Meet the Evanuris: The Mysteries of Mythal the Great Protector

One symbol is associated with Mythal above all others: that 
of the dragon itself.

FLEMETH: I nudge history, when it's required. Other times, a shove is needed.

MERRILL: It's never wise to ignore Mythal.

SPOILERS as always, for all of Dragon Age!

I've recently been taking a closer look at the Evanuris, both in the accepted mythology of the Dalish, as well as in the more potentially realistic (and disturbing) revelations of Dragon Age: Inquisition and its DLC "Trespasser."

For me, any discussion or analysis of the Evanuris must begin with Mythal, whose very symbol—the dragon—is a source of fear and wonder, and which stands for the age in which most of our story now takes place.

The Dalish Myth

The benevolent protector of the elves who was born of the sea (the tears of the wounded Earth), Mythal, the All-Mother and Great Protector, was seen by the Dalish as the mother of the gods, the dispenser of justice and love, and the partner of Elgar'nan. Mythal brought peace, and saw into hearts and minds in order to dispense true justice, sorting the wheat from the chaff, the true from the false.

Although Elgar'nan defeated the Sun (his father), Mythal persuaded him to allow it to return, and created the Moon (that most feminine of celestial objects) to reflect his light.

What's interesting is that even though Elgar'nan is the nominal leader of the Evanuris, he's by all accounts, even in myth, pretty terrible at it. He starts out as judge, but this quickly becomes a disaster as his inability to control his temper means that he is incapable of rendering calm, cool justice. All his reactions seem to start at rage (I keep picturing Elgar'nan 'hulking' out on a constant basis). Eventually, it appears to me that even among the Dalish myths, Elgar'nan quickly passed the mantle of actual rulership to his mate, Mythal. I mean, he was still the ruler in name, he just didn't seem to want to do the work.

With Mythal, the people could call for justice, she would listen and judge, seeing into hearts and minds, and only then would she take her judgments to Elgar'nan—which he would then dispense according to her verdicts. Until it all went wrong, and she ended either in death or imprisonment.

Among the Dalish, Mythal is assumed to have been either killed by Fen'Harel or exiled with the others due to his treachery.

As the archetypical mother-goddess, Mythal is inherently
associated with powerful symbols of the feminine divine.

The Facts


Evidently, the myths were true in their deepest sense: Among her fierce companions in the Evanuris, Mythal was evidently the kindest and most just, the one offering protection to her people and who constantly attempted to make and keep the peace among her arrogant and constantly warring companions.

Mythal's most famous achievements were almost always those of peacekeeping. She averted a war between Falon'Din and Elgar'nan at one point, and also brought down Falon'Din (with the rest of the gods behind her) when he began to pursue war simply for even more blood and death in which to revel. Mythal also defeated Andruil after her disastrous trip to the Void (a moment that may have had lasting effects upon all of Thedas, possibly bringing the Blight) and is even reported to have defeated at least a Titan or two, although the information we get on that is both sketchy and decidedly hazy.

Mythal and the Titans

When it comes to Mythal's deeds in the very deeps of the world, I'm interested in her ties to the Titans because I feel like there's something very obviously changed or missing there. Mythal is historically not a conquerer, even if her story is framed that way here, but then again, it also sounds an awful lot like more of the propaganda the Evanuris were so good at disseminating about those who fought them. The kind of propaganda that turned a freer of slaves, for instance, into a Dread Wolf of nightmares and cautionary tales.

As far as Mythal, I just don't think she'd head down and conquer beings as vast as the Titans simply to expand the lands of the People or to amass power, since Mythal doesn't seem to be all that interested in power for power's sake.

So, why, then?

Mythal's all about the big picture. Actually, make that Big Picture. She's the one, above everyone else in the trilogy, that I feel is looking out for the world as a whole. She may be cruel at times, but it overwhelmingly appears, for the most part, that this is out of necessity (after all, Mythal is pretty forgiving and non-judgmental even if the Warden and Morrigan go so far as to kill her in DAO!). So as far as the Titans and her conquering one or more of them, my feeling is that it has to be for reasons beyond expansion or greed for lyrium; that instead, she does this because Thedas needs her to. I even wonder if she was responsible for burying all access to the conquered Titan, as a later Codex implies—if it was Blighted, she may have been trying to forestall the entry of the Taint into the world (or simply access to the Blighted (red) lyrium, a separate if parallel deadly poison).

Alternatively, Mythal may have known that the elves would need this power in the future. I'll expand on this in a full later post that will simply address the ties between Mythal, the Titans, the dwarves, the Wardens, Lyrium... and the Blight.

Signs and Symbolism

As the archetypical mother-goddess, Mythal is inherently feminine, and is associated with unshakably feminine symbols, from her birth from the sea, to her creation of the Moon itself.

It is also widely speculated that the constellation Silentir may in fact represent a dragon figure (and Mythal). While some (many) have associated the constellation with the Old God Dumat over the ages, it's worth noting that the elven gods factually predate the Old Gods by millennia—in other words, Mythal came first, but as with so many elven signs and symbols in Thedas, she was once again supplanted, mercilessly, and her origins obscured once again with those preferred by the human Tevinter conquerers.

With its quietly alien dragon face atop the body of a naked female figure, the
winged statue of Mythal that we find frequently across her Temple area in
 the Arbor Wilds is both beautiful and forbidding.

One symbol, of course, is associated with Mythal above all others: that of the dragon itself, and statues and images of dragons appear frequently around her temples and sacred spaces, both in graceful full dragon form (with massive serene, almost mournful figures depicted, heads lowered in either grief or acceptance), and in a woman-dragon form consisting of a womanly figure with dragon wings and a pointed dragon head. The woman-dragon figures are especially striking, because they beautifully reflect the duality of Mythal and Flemeth—the goddess and the witch, the woman and the dragon.

