Eldar Gods (Warhammer 40,000)
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In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Eldar are a race of elf-like humanoids. The following is a list and brief history of their deities, which in the setting are actual entities and not mere religion, by the time of the 'current day' in game however many of the gods are dead. Only Khaine, Isha and the Laughing God are still alive, and the Eldar are hoping to create a fourth, Y'nnead[1]. In Eldar Mythology, they are set against the Chaos Gods and battled with them.
Kaela Mensha Khaine, of all the characters in Eldar Mythology, is the only one who plays a central role in Warhammer 40,000, whereas he has models produced by both Games Workshop and Forge World, and even has a role in the Dawn of War videogame series.
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[edit] History
The Pantheon of the Eldar is considered to have been destroyed by the birth of Slaanesh. While the Eldar still revere all the gods and preserve their stories within the mythic cycles, they do not call on them for aid or hope for their intervention any longer. Still there is a prophecy telling of the return of the Eldar gods and how they will battle and destroy Slaanesh as a unified pantheon. Whether this is anything but an old myth remains to be seen[2] [3][1][4].
According to some codexes and novels, they may be the Old Ones. The Old Ones are ancient beings that battled the Necrons and are supposed to have created some of the races (such as humans, Eldar, and Orks). The Eldar gods could also have been created by the Old Ones in order to protect the other races that they created[5].
[edit] Mythology
This myth, commonly referred as the War in Heaven is a myth that appears in most of the Eldar Codexes and source material[2] [3][1][4]. The following is a summary of the events detailed in the myth.
In the beginning, there was the Eldar pantheon of gods, ruled by Asuryan, the Phoenix King. The Eldar race was created by Isha, the goddess of the earth. In these early days of Eldar myth and legend, there was no barrier between gods and mortals - the deities walked among the Eldar, teaching them and leading them in an age of peace and prosperity.
Yet one day, Lileath, the Maiden Goddess and daughter of Isha, dreamed that an array of mortals would cause the destruction of Khaine, the Eldar god of war. As Lileath was well-known for her prophetic dreams, Khaine took this prophecy very seriously and resolved to wipe out the Eldar race rather than let them destroy him. The ensuing slaughter was of such proportions that Isha petitioned Asuryan to stop the killings of her children. Asuryan did so, and created a physical barrier between the Eldar and their gods, forever separating the two, and decreed that no god was to intervene or communicate with the Eldar ever again. So, Khaine's war on the Eldar was stopped, for a time.
This was too much for Isha, though, and her consort Kurnous, god of the hunt. Isha and Kurnous loved their children the Eldar and could not bear to be separated from them. They approached Vaul, the smith god, with their woes, and the kindly Vaul agreed to help them. With Vaul's aid, they forged spirit stones through which mortal Eldar could communicate with the gods. With these stones, Isha and Kurnous continued to teach and mentor their mortal children in secrecy.
Peace was not to last, though, as one day Khaine stumbled upon the two as they communicated with the Eldar, and took the information straight to Asuryan. Though Asuryan was later sympathetic with Isha and Kurnous, they had broken his own laws and in his fury he decreed that the two gods be given to Khaine, to do with as he wished.
Khaine locked away and tortured Isha and Kurnous, utilising every cruel art he knew. Many of the Eldar gods believed that Khaine was going too far and secretly supported Isha and Kurnous' attempt to reestablish contact with the Eldar, but only one was willing to stand up for them in public. Vaul petitioned for their release, and eventually he and Khaine came to an agreement. In one year's time, Khaine would release Isha and Kurnous in exchange for one hundred swords. Vaul was such a master smith that a single blade of his was of incalculable value - indeed, a single mortal with a Sword of Vaul(Blade-Wraiths) could stand against a thousand with mundane weapons.
Vaul immediately set to work, rejoicing that he could end his fellow gods' suffering. Unfortunately though, when the year was up, he had only completed ninety-nine swords, rendering the bargain void. He took an ordinary mortal blade and mixed it in with the others, hoping that the war god would not notice. Upon delivery, Khaine was so pleased with the weapons that he released Isha and Kurnous forthwith, delighting in the craftsmanship that had gone into the swords. It was only in battle with the Necrons that Khaine discovered the one mortal sword, long after Isha and Kurnous were gone.
Khaine roared in anger, calling Vaul a cheat, a liar, and a thief. He immediately set off to track Vaul down and make him pay. The wars that followed polarised the gods between Khaine's faction and Vaul's faction, which proceeded to engage in bloody warfare for an eternity. Gods changed sides, great deeds of heroism and of craven evil were performed, and the war was mirrored in a struggle between the various Eldar factions in the mortal realms and even against the ancient demi-gods called the Ygnir. Asuryan himself never took a side, watching the carnage impassively, slowly coming to regret his impetuosity in sentencing Isha and Kurnous. (Although this is not the only "story" telling of the hundred swords, another consists of the Eldar and Khaine going to war with the Necrons and failing because of the one "mortal" sword).
