Boethiah

Boethiah
Religious information
Religion	Daedra Worship
Pantheon	Daedric Princes
Artifacts	Ebony Mail Goldbrand Fearstruck
Chronological and political
Era(s) of worship	Third Era Fourth Era
Area of influence	Skyrim Morrowind possibly others

For the quests, see Boethiah's Quest.

"The Lord of Plots, Deceiver of Nations, Devourer of Trinimac. The Queen of Shadows, Goddess of Destruction, He-Who-Destroys and She-Who-Erases..."

―Priestess of Boethiah

Boethiah or Boethia (in Daedric script, ) is the Daedric Prince of deceit, conspiracy, treachery and sedition who rules over the realm of Attribution's Share. He is a major Daedra in regards to the Dunmer, both in positive and negative veneration. A violent Daedric Prince, Boethiah is known for his enjoyment in the suffering of mortals. He has many artifacts, and can be summoned on the 2nd of Sun's Dusk.

Personality and traits

File:Boethia.bmp.png

A female representation of Boethiah

Like all Daedra, Boethiah has no gender; however, he is traditionally depicted as a strong, caped warrior—often in a stoic pose—while wielding a giant golden battleaxe. Boethiah may appear as either a male or a female. According to his followers, Boethiah acts the most overtly out of all the Daedric Princes. He appears to enjoy battle and conflict, and his cults often stage huge tournaments to the death to win the Prince's favor.

Even among scholars, who frequently reject the common notion that Daedra are all demons, Boethiah is one of the Daedric Princes consistently viewed as evil. The Prince uses his followers for bloodsport, even turning on his champion seemingly without reason at times. Like Molag Bal or Mehrunes Dagon, Boethiah actually delights in visiting death and destruction upon mortals, whom he actively strives to torment.

Invocation

Boethiah is traditionally summoned on the 2^nd of Sun's Dusk, on the Gauntlet Holiday.

Relation to the Dunmer

Cultural development

Boethiah is one of the three Daedric Princes (along with Azura and Mephala) directly responsible for the existence of the Dunmer as a distinct race. During the Mythical Era, the Aldmer worshiped the Aedra Trinimac as their chief god.

These early mer generally lamented their mortal existence as being caused by the trickery of Lorkhan, who manipulated the gods into giving up their immortality to create Nirn. Boethiah approached a group of Trinimac's followers and began preaching to them an alternative viewpoint: the Aldmer were weak and unworthy of their immortality, and their mortal existence was a trial which all mer had to endure. (The Dunmer often refer to their mortal lifetime as The Testing.)

To accomplish his own goal, Boethiah took on the form of Trinimac himself, and spoke with Trinimac's own voice. Thus, the Prince was able to convince a group of mer, who took the name Chimer (Changed Ones) and followed their leader Veloth to their new home in Morrowind. Boethiah taught the Chimer many ways to be different from the Aldmer. All manner of current Dark Elven cultural advances are credited to Boethiah, ranging from philosophy and magic to their architecture, as well as their current clan-based political system. In most versions of the legend, Boethiah was the source of these ideas, while Azura and Mephala merely aided the Chimer in implementing them.

Roles in religion

Boethiah's Reclamation Shrine located in Raven Rock in the Fourth Era.

Boethiah continued to play a key role in the religious practices of the Chimer, even after they became the Dunmer. Along with Azura and Mephala, Boethiah is worshiped as one of the three "good" Daedra, in opposition to the four "bad" Daedra of the House of Troubles. According to Tribunal dogma, Boethiah is the Anticipation of Almalexia, and submitted to Tribunal rule. However, given Azura's attitudes towards the Tribunal, who make the same claim about her, this is most likely more propaganda than history.

By the Fourth Era following the eruption of the Red Mountain, a new religious movement for the Dunmer people arose, dubbed the Reclamations. This new doctrine declared the downfall of the Tribunal and the rise of their previously named Anticipations as the objects for worship. These Reclamations included Azura, Mephala, and Boethiah, who were "reclaiming their status from the Tribunal." Boethiah's role as a Reclamation is to show the Dunmer people the "true way" from the Old Tribunal's "misguided teachings." However, it is unknown what other roles these include.

Etymology

Like many of the Daedric Princes, Boethiah's name appears in numerous variations across many eras and cultures. Their shrine in Cyrodiil (in the Valus Mountains near the border into Morrowind) is called Boethia's Shrine, and the spelling Boethia occasionally appears in writings. This spelling appears most often associated with the Daedra's feminine form; though the shrine in Cyrodiil speaks with a masculine voice. Most scholarly texts, such as On Oblivion or The Book of Daedra, use the form Boethiah. The name may also be a reference to Boethius, a late-Roman-era philosopher. The word 'βοήθεια' (Boethia) means "help" in Ancient Greek.

