Was reading some info on Dagon and his origins on the UESPWiki and I found something interesting. A myth has it that Alduin ate Dagon. It made me wonder, did dragons appear before or after Daedra? More specifically, Daedric Princes. It seems your regular dragon is not close to a Daedric Prince in terms of power but would Alduin be considered more powerful than them? Also, was Daedra worship already practiced at around the time of the dragon wars? One last question, it is said that Ysgramor and the 500 came from Atmora...but what happened to Atmora? Are there still people? Why doesn't Tamriel communicate or trade with that continent?

Thank you.

Of course Alduin would be more powerful than Daedric Princes. He's the first aspect of Akatosh.

Daedra worship has been around for as long as Daedra have interacted with mortals, so yes.

Atmora is said to have become uninhabitable. It was smothered by snow and frost and became a place of permanent winter.

Dragons and Daedra appeared at relatively the same time, but they were all called "et'ada" at the time.

When Dagon was eaten, he wasn't Mehrunes, was he? He was just Dagon. The eating turned him into the Daedric Prince and gave him the Sphere of Destruction. Like Malacath, or Meridia, right?

When Dagon was eaten, he was the Leaper Demon King. He wasn't Mehrunes Dagon (or dagon) until Alduin ate him. (he wasn't among the Princes of Misrule until then either) The commentaries present a similar notion of Mehrunes' origins, with this line:

Clarify, if you don't mind: what is the distinction between the Princes of Misrule and the Daedric Royalty? Or did you simply mean to say that he was neither called Mehrunes Dagon nor counted among the Daedra at that time?

This. Alduin both names him Dagon and consigns him to Oblivion prior to eating him.

Ah, I thank you for the clarification.

This is what I don't get. Aren't Daedra supposed to be the opposite of Aedra? I thought they were just as powerful, only represented chaos, change and destruction rather than creation. You'll have to excuse me, I have much to learn on the lore but it's really confusing.

Edit: Also, I thought Daedra Princes and Aedra were gods whereas Alduin was just a poser and not a true god.

Edit 2: On the UESPwiki, it says that according to a myth, Dagon was once the Leaper Demon King and that he was at one point eaten by Alduin. According to another entry on Daedra, they are beings who did not give a part of them in the creation of Mundus, thus they retained their full power. That should logically make Dagon older than Alduin and just as old as Akatosh. The only theory I would have is that considering Alduin is called the ''World Eater'' he may have eaten the world preceding Mundus and then the Aedra created Mundus, which would give sense to Alduin eating Dagon and Dagon at one point not being a Daedric Prince. Unless the Leaper Demon King was just a lowly Daedra and not a Deadric Prince...yet.

Not as such.
In the beginning there were Anu and Padomay.
From them came the first Et'Ada, Lorkhan and Akatosh (Auri-El)
These represent time and space and got the ball rolling so to speak, and soon there were more Et'Ada.

Aedra, Daedra and Magna-Ge are all Et'Ada.
The difference is that Aedra gave (parts of) themselves in making creation, the Magna-Ge retreated to Aetherius and the Daedra are the ones that did not participate at all, but like to hang around and meddle.

When it comes to raw power, or being closest to what they originally were, those are the Daedra. Though they have limited power in the Mundus (creation).
Aedra are dead, insofar gods can be dead. They gave themselves into the Mundus.
Some became the Earthbones, the laws of nature, and some split into smaller parts and became the Ehlnofey, the first inhabitants of Tamriel.
Ehlnofey themselves had a tendency to split into smaller parts and became Aldmer, proto-Nedes, Khajiit, giants etc.

It is my understanding that the dragons in Skyrim are original Ehlnofey.
They came from the Aedra (Akatosh), but they do not reproduce or die so wouldnt be prone to become smaller, more numerous and less divine.

Wow thanks. I didn't know that. ^

The Lore of the Elder Scrolls is really interesting. How did Dagon went from Leaper Demon King(a low spirit) to Daedric Prince though? And in that case, it would make him more powerful than Alduin correct? As a Daedric Prince I mean.

Inside his own realm of Oblivion, conceivably.
Its all a bit complicated, especially when you introduce the concept of kalpa's, which basically means that time is cyclical in some fashion, and things have happened before albeit in a slightly different way.
Or perhaps time is more nested, as it is said that all previous kalpa's reside in the Dawn Era.