Vaul reforged the final sword, the one that he had failed to finish for Khaine, the greatest of all, and called it Anaris. Armed with this weapon, Vaul strode forth to do battle with Khaine. It was a long, hard-fought struggle, but even with Anaris Vaul was no match for the war god. Khaine cast down Vaul, maiming the smith, and bound Vaul to his own anvil.
However, the falcon spirit Faolchú, who had fought for Vaul, took the sword Anaris and delivered it straight to Eldanesh, greatest of the mortal Eldar. With Anaris in hand, Eldanesh of the Red Moon took up the fight and faced Khaine in single combat. Eldanesh fought well, but in the end he too was defeated by Khaine, his body crushed by the god of war. It is from this deed that Khaine earned his Eldarin title Kaela Mensha, meaning 'Bloody Handed', and was henceforth known as Khaine the Bloody Handed. An interesting side effect was that his hand (and that of his avatars) forever more dripped blood, making his name literal as well a figurative. Asuryan had seen enough of the slaughter and proclaimed the war over. Khaine had had his vengeance and left the field satisfied.
Millennia later, when the Eldar race left their first homeworld behind and travelled into the stars and forged a great interstellar empire, they grew decadent and indulgent. Their hedonistic and selfish thoughts and emotions coalesced in the Warp into a new and deadly Chaos god - Slaanesh. The birth of Slaanesh and the Fall of the Eldar heralded the end of the Eldar pantheon. Slaanesh slew the Eldar gods viciously - Lileath, Asuryan, even old blind Morai-Heg were murdered one after the other by Slaanesh and her daemonic servants. Isha alone was captured and held by slannesh. Nurgle took pity on her and released her as a 'lover' and he delights in testing his plagues on her before using them on the mortal races. (4th edition chaos daemons codex.) Khaine, the mightiest warrior of the gods, did battle with Slaanesh and was cast down and shattered into a million pieces, which became the mighty Avatars of Khaine that could be summoned to the battlefield from their eternal slumber at the heart of each craftworld. Thus did Lileath's prophecy come true, and the Eldar were the cause of Khaine's destruction - even as he battled to save them. Only Cegorach, the Laughing God who is the patron or master of the mysterious Harlequins, managed to escape Slaanesh alive, hiding in the webway. Cegorach and the hideous Prince of Pleasure continue to do battle to this day, dancing the Dance Without End.
[edit] Eldar Mythology in Perspective
Though this is certainly the most well known of their myths, Eldar mythology contains many stories, and each Eldar is expected to know at least all of the major ones [1]. The effect of these myths upon the Eldarin language is to make it amazingly complex and almost incomprehensible to human ears, mainly due to the intricate references to these myths. For example, the world 'Faolchú', which commonly refers to the Eldar anti-gravity tank known as the Falcon, also refers to the legendary bird and its actions, which lends the word connotations beyond the immediate usage.
Note that the War in Heaven is also a term occasionally used to describe the war between the ancient humanoid race called the Necrontyr and the Old Ones in the days when the galaxy was young many millions of years ago[6]. This war is not the same as that outlined in the Eldar's myth - it merely shares a name. Still, the Eldar were one of the races created by the Old Ones to battle the Necrontyr and their C'tan masters. Therefore they might be based on those events as the C'tan and Necrontyr do make an appearance in some Eldar myths about the War in Heaven [1].
The War in Heaven is an Eldar myth, not factual history - the Eldar believe it, but not in the same sense as recorded history. However, these myths are still very relevant for the Eldar as they believe that their history is cyclic, with events in the mythical past being repeated over and over up to present events. Much time is spend contemplating how ancient myths are mirrored in current events. Furthermore, it should be noted that "gods" exist in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, often as the unified psychic manifestation of the collective unconsciousness of a group of psychically active sentient beings built up over time. Slaanesh was created this way, as the new Eldar god of the dead, Ynnead is forming within the Eternal Matrix, the sum of all the Eldar infinity circuits and World Spirits of the Exodites. It is thought that when the last Eldar dies, Ynnead will rise and he will be able to defeat Slaanesh.
[edit] The Living Gods
[edit] Kaela Mensha Khaine, God of War
Kaela Mensha Khaine is one of the two surviving gods of the Eldar. In the old pantheon, he was second only to Asuryan himself in power, and was often shown as the enemy of Vaul. He is also the most violent and reckless of the gods. Asuryan was so appalled by his murder of Eldanesh, a mortal, that he cursed Khaine and made his hands drip eternally with the blood of Eldanesh so that everyone would remember what he had done[4][2] [3][1].
The Eldar say that when Slaanesh awoke, it consumed each of the other gods in turn. While they were all devoured, Khaine took up his great sword and did battle with it instead. Khaine was not strong enough to destroy Slaanesh, but he was too powerful to be defeated. Instead he was broken, and scattered into pieces.