Associations

Daedric Artifacts

Other than Goldbrand, Boethiah is associated with artifacts Ebony Mail and Fearstruck. The Ebony Mail can still be found these days, though it is difficult to obtain. The last known wearer could have been the Last Dragonborn. Fearstruck on the other hand, according to The Story of Lyrisius, was destroyed in the Akaviri invasion, around 1E 2703.

Ebony Mail

The Ebony Mail as it appears in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Ebony Mail is one of the most powerful armor pieces known on Tamriel. If judged worthy, its power grants the wearer invulnerability to most common magical attacks and forms of drain health.

The Eternal Champion was said to be one of the owners of the mail. It was hidden in Black Marsh after the previous owner, a warrior named Helath Stormbinder, lost Boethiah's favor. Following a strange map, the Eternal Champion eventually found the resting place of the mail and retrieved it for their battle against Jagar Tharn.

Later on, Boethiah also rewarded the Ebony Mail to the Hero of Daggerfall after they finished an elimination job.

During the events of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, the Nerevarine was said to have obtained the Ebony Mail after completing a Temple quest for Tholer Saryoni, during which the Mail was found atop Mount Assarnibibi.

The Ebony Mail appeared once again during the Fourth Era, this time at the hands of the Dragonborn. Boethiah requested that the Dragonborn kill the former Champion of Boethiah, who used the armor for personal gain, rather than in the name of Boethiah. After killing the Champion, the Dragonborn was rewarded with the Ebony Mail.

Goldbrand

After the Apotheosis of the Tribunal, Boethiah's shrine in Morrowind lay forgotten and unused in the northwest of Hla Oad, Vvardenfell, left in disrepair underwater. Boethiah tasked the Nerevarine with making a new shrine for worshipers to visit. The Nerevarine asked Duma gro-Lag, a famous sculptor of Caldera, for assistance. Using the sketch in the book Boethiah's Glory, the Orcish sculptor built a new shrine for Boethiah over at Khartag Point in Vvardenfell. After the new shrine was finished, the Nerevarine was rewarded with Goldbrand.

The Champion of Cyrodiil was also rewarded with this Goldbrand after they finished Boethiah's test—The Tournament of Ten Bloods—a test of combat skill, where the Champion of Cyrodiil had to defeat nine of Boethiah's champions, with the "Tenth Blood" being the Champion.

By the time of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Goldbrand was rumored to be in the ownership of Emperor Titus Mede II during the Battle of the Red Ring when retaking the Imperial City.

Other Daedra

Azura and Mephala

Boethiah, along with Azura and Mephala, were responsible for directly influencing the direction of the Dunmer people. Boethiah convinced the Chimer to change from the Aldmer and adopt a new style of life. Azura taught the Chimer the mysteries to be different, while Mephala taught them how to evade their enemies or to kill secretly. Mephala also worked with Boethiah to establish the Dunmer clan-based system.

As part of the Tribunal doctrine, Boethiah, Azura, and Mephala were named the Anticipations of Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and Vivec, respectively.

Their positions changed with the new Reclamations dogma. The former Anticipations became known as the Reclamations in the face of the new and proposed Dunmer religion.

Molag Bal

Boethiah and Molag Bal have developed a sort of rivalry between each other. The cause is unknown, although it could be because Molag Bal is the Prince of domination and enslavement, whereas Boethiah encourages treason and deceit against authority.

The rivalry takes place between Molag Bal and Boethiah, and the two may use their followers to mock the other, which is evident in Skyrim when Molag Bal requests revenge against a priest of Boethiah who desecrated Molag Bal's shrine in the name of Boethiah. However, it is unknown to what extent their rivalry includes.

Hunger

The Hunger is a violent Lesser Daedra associated with Boethiah. It has paralyzing powers and is known to even disintegrate armor.

The Hunger also appears in the Dementia part of the Shivering Isles, the realm of Sheogorath. The reason for being found in the Shivering Isles could allude to Sheogorath’s chaotic nature, thus having another Daedric Prince's lesser Daedra could be normal to him.

Trivia

• Mehra Nabisi speaks to Boethiah in Where Were You When the Dragon Broke?, who confirms that the Aedra had indeed appeared and re-written history.
• Boethiah is invoked in the book Withershins.
• Sotha Sil met with Boethiah on the 3rd of Rain's Hand, 1E 2920.
• In Oblivion, Boethiah is depicted as a man, but in Skyrim, he is depicted as a woman.
  • In the Japanese version of Skyrim, Boethiah uses "ore" (俺)—a form of "I" mostly used by men—to refer to himself, even though the voice actor is female.
• Boethiah is voiced by Jean Gilpin, who also lends her voice to Elenwen, Meridia, and Meredith in Dragon Age 2.

Appearances

• The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
• The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Dragonborn (mentioned only)

References

Notice: The following are unlicensed references. They are not copyrighted by a ZeniMax Media company, but can still be considered part of The Elder Scrolls lore and are included for completeness.