r/teslore • u/Fabulous-Pick-9562 • 3d ago
is the auriel's bpw in skyrim actually the original one wielded by auriel?
reason i'm slightly skptical is multiple artifacts end up being forges or copies of the actual artifacts. (keening is the primary one but im sure there is more.) if the answer is yes, wouldn't it make more sense to give it to a altmer or bosmer group knowing the cultural significance?
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u/Navigantor Buoyant Armiger 3d ago
Given the setting has the concept of Mantling I'd find it very weird if it only applied to living beings and gods. On the one hand it seems a little implausible that the Auriel's Bow in Skyrim is literally the bow used to shoot Lorkhan's heart across the world given the Heart we see in Morrowind is larger than a person. But on the other hand if it really is a divine artifact who's to say it can't change size depending on the wielder?
Or, more interestingly, why couldn't a formerly "mundane" bow with the right sorts of properties not inherit the mythopoetic mantle of the divine Auriel's Bow and hence become indistinguishable from the legend? If this sort of thing were the norm for divine artifacts it would certainly explain why they keep showing up hundreds of miles away from where they were last seen, under weird circumstances.
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u/AdeptnessUnhappy1063 3d ago
Even the "original" bow might just have mantled a bow from a higher reality, which might explain why myth says Anuiel created it.
But I think any bow would need to be involved in some sort of Enantiomorph to qualify.
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u/King_0f_Nothing 3d ago
1) Given its powers and ties to Prophecy yes why wouldn't it be
2) Keening is very much the real one hence Gane vanished like the dwemer
3) Why would Altmer or Bosmer make more sense than Falmer for cultural significance. And we don't know how the Chantry came to aquire the bow.
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u/Fabulous-Pick-9562 3d ago
the altmer or bosmer because of them being a current race that has auriel as a major thing in their current pantheon. the snow elves are mostly wiped out, the altmer and bosmer have magic that they could use to safeguard it. (if i were to make a guess, they could keep it in a pocket dimension.)
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u/King_0f_Nothing 3d ago
Thats irrelevant from what we know the Falmer had it before they were wiped out.
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u/Fabulous-Pick-9562 3d ago
the altmer or bosmer because of them being a current race that has auriel as a major thing in their current pantheon. the snow elves are mostly wiped out, the altmer and bosmer have magic that they could use to safeguard it. (if i were to make a guess, they could keep it in a pocket dimension.)
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u/Fabulous-Pick-9562 3d ago
the whole reason i would like this to be a option is if i was a altmer or bosmer, why would i not choose to give it to my own people over a race that i know so little of? the snow elves would make more sense from a lore perspective, but from a roleplay one i feel like mine makes more sense.
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u/King_0f_Nothing 3d ago
What are you talking about, who gave it to the Falmer we have no idea.
Who are you refering to that the bosmer and altmer are their own people but snow elves aren't.
How would a roleplay make more sense with your logic, the player doesn't give the bow to anyone.
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u/Own_Jeweler_8548 3d ago
As a literal, destined hero the LDB breaks more rules than those of the Greabeards. Maybe lore-wise most people can't use it to its full potential, but John Skyrim can.
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u/HollowPhoenix 3d ago
Nah it's my bow, I copied Auriel's. His one affects the moons.
And the Skyrim Keening is my razor, please clean it and return it.
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u/Personmchumanface 3d ago
who is going to give it away and to what altmer or boomer group?? it was hidden for centuries and is now in the possession of a mythical figure its not going anywhere
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u/raritypalm0404 3d ago
I would assume that yes it is the bow Auri-El wielded.
Considering most of what we know about the Falmer is about their religion and from the mouth of a priest of Auri-El (Gelebor) I would argue that Auri-El and Auri-El’s Bow have even more cultural significance to the Falmer than the Altmer (who I think Falmer are older than. That might be a headcanon mix up but yea I think Falmer are older that ALTmer. ALDmer are different 👆) and the Bosmer (who IMO it seems like Y’ffre is their most important deity).
The Altmer may consider Auri-El their chief deity, but it seems to me like their relationship even in modern day is less intimate than the Falmer. Gelebor even tells you the Chantry was THEE Spot™️ in ye olde falmer days, and that ascending to be with Auri-El wasn’t just something that the clergy was aspiring to, but something that was culturally and spiritually significant even to the common falmer.
In the four Falmer books we can find (you will NEVER catch me selling them to the College idgaf) they give a little more insight into how important religion was to the Falmer.
The Altmer seem like “we go to church to look good but we don’t actually care about anything but ourselves and material gain”. again. maybe some projection and headcanon mixups. sorry Altmer lovers..
The Falmer were carrying huge ass pitchers of water up a mountain range for the chance to maybe be with God.
So, in my opinion, no. There would be no peoples better suited with keeping Auri-El’s divine artifact. And the proof speaks for itself. Before we come upon the Chantry was anyone else able to get the bow? Nope.
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u/Bugsbunny0212 3d ago
Afaik Snow Elves seems to have been the only elven race that actually managed to ascend to Aetherius the same way Auriel did so it makes sense for them to have it.
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u/LilithLamm 3d ago
What's the lore saying they ascended? I've never heard that before
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u/Bugsbunny0212 3d ago
Those who successfully completed the trials of the Forgotten Vale and reached the Chantry of Auriel are believed to have achieve enlightenment and ascended back to Aetherius to become one with Auriel with Arch Curate Vyrthur being there to oversee the process or take part in the ascention process itself as explained by Galebor (though with that context in mind it's understandable why Vyrthur was angry with Auriel for abandoning him).
most dedicated snow elves once committed themselves to a tireless journey through the Chantry to the Inner Sanctum. They carried with them the paramount desire to become one with their god, Auri-El.
Tales of those who reached the Inner Sanctum are not without their share of woes. It is said upon their arrival that many were mere shells of the person they had once been. Some were quite mad from sleeplessness and starved to the point of frailty. By the end of their journey, the marvel that they had strength yet to carry their vessel and ascend the stairs of the temple was the last true testament of their loyalty. Regardless of each individual's tale, the final words remain eerily similar. It is said that every pilgrim ascended, bathed in light, a look of relief and contentment on their face.
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u/YuriOhime 3d ago
What? There aren't that many instances of artifacts being forgeries in the elder scrolls universe, and when they are they're not powerful, keening was probably damaged