So before we knew who the Amaranth was, most of us assumed that the universe of the Elder Scrolls was in fact derived from a Godhead figure that split into Anu/Padomay which split into Anuiel/Sithis which split into Lorkhan/Akatosh which split into various aedra/daedra/ which then gave rise to the Mundus and the various things found on it.

With the revelation that Anu is the Amaranth, we now know that the universe that all the games have been set in is in fact part of a dream of Anu the Amaranth, whose mind in fact must have undergone this process for the TES universe to even exist.

So what I'm having trouble reconciling is the real universe, the one outside of Anu's dream. How much do we know about it and is it the same as the universe that we know, except its the real one while ours is not?

How does the Annotated Annuad fit in with this story, which claims that when Nir was killed Anu retreated into the sun and slept (which is technically when our universe should have been formed...? or not...?) but he awoke to fight Padomay who had sundered the twelve worlds of creation. It was then that they were combined into Nirn to save what was left of them, but the annuad deliberately says that Anu awoke to do fight Padomay...

So... are the events of the Annuad actually taking place in Anu's dream too??? As in, he reenacted his going to sleep in the sun or something? Where does this fit in, and how much do we know about the universe outside of Anu's dream... do the twelve worlds of creation actually still exist outside of the dream or not?

Ugh, sooo confused!

What seems reliable to me:

1) There was a dream before this dream. Anu was in it, birthed by a different Godhead.

2) Anu went catatonic in the sun because of the loss of Nir.

3) Anu dreamed the Aurbis as we know it, including himself as a character in his own dream. His awakening to fight Padomay is probably part of this, I'd think.

It's hard to say what is and isn't accurate about the previous dream - it may be accurately presented in the Anuad (which is like a distant memory of the way things were), or Anu may have edited his memories to make it 'better.' For example, maybe Anu caused the death of Nir himself, but in his catatonia he splits off that negative aspect of himself and remembers it as his Other, Padomay.

Dunno about the twelve worlds.

Also, the dreams are equally 'real.'

So we may be in danger of some sort of infinite regress of dreams... Our universe is Anu's dream, his universe is the Godhead's dream... the Godhead could be part of a still yet larger entity?

Back when we thought the Amaranth had to have been a mortal, we were always thoroughly confused about what it meant when the Annuad made mention of Anu "hiding in the sun" before the Sun was even around. Could it be that Padomay actually won in the real universe? He destroyed Nir and the worlds of creation? Anu's dream is a self-correcting one, he wants them to still exist so he reenacted the whole thing in his dream with the difference being he wins against Padomay and manages to salvage the wreckage of creation into Nirn.

Perhaps Landfall or the waking of the dreamer is Padomay trying to interfere with the last thing Anu has left, his dream?

I should also point out that the original godhead might not even exist anymore. MK phrased it as Anu stealing or taking over the dream from the original godhead. I'm inclined to think of Padomay - at least Dream-Padomay - as "shadow" aspects of Anu (in Jungian terms). The parts of his mind he disassociates from himself. As Din said, that's why Padomay is slapped with the blame for what happened to Nir and Creation. And that's at least part of why dissociation, subgradience, and weird identity problems are fundamental to Aurbical metaphysics. That's the foundation of why the enantiomorph is such a powerful pattern. That's why the king and rebel are the same person.