The figures also evoke, for me, a strong visual echo of the Nike of Samothrace (my favorite real-world sculpture, and—true story—when I saw it in person at the Louvre, I burst into tears. Someday I plan to steal it in a nonviolent, high-stakes crime caper and to then put it in my living room, where I will sit and gaze adoringly at it until my inevitable arrest by, of course, the French detective with whom I will be having a doomed but passionate affair). 

Where was I? Oh, right—dragons!

Appropriately, Flemeth (who carries the wisp of Mythal's spirit and awareness within her) is also able to shapechange into the form of a high dragon at will. There are also more subtle parallels—when Mythal confronts Andruil (who has gone mad after her trip to the Void), she fights her in the shape of a giant serpent (which is, once again, a frequent synonym for 'dragon' in high fantasy).

But the dragon isn't just Mythal's symbol. It is a sacred creature, a sacred form, and not only does it look like it may have been a shapeshift all of the Evanuris were capable of accomplishing, but it was also evidently an act of sacrilege for others to attempt.

Retribution and Judgment

Flemeth may be vengeful against those who wronged her so long ago, but she's not, as I mentioned, terribly judgmental in actual temperament. Going back a few millennia, however, it appears that Mythal did indeed have her moments. Based on the Ancient Elven Writing Codex from the Arbor Wilds, Mythal could be fierce in her judgment and retribution against those who took the sacred dragon form, as here:

"His crime is high treason. He took on a form reserved for the gods and their chosen, and dared to fly in the shape of the divine. The sinner belongs to Dirthamen; he claims he took wings at the urging of Ghilan'nain, and begs protection from Mythal. She does not show him favor, and will let Elgar'nan judge him."

For one moment there is an image of a shifting, shadowy mass with blazing eyes, whose form may be one or many. Then it fades.

Even before we get the revelation that she's a living vessel for the spirit of
Mythal, it was always apparent that Flemeth was watching Thedas from a
much larger point of view than anyone else.

So let's look at this fascinating little tidbit: It's directly telling us some really exciting things: That shapeshifting to dragon form is a talent reserved only for the gods themselves. This could mean that all of the Evanuris were capable of the dragon shape-shift, or that (from Mythal's angry reaction and denial of protection), that it's specifically left to Mythal alone. It's not really clear, but would be a wonderful tie right back to Flemeth, and if Morrigan drinks from the Well and becomes  a servant of Mythal, she is then able to shapeshift into a dragon for the final battle, just as her mother once did.

However, the idea that the Evanuris are ALL able to shapeshift into dragon form also adds weight to the frequent argument of some that the Old Gods in dragon form are actually simply the trapped or cursed forms of the Evanuris, themselves, with each (Dumat, Lusacan, Razikale, Toth, Andoral, Zazikel, and Urthemiel) corresponding directly to an elven god or goddess. Of course, this also lends both motive and urgency to why Flemeth (Mythal) is so set on preserving the Old-God souls through the Dark Ritual.

Which would actually be very character-appropriate, if that's the case—that Mythal wished to see the Evanuris punished, but not killed, and that she would still seek to preserve their ancient souls.

It doesn't quite work for me, but it's a cool idea. I still believe the Evanuris are, rather, together and imprisoned somewhere high in the Fade, even as the Forgotten Ones were banished to the abyss... trapped by Solas in the greatest act of retribution the world had ever seen.

Choosing Sides

Let's look back again at that Codex quoted above. It's also implied, at least, according to the defendant, that Ghilan'nain goaded the 'sinner' into the transgression (which fits in perfectly with my perception that Andruil and Ghilan'nain her lover were actively opposed to Mythal). The criminal 'belonging' to Dirthamen can also be interpreted in many different ways, since this may imply that they were a follower of Dirthamen, or may even have been captured by Dirthamen. Some even speculate that the sinner was Dirthamen himself, but I don't get that at all here. "Belonging" to Dirthamen seems far different than "being" Dirthamen, after all.

Then Elgar'nan's judgment there seems to curse the sinner into darkness (into the Void?), possibly transforming them into a monstrous dark form, or perhaps we are simply seeing one of the Forgotten Ones (the enemies of the Evanuris) shifting back into his true form as he is obliterated?

See how each little note or Codex seems to lead to a thousand more questions? It's all so rich and fascinating, but so difficult to pare down! (Right now, even as I write this, I have 18 tabs open on my browser, to different Codices, Wiki entries, elven language translations, and interviews with David Gaider and Patrick Weekes.

Not that I'm complaining. Mythal is an amazingly rich character. But after writing this single post, I'm really thinking we need a whole novel about her! (Hey, I'll do it if nobody else will!)

Sacred Places and Associations

Places sacred to Mythal include an Altar to Mythal in Sundermount, outside
Kirkwall. It's a nice spot—certainly more restful than anywhere else in the area!

Places sacred to Mythal include an Altar to Mythal in Sundermount, outside of Kirkwall, as well as the Temple of Mythal (still guarded by the ancient Sentinel Elves) in the Arbor Wilds (also the location of a second Altar to Mythal nearby, as well as the home of the fire elemental high dragon that is the Guardian of Mythal). There are also statues of Mythal in the Tomb of Fairel and a disquieting, corrupted version in the Tomb of the Emerald Knights.

And let's not forget the Well of Sorrows. Last, but certainly not least, the Well of Sorrows is a pool at the Temple of Mythal where, as Abelas reveals to the Inquisitor and Morrigan and their party, each servant of Mythal passed along his or her knowledge. This was done near the end of each servant's lifespan, for uncounted years, resulting in the Well. It's a deeply tempting object for those seeking knowledge, offering a wealth of information about the ancient elves and days, and yet, with a heavy price, as the drinker from the Well will be bound to serve Mythal without choice or consent going forward for all eternity.

