The Seldarine (Elvish for "fellowship of brothers and sisters of the wood") was the elven pantheon of gods that resided on the astral dominion of Arvandor under the leadership of Corellon Larethian.[2]
Members
The many members of the Seldarine included:
- Greater gods:
- Corellon Larethian, leader of the Seldarine; he was the elven god of magic, warfare, music, art, and crafts.
- Angharradh, consort to Corellon; commonly believed to be a combination of three other elven goddesses (Sehanine Moonbow, Aerdrie Faenya, and Hanali Celanil) formed when Lolth rebelled and was exiled.
- Intermediate gods:
- Aerdrie Faenya, goddess of the wind, weather, avariel and aarakocra.
- Deep Sashelas, god of the seas and of the aquatic elves, leader of the Asathalfinare pantheon.
- Erevan Ilesere, god of trickery, mischief, and rogues.
- Hanali Celanil, goddess of romantic love, beauty, joy and celadrins.
- Labelas Enoreth, deity of time, history, and knowledge.
- Rillifane Rallathil, god of nature, woodlands, and wild elves and/or wood elves.
- Sehanine Moonbow, goddess of the moon, dreams, mysteries, secrets, travel/journeys; she is also the protector of the elven dead and patron of the moon elves. Often described as Corellon's consort.
- Solonor Thelandira, god of hunting, archery, and survival. He was also the guardian of the boundaries between civilization and the wilds.
- Tarsellis Meunniduin, god of mountains, rivers, wilderness and snow elves.[3]
- Vandria Gilmadrith, goddess of grief, justice, vigilance and war.[4]
- Lesser gods:
- Araleth Letheranil, god of starlight and twilight.[3]
- Avachel, the male elven manifestation of the draconic deity Hlal.[5]
- Fenmarel Mestarine, god of outcasts, scapegoats, and isolation.
- Khalreshaar, an interloper demigoddess[6] in the elven pantheon, aspect of Mielikki. Believed by half-elves to be the daughter of Silvanus and Hanali Celanil, and as such, the first truly half-elven deity.[7]
- Melira Taralen, goddess of bards and minstrels.[3]
- Naralis Analor, god of healing and suffering.[3]
- Rellavar Danuvien, god of cold and protection from the elements.[3]
- Sarula Iliene, goddess of nixies and water magic who attached herself to the Seldarine.[8]
- Demigods:
- Alathrien Druanna, demigoddess of runic and conjuration magic.[8]
- Darahl Firecloak, demigod of earth and fire magic.[8]
- Lashrael and Felarathael, twin solars serving Corellon Larethian who were worshiped as demigods by some elves, particularly sun elves[5]
- Mythrien Sarath, demigod of mythals.[8]
- Shevarash, demigod of vengeance, loss, and hatred of the drow.
- Tethrin Veraldé, demigod of bladesingers and swordsmanship.[3]
Worship
Each member of the Seldarine was represented by both male and female forms. For example, in Cormanthor, there were statues of the Seldarine in either both their male and female forms or in a single androgynous form. Some gods even had more than three forms, including nonhumanoid forms.[9]
In fact, the elves found the human obsession with biological sex and gender roles to be limiting and not befitting of a deity, who was beyond mortal definitions. All gods were to be respected, not squeezed into a role that presented them as little more than powerful versions of mortals at best or spoiled children at worst.[9]
History
Myths & Lore
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Among their accomplishments as an organisation, the Seldarine are reputed to have driven the Ordning from their realm before settling there, only allowing Iallanis to remain because she did not fight back. Because of this, they did not hold much respect for her.
