indeed the very word itself, only appears in lore that one time in The Song of Pelinal.

    It's one of those things where once the seed of an idea has been planted, the lore community works to understand what the word means and how it fits into lore. It's even funnier still because Pelinal rejects the idea, as you said. So we end up with the ES lore equivalent of asking Bruce Wayne if he's Batman.

    The concept is solid, though. The whole idea that Lorkhan embodies and is doomed to wander Nirn appears in too many creation myths for it to be nonsense. Figures such as Ysmir who never really made sense suddenly become clear when looked at through the Shezarrine lens.

    The Shezarrine idea also throws Akatosh into the mix because it finally merges the two gods. So was it Pelinal at Al-Esh's deathbed? Or was it Shor? Or was it Akatosh? In the end it really doesn't matter and that is what a Shezarrine is. This is the biggest reason why some believe the Dovahkiin is a Shezarrine - he/she is as much akin to Akatosh as to Lorkhan. Factor in the fact that the game allows (encourages) the player to be completely insane and suddenly people reckon every Player Character in a TES game is one. 

    As for Shor and Shezarr you're basically right. Shezarr was a concept added to Alessia's pantheon to appease the Nords who helped her win against the Ayleids. It is the "spirit behind all human undertaking" and is similar enough to Shor to keep them happy. So you can use Lorkhan, Shor, Shezarr pretty much interchangeably in basic questions, but the names are important when dealing with race-specific myths.

  • Member
    April 30, 2015

    That does make sense, I mean, since Akatosh's mind breaks with every Dragon Break, its no surprise any of the avatars of one of his Nordic counterpart (Alduin? But he is Akatosh's son bu admission, though, maybe the Aedra see it differently, and he is moreso an incarnation of avatar)'s brethren would be bonkers

  • Tom
    Member
    April 30, 2015

    Akatosh, remember, was created by the Alessian Order. Akatosh was the Elven Auriel, until his elven qualities were excised and replaced with mannish ones.

    Go back even further, and the entire split between men and mer comes down to whose side they chose at the beginning of the world. Elves followed Auriel, Men followed Lorkhan.

    The Mahrukati Selective, part of the Alessian Order, basically combined Auriel and Lorkhan into a new being named Akatosh. The symbolism is strongest in the Dragon. What is a dragon but a winged serpent? Auriel's iconography is the eagle, Lorkhan's is the serpent.

    This is why, I think, the Dragonborn and Shezzarine are so similar. The Dragonborn is modeled after the Shezzarine. And because of Auriel's connections with Time, these changes were always true.

  • June 16, 2015

    I've seen this term used in Dragon's Dogma.