The Well is one of my favorite locations in DAI, as well as posing one of my favorite conundrums. To drink, or not to drink? For my first several playthroughs, I simply could not let my Inquisitors drink. It just felt abhorrent to me to willingly surrender their free will to Mythal (even if I adore Flemeth so much I'd basically fall at her feet if I ever met her).

Then, however, I let an Inquisitor drink from the Well... and it's AMAZING. The benefits are immediately real and tangible. You're able to see and hear things nobody else can see or hear; you can translate things nobody else can translate. You even get some fascinating further translations on the Evanuris and (most disquieting of all) get a tantalizing hint that there may in fact be a link between Mythal and the Calling (but more on that in a separate post).

Best of all, if you drink from the Well, you don't even have to fight the Sentinel Spirits in "Trespasser" (and they're pretty tough), cutting down your fighting time in the DLC by almost half. Nowadays, wherever character-appropriate, I almost always drink from the Well—it's too wonderful not to (and let's face it—no scholar or librarian would ever judge me).

Yep. My Inquisitors are now forever enslaved. Yay! All hail Mythal!

All in the Family

One little detail that I found interesting in the Temple of Mythal is that, in her golden mosaic portrait there, Mythal is depicted as a heavy-breasted, fertile female maternal figure with a radiant glowing halo, and whose arms embrace five little figures, for all the world like chicks in a nest. To me, this is clearly an image of a goddess holding her children, which would suggest to me as I noted in my previous post that, despite conflicting reports, in addition to twins Falon'Din and Dirthamen, as well as Andruil and Sylaise, that the mysterious June was in fact a child of Mythal's and not the husband of Sylaise.

So this means it's truly a family, made up of Mythal, hubby Elgar'nan, and their five children: Falon'Din, Dirthamen, Andruil, June, and Sylaise. As well as the non-familial gods Ghilan'nain, who was raised to godhood from mortality, perhaps as the lover and mate of Andruil, and the mysterious Fen'Harel, who, as I've noted, I believe was originally a spirit and Mythal's closest friend, and who came through at her plea for him to lend her aid when she had no one else to turn to.

To me, this potential family connection is vital to the big picture of the schism within the Evanuris that was to come, because if they're all related (with Ghilan'nain the beloved of Andruil and Fen'Harel closely connected to Mythal, almost as her spirit son made flesh), this adds to both the tragedy of their internal war to come, as well as to the devastating effect it would have had on Mythal. Because, if it's true, this means that Mythal wasn't just betrayed by her arrogant and anger-prone husband, she was murdered by the people she loved and trusted most—her husband and their children, who conspired together to end her life.

Mythal's Fate

Mythal was murdered by the other "gods" and her temple destroyed (and to me, it's certainly heavily implied from Flemeth's tale that Elgar'nan, Mythal's husband, was key in that betrayal, just as Flemeth's husband once betrayed and sought to destroy her). Speculations abound, and I'll be delving into Mythal's murder more deeply in the future, but for now here's what I think, in a nutshell:

I think for many ages (millennia upon millennia to us mortals), that there was peace and joy among the immortal Evanuris, who delighted in their gifts and talents, who loved one another, and who explored the world with passion and curiosity, each finding his or her own joys, pursuits and obsessions. As mother of her eternal and fiery children, Mythal was the judge and justice-keeper, as we know, and she did not hesitate to discipline them when they transgressed.

But I think, for many years, overall, they were happy. I suspect that problems only began to arise out of sheer boredom; beings that live for thousands of years are naturally going to seek out different experiences, and I think that was a major factor here among the Evanuris. A mortal lifetime is a fragile thing of wonder and transitory beauty. But it's all too easy for me to imagine immortal beings who grew restless as the centuries and millennia passed.

Ennui and Despair

These were, as I've noted elsewhere, prickly, passionate and highly emotional beings. Such attributes do not point to a peaceful, ripple-free existence, especially among beings whose powers were literally godlike. I think to address that potential boredom and that sense of ennui, that they would have become seekers of ever-new and unique experiences, prizing the new and unexpected eventually above all other experiences. It's pretty easy to see the ancient elves (and the Evanuris most of all) therefore being, I would imagine, pretty flexible about such matters as sexual orientation and gender identification, even simply in a spirit of experimentation.

The boredom of the Evanuris appears to me to have been in large part due to a rather myopic point of view. They were bored with the world because for them the world was an extension of themselves. People were uninteresting and only useful as potential tools, slaves, or playthings. There is no sense that they delighted in watching the progress of their world or civilization in any kind of higher sense. Just that ever-deepening sense of egotism and arrogance.

This is where I think the evil crept in—the evil of arrogance and boredom, of hubris and vanity. The Evanuris were the saviors of their people, raised on high, and mightier than any who dared to challenge them. They began to believe their own stories, began to assume they deserved more, and slowly they descended into decadence and war, into ridiculous challenges and monuments simply for the momentary thrill of the experiences.

This is when I think Mythal called Fen'Harel into the flesh, and I think not only did he emerge to support and strengthen her, but that he may have forestalled any tensions for many years. Bright and beautiful, and offering an almost limitless knowledge thanks to millennia in the Fade, it's not difficult to imagine that Solas would have enthralled his fellow Evanuris, and that he would have been able to help Mythal maintain peace, at least for awhile.

