Lovecraft and all the stories that came after his death has had a profound effect on modern pop and non-pop culture. You can’t swing your arm without hitting something that has been influenced by Lovecraft at least on some level. But let’s be honest here, I was really surprised the other day (well, a few weeks ago) when I stumbled on a forum post (link and names withheld for privacy’s sake) where someone mentioned that Hermaeus Mora in Dragonborn seemed very influenced by Lovecraft. I think my jaw hit the ground right around that point in an “Are you flipping kidding me?!”
For a series called The Elder Scrolls.
The. Elder. Scrolls. Uh, right.
Fact is, the entire damn series screams out to be considered an extension of the greater Lovecraftian works based in, if not another universe, then at least another part of the same universe. We have no idea what the “Outer Realms” in Tamriel mean, after all.
Now, from anyone who has actually read Lovecraft, this might be “Yeah, big deal. I see it too/agree blah blah blah.” Actually, I have never read Lovecraft and I don’t think I’d be a big fan if I did, but I have read up on it. I find the concepts behind the stories fascinating, but also rather frightening. I’ve mostly pursued TV Tropes in the middle of research for my own stories, just so I could get the general gist of what people were talking about when they mentioned Eldritch Abominations. If I, a complete layman save for meta-info and definitions, when it comes to anything Lovecraft, can see all of the connections in TES, there’s got to be something to it. Let’s explore.
Before I really start here, let’s define a few terms.
Lovecraft/Lovecraftian: I use this term to encompass the entire works spawned by H. P. Lovecraft’s original mythos.
Derleth Mythos: specific to works that came after Lovecraft’s death, notably August Derleth’s stories.
Tamrielic Lore: the mythos spawned by The Elder Scrolls video game series and now includes a variety of works. Not the in-game book of that name.
The Gods of Tamriel
There have been attempts at categorizing this fictional group of beings, and Phillip A. Schreffler argues that by carefully scrutinizing Lovecraft’s writings a workable framework emerges that outlines the entire “pantheon” – from the unreachable “Outer Ones” (e.g. Azathoth, who apparently occupies the centre of the universe) and “Great Old Ones” (e.g. Cthulhu, imprisoned on Earth in the sunken city of R’lyeh) to the lesser castes (the lowly slave shoggoths and the Mi-go).
— Wikipedia
Let’s talk about the Aedra for a moment. Unreachable, unknowable, unable to actually walk the world of Tamriel. Sleepers of supposedly benevolent disposition and divine power who went into retirement after creating the world. It sounds a lot like the Elder Gods in the latter Derleth mythos, who act as opposing and balancing force to the Great Old Ones of the same era, considered to be the “Good” forces in the universe and rarely, if ever, stir to interfere in the struggles between men and the Great Old ones.
The Aedra in Tamrielic lore are considered “ancestor spirits” by the mer and “creators” by the humans. The legends have it that the Aedra gave up parts of their essence to form the “Earthbones” of Nirn, and can actually be killed as a consequence of creation. They are unable to actively interfere in Nirn or do more than bless those mortals who follow and worship them. They are very susceptible to the mortal perception of them and have even been changed due to it.
Interestingly, another book you can find in-game tells a different story of the Creation myth of Nirn as Anu and Padomay creating Nir, and Nir preferring Anu, created many different worlds with him, and in jealousy, Padomay destroying Nir (Creation), leading Anu to fight with his brother Padomay and then attempt to salvage Creation by merging all the different worlds into one. Supposedly, the blood from that battle became the Spirits, both Aedric due to the mixing of Anu and Padomay’s blood, and Daedric, who sprung only from Padomay’s.
What is compelling to me is that there are actually planets in Mundus named the same as the eight Aedra. While the mortals living on Nirn, particularly the Dwemer, who advanced the science of astronomy considerably, could have named them thus, it poses an interesting theory of what if it was meant literally, and all the Creation myths are true? That the Aedric spirits in physical form were other planets, and literally gave up parts of themselves to form the planet Nirn. The reference to the Aedra being from a mix of Anu and Padomay’s blood could be a reference to Nir herself, possibly being made from both Anu and Padomay. Of course, the Creation myths in The Elder Scrolls are extremely confusing, but I could see this. In a world where you are granted blessings from constellations where stars are supposedly created by lesser spirits breaking from Mundus into Atherius, why not get blessings from planet-divines? Other evidence supports this, if you read through the lore on the UESP wiki, and some in-game books make allusions that this is technically the case, but then again, there’s about a dozen different creation myths in Tamrielic Lore.
Personally, I think they’re all true. Even the ones that are not. Especially the ones that are not.
Anyway, digressing is getting off track, and I hadn’t meant to start out on my own theories, but there is plenty of evidence so far to support the connection to Lovecraftian lore with just the Aedra. Aetherius, the plane in which the Aedra dwell after the creation of Nirn, also has a connection to Lovecraftian lore where some authors, wishing to apply elemental connections, coined the term aethyr to distinguish from mundane every day elements. It’s not that strong of a connection, and Aether is more likely to be the contributing factor here, but still, thought I should mention it.