A Small Note Of Azura and Kynareth
[ID: Image of a snowy mountain with patches of evergreen trees at the base. The mountains peak about halfway of the image, with the rest being illuminated by the stars. The night sky transitions from pink from the bottom to a rich blue-green at the top].
THE IDEA THAT HAS BEEN OF NOTICE TO ME IS THE CONNECTION OF KYNARETH, beyond what Khajiit lore states. They are both of relevance to my personal practice, particularly so that my TES polytheism is mostly centred around Skyrim, with the legendary edition being my first elder scrolls game when I started playing eight years ago. Azura has always been one of my beloved deities of Skyrim, and I did not learn much of lore outside of what quests and youtube videos there were. Kynareth was hardly ever on my mind until I began to take this seriously, and began to invest myself in the lore—and soon enough, Azura led me to the wind, and I have found something of a companionship between the two goddesses. And with companionship comes gnosis and understanding, leading to a unique perspective—that of a commonality, a friendship, between the two goddesses.
AS CREATORS OF WARRIORS
One commonality I find between the two is their roles in influencing warriors and conflicts, despite not being war gods. Kynareth taught the Thu’um to mortals through Paarthurnax, which despite Greybeard’s insistence that it not be used for violence, is employed as such by people in Tamriel. Azura through her champion Nerevar united the people of Morrowind and her son Alandro Sul acted as his shield companion. Even if he and the other members of the Tribunal eventually went against Azura’s wishes and used the tools of Kagrenac for their own ends, she does continue to patron the Dunmeri people in Tamriel.
Truthfully, there is much more detail to go into on this topic, but by Azura that should be its own post—the simple edition is that both Azura and Kynareth take on motherly and patron roles for warriors for their people. And through the Dragonborn, Khajiit, and other Dunmeri champions do they both continue to protect their people.
A QUICK NOTE ON KHAJIIT LORE
The connection between my two goddesses shines in Khajiit lore, where their connection becomes permanent. Khenarthi is a psychopomp for Azurah, moving with her in the liminality of souls and death:
Khenarthi is Azurah’s messenger, and ferries the dead Khajiiti souls to her for judgment. Azurah tends the lanterns lit by Khenarthi in the eyes of Jone and Jode, their stillborn brothers, when they burn low.
Together, they mourn for their brothers, and they rule over the souls of Khajiit. Their shared power of liminality over souls with Azura over soul gems and Kynareth over transporting souls presses their uniqueness and their connections—perhaps Azura works over Oblivion and Kynareth on Nirn, and who is to say if they hand off souls to another for whichever purpose.
BETWEEN DEATH AND HEAVEN
Azura and Kynareth both rule over the sky: Azura mandates the transitions of day and night as the divine gatekeeper, and Kynareth as a goddess of the winds, storms. Kynareth may very well be the sky herself, as the Aedra gave up much of themselves to form Mundus—befitting that she as a goddess who communicates through wind would be the heavens. And Azura being a Daedra who did not, but precedes over the change of the sky, reminds me of Earth’s various mythologies: often, the heavens are made before the sun and moon.
The stars in Earth’s mythology also tend to come after the sun and moon, as with Hesiod’s Theogony with Eos mothering the stars; in Tamriel people pray to Kynareth for auspicious stars upon birth. And most of us who seek the worship of Aedra and Daedra know that Azura is the Queen of the Night sky and associated with her star. Divination is one of Azura’s powers of prophecy, aligning well with Kynareth’s blessings of good stars. Astrology may be a rather useful activity to pursue with the two.
PERSONAL WORSHIP
Azura is who led me to Kynareth, in hindsight with great wisdom on her behalf. In my essence of writing this blog, my heart has been dedicated mostly to the religion of Skyrim and the Dragons of Skyrim—including Akatosh. The hearth-mother is the one who provided the Way of the Voice, with a power that resonates even in our world. Speeches of dragon tongue are sharp for spells, and excellent for a dragonkin such as myself. And for a witch, Kynareth is more befitting than meets first impressions.
The Fryse Hags came to personal notice for magical practice. A group of witches claiming dedication to Kyne aligns well with Azura’s own power over magic and divination—which draws my notice as a witch myself. The cold and chill of Skyrim is what strikes my heart as home, and thus, the potentiality of ice-bound magic under Kyne and Azura is coming as the soft hoarfrost does. Though of course with far less violence, as the writers of Elder Scrolls tend to make the “Other” extreme—in a world of magic, are witches with a different philosophy really all that different? Sensationalism, I suppose, which continues to strain titles such as Daedric Lord as “evil” and not a more fitting concept as “change” is.
Azura’s willingness to do things most Daedra would not, I believe, attests to her liminality. Her connection to Kynareth—explicit in Khajiit lore, homologous in many other facets—in my eye is an extension of it. Azura acts in ways that push her more towards Aedric in some aspects, for she is loving and kind, but also her liminality gives her the power to expand beyond the title of Daedric lord. Her sharing similar realms to Kynareth gifts me this idea that Azura’s nature is of course similar in part to Kynareth as they both work in the heavens. If the Aedra are stasis, and the Daedra are change, then Kynareth is the heavens, cycles and winds, and Azura is the change that perpetuates those to change based on day and time. And if that distinction even matters, I still find that these two goddesses are closer than most would meet in their eye, unless it happens to be a hint more feline than most.
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References
Lore:Azura – The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP). (n.d.). https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Azura
Lore:Fryse Hags – The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP). (n.d.). https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Fryse_Hags
Lore:Kagrenac’s Tools – The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP). (n.d.). https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Kagrenac%27s_Tools