Until the decadence became darkness. Until the Evanuris began to seek death and war for the sheer pleasure of watching the sacrifice—until they began to enslave and hunt their own people, until they began to scheme and vie for power among themselves, to hunt the darkest depths of the Void, to senselessly destroy the Titans, to (just perhaps) assail the forbidden places high and low for the delight of cruelty and pestilence. 

Here's when I think Solas and Mythal mounted their last, doomed effort to try to protect the People from their fellow "gods." Solas went full-on rogue, freeing the slaves and rallying the people to cast off their chains and fight tyranny. Mythal, perhaps too trusting or unwilling to abandon her family, I think kept up the fight, but from within, not without.

And then they killed her.

Echoes of Past and Future

In retribution for this act, as Mythal's closest companion and friend, Fen'Harel took vengeance upon Mythal by banishing the Evanuris and erecting the Veil. Yet, even millennia later, as Flemeth admits, her spirit still cries out for vengeance.

The past is the future is the past. Solas once mourned for the loss of Mythal
and avenged her murder by separating reality and Fade. I believe he painted
this both in tribute to the past and as penance for the future to come.

Remember that unfinished fresco in Solas's Rotunda? I've been thinking more about it. What if it's not just Solas's regretful foreshadowing of the event to come (in which he must take Flemeth's life-force, given willingly to empower him to save their people), but a flashback to Solas's discovery of Flemeth's murder? The Dread Wolf faces the body of the murdered dragon, the blade still standing in the dragon's bloody back. The wolf's head is bowed in grief. 

The revelation that this could be both a flashback and a flash-forward is one of my favorite little details in the entire story of Dragon Age. And I think it is.

A Wisp of an Ancient Being

Mythal's fate is a tragic one, and it's no less tragic because she was able to find a small scrap of continued life when she joined her wisp to the consciousness of Flemeth. Within the Dragon Age universe, wisps are generally evidently limited in presence and awareness.

The wisp of Mythal that Flemeth carries, however, seems to be something different—something more complex, a consciousness that not only joined symbiotically with Flemeth's, but which also enhanced her powers and awareness, allowed her to maintain an independent persona, and yet which made her something more, something greater. 

Someone greater. Someone who watched over the world, and gave it a nudge now and then. Someone who helped us against the Blight in DAO, and who then donned her fantastic armor and Hair Horns and outfitted herself from that point on for the wars to come (and kudos to Matt Rhodes and the rest of the Dragon Age creative team for the wonderful redesign of Flemeth's character in Dragon Age II—the Hair Horns! The fabulous armor!).

The wisp of Mythal that Flemeth carries seems to be unique among wisp
essences—something sentient and genuinely complex.

Flemeth's account of the experience is one of my favorite pieces of writing in Dragon Age: Inquisition—a poetic account of rage, powerlessness, vengeance, and ascension, and I transcribed it in near-entirety in this post here. 

The important thing is that Flemeth's anger echoes back and overlays nicely with Mythal's own thirst for vengeance. The most important aspect here is that, however much Mythal was once a peacemaker, and however much Flemeth may quietly and benignly (or not-so-benignly) "nudge" the events of the world with her powers and awareness, the rage is also ever-present, simmering beneath the surface. Solas isn't the only one who couldn't get over Mythal's murder and betrayal. The one who felt it even more deeply was, of course (and quite understandably) Mythal herself:

Flemeth: She was betrayed, as I was betrayed—as the world was betrayed! Mythal clawed and crawled her way through the ages to me, and I will see her avenged!

The important thing here isn't just Flemeth's anger (and the anger of Mythal that she's channeling here), but that she calls the betrayal of Mythal a betrayal of the world itself. This is a major clue, right? That Mythal is speaking for the world itself?

Watching Over the World

Flemeth's words there remind me a little of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, actually—when he confronts Denethor in The Return of the King and reminds him, "For I also am a steward. Did you not know?" 

Perhaps Mythal is, in some strange way... a steward herself. A protector of Thedas—not just of its old ways or Old Gods, but of its roots and mountains, its peoples and lives. I think she might be. And if she is, she must make decisions that others will find cruel, doing so as she does from an impartial and difficult vantage point. As with her decision to save the Warden and Alistair while dooming Cailan and Duncan, among many other transitory and difficult judgments. But the love, nevertheless, is always there.

The irony is, this care, this real fascination with and attention to the world at large is why I also believe Mythal was never prey to the boredom and corruption of her peers among the Evanuris. She wasn't focused inward, but outward. She didn't want to find the world within herself, but to explore and celebrate its beauty where it lay. You never get the sense, in hearing or reading about Mythal, or in talking to Flemeth, that she finds people anything less than fascinating and worth loving. She delights in being alive, both as a sensual being, and in her place as a part of something larger than herself, in serving as a vivid thread in a massive tapestry. 

This sense of herself as serving something bigger, however, also, I believe, contributed to Flemeth's abuse of Morrigan. Flemeth, in seeing through the eyes of Mythal, was too focused outward to be a good mother to her child. She was too busy mothering Thedas, or rather—its fate.

It's always how I've seen Flemeth—that via Mythal she answers to a higher allegiance. One that is not always kind.

The Dragon and the Wolf

Ultimately, Mythal's goals may be somewhat aligned with Solas's, but I don't believe they are the same. I believe Mythal cares deeply for Solas and sympathizes with his cause—after all, that final scene between the two of them is fraught with real, palpable affection and deep love. Mythal may even feel some slight (or not so slight) sense of guilt—after all, the elven people were inadvertently doomed because Solas sought to avenge her.

However, I also think she sees farther and aims higher than that. I think she'll help him, to a degree (as when she willingly gives him her power at the end of DAI).

But I think ultimately if it comes down to it, she will act against Solas if he truly threatens Thedas. And while I'd hate to see these two who love each other forced into a battle that could only be tragic for both of them, I also admit... the Dread Wolf versus the Dragon? Man, that's a boss battle I'd pay all kinds of money to see.

