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Outside Valenwood they can harvest all sorts of plants, and do not technically have to follow the meat mandate... Most don't harvest plants unless they have to, and do follow the meat mandate (as shown as part of a side quest in Oblivion).
And Bosmer in the Valenwood do import fruit, veg and wood from outside the Valenwood.
As for Werecreatures, they are known to snap into homicidal killing sprees, which means the Bosmer have no more reason to want to be one than anyone else, after all who wants to kill their spouse, children and siblings because Hircine decides a spree is long overdue???
I don't think Hircine is viewed any better by Bosmer than by Imperials.
It appears that while Hircine isn’t necessarily viewed favorably by the majority of Bosmer, most will still pray to him for luck during a hunt and it sounds like there exists a notably large minority of Bosmer who do worship him.
Why were-creatures are considered taboo seems to be related to the Bosmer beliefs concerning the origin of the world and Y’ffre.
In their mythology, life was once a kind of primordial soup called the Ooze where nothing retained its form for very long. When Y’ffre sacrificed himself to become the first Earthbone he created the Bosmer and forbade them from ever transforming/changing the shape that he gave them. Doing so would be breaking the Green Pact and the soul of any Bosmer who did so would be doomed to return to the Ooze forever.
However, every Bosmer apparently has the inherent ability to transform themselves into creatures and entities that cannot be clearly defined.
The only time this ability is sanctioned is in retaliation - a great act of vengeance - for an immense crime committed against Valenwood and/or the Bosmeri people.
This is known as the Wild Hunt. When this is called for, a large group of Bosmer volunteer to perform a ritual and they transform into these wild, ever-changing creatures who kill and destroy absolutely everything in their path between them and their target. When their target is dead, they turn on one another and kill/eat each other until nothing is left.
Apparently, creatures and beings caught in the Wild Hunt’s path who survive are forever affected by it and transform in some way. Thus the Bosmeri believe that nearly every monster that exists in Tamriel was created by the Wild Hunt.
Interesting stuff.
See? THIS is why I want a game set in Valenwood and not someplace like Hammerfell.
1) Don't harm Valenwood trees. Interpretation/exception: BOSMER can't cut down the trees of Valenwood, but OTHER races CAN. As a part of that, they can still use wood that's imported from other parts of Tamriel; the rule against using harming trees only applies to trees that are native to Valenwood.
2) Don't eat plants, or anything made from plants. Interpretation/exception: It only refers to plants and fruits that are still alive. If it's fallen from a tree, it's okay. But if it has to plucked from a tree or a bush, that's a no-no.
3) Only eat meat. Interpretation/exception: Things like dairy, mushrooms, and honey are considered okay by most Bosmer. Most of their alcoholic drinks are also made from animal products.
4) Eat your kills before three days are up. Interpretation/exception: Can't find anything about this in UESP's entry on the Green Pact, so I would guess that it's about not letting meat go to waste than it is anything else.
5) Don't kill unless you HAVE to kill. Interpretation/exception: Does it need one?
6) Don't shapeshift into animals. Interpretation/exception: The form of the Bosmers is sacred, because the ability to confine themselves to that shape is a gift from Y'ffre. So they don't shapeshift, even though they can. The one exception is the Wild Hunt, which is a ritual of shapeshifting en masse. Because the results are irreversible, it's only done when they have absolutely no other choice.
So far, we've only had the Green Pact as the idea that all of Valenwoods "greens" are Jephre, and that you musn't diminish it by intentionally harming, or harvesting, or destroying it. Everthing outside of Valenwood is just fine, and there's a myriad of interpretations about the pact, anyway.
Have you ever seen any macaroni?
I wouldn't like to comment on the cheese...
I’m pretty certain that non-Bosmer are NOT allowed to harm Valenwood trees/plants, and Bosmer are obligated to kill any who do.
I distinctly recall an in-game text that mentions an event where a group of Imperial lumberers were caught cutting down Valenwood trees along the border with Cyrodiil and the Bosmer slaughtered all of them for it.
