Divad the Singer Content . Divad The Singer is in one body , two unique and distinct people . Divad is the most well known of the Redguard heroes . Frandar Hunding ' s son , probably the most accomplished Ansei who ever lived . Yet early in his life , Divad appeared to thoroughly have rejected The Way of the Sword . Divad was the only son of Frandar Hunding , and was born late in Hunding ' s life ( 2396 in the old way of reckoning , probably about 1E 760 by the Tamriel ic calendar ) , when he was away most of the time fighting the last of his duels and engaging in the many battles and insurrections of the period . At eleven , Divad entered the Hall of the Virtues of War and began training , but at 16 , he finally let his anger at growing up essentially fatherless get the better of him . Divad broke his swords and left the Hall to become an acrobat in a traveling circus . The life in the circus was unsatisfying to Divad , and after two years , his innate artisan heritage drove him to become a musician and finally a Bard . For two more years he traveled , singing in the cities of the empire - - gaining no small amount of fame and recognition for his stirring and popular songs and music . Although Divad had publicly forsaken the Way of the Sword , it would appear that he continued to practice the compulsory forms of training he was taught in the Hall . He carried no sword , but in the late evening , bright lights could be often be seen in his tent ( my source says nothing more about this , but it may be assumed that the writer was suggesting that Divad was practicing the form of the Way known as Shehai Shen She Ru - - the Way of the Spirit Sword , or simply the Shehai ) . Divad was very popular with the people of the empire , and his music and concerts were well attended . Still he could not escape his heritage of the sword . When the Last Emperor ascended to power and began to persecute the Sword - Singers , Divad was among the first to attract his attention . Once the Emperor Hira and his consort decided to go to war with the Singers for control of the empire , he moved swiftly against those Singers who were visibly a part of empire society . Most he had killed , but Divad ' s music and fame were so wide spread that he sent a team of his personal guards to arrest him . The Emperor ' s men were either very lucky or very unlucky depending on how you choose to view it . Being no fool , Hira sent 100 of his best guards , for even an unarmed Singer was a very dangerous foe . The luck was that they were able to capture Divad and place him in chains , for they came at him as he sat dining with his elderly mother . The disaster was that as he surrendered , they rashly struck the pleading old woman . Too hard , it would seem , for she fell dead with that single blow . That single thoughtless deed , as is often the case in war , was the one pivotal factor causing their eventual defeat . That act ignited in Divad the spirit of the Way . Up until that careless stroke , Divad was an ordinary artisan , no , an artist , a great artist , but no warrior . The moment of her death , Divad rose from his seat , took his chains between his two hands and began swinging the heavy chain in a deadly arc . He slew four of the guards , gaining enough space to run and dive through the window and into the river . He disappeared into the night . From that point , Divad was spotted many times and told of in many more rumors all across the empire - - far more places than a mere mortal man could have ever been . At every point where Hira ' s men gathered to do mischief , the resistance was attributed to Divad . As Hira moved against the Singers and began forming his army to invade High Desert , it was Divad who carried the news to the Singers . Divad was among those who climbed Hattu to find Hunding in his cave . What is not well known is that Hunding , at first refused to take leadership of the Singers . The first attempt to interrupt him at his death poem cause him to drive the elders from his cave , he even formed the Shehai in his anger . It was Divad who reentered the cave alone to speak with Hunding . To this day , no one knows what was said , what happened in that cave . Scribes of the time reported bright flashes of light and angry voices . Five long hours came and went , then both emerged from the cave , Divad , at Hunding ' s side . The rest , as they say , is history . . . Divad , who had not completed training in the Hall of the Virtues of War , became an advisor to Hunding and spent his time reading the newly completed Book of Circles , but his role in the Hammer and Anvil strategy was as a simple Sword - Singer and fighter . It was not till the Singers fled their native empire and landed In New Land that his story truly begins .