Hints from the Dialogue

Flemeth's dialogue snippets through the trilogy are both illuminating and genuinely exciting, thanks in no small part to the unmistakable performance of Flemeth's talented longtime voice actress Kate Mulgrew, whose deep, purring and instantly distinctive drawl imbues Flemeth with a real sense of dignity and knowledge that is also tempered constantly by sorrow, love, amusement, and even rage. Thanks to Mulgrew, Flemeth may hiss with malevolence in one moment, chuckle at the ironies of the world seconds later... and then cry out in regret and sorrow the next. She's gloriously complex.

Is Flemeth (and through her, Mythal) a sort of steward
or caretaker looking out for Thedas? 

But what do Flemeth's words mean? How far is she willing to go? My take on Flemeth/Mythal is that there's a core, a foundation, of unshakable purity there. That she is, again, acting for a cause greater than herself. 

I don't think there's a single word spoken by Flemeth in Dragon Age that won't turn out to be incredibly important in some way. Here's a look at just a few of her more mysterious and fascinating pronouncements:

Dragon Age: Origins: "You are required to do nothing, least of all believe. Shut one's eyes tight or open one's arms wide, either way, one's a fool."

Dragon Age II: "Regret is something I know well. Take care not to cling to it, to hold it so close that it poisons your soul."

"We stand upon the precipice of change. The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss. Watch for that moment... and when it comes, do not hesitate to leap. It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly."

Dragon Age: Inquisition: "I nudge history, when it's required. Other times, a shove is needed."

"Truth is not the end, but a beginning."

These dialogue snippets are fascinating in every way. What's she really telling us? Is she warning us in a spirit of kindness or generosity? Or simply giving us an advance look at the irrevocable doom that hovers over Thedas's future?

Mythal better be back after this. She'll be fine. She just needs some more
time at the spa where she got her Hair Horns of Awesomeness, dammit!

We know from the legends that Mythal has taken extraordinary action before, going all the way back to the oldest days of the world, when she constantly battled her mate and her children from actions that might irreparably harm Thedas. I'll always like that she tried. And I admire that she disciplined them when their actions were terrible and impactful enough that they needed to be stopped from wreaking further havoc—that she held back Elgar'nan and Falon'Din, stopped Andruil and Ghilan'nain, that she appears to have tried to leave space for the other creatures of their world—elves, dwarves, Titans and who knows what else—to find their way. And then she died for it.

But here she still is, all these years later, death or no death. Goddess and witch, elf and mortal. Ancient and eternal, maiden and crone. Death or no death, loss or no loss, Mythal never gives up. She's the woman with a dragon's spirit, the person with the eye on the big picture of Thedas as a tapestry only she can read. Even in her final, fateful meeting with Solas, she is wise, prepared, accepting and sorrowful. She's still trying to nudge events the right way, to help Thedas find the light. Still dancing to a song that only she can hear.

Is that song really over, as Solas takes the power she offers, as she submits to at least the facsimile of death from the one being in all of Thedas who once loved, obeyed and tried to avenge her? Even as Solas gently and reverently lowers Flemeth's blackened corpse to the floor of the temple, is Mythal's story finally done? 

Or has Mythal's story and awareness simply been reborn, as occurred so long ago in ages past? After all, she calmly sent a wisp of herself into that eluvian before her final meeting with Fen'Harel, knowing he would appear and what would occur. Can we, from this, hope that Mythal (and hopefully still in her guise as Flemeth) will still return? Solas himself implies that death for Mythal, as "the First of his People," is not an easy matter. And what's death, after all, to an ancient goddess, but one more obstacle to be overcome?

After all, it is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly...

Meet the Evanuris: The Dalish Origins of the Elven Pantheon

Up on Mount Sundermount with Flemeth, in Dragon Age 2. We're not
aware of it here, but we're actually getting a pep talk from Mythal herself!
It's no accident, of course, that we're near to an altar dedicated to Mythal.

The elves called to their ancient gods, but there was no answer.

SPOILERS as always, for all of Dragon Age!

Welcome back! And apologies for the silence—my research on this topic just seemed to go on endlessly... I'd assemble codex after codex, go through interviews with Bioware writers, and still feel like I'd barely scratched the surface... it's a tribute to Bioware and the Dragon Age universe that the lore is so rich and full of potential discovery. But it also meant that creating this post (and the one post-Trespasser, as well as Mythal's, to follow shortly after) took me longer than I expected. 

I still feel like I haven't covered as much as I wanted to, explored as richly as I should have, and... yeah. I'm pooped. 

So of course, this means you'll have to prepare for even more walls of text in the future on these subjects. Instead of my original plan, of a post or two (oh, I was so, so young!), it will now be part of a brand-new post series.

And it's been interesting. As noted above, I've found that the real peril of investigating the Evanuris is that you can read a hundred pages, posts, and codices and you'll still always find more. So it's definitely been a challenge, and one I'll admit was not quite as much fun as the research I did on Bull's sex life (dammit). Has it been fascinating? Yes. Sexy? Not so much. But I think it's going to be essential for making additional connections as we look forward to Dragon Age 4. 

So here we go, with a preliminary look at the elven gods—please note spoilers, as always, on all of Dragon Age!

A Closer Look at the Elven Pantheon

Ancient, dangerous, complicated and endlessly fascinating, the Evanuris are some of the most tantalizing mysteries to be found in the Dragon Age universe. Stories of the Evanuris are inexorably tied with stories of the even more mysterious "Forgotten Ones," their ancient enemies (and whom I'll be exploring later in a separate post, along with the Old Gods, as well).