These pieces are the Avatars of Kaela Mensha Khaine and reside at the center of each craftworld. In desperate times the Eldar can awaken the Avatar by the sacrifice of an Exarch so that it can lead them into war. The Avatars of Khaine are towering monsters with skin of iron and molten cores, hands permanently dripping with blood as Khaine's did. Each Avatar wields the Wailing Doom, a potent weapon capable of sending bursts of energy equivalent to that of a fusion gun. Due to their Molten Cores Avatars of Khaine are all but immune to fire-based weaponry and as such are immune to all melta and flame based attacks.
'Kaela Mensha' is not technically part of Khaine's name, but is a title he bears. It roughly translated to 'bloody-handed', a reference to the blood of Eldanesh.
[edit] Isha, Goddess of Harvest
The Mother of the Eldar race, Isha is a fertility goddess in many respects. She was imprisoned by Khaine for a period of time, until Vaul paid her ransom. She is often depicted crying, and her symbol is a teared eye, symbolic of her sorrow in being separated from her mortal children. Her tears are said to have been formed into runes by Vaul so that she could communicate with her children.
According to the 4th edition chaos daemons codex, there is an eldar myth on a single craftworld about Isha. when slaanesh awoke, he eliminated the eldar gods but took Isha captive. Nurgle took pity on Isha and battled to save her, and eventually succeeded. After her rescue Nurgle decided to keep her captive in a cage in a corner of his cauldron room. He tests his diseases and poisons on her.
[edit] Cegorach, the Laughing God, God of the Harlequins
Cegorach, the Laughing God, the other surviving god of the Pantheon was the trickster and artist of the pantheon, and as such is the god of the Harlequins troupe. When all the other gods were destroyed, Cegorach fled before Slaanesh until Khaine rose to do battle with it. The Laughing God took this chance to escape into the realm of the Webway, as only he is said to know all the secrets of its passages. The master of the Harlequins, Cegorach is the only Eldar god that still remains in its original form[4][2] [3][1].
[edit] Ynnead, God of the Dead
Ynnead, the nascent Eldar God of the Dead, is not a part of the old pantheon. He is an amalgam of the Eldar souls stored in the Eternal Matrix, and is being slowly brought to consciousness in the hope that one day he may be released into the Warp and destroy Slaanesh, delivering the Eldar from their inevitable doom. He is the last hope the Eldar have of rising again, however, as mused over by Eldrad Ulthran, this may take thousands or even millions of years, and all hope may be lost before. Ironically, though he's supposed to be the saviour of the race, his awakening will require every last Eldar soul (hence the entire race will perish)[1].
[edit] The Destroyed Gods
[edit] Asuryan, the Phoenix King of the Gods
Sometimes known as the Phoenix King, Asuryan was the king and the most powerful of the pantheon of Eldar gods. While the mythic cycles seem to indicate that he held sway over all the others, he was nevertheless consumed by Slaanesh. He is often depicted in relation to fire and light, his chief symbols[1].
[edit] Vaul, God of the Forges
The artificer, Vaul is one of the central gods of the pantheon, and an enemy to Khaine. In order to purchase the freedom of Kurnous and Isha, Khaine demanded one hundred blades from the smith god. Vaul was unable to finish the last blade in time, and so hid a mortal blade amid the others. This fooled Khaine long enough to get Isha and Kurnous to freedom, but when he realised the trick he cried out for vengeance. Vaul finished the final blade, Anaris the Dawnlight, and took it to do battle with Khaine. Though it was the greatest of swords, Khaine was the better warrior and crippled Vaul. The smith is often shown chained to his anvil, the punishment that Khaine set upon him. Vaul is also related to the Talismans of Vaul that nearly destroyed the C'tan race and sealed the Nightbringer into stasis.
[edit] Other gods
- Kurnous, God of the Hunt - the Father of the Eldar race, and the companion of Isha. He is often shown in conjunction with hounds, hawks, and other trappings of the hunt. He too was imprisoned by Khaine.
- Lileath (also known as Lilcarth) the Maiden, Goddess of Dreams
- Morai-Heg the Crone, God of Fate/Souls
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Kelly, Phil (2006). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Eldar, 4th Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-791-3.
- ^ a b c d Thorpe, Gav (2000). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Craftworld Eldar. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-029-3.
- ^ a b c d Thorpe, Gav (2001). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Eldar, 3rd Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-869893-39-5.
- ^ a b c d Priestley, Rick (1994). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Eldar, 2nd Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-872372-74-0.
- ^ Spurrier, Simon (2005). Xenology. Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-282-6.
- ^ Chambers, Andy; Haines, Pete, McNeill, Graham, and Hoare, Andy (2002). Codex: Necrons, 3rd Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-190-7.
