Drow Lore 🕷️ Eilistraean vs. Lolth-sworn Drow Worldview
While reading Condemnation, I stumbled across this fragment where a priestess of Eilistraee, who is also a former priestess of Lolth, has a little dispute with a Lolth-sworn drow. I think it shows really well the fundamental differences between their worldviews:
"I want to challenge you to do something (...) Imagine, for a moment, that you could live in a place where you can walk the streets without fearing an assassin’s dagger in your back. Imagine that your friends - real friends - want nothing more from you than the pleasure of your company, that your sisters cherish your accomplishments instead of resenting your successes, and your children are not murdered for an accidental failing. Imagine that your lovers seek you out for who you are, and not your station or influence. Imagine that your goddess asks you to celebrate her with your joy, not your terror."
"There is no such - (...) I can’t imagine such nonsense. It’s an empty fantasy, signifying nothing. We’re not meant for such things; no one is, not dark elf, not light-elf, not even the insipid humans. Only a fool dwells on dreams."
"You must entertain impossible dreams all the time. All thinking creatures do. Perhaps you’ve dreamed of having your enemies in your power, or of a lover you couldn’t take, or of rising to the station you truly merit. (...) If you can imagine the destruction of all your enemies at once, (...) you can certainly imagine the faithfulness of a friend or a goddess pleased by your loyalty, not your sacrifice."
"All gods demand sacrifice. You delude yourself if you think Eilistraee is any different. Perhaps you’re simply too weak-minded to understand your bonds." (Condemnation, R. Baker)
🕷️ Apparently, Lolth-sworn drow reject the concepts of genuine friendship, selflessness, trust or love because they are taught that such things have no place in the 'real' world. They are convinced that other (weak-minded) people cling to these "empty fantasies" and "nonsense" because they are too stupid or afraid to accept the world as it really is.
An average Lolth-sworn drow, confronted with a different point of view, would probably be like: foolish creature, what kind of world do you think we're living in? 😔
For more of my drow lore ramblings, feel free to check my pinned post 🕷️
I found this prayer to Eilistraee in Dedications to the Pantheon - below the original English version is my attempt to translate it to drow language.
I used drow name tables from #267 Dragon Magazine to translate "Silver Lady" into something that would look more like a proper name / title than like a literal translation of "silver" and "lady". So, female prefix May- (beautiful, beauty, silver) + female suffix -inil (lady). I really like this result ❤️
Drow version of the prayer written in 3e Espruar would look like this...
...and High Drowic version - I suppose this script would not be used for Eilistraean prayer, but I really like how it looks:
If you need more info on D&D drow scripts, feel free to check my other post with some ideas 🙂
My attempts to translate common phrases used among drow from this post into drow language. For translation purposes, I needed to replace some words I could not find in available dictionaries:
🕷️ In darkness, there is opportunity - Wun oloth, gaer zhah mayarn. (used "chance" instead of "opportunity")
🕷️ Only the strong survive - Er'griff lil gareth dro'xun.
🕷️ Help unasked for is never help - Xxizz nau'jorosus whol zhah neitar xxizz.
🕷️ Help freely offered is not free - Xxizz duul'ssone gultahus zhah naut duul'sso.
🕷️ Before Lolth, all are weak - P'los Lolth, jal phuul yibin.
🕷️ Weakness is the spawn of contentment and affection - Yibinss zhah lil klu'chud del sae'ethadus lueth saphin. (used "liking" instead of "affection")
🕷️ A spider without a web is no hunter - Orbb xuileb cress zhah nau silinrul. (omitted translating "a", since it is seldom used in Drow)
🕷️ Test me, Lolth - Zud'dar ussa, Lolth.
For more of my drow lore ramblings, feel free to check my pinned post 🕷️
Prayer to Lolth from Dedications to the Pantheon, with my attempt to translate it to drow language.
I could not find "unravel" in any drow language sources, so for translation purposes I used "come undone" instead. Also, I swapped "let" with "allow" because it sounds much better.
Prayer written in 3e Espruar script...
...and in High Drowic:
If you need more info on D&D drow scripts, feel free to check my other post with some ideas 🕷️
Collection of common phrases used among drow, according to Drow Of The Underdark (DnD 3.5e).
In 3.5e, drow were supposed to use a combination of Undercommon language (Underdark equivalent of surface Common) and various dialects of Elven instead of developing their own unique language. So, phrases below are not written in a "proper" Drow - they still provide a nice insight into drow culture, though:
🕷️ Inorum lo’athi, uvrastes (In darkness, there is opportunity) - one of the most popular drow proverbs, urging to always look for an advantage.
🕷️ Su lidos verith (Only the strong survive) - or, more accurately, "Those who survive are strong", since in comparison to the surface version of this phrase, drow version reverses cause and effect.
🕷️ Resilsh nielquosthos nilt resilsh (Help unasked for is never help or Help freely offered is not free) - proverb admonishing to always watch for ulterior motives.
🕷️ Alrenas Lolthu, nilos dulhar (Before Lolth, all are weak) - commonly used as a religious invocation, but also as an expression meaning that nobody is perfect. Can be used as an excuse for one’s own failure, or as a backhanded comment on another drow's failure.
🕷️ Nilodi orhastho shiorell e farul (Weakness is the spawn of contentment and affection) - a common admonishment against growing too happy with one’s station, or too fond of the ones who share it.
🕷️ Artolth nilat unelte nilt peralath (A spider without a web is no
hunter) - one who tries to achieve something unprepared does not deserve success and should not expect it.