War of the Seldarine
In −30,000 DR,[10][11] Araushnee, with the help of her son Vhaeraun, gathered a host of evil deities opposed to the Seldarine, and convinced them to attack Arvandor, in an attempt to overthrow Corellon.[12] Ghaunadaur entered the fray on his own without being asked by anyone.[13]
She had planned for the assault to ultimately fail, as her actual goal was for his consort to be killed during the battle and to replace him as Coronal of Arvandor.[14] She tricked Eilistraee into dangerously injuring her own father,[15] but the Weaver's conspiracy was ultimately thwarted by Sehanine Moonbow, and Corellon's life was saved.[16] Angharradh arose from the great battle between the Seldarine and the followers of Araushnee. Aerdrie, Hanali and Sehanine came together to heal Corellon Larethian after he was felled by Eilistraee who was fooled by Araushnee. As they did so, they formed Angharradh, serving alongside Corellon as the Queen of Arvandor.[17][18]. After her betrayal was revealed, Araushnee was banished by Corellon and turned into a tanar'ri,[19] while Vhaeraun was simply exiled.[20] Even though she was cleared from all guilt, Eilistraee chose to share her mother's and brother's punishment, because she knew that the drow would need her light in the times to come.[21]
The wizard Mordenkainen recorded a different version of this story. According to him, all elves, including the ones who would become the deities of the Seldarine and of the Dark Seldarine, emerged from the blood that Corellon lost in a fight against Gruumsh. Like their god, the first elves had shape-changing powers, and freedom with them. The Protector took some favorites, who were made deities: among them, Lolth was the most privileged. She saw that other races made something out of their lives, and made the argument that the elves should do the same by casting off their shape-changing powers in exchange of a fixed form, that would allow them to gain dominion over everything. Every single elf agreed and chose such a form, but Corellon was revolted by their decision and railed against Lolth. The god was stopped with the argument that nobody of his blood should be attacked, and, while he was thinking about it, Lolth used the opportunity to attempt to murder him. Realizing the extent of Lolth's betrayal, many elves intervened to stop her, but some remained loyal to the Spider Queen: the latter became the dark elves and their gods, and Lolth became a demon lord of the Abyss.[22] Eilistraee was an exception in this version too, for she did not side with Lolth, but still chose to follow the dark elves.[23] Araushnee took the name of Lolth, and made the 66th layer of the Abyss, the Demonweb Pits, her new home.[24]
Modern History
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The events of the Spellplague affected the Seldarine, though perhaps not as harshly as it did some of the other deities. However, several of the gods, such as Deep Sashelas, Labelas, Solonor, Erevan, Fenmarel, and Shevarash all became exarchs. Corellon and Angharradh managed to hang on to their original positions, but Hanali became the elven aspect of Sune, and Sehanine of Selune.
After the Second Sundering, order was restored, and the Seldarine was back to the way it was prior to the Spellplague, with Sehanine being described as Corellon's main consort/beloved.
Appendix
Further Reading
- Denise Lyn Voskuil (March 1990). “The Elfin Gods”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Dragon #155 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 20–22, 24.
- Chris Perry (December 1991). “Servants of the Seldarine”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Dragon #176 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 11–15.
- Chris Perry (December 1996). “The Seldarine Revisited”. In Pierce Watters ed. Dragon #236 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 13–17;25.
- Chris Perry (September 1998). “Magic of the Seldarine”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #251 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 28–35.
References
- ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (May 29, 2018). Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Edited by Kim Mohan, Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 43–49. ISBN 978-0786966240.
- ↑ Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 73. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Chris Perry (December 1996). “The Seldarine Revisited”. In Pierce Watters ed. Dragon #236 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 11–17, 25.
- ↑ Skip Williams (February 2005). Races of the Wild. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 23–24. ISBN 0-7869-3438-7.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Eric L. Boyd (November 1998). Demihuman Deities. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 121–122. ISBN 0-7869-1239-1.
- ↑ Anne Gray McCready et al. (March 1994). Elves of Evermeet. (TSR, Inc), p. 78. ISBN 1-5607-6829-0.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd (November 1998). Demihuman Deities. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 142. ISBN 0-7869-1239-1.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Chris Perry (September 1998). “Magic of the Seldarine”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #251 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 28–35.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Steven E. Schend and Kevin Melka (1998). Cormanthyr: Empire of the Elves. (TSR, Inc), p. 52. ISBN 0-7069-0761-4.
- ↑ Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 8. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 51. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
- ↑ Elaine Cunningham (1999). Evermeet: Island of Elves. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 51. ISBN 0-7869-1354-1.
- ↑ Elaine Cunningham (1999). Evermeet: Island of Elves. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 137. ISBN 0-7869-1354-1.
- ↑ Elaine Cunningham (1999). Evermeet: Island of Elves. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 50. ISBN 0-7869-1354-1.
- ↑ Elaine Cunningham (1999). Evermeet: Island of Elves. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 61–62. ISBN 0-7869-1354-1.
- ↑ Elaine Cunningham (1999). Evermeet: Island of Elves. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 65–66. ISBN 0-7869-1354-1.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd, Erik Mona (May 2002). Faiths and Pantheons. Edited by Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 125. ISBN 0-7869-2759-3.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd (November 1998). Demihuman Deities. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 97. ISBN 0-7869-1239-1.
- ↑ Elaine Cunningham (1999). Evermeet: Island of Elves. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 70–72. ISBN 0-7869-1354-1.
- ↑ Elaine Cunningham (1999). Evermeet: Island of Elves. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 67. ISBN 0-7869-1354-1.
- ↑ Elaine Cunningham (1999). Evermeet: Island of Elves. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 69. ISBN 0-7869-1354-1.
- ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (May 29, 2018). Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Edited by Kim Mohan, Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-0786966240.
- ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (May 29, 2018). Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Edited by Kim Mohan, Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 55–56. ISBN 978-0786966240.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd (November 1998). Demihuman Deities. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 26. ISBN 0-7869-1239-1.