He is a.. cloud? where you got that info ?
and if he really is a cloud i doubt we will fight him

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4OYGjUrdllo/SUM8qT-yRJI/AAAAAAAANao/iQwAZoMc6_U/s1600/3102269717_1e707314af.jpg.

lol

Aedra are the perfect expression of stasis and change, especially Alduin or Akatosh. Representing the flow of time, he is literally the static presence of change. The Aedra are no longer gods in the biggest sense of the word. They are bound to Nirn; in one creation myth the gods are actually described as planets that crashed into each other and formed Nirn. Each one of these planets has it's own spiritual essence attached to the most basic forces of nature, stasis and change. This spiritual essence is tied to Nirn and is heavily influenced by the less intelligent spirits, Men and Mer. How they interact with the world depends upon their belief in them. Some gods are more powerful, because they represent a much stronger part of stasis and change that can't be ignored by Nirn's inhabitants. Now, the physical form they take on would most likely depend on what the majority of people believe their form to be. Because of Alduin's strong association with dragons, his physical form would most likely be that of a dragon, a very large dragon. I kind of doubt that he would be big enough to physically swallow the world, this is probably in some spiritual/magical sense involving some kind of Ritual that reverses the static flow of time, bringing everything back to the creation. I think that the dragons return so that people fear his presence, this fear would make him much more powerful than he ever has been. The reason why Nirn needs to be reborn is unclear, but it's been speculated that as time goes on, Men and Mer continue to recognize their divine nature and increase their sphere of influence. This results in the gods becoming less powerful, dwindling towards non-existence, and in order to stop this process they need to reverse it, or change it back. This is something only Akatosh can do, being the god of time, but there's a process by which this must occur, and I think that's what we'll be learning in Skyrim. It's really going to be the climix to everything we've done in the past games.

I really love the lore behind this, because it's fun to tie a lot of these ideas back into our own world's religious and mythical views regarding the world and our place in it. Even though it's entirely fictitious, we can still learn a lot of things from it.

Can't..tell..if..serious..

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/dawn-era

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/morrowind-annotated-anuad

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/pocket-guide-nature-places-not-here

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/cosmology

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/more-about-aedra-daedra

I challenge you to take your commentary to the Lore forum, where they'll be more than willing to point to more in-game stuff and developer quotes that talk about this stuff in greater detail. This is what I dredged up by spending five minutes on the Imperial Library. Oh, and before you start on how some of that stuff isn't from game books, Michael Kirkbride is responsible for a huge amount of TES lore. He wrote the 36 Lessons of Vivec and is very heavily involved in Skyrim's writing.

I asked for links and sources, you provided. Good job.
You'll get no argument from me. :goodjob:

alduin and akatosh are one in the same. next question?

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Shor#Shor

It's true, some of this is pretty speculative, but it's all based off of in-game material that tries to find connections between the different creation myths and make a bigger picture of what's actually going on.

Yeah, the question is what does Alduin look like.

or maybe Akatosh needs to "eat the world' and recreate it in order to prevent something very evil from happening, and this could be the main quest for TES:VI :hubbahubba:

Nordic religion is based around the Aedra, and Lorkhan was one of the most important Aedra in which he helped Akatosh create Nirn. so ya he exists, and yes alduin eats universes in intervals to cycle existence, but Lorkhan's the original creator.

I was asking what he looks like, not if he and Akatosh are the same

From what I gander, the consensus is that the time god is preventing mortals from knowing and realizing too much. Basically, he wants to prevent Numidiuming, CHIMing, and all other attempts at reaching I, or something, not some evil being from reemerging. The gods themselves are interpreted differently as is. The time god is bad to the nords, good to the elves, and vice verse with the space god (Shor/Shezarr/Lorkhan). To the mer, Lorkhan is the ultimate evil, and they want the world to go boom to go back to "The Dawn." In fact, Mankar's beliefs are not too far off from most mainstream altmer, it's just that he wanted to use MD instead of Auriel as the liberator.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s37/AkatoshsServent/ScreenShot49.jpg?t=1241885788...you know a 100 foot tall flaming dragon

Considering the last 4 heroes of Nirn made the events that allowed TES V to happen, I'd imagine the dragonborn with screw something up...

Although it's highly unlikely that he'll appear in the game, I'll be happy if Tosh Raka at least gets a significant mention in skyrim.

Lorkhan exists in the Nordic Pantheon, but his name to them is Shor or Sheezar. He has had a number of avatars, like Gregasaurus said, among them Ysmir and Pelinal Whitestrake.

The Five Songs of King Wulfarth and Sheezar and The Divines goes into deeper explanation of Lorkhan/Shor/Shezzar and how they are all the same being.

"the Devil of Dagoth (Dagoth Ur) had not lied, the heart of Shor, who in Redasyn (Morrowind) is Lorkhan was indeed beneath Red Mountain etc."

Most of what he says is supported in the abbreviated Anuad.

Alduin presumably looks like Akatosh, but bigger and meaner. So, a planet-sized stompy dragon made of light. Hopefully we can ride it.

What does he look like? Like a physical or spiritual form? It's very likely that all aedra are spiritual if one is, but then again the aedra are probably just as physical as the daedra.

I read somewhere that the aedra is the land or nature, but because I cannot find where to quote it I'm probably misinterpreting it all together.

i always thought he was the dragon in the announcement/teaser trailer,

Well, the only time an aedroth has appeared in physical form within a game is the one time in Oblivion (aside from avatars). I can think of no examples from lore, except perhaps from the Dawn. You are correct that aedra are more 'natural' (I really can't be bothered finding sources right now), but they are not all equally passive or bound to the land. So, your guess is probably as good as anyone's.