[230922]Skyrim's Moons Hide a Dark Secret

https://gamerant.com/skyrim-moons-dark-secret-gods-mundus-theory/
The different cultures and races in Skyrim have different opinions of how its two moons were created, with one theory being particularly tragic.


Every game in The Elder Scrolls franchise is steeped in rich lore. This lore ranges from major events like wars to complex astrological subjects like the two moons in Skyrim and prior games. A great thing about TES lore is that it feels somewhat organic because there can be different explanations and interpretations of an event, depending on which culture or race one asks. Each has its own interpretation of why there are two moons orbiting their planet, and how those celestial bodies came to be.

Most of The Elder Scrolls’ settings are located in Tamriel, a vast continent on the planet of Nirn. Its provinces include the eponymous Skyrim and Morrowind, as well as Cyrodiil, Black Marsh, Elsweyr, Hammerfell, High Rock, Valenwood, and The Summerset Isles. This world is known as the plane where the mortal races live and is located in the realm known as Mundus, which is shared by other Aedric planets like Akatosh, Mara, and Dibella. Nirn also has two moons, universally known as Masser and Secunda, orbiting it. These two have origins that connect directly to the creation of Mundus itself.

The Possibly Eerie Origin of Skyrim’s Two Moons


When the player looks up at night in Skyrim and previous TES games, they’ll see two beautiful moons, Masser and Secunda right next to each other. The former is the larger one, which is twice the latter’s size. There are different explanations as to what their origins are, with a popular one being related to Lorkhan, who was one of the creators of Mundus.

According to the franchise’s lore, Lorkhan is the offspring of Padomay, the personification of the primal forces of change and chaos. He convinced, and in some texts tricked, the other gods to help him create the mortal realm of Mundus, which will be a place where they will be free to reflect on themselves and what their life is for.

These gods, also known as the et’Ada, gave parts of themselves for this to happen. One of the gods named Magnus who was the architect of Mundus, became dissatisfied with its imperfection and left the realm. The other et’Ada stayed to sustain their creations. Some became the Earthbones, which governed the laws of nature on each of the planets, while others became mortal and created new generations of beings. These then became the mortal races.

The other gods also felt betrayed by Lorkhan for various reasons, but mostly because they lost much of their powers in the creation of Mundus. Some of them even became mortal as a result, which is in some texts, something that they did not expect. Auri-El was particularly angry about his creations, the elves, being severed from eternity. As such, they’re forced to suffer with dignity in their mortal lives. So, he sought the help of the other et’Ada to kill Lorkhan. A bloody war ensued between Auri-El and Lorkhan’s forces.

Auri-El became the eventual victor when his knight Trinimac ripped Lorkhan’s heart out from his chest. Auri-El then took the organ and fired it into the sea. The impact was so great that it created the Red Mountain. According to the Theory of Lunar Lorkhan, the dead god’s flesh turned into the twin moons of Masser and Secunda. Another interpretation of this theory is that Lorkhan, like his fellow et'Adas, became a planet in Mundus. However, he cracked asunder, splitting into two moons representing a cloven duality of good and evil and being and nothingness.

Some other stories and theories dispute this, like the Khajiit’s belief that the two moons existed even before Lorkhan’s death. A third moon, which appears when both Masser and Secunda eclipse the sun, is his real corpse. With this knowledge, some players may end up frightened or awe-inspired that they see the split corpse of a god every time they see the picturesque moons of Skyrim.

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available now on the Nintendo Switch, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

机翻：
《天际》中的不同文化和种族对其两颗卫星的形成有不同的看法，其中一种理论尤其悲惨。


《上古卷轴》系列中的每款游戏都充满了丰富的传说。 这些传说的范围从战争等重大事件到复杂的占星主题，例如《天际》和之前游戏中的两个月亮。 TES 传说的一个伟大之处在于它感觉有些有机，因为根据人们询问的文化或种族，对事件可能有不同的解释和解释。 对于为什么有两个卫星绕其行星运行以及这些天体是如何形成的，每个人都有自己的解释。

《上古卷轴》的大部分场景都位于奈恩星球上的广阔大陆泰姆瑞尔。 其省份包括同名的天际省和晨风省，以及西罗帝尔省、黑沼泽省、艾斯维尔省、落锤省、高岩省、瓦伦伍德省和夏暮群岛。 这个世界被称为凡人种族居住的位面，位于被称为 Mundus 的领域，与阿卡托什、玛拉和迪贝拉等其他艾德里克行星共享。 奈恩还有两颗卫星，普遍称为 Masser 和 Secunda，围绕它运行。 这两者的起源与 Mundus 本身的创建直接相关。

天际的两个卫星可能的怪异起源


当玩家在《Skyrim》和之前的《TES》游戏中晚上抬头时，他们会看到两颗美丽的卫星，Masser 和 Secunda 紧挨着。 前者较大，是后者的两倍。 关于它们的起源有不同的解释，其中一种流行的解释与 Mundus 的创造者之一洛克汗有关。

根据该系列的传说，洛克汗是帕多梅的后代，帕多梅是变革和混乱的原始力量的化身。 他说服并在一些文本中欺骗了其他神灵来帮助他创造凡人领域蒙杜斯，在那里他们可以自由地反思自己以及他们的生命的目的。

这些神，也被称为 et'Ada，为了这件事的发生而奉献了自己的一部分。 其中一位名叫马格努斯的神是蒙杜斯的建筑师，他对它的不完美感到不满并离开了这个王国。 其他的 et’Ada 留下来维持他们的创作。 有些人成为了地骨，统治着每个行星上的自然法则，而另一些人则成为凡人并创造了新一代的生命。 这些人后来成为凡人种族。

其他诸神也因为各种原因感到被洛克汗背叛，但主要是因为他们在创造蒙杜斯的过程中失去了大部分力量。 他们中的一些人甚至因此而成为凡人，这在某些文本中是他们没有预料到的。 奥里-艾尔对他的创造物——精灵——被永远切断感到特别愤怒。 因此，他们被迫在凡人的生活中有尊严地受苦。 因此，他寻求其他艾达人的帮助来杀死洛克汗。 奥里·艾尔和洛克汗的军队之间爆发了一场血腥战争。

当奥里·埃尔的骑士特里尼马克将洛克汗的心脏从胸口撕出来时，奥里·埃尔成为了最终的胜利者。 奥里-埃尔随后拿起风琴并将其射入大海。 影响如此之大，以至于创造了红山。 根据月球洛克汗理论，死神的肉身变成了马塞尔和塞昆达的双生卫星。 该理论的另一种解释是，洛克汗和他的同胞阿达斯一样，成为了蒙杜斯的一颗行星。 然而，他裂开了，分裂成两颗月亮，代表着善与恶、存在与虚无的分裂二元性。

其他一些故事和理论对此提出质疑，比如虎人相信这两颗卫星甚至在洛克汗死前就已经存在。 当马瑟尔和塞康达日食时出现的第三颗月亮是他真正的尸体。 有了这些知识，一些玩家可能会因为每次看到天际如画的卫星时看到神的分裂尸体而感到害怕或敬畏。

《上古卷轴 5：天际》现已在 Nintendo Switch、PC、PS3、PS4、Xbox 360、Xbox One 和 Xbox Series X/S 上发售。