The Trickster Deity

he Trickster deity plays many roles across many cultures, shifting motives and attitudes like tides in a storm. One thing remains constant throughout his dance of mythic ambivalence, and that is his connection with the Mundus and its inhabitants, who have called him by many names over time, enough to confuse a novice. Herein I shall collect, list, and explain the significance of these.

The Trickster deity is noted not only by his association with space versus the time of the Dragon, but his enactment of the Mundus (Mortal Plane) throughout all pantheons and belief systems. Where the controversy lies is his motive and manner of executing it. What can be surmised, is that the Trickster devised the plan for Mundus, and went to seek the help of the other Aurbic deities (for at this time, gods and demons and Aedra and Daedra cannot be adequately distinguished) to carry this out. Whether this was done by treachery, love, or faithfulness cannot be fully told, except in the confusing logic of Aurbic ambivalence, which allows all of these to be true by way of the mad godhead.

The most famous moniker of the Trickster is Lorkhan, for this is the name the elves give him. Nazz before me has noted the irony of calling Lorkhan by his merish name, and Akatosh, the time god, by his mannish. All elves, Altmer, Dunmer, and Bosmer alike call him Lorkhan, but this is not to say they all agree therein.

The Altmer see Lorkhan as a horrible trickster, who severed the connection of the magick of Aetherius from the world, enslaving them, the ancestors of the gods, in the prison of Mundus. Auriel visited a mighty vengeance upon Lorkhan upon discovered his treachery, and to it we owe Vvardenfell and Red Mountain today, as their legend dictates. He is treated with utmost malice, and one should be careful to name Lorkhan an Aedra around an Altmer, for the thought of him as an ancestor would surely disgust many of them.

The Dunmer on the other hand, were born of dissonance with the Altmer, of the mass Chimeri exodus from Summerset. Thus is it not surprising their view of Lorkhan is drastically different from that of their ex-brethren. Predictably, to them Lorkhan is viewed with utmost reverence, a magnificent and glorious savior who, unlike the Altmer who see Mundus as an entrapment, created the Mortal Plane with the love of transcendence. They see the world as a stage to be overtaken and this it the gift of Lorkhan. He is represented by a Scarab, as the Dwemer do the same. Coincidentally, said Scarab has eight arms. Here is an excerpt from Vivec's 36 Sermons regarding Lorkhan:

'We pledge ourselves to you, the Frame-maker, the Scarab: a world for us to love you in, a cloak of dirt to cherish. Betrayed by your ancestors when you were not even looking. Hoary Magnus and his ventured opinions cannot sway the understated, a trick worthy of the always satisfied. A short season of towers, a rundown absolution, and what is this, what is this but fire under your eyelid?'

By the Cyrodiils, The Trickster is called Shezzar, the Missing God. The Imperials too treat Shezzar with reverence, and as the father of all men. A relatively new construct, Shezzar was naturally born of his Nordic primogenitor, Shor. Shor too is seen as a savior and loving, and both he and Shezzar peacefully brought together the gods to build and create Mundus, by some accounts fighting and discriminating against the foreign gods of the Altmer.

The Khajiit creation stories are confusing, but keep in mind they use Fadomai to dictate Anu and Ahnurr to dictate Padomay. Thus, their myth conflicts with others, saying Lorkhan was the last born of Anu versus his other. Also interesting is that they claim Namira came into being following the birth of "Lorkhaj." The creation of Lorkhaj was not favored by Ahnurr, who became outraged. Nonetheless, the   too share the view of "Lorkhaj" as positive.

Sheor, The Bad Man, is the Breton moniker of the trickster. Sheor is seen as a major cause of strife, yet bears a name similar to the Nordic denomination. Thus is he obviously a construct of the Bretons mixed blood, elven and mannish. Beyond that, little is known.

Amongst the   of Hammerfell and Yokuda, the name of the trickster is Sep. Sep is portrayed as a snake or a serpent, created by the Tall Papa Ruptga to deal with souls and spirits. He is pulled into madness, however, and thusly creates the Mundus. Subsequently, Tall Papa punishes the Snake, but he is said to "live on as a void in the stars, a 'non-space' that tries to upset mortal entry into the Far Shores" (the Far Shores being the Yokudan semblance of an afterlife.).

Entering the Fourth Era the Trickster may, and some say obviously shall, play a pivotal role in modern history, having enjoyed absence from contemporary myth since his disappearance. With the mysterious Love Letter from the Fifth Era, the habit of the Rebellious Enantiomorph to revolt, Lorkhan threatens to loom at our doorstep, and to understand and know him could be a weapon in and of itself.