Aedra cannot exist on the surface of Mundus as their true selves without severely screwing up its reality with their very presence, so the Alduin seen in Skyrim can't be the actual Alduin. It also doesn't help that the Aedra are dead, as far as gods can go, reduced to more of a subconcious reflex of existence.

I think the Alduin seen in Skyrim is a dragon who has mantled Alduin, out of the subconcious need for the Nordic Aspect to devour the world and bring about the next Kalpa. The Aedra need to take an avatar to manifest on Mundus and that is what Alduin is, an avatar. He has not fully mantled yet and is so not fully divine, but is still partly a mundane dragon which is why he is able to be thrown forward in time by the Elder Scroll. It wouldn't make sense for something that is fully time itself to be thrown forward in itself. Alduin needs to feed upon the souls in Sovngarde to further his divinity by further walking the way of Alduin.

Alduin claims to be the firstborn of Akatosh, the first fragmented part that became a regular dragon, because he fully believes that he is Alduin, because he is. He was not so much of a mundane dragon that he could be defeated on Mundus, but neither was he so divine that he couldn't be defeated in Sovngarde where his soul is drained back into Aetherius.

As he was thrown forward in time and the Kalpa extended, his mirror-brother who seeked to extend the Kalpa forever spited him further by breaking him back into time just as the last fragment of Akatosh was born into a mortal body to create the last Dragonborn who was to crush the half-divine Alduin from the mortal plane and destroy the cycle.


Does what I'm saying actually make any sense, or have I just grossly mis-interpreted lore here?

I agree. The Alduin we encounter is merely an avatar, a vessel. His true form is a black hole with teeth.

Avatars and mantling are two different ballgames. Avatars are already partly-divine as an aspect of a god, capable of fantastic deeds, though they can also be unassuming (Wulfharth would be an example of the former, while Wulf would be an example of the latter). On the other hand, mantling is a walking way by which mortals can achieve divinity. I think Alduin is as he was presented; the World-Eater broken and diminished by casting aside his assigned role and aspiring to be a conqueror instead. By defeating him, we set his soul free from the mortal prison he created for himself, allowing him to one day return and end the kalpa as was foretold.

The Nine cannot manifest on Nirn without being an Avatar, but some Aedra can. Morihaus and Umaril both walked Tamriel without any issues. In a sense, Alduin was not unlike them, only of a greater creational gradient level, unable to be harmed by mortals without Dragonrend. In fact, he is/was probably one of the most divine of beings able to freely walk or fly across Tamriel.