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Dibella

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Inspired by my latest comic which featured both Mara and Dibella, I felt like doing some individual portaits of the Divines. Here's my take on Dibella, the goddess of beauty and love.

"Come to me, Dibella, for without you, my words must lie dull and leaden without the gilding of grace and sagacity to enchant the reader's ear and eye.
Open your heart to the noble secrets of art and love. Treasure the gifts of friendship. Seek joy and inspiration in the mysteries of love.
"

Dibella, known as the Queen of Heaven, Goddess of Beauty, and Lady of Love is the Aedric "love goddess" of the Divines. She has had many different cults, some devoted to women, some to artists and aesthetics, and others to erotic instruction. Worshipping her is thought of as a more personal, intimate association than worshipping some other Divines.

Sources: [x] & [x]



Dibella © Bethesda
from The Elder Scrolls series



For more fan art inspired by The Elder Scrolls take a look at here!

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Tsuki222's avatar
Very cute picture of Dibella!

Dibella is interesting, as she lack an analogue among Altmer Aedra, and even Dwemer, didn't mention her among planets. (from 36 Lessons of Vivec - 'We Dwemer are only aspirants to this that the Velothi have.
They shall be our doom in this and the eight known worlds, NIRN, LHKAN, RKHET, THENDR, KYNRT, AKHAT, MHARA and JHUNAL.')

THENDR might a merged form of Tsun/Zen/Xen/Zenithar, and Stuhn/Stendarr, as ancient Atmorans originally worshipped them as one god - Tstunal - and may have a connection with Trinimac (in Shor, Son of Shor, Tsun transforms into Stuhn, and then into Trinimac, but then, paradoxically, Stuhn is shown as separate...), and Kynareth/Kyne/KYNRT is probably the same as Y'ffre/Jephre. Kyne/Kynareth was the first to agree to Lorkhan's plan, while Y'ffre became the first Earthbone. Spriggans are asociated with both Y'fffre and Kynareth. The Bosmer's Story-Spinning, and the related songs gave to Bosmer, are extremelly similar to the Thu'um Kyne gave to Nords/Atmorans. Many think Kynareth is an Alessian compromise of Kyne and Jephre/Y'ffre, but I think the connection goes far before that.

But Dibella, is mystery. One possibility, is that like THENDR/Tstunal, that KYNRT/Y'ffre/Jephre split in two.

Y'ffre, aside from being a God of Nature, is a God of Art and Beauty (although beauty of nature), like Dibella, and Dibella, like Y'ffre, has a connection to plants - indeed, some depiction of Dibella have flowers for hands.

Another possibility, is that Dibella is connected to Meridia, or rather her original, pre-Daedric Magna Ge form Merid-Nunda, with Dibella being cast of Anuic parts of Meridia, when she became a Daedric Prince (something similar might have happened with Trinimac, THENDR/Tstunal and Malacath). 

Proof for this, is that Nymphs were connected to Dibella, but also suggested to be connected to Ayleids.
Nymph language was compared in A Scholar's Guide to Nymphs, as most similar to Faerie and Wild Elf (Aylied) languages. And in The Faerie book, the most common met Faerie are described as glimmering sparks, ie Wisps, who were suggested to be souls of Ayleids. And Indeed, Wispmothers, are suggested to be a type of Ayleid (spectral) Lich in the Wispmother book. This suggests Nymphs are another type of Alyeid decesdant, or transformation...

And Ayleids are known worshippers of Meridia. How it ties to Dibella? Well, in one of Loranna's Lore RPs several years ago, the developer Ted Peterson showed the spheres (planes) of the various Aedra; in Dibella's realm, a man who had lived as a saint in her service was rewarded after death with an Eden-like setting, including Nymphs. The above mentioned book A Scholar's Guide to Nymphs also subtly suggested a connection between Nymphs and Dibella.

Meridia is also connected to life, and sex as well as desire - Eros -is often, like by Freud, considered as primordial drives to continue life, opposed to Thanatos - Death.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_dr…

This may further connect to Meridia extreme HATE of undeath, and TES is known to be quite psychological.

The summoning date for Meridia is 13th of Morning Star, and the "Morning Star", is an alternate name for Venus - planet of the love goddesses, since Sumerian times. Dibella also is the Queen of Heaven, the title of the ancient Mesopotamian/Sunerian love goddess - Ishtar/Inanna the first connected to the planet Venus. Ans when Inanna was temporary dead, in Inanna's descent to the Underworld, no new life was born - not only human and animal life, but also no new plant life was born. Inanna is also in that myth opposed by hee twin sister - Ereshkigal - goddess of the Dead (Ereshkigal is also the goddess of Death - Namtaru/Namtar).

And The Elder Scrolls really likes Mesopotamian mythology as seen with Anu, and the Dwemer.

It's also interesting Meridia's champion - Umaril - attacks Dibella's chapel first.
Especially that with the above Tsuntal-Trinimac connection, in ESO, both Malacath and Z'en (a form of Zenithar) share a Blood Price, though Malacath's is WAY out of balance. Z'en follows a simple code of 'eye-for-an-eye' in regards to any wrongdoings, with Malacath having a more extreme version of it. In ESO, it's also said when Z'en weakens, Malacath becomes stronger. A similar relationship may be between Dibella and Meridia - maybe both Daedric Princes become stronger when their "Aedric/Anuic" remains/echo, become weaker...

BUT, the problem is, Micheal Kirkblade, one of the chief writters for TES, suggested Merdia and Kyne are two sides of one coin:

On Meridia: 
What no one has ever seen is the connection between Meridia and Kyne. Let that sink in. What do they-- when connected-- both govern? 
Think about KotN. One made the Knight, one opposed the Knight. One rained forever because he was gone. One said, no I will wait until he comes back.

This again, brings up the connection between Dibella and Kyne/Kynareth, and the similarity on how THENDR/Tstunal split into two, along with their connection to Trinimac and Malacath...

Another thing is, Y'ffre, in the book The Ooze: A Fable, is desecribed as female...