Varieties of Faith : The Wood Elves Content . The Eight ( though few Bosmer outside the Empire accept the limitation of Divines to eight ) : Auri - El ( King of the Aldmer ) : The Elven Akatosh is Auri - El . Auri - El is the soul of Anui - El , who , in turn , is the soul of Anu the Everything . He is the chief of most Aldmeri pantheon . Most Altmeri and Bosmeri claim direct descent from Auri - El . In his only known moment of weakness , he agreed to take his part in the creation of the mortal plane , that act which forever sundered the Elves from the spirit worlds of eternity . To make up for it , Auri - El led the original Aldmer against the armies of Lorkhan in mythic times , vanquishing that tyrant and establishing the first kingdoms of the Aldmer , Aldmeris [ sic ] and Old Ehlnofey . He then ascended to heaven in full observance of his followers so that they might learn the steps needed to escape the mortal plane . Y ' ffre ( God of the Forest ) : Most important deity of the Bosmeri pantheon . While Auri - El the Time dragon might be the king of the gods , the Bosmer revere Y ' ffre as the spirit of " the now . " According to the Wood Elves , after the creation of the mortal plane everything was in chaos . The first mortals were turning into plants and animals and back again . Then Y ' ffre transformed himself into the first of the Ehlnofey , or " Earth Bones . " After these laws of nature were established , mortals had a semblance of safety in the new world , because they could finally understand it . Y ' ffre is sometimes called the Storyteller , for the lessons he taught the first Bosmer . Some Bosmer still possess the knowledge of the chaos times , which they can use to great effect ( the Wild Hunt ) . Arkay ( God of the Cycle of Life and Death ) : Arkay is the god of burials and funeral rites , and is sometimes associated with the seasons . His priests are staunch opponents of necromancy and all forms of the undead . It is said that Arkay did not exist before the world was created by the gods under Lorkhan ' s supervision / urging / trickery . Therefore , he is sometimes called the Mortals ' God . Xarxes : Xarxes is the god of ancestry and secret knowledge . He began as a scribe to Auri - El , and has kept track of all Aldmeri accomplishments , large and small , since the beginning of time . He created his wife , Oghma , from his favorite moments in history . Mara ( Goddess of Love ) : Nearly universal goddess . Origins started in mythic times as a fertility goddess . She is sometimes associated with Nir of the " Anuad , " the female principle of the cosmos that gave birth to creation . For the Bosmer , she is the wife of Auri - El . Stendarr ( God of Mercy ) : God of compassion and righteous rule . In early Aldmeri legends , Stendarr is the apologist of Men . Z ' en ( God of Toil ) : Bosmeri god of payment in kind , which includes both just remuneration and retribution . Studies indicate origins in both Argonian and Akaviri mythologies , perhaps introduced into Valenwood by Kothringi sailors . Ostensibly an agriculture deity , Z ' en sometimes proves to be an entity of a much higher cosmic order . Baan Dar ( The Bandit God ) : Trickster spirit of thieves and beggars borrowed from the Khajiit . Additional Deities with Significant Bosmeri Cults : Herma - Mora ( The Woodland Man ) : Malicious trickster spirit ( another one ! ) whose Bosmeri cultists say is not to be confused with the Daedra Hermaeus Mora . ( Others deride this assertion . ) Jone and Jode ( Little Moon God and Big Moon God ) : Aldmeri gods of the Moons , they are spirits of fortune , both good and bad . Hircine ( The Huntsman , Father of Manbeasts ) : Master of the Great Hunt and lord of all Lycanthropes . Worshipers of Hircine are not as ruthless as those who worship other Daedra ; they always give their prey at least a small chance to escape . Lorkhan ( The Missing God ) : This Creator - Trickster - Tester deity is in every Tamriel ic mythic tradition . His most popular name is the Aldmeri " Lorkhan , " or Doom Drum . He convinced or contrived the Original Spirits to bring about the creation of the mortal plane , upsetting the status quo — much like his father Padomay had introduced instability into the universe in the Beginning Place . After the world is materialized , Lorkhan is separated from his divine center , sometimes involuntarily , and wanders the creation of the et ' Ada . He and his metaphysical placement in the " scheme of things " is interpreted a variety of ways . To the Elves , he is the most unholy of all higher powers , as he forever broke their connection to the spirit plane . In the legends , he is almost always an enemy of the Aldmer and , therefore , a hero of early Mankind .