It's probably crazy of me, but I find the
portrait of Dirthamen at the Temple of
Mythal far creepier than Falon'Din's.
Note the black eyes here—unique to
the portraits of the twins alone.

However, if we go way, way back, in the very beginning of the Dragon Age story, in Dragon Age: Origins, we're introduced to the elven pantheon (or as we later know them, the Evanuris) as a classically polytheistic counterpoint to the monotheistic and pseudo-Christian vision of the Chantry and its Maker. We first get to know them as members of the Dalish pantheon, and as an echo of many of the classical Greek/Roman and Norse archetypes, and since they're a nomadic people, the Dalish versions could also be said to evoke many deities of several of the indigenous Native American tribes, as well. 

Upon introduction, we're given an assortment of common divine archetypes: Mythal (The Mother-Protector), Elgar'nan (the All-Father, god of Vengeance, Wrath and Thunder), Andruil (the Huntress, along with Ghilan'nain), Falon'Din (the Death-master), Dirthamen (the Knowledge-Keeper), June (Crafts and Weapons), Sylaise (Hearth and Healing)... and (of course) the much-loved, feared, and hated Trickster, Fen'Harel.

First, let's take a look at the Dalish visions of the Evanuris gods and goddesses... and then I'll make a second examination of their more complex Evanuris selves, based on clues we're given further in The Masked Empire, Dragon Age: Inquisition, The World of Thedas Volume 2, and the DAI DLC "Trespasser."

The Dalish Origin Story

The Dalish origin story has echoes of many tales and legends from our own world, and most especially of course in the universe of classical myth and fantasy literature. It's beautifully evocative of everything from Greek/Roman, Norse, Arabic, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and other classical myths and legends, with possible tips of the hat to universes including Tolkien and LeGuin, as well.

As former Bioware writer (and the original Maker of Thedas himself) David Gaider noted years back, when we look at the origin stories of the elves, it's interesting to note that, unlike the tales told by the Chantry about the Maker, the elven gods did not create the universe, or the world, as in most other such myths and stories—the world was here before them. The World and Sun were preexisting. Who created them? We don't know. We do know that the stories of the Old Gods came long after the elven gods, so it wasn't them. As did (cough) stories of the Maker.

I love this little detail, by the way—that the elves either do not speculate on the creation of the universe, they have no theories on what was involved, or, most intriguingly, perhaps the story starts after the beginning because some shred of memory remained to the Dalish—some ghost of memory that, in fact, the gods (the Evanuris) came after the beginnings of things. 

Either way, as the Dalish tell it, when the gods were born, the world was already here. It's worth asking though... what if the Titans, those beings immeasurably large and mysterious, larger than mountains, whose hearts beat with a magic and energy we cannot understand... were in fact the world itself, and the true parents of Elgar'nan and Mythal? 

I think, for myself, that the Titans came first... and the gods came after.

The Births of Elgar'nan and Mythal

In the accepted beginning of the story among the elves, the myths say that in the early moments of time itself, there were only the Sun and the Land. The light of the Sun (his father) upon the Land (his mother) created Elgar'nan, the first of the elven gods, and he rejoiced in his life, in his closeness to the Land, and he celebrated the life he found around him. At first, both of his parents (Sun and Land) loved him, but as the earth brought forth the plants and animals as gifts and companions, the Sun grew jealous of their closeness, and burned away the beautiful birds, beasts, and green places until all that covered the land was ash and dust. In her agony, the Land wept, creating the oceans, rivers and streams, all from the cracking of the land in its torment, leading to the first (and of course, inevitable) clash between the son and the father.

For me, there are inevitable echoes immediately here of the Greek gods and Titans (a sly bit of wordplay since here, too, I believe the Titans may be the parents of the gods, albeit in a completely different way), as well as nods to Joseph Campbell's Hero archetype, as Elgar'nan must, in classical mythological tradition, defeat his own father to attain the throne, exiling Dad to the Abyss (the Void?). Which he does. Elgar'nan's mother pleads with him to reconsider since the world needs the sun for growth, but his vengeance is at first inexorable.

The Dalish believe that Elgar'nan is born when the Sun touches the Land
for the first time. It's a nice counterpoint that Elgar'nan is born of land, while
Mythal herself walks out of the sea.

It's interesting that Mythal, meanwhile, only appears because Elgar'nan refuses to countenance the return of the sun. The world weeps in pain and sadness, creating the oceans, and much like Aphrodite, Mythal then walks out of the sea itself, and calms Elgar'nan's rage enough for him to realize that the sun is essential for the world's survival and healing, also (I believe) setting a clear pattern for their path forward through millennia as rulers of the elven people—a pattern in which Elgar'nan loses his temper or becomes enraged, and then Mythal must act as peacemaker.

Regardless, once he meets his wife, Elgar'nan then realizes his folly, unearths his father (on condition of behavior, to which the Sun agrees), and light is returned to the world. Then together Mythal shapes the sphere of the earth from the light of the Sun and both she and Elgar'nan help it to recover and thrive in its warmth.

While Mythal is generally considered maternal, gentle, just and benevolent, she could also be wrathful, often assumed by the Dalish legends to pursue those objects of her wrath in an unending vengeance. But it's interesting that, overall, she is far more frequently associated, even in myth, with justice, judgment, and wisdom—appropriate to a goddess whose first act was to walk out of the sea and calm the anger of her future husband.

But then she was betrayed, her spirit howling for vengeance and justice into the air itself. And then Mythal met Flemeth, and her rage found a matching rage in a  kindred spirit and a similar and female power. And things got a lot more interesting... for all of Thedas (and beyond)!

