Is there a Hell in the elder scrolls universe?

[Walrus1928]

I know there's sithis and the void but that's only for dark brotherhood assassins and dead brotherhood contracts right? We know about heavens such as Sovngarde , far shores (sounds like the name of some reality tv show in Miami), and moonsugarville or whatever the Kahjiit one is. But is there a hell?

[Silent Protagonist]

my guess would be oblivion due to skyrims general tullious yelling out when alduin makes his appearance he yells quite loudly and blatantly "WHAT IN OBLIVION IS THAT!!"

[Silent Protagonist]

or it was a random soldier but either way the line was the same

[Walrus1928]

Oh yeah I guess I forgot about oblivion, but there must be a certain plane such as the void

[fauxpas]

I think it depends more on which Prince's realm your soul (and your relationship with said Prince) ends up in as to whether it would be considered Hell or not.


But as for an actual universal Christian Hell, I don't think so.

[Walrus1928]

Originally posted by fauxpas:

I think it depends more on which Prince's realm your soul (and your relationship with said Prince) ends up in as to whether it would be considered Hell or not.


But as for an actual universal Christian Hell, I don't think so.

I considered that but what happens to the random farmer you find that dies of old age, who doesn't know anything except how to farm? I mean he doesn't go to Sovngarde, or whatever Hell would be. Or the bandit who just robs people until he gets killed in a raid? He would go to Christian Hell if he was real, so what happens since he has no relation with the daedra?

[fauxpas]

Its my understanding that their souls simply get recycled.

[fauxpas]

Just to clarify, "recycling" isn't being reborn; its having your very soul ripped apart and forged into a completely new one.

[alexander_dougherty]

Originally posted by Silent Protagonist:

my guess would be oblivion due to skyrims general tullious yelling out when alduin makes his appearance he yells quite loudly and blatantly "WHAT IN OBLIVION IS THAT!!"

This^, if you worship the Divines then you go to Aetherius, Shor's Hall is simply a sub-plane of Aetherius.

If you worship the Daedra then you'll go to their plane after death, which as Oblivion showed will probably end up with you been tortured (at least if you worship Mehrunes Dagon). If you worship the divines, but are evil, then you go to Oblivion, probably a plane there at random.

If you worship any other religion, then it hasn't been explicitly said, and the few hints there are are contradictory.

[Walrus1928]

Makes sense

[AriekB]

there is
sovingarde the norse interpritation of heaven then there is oblivion the place where lesser dremora punish and torture the souls that are sent there, in other Elder scrolls they break out of Oblivion to try and over run Tamriel only to be pushed back.

[Walrus1928]

Originally posted by AriekB:

there is
sovingarde the norse interpritation of heaven then there is oblivion the place where lesser dremora punish and torture the souls that are sent there, in other Elder scrolls they break out of Oblivion to try and over run Tamriel only to be pushed back.

Thanks, that makes sense. So some random bandit might be sent to the deadlands. And a farmer with no relationship with greater beings can become a ghost or their soul is recycled. And the great nord hero is sent to Sovngarde.

[DrNewcenstein]

Pretty much everyone in the Elder Scrolls has some personal relationship with either an Aedra (Divines) or Daedra (including Sithis), so everybody goes somewhere. Each Daedra also has separate seating for Followers and Sacrifices, though one would think that if a follower of Malacath was sacrificed to Dagon by one of his followers, they would go to Malacath's sphere of Oblivion, and not Dagon's.

This is alluded to in Molag Bal's quest when Logrolf is forced to submit to him, and forsake Boethia. Had he remained loyal to Boethia, he would have been respawned for eternity only to be beaten to death again and again (as Molag Bal could do that somehow, apparently).

As well, the Old Orc agrees to let you give him "a good death", even if you're not an Orc, so apparently as long as you stay in the good graces of a given Daedra, you are promised a favorable afterlife, even though it's in Oblivion.

Then again, souls trapped in Hircine's sphere would either have to be lackluster followers of his, or followers of other Daedra, or followers of Aedra who were not favored by their Divine of choice for whatever reason.

While not explicitly stated in the in-game lore of Oblivion or Skyrim (that I've seen, anyway), I presume each Aedra has their own sphere of Aetherius, just as each Daedra has their own sphere of Oblivion.

Of course, there's also the Soul Cairn if one gets soul-trapped at death.

In the Sixteen Accords of Madness, Sheogorath claims the souls of followers of other Daedric Lords when he wins their contest (at least the souls of Mer and Men - Hircine's beast merely clawed itself to death).

However, it's not fully explained about Tiber Septim's ascension to Divine status: did he get his own sphere of Aetherius, or is he part of Shor's host? His shrines confer blessings, which means he ascended to Godhood equal to Kynareth, Zenithar, and Julianos, however, there are no such shrines of Shor, at least in Skyrim. Maybe there were in Atmora, but since it's now a frozen wasteland, we don't get to find out.
Daedric Shrines are mostly communication devices for the Daedra, don't really confer similar "blessings", only artifacts.

Further, Sithis claims the sould of those who are killed by the Dark Brotherhood, so it could be that the ritual to petition the Night Mother breaks the bond between the victim and their Deity of choice, be it Aedra or Daedra.

That said, clearly someone wants you dead, as indicated by the Assassin's notes, but you are offered a seat in Shor's great hall, so there is apparently a way to gain favor (though it's hard to top slaying Alduin), as well you can swear your soul to Nocturnal by becoming a Nightingale, Boethia by claiming her Ebony Mail, Namira by turning cannibal, Mephala for betraying and killing your friends, Hircine for accepting lycanthropy, and Molag Bal by becoming a vampire.

Clavicus Vile doesn't appear to have or want followers, at least not Men or Mer, and assuredly has various Dremora populating his sphere. Meridia also doesn't seem interested in your soul, only that you perform works in her name. Azura says she'll guard over you in death, so perhaps she can influence your final destination.

And then, of course, if you're Argonian, you simply return to the Hist.

Kajhiit also follow the Elven/Human pantheon, though there's a healthy mix of both Aedra and Daedra in that.

[Met A Demon Once]

Tibit: If you are a werewolf you go to Hircine's domain to be hunted for all eternity. There is a quest in Skyrim to break that bond and free the soul.

[DrNewcenstein]

I thought you got to be the hunter, not the hunted? IIRC Aela seemed to be super-pumped about that aspect of it. I only did that quest a couple of times, so I can't recall the exact details.

[fauxpas]

Originally posted by DrNewcenstein:

I thought you got to be the hunter, not the hunted? IIRC Aela seemed to be super-pumped about that aspect of it. I only did that quest a couple of times, so I can't recall the exact details.

It sounds more like an endless wilderness maze full of wild animals to hunt and feast upon; assuming that you are a good enough hunter to be the hunter and not the hunted, so Aela and persumably the Dragonborn would be just fine in that realm.