As I was thinking about how exactly the Aedra function in Nirn --- that is to say, are they dead and no longer sentient, or do the have minds, but are only able to interact with the world indirectly --- I began to ponder something else. The Aedra are supposed to have sacrificed part of themselves to make the "Earth Bones" or laws of nature that govern the Mundus and keep it stable. But with the exception of two --- Akatosh who governs time and Kynareth who governs air and wind --- all the Divines are associated with various kinds of mortal activity, like Zenithar with trade or Stendarr with merciful forbearance. Do these Aedra also govern, or maybe give rise to, a certain aspect of nature as well, but people just stick with the mundane associations that have to do with their everyday lives? Or is it something else completely?

You'd think so. Or at least handles a part of nature. Arkay handles the dead for instance, that's certainly an important part of life. For the rest i don't know, but I'm sure each one of them has a specific function that only they do, and which makes life and nirn what it is today.

Perhaps an answer can be found in the Nordic religion who used think they were animals. I can't remember which Aedra was represented by what animal form, but it would make sense for somebody associated with water to be a whale or something. (Hope this makes sense)

Well, Mehrunes Dagon is associated with natural disasters, Y'ffre with wildlife. Other at'Ada are Earth Bones, too, not only Aedra (and don't confuse them with the Divines). They could resemble some natural forces or human qualities or activities.

The Divines gave up their earthbones to make Mundus, so they get mortal behaviors attached to them. That much makes sense. Might be easier to find associations for Akatosh and Kynareth too. Akatosh usually represents endurance and legitimacy, order and authority and all that (very time-flavored, yes).

Actually, Kynareth might be more difficult to pin down, or more abstract. I'd guess survival, continuation, and progeny. She's the Mother of Men, afterall; she was the first to agree to Lorkhan's Plan. So she's like the desire for existence.

There's some overlap with other gods (Molag Bal is dominance, Mehrunes Dagon is natural disaster), but it's not like everyone is mutually exclusive.

I don't know about Y'ffre, but in lore, they go out of their way to make it clear that Daedric princes had no part in creating the Mundus, not wanting to cut part of themselves away from their bodies to make something completely separate. Indeed, that is why they are able to interact with the Mundus in the first place.