Meet the Evanuris (the Dalish Interpretations)

The Dalish view of the Evanuris is what we witness in the earliest chapters of Dragon Age, and in Origins we're treated to a rich array of lovely myths and stories about the Evanuris that are both charming and occasionally disturbing. Which is as it should be. They're myths—simple stories designed to teach, to frighten, to entertain. As with most myths, the stories of the Dalish elven gods are about evening the playing field, about spotlighting the gods' all-too-human failings. So we get stories and fairytales about little glimpses of capriciousness or cruelty, little moments of weakness or corruption or vanity.

We, of course, learn far more about the elven pantheon through Dragon Age: Inquisition and especially into Trespasser, learning that they are the fierce and far more complex Evanuris, and that they may have been darker and, of course, not gods at all.

So let's meet these gods and goddesses, and examine both what they are assumed to be by the Dalish in the beginning, and then at what seem to be the actual facts—the darker revelations and interpretations we gain, and what they may mean both now and in the future.

Mythal (The All-Mother and Great Protector)
As the goddess of love and justice, Mythal walked out of the sea of the world's tears in order to calm the anger of Elgar'nan and return peace and healing to the world. She convinces Elgar'nan to return the sun, creates the Moon, and serves for countless years as the dispenser of law and wisdom to her people. 

While Mythal is generally considered maternal, gentle, just and benevolent, she could also be wrathful, often assumed by the Dalish legends to pursue those objects of her wrath in an unending vengeance. But it's interesting that, overall, she is far more frequently associated, even in myth, with justice, judgment, and wisdom—appropriate to a goddess whose very first act was one of peace.

There are statues of Mythal in many notable locations, from the Temple of Mythal, to the Tomb of the Emerald Knights, to the Tomb of Fairel.

Elgar'nan (God of Vengeance)
Beautiful, fierce, clever, arrogant and formidable, Elgar'nan was born of the moment the sunlight met the Land. He was the mate of Mythal who was also frequently referred to as the All-Father, was called "Eldest of the Sun" and (in a direct echo of Zeus) "He Who Overthrew His Father" stood for fatherhood, vengeance, and leadership of the pantheon alongside Mythal. Sites sacred to Elgar'nan include Elgar'nan's Keep.

Falon'Din (Guide and Friend of the Dead)
As the elven God of Death and Fortune, Falon'Din is the twin brother of Dirthamen, and both are said to be the eldest children of Mythal and Elgar'nan. Falon'Din is said to be the god who shepherds the dead into the afterlife, or Beyond. He is a benign and even positive figure to the Dalish, yet may have been much darker in actuality. Falon'Din delighted in darkness and walked "the shifting paths beyond the Veil" with ease, with his brother Dirthamen beside him. Falon'Din's sacred animal is the owl (also the messenger of Andruil), and the Tomb of the Emerald Knights appears to be linked in some way to Falon'Din and his worshippers. Like all the gods, there is a golden mosaic portrait of him in the Temple of Mythal, but unique to him and his twin, Dirthamen, Falon'Din's eyes are black. Everyone else's eyes are white. Does this reference the ability of both twins to walk the Fade? Or signify something more malevolent?

Dirthamen (Keeper of Secrets)
As the elven god of secrets and knowledge, Dirthamen, the twin brother of Falon'Din, is said to have given the elves the gift of knowledge, teaching them fidelity to family and loyalty. Most famously among the Dalish tales, Dirthamen was separated from his brother Falon'Din, and he went into the Fade to find him. While there, he was set upon by malevolent ravens Fear and Deceit, but Dirthamen was able to master both ravens and compel them to bring him to Falon'Din, and once reunited, they never parted from one another again. Dirthamen was sometimes referred to as the 'reflection' of Falon'Din, and he created the Varterral in order to battle a high dragon that attacked an ancient elven city whose name is now lost. His sacred animals are the ravens and the bear (the only animal in the world to keep the secret he whispered to it). Dirthamen's portrait in the Temple of Mythal depicts an elven figure covering his mouth with crossed hands, and as noted above, his eyes are pitch-black, unique to the portraits of the twins alone. The Lost Temple of Dirthamen is his most notable sacred location in Thedas.

Andruil (Goddess of the Hunt)
Known as "Blood and Force," "Sister of the Moon," and as the "Great Hunter," Andruil is the daughter of Mythal and Elgar'nan, who is known as the fierce and proud goddess of the Hunt. She is the provider of the sacred Vir Tanadhal, the Way of Three Trees (of the Arrow, the Bow, and of the Wood). Her sacred creatures include hawks, owls, and hares. There is a statue of Andruil in the Brecilian Outskirts, in the Dalish Camp in Dragon Age: Origins, and a mosaic portrait of her in the Temple of Mythal (one of the most off-putting, to me, with her arrow strung to her bow, eyes narrowed, and with uneven wavy lines emanating from her figure that to me denote her potential for madness).

Sylaise (Keeper of the Hearth, the Arts, Healing and Song)
Beloved of the Dalish, Sylaise (also known as the Hearthkeeper), is the more peaceable sister of Andruil, as well as the goddess of healing, hearth and home (and who is also, fittingly, the giver of fire). She is the patroness of all domestic arts and taught the elves such talents as the weaving of thread and rope, of the use of herbs and magic for healing, and more. Sylaise's beautiful mosaic in the Temple of Mythal is one of my favorites, and depicts Sylaise as wearing a crown, perhaps of flowers, flowing queenly purple robes, and she is encircled by flowering vines.

June is easily among the most mysterious
and least-known of the Dalish pantheon.

