Dedra and Aedra???

curiousssness

Daedra are the gods of oblivion and Aedra are the gods of nirn, as far as i know thats really the only difference. (oh, and the reson why there called that is because aedra is alyied for "ancestor" and daedra is "not ancestor", becasue those snooty high elves just LOVE the idea of being descended from gods )

http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15282

Everything you said is about correct, except that Aedra is a general elven word and not just Ayleid, and Daedra among the Dunmer mean "our better, stronger ancestors."

Holy [censored], I must say now i was realy impressed of your lore knowlegde :thumbsup:

Edit: I see this may could bee taken ironic, however it's not it's just my silly english

And aedra can only create things that don't exist, daedra can only change things that already exist.

sooo basically exact opposites
with very similar names??

That is just mythcial sueprstition. The Aedra are bound by the creation of the world, but nontheless there are no inherent differences between Aedra and Daedra. Both are et'ada, spirits/gods (of which there is no difference). Before the creation of the world, the spirits drifted into and out of existance in the Aurbis, the grey maybe between the universes two constant forces, Anu and Padomay, and there was not yet a split between them. Before the cretaion of the world there were no Daedra or Aedra, merely et'ada.

Those spirits that took part in the creation of the world were then called Aedra. Those who did not and created own realms in Oblivion were called Daedra. And then there are those who fled creation or were not part of the wheel (Mundus [incl. Nirn]+Oblivion+Aetherius) toi begin with. Those are sometimes called Mnemoli or STar Orphans.

Thats the only difference between Aedra and Daedra: The Aedra particpated in world creation, hence "Our ancestors". The Daedra did not, hence "not our ancestors" (the Dunmer turned this around, of course, but they meant a mythical-spirtual meaning of ancestors). Of the Aedra, some became the Eight Divines, some became the Earth Bones (the personified laws of nature, sometimes worshipped as gods, too) and some merely became mortal, being the true ancestros of men and mer (at least, thats the Elven view on it, but even for the men there doesnt seem to be a true "gods create humans" myth, so the Elven view seems correct to me).

Sometimes, all et'ada aligned with Anu are called Aedra, and all et'ada aligned with Padomay are called Daedra. Oblivion, as meta-realm, surely is Padomay-aligned, and so seem to be all Daedric Princes. But Lorkhan, OTOH, was Padomay-aligned, yet the central character in the creation of the world, so must be counted as Aedroth.


No, tehre ar eno exact opposites. There is no polarity - Aedra are not Angels and Daedra not demons. Only a technical definition split going back to the creation of the world.

They're not exact opposites. They are mutually exclusive designations. As all Aedra and Daedra together are the et'Ada. The creation of Nirn is the only fundamental thing that sets them apart so they actually have allot of similarity.

The mutual exclusion only holds if you use the strict, Altmeri definition of Ancestor, Not-Ancestor. Though as a definition that doesn't hold very well. The Nords see Shor as their ancestor, but the Altmer would never consider him one of their ancestors.

So generally people use it to mean the Aedra and Lorkhan.

So aside from the Aedra and Lorkhan and Daedra there also are the Mnemnolia. Anu aligned spirits that did not participate in the creation of World.

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I'm getting slow.

Susano covered it in depth but I've a cent or two to add.




They are not polar opposites like angels & demons or any of that (although even then, if demons are fallen angels, er, hm, whatever).



The Aedra helped create the world. This weakened them and they realized quickly they risked mortality.
The Aedra Magnus, for example - what is left of him in Tamriel is what mortals manipulate as magic.

The Daedra did not submit themselves to any such experiments hence they are truly immortal.



The Altmer make a difference between the two because they claim divine descent from the Aedra - when the Aedra lost their "godhood", when it was "tainted" in making the earthly realm, they gradually had less and less power in their descendants. Think of Greek mythology - Gaia & Uranus were the entire Heavens & Earth. Their children, the Titans were entire categories of such (Helios the Sun, Oceanus the Ocean, etc). The third generation, the Gods were even weaker - Poseidon ruled the sea, but Oceanus is the Sea. Apollo was associated with the sun but Helios is the sun. The divinities seem less all-encompassing, less all-powerful, more specific, more "niched" as you go down, until some are even slayable or monsters or demi-gods.

For this loss of power, the Altmer view Lorkhan as a malevolent trickster, a rogue god who tricked the Aedra into giving up the divine for earthliness. If not for him, they reason, the Altmer would also be like the Aedra, eternal and all powerful. Men - having no claim to innate magic - don't claim divine descent and so are happy to simply exist.







It is worth noting that the Aedra - due to either their weakness, or their transcendental relationship with creation - usually need Champions. They don't spend a lot of time here because apparently it's draining to them. By contrast, the Daedra suffer no such weakness - they can alter things in Creation, such as when a Daedra consumed an Elven god (and thus that god's followers were transformed into Orcs), and when Azura cursed the Dunmer with their ashen skin and red eyes, or even a rumored transformation of Bosmer into Khajiit.

So Aedra and Daedra are both divine.

Aedra just operate in a more "area-of-effect" environmental nature, indirect, either as "laws of nature" or by blessing items for Champions to use.
Daedra are more singular but direct - they can actually appear before you, and often, and they have many stories of interacting with followers like individuals.

The only reason that Daedra have a bad reputation is that they did not make creation - so I suppose the laws of nature don't agree with them. Madness is not a healthy part of creation, and Sheogorrath's influence is usually negative to people; many Daedra embody concepts that are destructive and antithetical.





Think of them more like Greek mythology, less Angels & Demons. They're all divine.
Aedra are like Titans, actually making up the world (and remember Prometheus - a Titan - sculpted humanity).
Daedra are like Gods, who might control things, but they behave in a much more individual, human way.
They're all part of the same family. They just have different drives and goals.

The reaosn the Daedra have a bad reputation is that they like to meddle in creation. They take joy in further ridiculing the already fallen Aedra by trying to get hold of their creation. For said creation istelf, those attempts are mostly unpleasant, hence Daedra are seen as evil. It doesnt help either that some Daedra have very... unconstructive spheres (Mehrunes Dagon, Molag Bal, Mephala, Vaernima, Namira...). In comparision, the aspects of teh Aedric Gods are just nicer. Though also boring, which is why the Dunmer turned to worshipping Daedra instead of Aedra

Also,w hile the Aedra are restricted, so are the Daedra. They can only enter Mundus by invitation or in special circumstances, meaning they mostly need a champion, too.

And i guess, yes, Aedra and Daedra are divine in a sense of "a cretaion gradient above us" - but much more "divine" doesnt mean in TES. Hence why I prefer the more neutral term "spirits" instead of "gods"...

Then, I'll disagree to this on the idea that mortals do share baser urges with the daedra. In other words, there is a Padomaic nature that's inherent that just seems mortals are not so distant from denizens of Oblivion. I attribute it to Lorkhan, but I'm also fond of the idea that he is actually a brotha' to the rest of the Princes.