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/seven-fights-aldudagga of the Seven Fights of the Aldudagga deals with the Leaper Demon King becoming Dagon.
http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1249697-on-boethiahs-summoning-day seems to suggest that who is Aedra and who is Daedra shifts from kalpa to kalpa, as a sort of cosmic game of musical chairs.
There is also http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Where_Were_You_..._Dragon_Broke suggestion that the current Aedra only became so after the Middle Dawn.

It's funny how the most powerful of gods and beings in the Elder Scrolls universe are also the ones most often misinterpreted by the fans as not being gods at all.

Low spirit nuthin', Maharijj?arupasputra, for that was'is true-as-salmon name, was King of the Leaper-Demons, Elector-Prince of Crickets, Margrave of Fleas, and Lord-Protector of All Creepy Critters What Jumps High To Challenge Kyn'wrath. Already a pretty esteemed fella', I'd say, before Aldy-sore-winner made him Turnkey over that big olde ball of Kalpa-scrap what them fancy-britches AR-can-OLOGISTS call the Dead Lands. Heck, he was even made an hon'rary [censored]-Flinger by the Astral-[censored]-Flinging Monkey Devils what makes their nests on the Far, Far West of the Diminuendo.

Not really their fault. The more powerful or bigger one is, the more closer to the aspect of everything they are.
The concept of everything is so normal that it isn't felt at all. So too are the most significant given less notice.

Then you also have to consider that a lot of npcs in Skyrim like to Joor Zah Frul Alduin's eternal aspect.
And most players ignore the fact that at the end of Skyrim, Dovahkiin does not absorb Alduin's soul, like they do with normal dragons.

Indicating if anything that he is not merely just a dragon.

And most powerful "entity" is Talos, mere bunch of humans playing a mythic play of murder/sacrifice and having Brass God at their side. So in TES it's very hard to put up some power-scale based on birth, social status etc.

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/forum-archives-michael-kirkbride

Ofcourse that's based on MK's personal preferences, but it's interesting list. Not single Daedra. Well one of ehlnofey (i presume) who turned into Daedra. But Malacath ent on the list. Auri-el is only Aedra.

Wouldn't the Daedra be more powerful than Alduin, as they didn't participate in the creation and therefore didn't lose any power? (I'm not saying Alduin doesn't have more power in mundus though, because the power of the Daedra is limited there.)

Daedric Princes are way above Alduin's league.

Alduin/Akatosh are not like the other Aedra. Akatosh is the firstborn of Anu, the parallel of Lorkhan, firstborn of Padomay. They are the two most powerful gods in the universe.

Not in direct, physical power. Trinimac kicked Lorkhan's ass. Even in Nordic mythology, Shor needs bodyguards.

You're comparing who would win in a fight, a shark or a lion. The comparison is broken as the outcome is entirely dependent on the arena.

This is how I perceive it as well. Daedric Princes remain whole as they did not break themselves at Convention, but their power over the Aedric plane is limited as they have not integrated so intrinsically with its nature as the Aedra. Their power, while more complete, can only lightly touch the Arena.

This thread took an entirely different direction to what I thought after reading the title, but this might be the best place to ask my question:

What does the average dragon -think- of Daedra? If I summon a Dremora, does he hate dragons or does he feel indifferent? What are both sides opinions about each other? I'm not talking about top-level Aedra/Daedra, just the ordinary peasants.

They would probably 'know' each other on a level that the mortal standing by them would not.
Nevertheless, the more powerful/ knowledgeable you are, the less free will you have.

You can happily stomp a caterpillar if youre an ignorant human, but if youre a a benevolent and attuned to nature spriggan, you may not be able to as the famine that act causes 1000 years down the line would go against your being.
(Im making the example up, but you get the point.)

These beings understand things on a different level than we do, but in the end it doesnt change their behaviour.
The dragon will attack this dreamsleave-tendril-aspect-of-misrule because it is his nature and the daedra will attack the Ehlnofey because he is summoned and bound.

Am I wrong in saying that Dragons have the same perspective as the other natives of Nirn when it comes to relations with Daedra but with the obvious history and power that comes with being Dragons? Is their perspective any different when it comes to the subject of Daedra than those of Giants, Elves, Beast folk, etc?

Dragons would probably have an easier time dealing with dangerous Daedra but beyond that I can't see why their relationships with Daedra would be different.