June (God of the Craft)
As the Master of Crafts, June has been referred to as both a brother to Andruil and Sylaise, or also (alternatively) as the husband or mate of Sylaise (based on the later revelations of the Temple of Mythal, I'm voting that he was a sibling to the others, not a mate). June gave the elves the knowledge they needed to thrive, not just to survive, taking the creations of Sylaise and honing them for greater purpose (hunting, smithing, etc.) by teaching them the makings of weapons -- knives, bows and arrows. As his portrait in the Temple of Mythal clearly depicts him before an anvil, as a smith he's also thematically a pretty interesting archetype (tied to the Greek Hephaestus). June's myths and legends are few compared to the others of the Evanuris, and he remains one of the most mysterious and least understood members of the elven pantheon.

Ghilan'nain (Mother of the Halla)
Once a beautiful white-haired elven woman raised up to divinity, Ghilan'nain was reputedly the lover of Andruil. Referred to with reverence as the Mother of the Halla, Ghilan'nain is the goddess of navigation and of the sacred halla, the deer-like creatures beloved to the Dalish, which are both hunted by the Dalish as well as domesticated and used to pull their aravels, or land-ships. 

Ghilan'nain's Grove is found in the Exalted Plains, and Inquisitor Ameridan built a shrine to Ghilan'nain (and Andraste, as a follower of both faiths), inside Razikale's Reach in the Frostback Basin. There is a statue sacred to Ghilan'nain visible in Dragon Age: Origins in the Dalish Elf Origin interlude, as well as in the Brecilian Outskirts. There are also sacred halla statues to be found in the Crow Fens (Exalted Plains), as well as in Crestwood (in the interlude with a romanced Solas).

We find few statues of Ghilan'nain's sacred halla across Thedas, but this is a
beautiful example from a hidden temple in Crestwood, where Solas takes a
romanced Inquisitor for a date (and then stomps her heart into tiny little pieces).

Meanwhile: Is anyone else a little confused on how to reconcile the stories about Ghilan'nain? I mean, in one she's turned into the first halla, and then in the others, she is an elven woman (not of the Evanuris) who is nevertheless able to create marvelous beasts, monsters, and creatures. Andruil approaches her and offers her divinity and godhood, but only if Ghilan'nain will destroy her creations. So Ghilan'nain kills all the flying monsters (except those she gives to Andruil), then drowns most of the sea-creatures she had created (all but those of the deepest abysses), and last of all, kills the beasts she had created on land—all except the halla, her favorite above all of her animal creations. She was then made a goddess, and became the constant companion and lover of Andruil.

So. Yeah. I'm still confused about the timeline here (mythologically speaking).

Fen'Harel (The Dread Wolf)
Now accepted by the Dalish as a word for "trickster," it's interesting to note that The Dread Wolf's title of 'harellan' may have denoted 'rebel' versus 'trickster.' In other words, the "Dread Wolf" may have started out simply as "The Wolf Rebel," or "The Rebel Wolf."

One of the rare shrines to Fen'Harel, found in the outer reaches of the
Exalted Plains. I love the mournful feel of this particular statue motif, which is
rarer than the more zen-looking 'resting wolves' across so much of Thedas.

Fen'Harel is believed by the Dalish to have betrayed both his fellow Evanuris as well as the Forgotten Ones, and tales say that he alone was able to walk between the worlds of both Thedas and the Fade, or Beyond.

The Dalish tales of Fen'Harel are dark with an awareness of mortal corruptibility, of an odd kind of balance. For instance, Fen'Harel is said to have intervened between the good gods and the evil ones alike, tricking them and in one fell swoop imprisoning the lot of them, leaving him alone to rule both the physical and metaphysical worlds of land and Fade. But... hey, he did imprison the evil ones. So, presumably, those left in the world were still better off.

In another tale, Fen'Harel saves a village of children with the chilling and terrible "slow arrow," only after appearing to deliberately allow their parents to die without any attempt at intervention. (Those of you who've read The Masked Empire will understand why this reference always makes me so very sad, since I adored Felassan!)  Meanwhile, in another story, Fen'Harel advises a young man besotted with a beautiful girl at a young noblewoman's funeral to meet with her again by killing the dead girl's surviving sibling (thus recreating the original circumstances of their meeting). Yeah. He's a cheerful guy.

And then there are a variety of the trickster tales usual to figures like Fen'Harel, who whimsically finds himself in a series of dangerous and impossible predicaments, and yet who is able to extricate himself, Brer Rabbit-style, with a great deal of wit and panache, just in the nick of time. Of course, it goes without saying that he usually manages to humiliate his foes in even greater ways, as each of these tales comes to a close.

To me, though, consistently in the Dalish tales of Fen'Harel, while there's, yes, a sense of malevolence, there is also something more—the grim and fatalistic sense that everyone pays—for justice, for joy, for whatever life brings; that, ultimately, no one is exempt from payment. Thus, Fen'Harel could have saved the village without the loss of a single life, but what he seems to be doing instead is saying, "There are no deus ex machinas. Life is simply not fair."

I often wonder what the Dalish Fen'Harel might've thought of beings like desire demon Imshael, for instance, who is so insistent upon the issue of choice and free will, and who in similar ways could be argued to provide a similar sense of warped justice, of the concept that in life, "you reap what you sow."

The reality of the Dread Wolf is however, as we know, far more complicated. Although it may be that even in his real, flesh-and-blood actual form of Solas, his peculiar sense of balance, justice and grim humor is still very much present. Or so I'd like to think.

Next up... I'll take a look at how our knowledge evolves from those original tales of the elven gods, and will take a look at the revelations disclosed of their actual encounters post-Dragon Age: Inquisition and "Trespasser." 

Thanks as always for reading—who's YOUR favorite elven god or goddess? Beyond Mythal and Fen'Harel, those we know best, I've always been fascinated with Andruil.