@Doc
Yeah, the thing is that’s a NPC game animation (like the tankard drinking) that plays automatically. Even if Bosmer are forbidden from eating bread outside of Valenwood, I doubt BGS would be keen enough to restrict that animation from being used by Bosmer NPCs (or create one with meat specifically used by them).
Was that in the "A dance in fire" series?
All NPCs play the same food (bread) and drink (mug) animation.
As for that text you mention, that's a book written by a retired Imperial Legionnaire who served during the Five-Years War, a war between the Bosmer and Khajit. If you read the book, it gives two contradictory reasons for why the war started, and the Bosmer's reason has nothing to do with Imperials cutting trees down. The reason the Bosmer give is that Khajit were raiding caravans of imported timber. Here's UESP's entry on that book: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Mixed_Unit_Tactics.
I’m not one of those “blehhh anything ESO isn’t canon blehhhh” types, but it’s rather confusing when the entry says that Green Pact Bosmer attack/kill anyone who harms the trees of Valenwood…and then follows that with a “but these dudes are okay”.
I do find it interesting that it says:
“Do not harm the forests of Valenwood. Do not eat anything made from plant life.”
The first line sounds like it’s saying Bosmer are not allowed to harm the trees of Valenwood, but can harm the trees of other provinces. The second sounds like they’re not supposed to consume plant life of ANY KIND - regardless of where it grows or who harms it to turn it into food, drink, or a potion.
However…later in the article it states that any plants grown outside Valenwood but whose seeds are FROM Valenwood are considered sacred and cannot be harmed…so this suggests that non-Valenwood plants CAN be harmed/consumed.
Yeah and looking at that article some more it looks like ESO made some changes and adjustments to the Green Pact lore.
As for the bit about "Do not harm plants", the interpretation on that one also makes it more clear. What it basically means is that the Bosmer aren't supposed to do eat fruits or leaves that they've picked off trees and bushes. Doing that's a strict no-no. But if a fruit FALLS off a tree, because it was blown off by the wind or it just got ripe and fell off naturally, then eating it is perfectly fine for Bosmer. If they've picked it up off the ground, it's no harm, no foul.
It straight up says they are not to harm the forest and cut down Valenwood trees.
It does not specifically say anything about whether or not they’re allowed to cut down trees outside of Valenwood, but the wording seems to imply it and it does say they can import wood.
There’s nothing in there concerning it being okay for Bosmer to conduct small scale logging or selective felling of certain kinds of Valenwood trees (unless you’re referring to dead trees).
ESO seems to have changed some things though - adding bits about non-Bosmer being allowed to cut down Valenwood trees, and some Bosmer choosing to not even follow the Green Pact within Valenwood’s borders. Prior to ESO, this was not the case - NO ONE could harm Valenwood trees and to do so was a death sentence.
Here's the entry again: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Green_Pact. Start with the third paragraph, the one that starts with "Despite its perceived simplicity", and read from there. Starting with that paragraph, that's where the interpretations are described. In this context, "Valenwood trees" doesn't seem to be referring to a specific kind of tree. What it DOES seem to refer to are trees that grow in Valenwood, nothing else.
I suggest that you take a closer look at that text you mention. Specifically, its age. What you describe as canon-changing on this issue didn't start with ESO. It goes farther back, to Morrowind, at least. That book? It's author, Codus Callonus, is an NPC in Morrowind: he's the bookseller in Ald'ruhn. So if Bethesda HAS changed canon about the Green Pact, then it started back in 2002, and that brings up questions about whether it actually IS a ret-con.
They don’t harm the trees of Valenwood - that’s what it says. Destroying them, cutting them down, etc would be considered harming them. Nowhere in that article does it say that they can harm SOME trees - as you suggest.
No trees of Valenwood.
As for the ESO changes, the author of Why We Farm may be in Morrowind but go to the actual UESP page for it - what does it say in the top right corner?
“Seen in: The Elder Scrolls Online”
This book, that contains this information about non-Bosmer being allowed to cut down Valenwood trees, is ONLY in ESO.
It’s a ret-con