The Seldarine
The Fair Folk of theras worship a pantheon of deities known as the Seldarine, a complex term that can be roughly translated as the fellowship of brothers and sisters of the wood, implying the wide diversity in interests that exists among the gods of the elven pantheon and their desire for cooperation. They act independently of one another, but the elven powers are drawn together by love, curiosity, and friendship to combine their strengths, to accomplish a task, or in the face of outside threats.
Corellon Larethian, the acknowledged ruler of the Seldarine - sometimes joined by his consort, who is either identified as Sehanine reinforces this freedom of action and compels none of the Seldarine to perform any task. Instead, the gods of the elven pantheon seem to sense when something needs doing, and they simply gather when necessary. With the exception of Fenmarel Mestarine, the Seldarine reside in the realm of Arvandor -a term that means the high forest in elvish on the plane of Arborea on the layer known as Olympus.
Relations ascribed to the various powers of the Seldarine vary widely from culture to culture; some legends hold them all to be brothers and sisters, others believe Corellon (and sometimes Sehanine) created the other powers from the natural environment of Arvandor. Other sages link the Seldarine in various romantic relationships. In most representations, the elven pantheon includes more gods than goddesses, but every member of the Seldarine can appear as either male or female. The androgynous nature of the Seldarine reflects the gender equality found in most elven societies.
Formal membership in the Seldarine is determined by Corellon (or by Corellon and Sehanine, according to some myths). Unlike the dwarves, who still count Laduguer as a member of the Morndinsamman despite his banishment by Moradin, the Fair Folk do not include banished members of the elven pantheon when they use the term Seldarine.
Many of the drow powers were once considered part of the Seldarine. They were exiled from Arvandor by Corellon's decree following an invasion of Arvandor by the anti-Seldarine, a coalition of evil gods assembled by the traitorous Araushnee and her complicitous son. Of the drow pantheon, only Eilistraee might someday formally rejoin the Seldarine, but it is more likely she will simply remain a close ally of the pantheon to which she once belonged. The Dark Maiden did not intentionally participate in Araushnee's schemes, but she willingly accepted banishment nonetheless, foreseeing the day her role as an outsider would be needed to guide those drow who spumed the self-destructive dogma of the Spider Queen.
The Seldarine are closely linked with the gods of the Seelie Court and other sylvan deities, and the Fair Folk often include prayers to other faerie powers when worshiping the Seldarine. All faiths that venerate one or more members of the Seldarine practice tolerance for followers of the other elven gods as well as for religions of closely allied nature (the cult of Skerrit the Forester being a prime example). The Seelie Court is more or less assumed to include the deities of the sprites, sea sprites, pixies, nixies, atomies, grigs, satyrs, korred, nymphs, brownies, leprechauns, dryads (and hamadryads), unicorns, pegasi, centaurs, swanmays, killmoulis, treants, pseudodragons and faerie dragons, seelie faeries, faerie fiddlers, and gorse faeries. It is ruled by Titania and Oberon, and certain of the previously listed creatures are considered more tightly a part of the Court than others. (The enemy of the Seelie Court is the Unseelie Court, ruled by the Queen of Air and Darkness, who is served by unseelie faeries, quicklings, and bramble faeries, among others.) While such powers have close ties to the elves, they are not counted as part of the Seldarine.
While the gods of the elven pantheon are actively involved in the collective lives of their worshipers, few intervene directly in events affecting a particular individual or even a small group of elves. Like the Fair Folk, the Seldarine tend to have very long-range perspectives, and they never intervene directly in the unfolding history of the Realms without a great deal of consideration and discussion. Notable instances of intervention by the Seldarine have resulted in the creation and settlement of Owhain, the Descent of the drow.
Members
- Aerdrie Faenya Bringer of Rain and Storm, Lady of Air and Wind, Queen of the Avariel, She of the Azure Plumage, The Winged Mother.
- Corellon Larethien Coronal of Arvandor, Creator of the Elves, Ruler of All Elves, First of the Seldarine, Preserver of Life, The Protector, The Big Fairy (derogatory).
- Deep Sashelas "Lord of the Undersea, the Dolphin Prince, The Knowledgeable One, Sailor's Friend, The Creator.
- Ehlonna, the forest queen, the mother of nature.
- Elmae Queen of the Desert, The One who shows the moon, The Queen who shares water.
- Erevan Ilesere The Trickster, The Chameleon, The Green Changeling, The Evershifting Shapechanger, The Fey Jester, The Jack of the Seelie Court.
- Fenmarel Mestarine The Lone Wolf.
- Hanali Celanil, The Heart of Gold, Winsome Rose, Lady Goldheart.
- Labelas Enoreth The Lifegiver, Lord of the Continuum, The One-Eyed God, The Philosopher, The Sage at Sunset.
- Sehanine Moonbow Daughter of the Night Skies, Goddess of Moonlight, Lady of Dreams, The Luminous Cloud, The Lunar Lady, Moonlit Mystery, The Mystic Seer.
- She'eros, The Righteous Wrath, The Beacon of Justice, The Captain of Celestia.
- Shevarash The Black Archer, The Night Hunter, Arrow Bringer.
- Solonor Thelandira The Forest Hunter, The Great Archer, Keen-Eye.
- Rillifane Rallathil, The Leaflord, The Wild One, The Great Oak, The Many-Branched, The Many-Limber.
History
Elven mythology holds that the Fair Folk were born of the blood which Corellon shed in his battles with Gruumsh and bathed in the tears of Seha' nine (or Angharradh). (Most members of the pantheon have an enmity for or at least a dislike of the Goblinoid Pantheons; those of the ores, goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, kobolds, and urds.) Some legends state that the first elves appeared in the Realms fully formed and shaped in Corellon's image, woven by magic from sunbeams, moonbeams, forests, clouds, seas, and shadows. Other myths claim that at least some of the elven subraces-the gold elves and moon elves, in particular-migrated to Theras through magical gates from one or more other worlds, most commonly identified as "Faerie." Myths discussing the natural origins of the Fair Folk are closely tied to the ability of many members of the Seldarine to assume nonelven, natural forms far greater in size than is common for their avatars. For example, Rillifane Rallathil has appeared as a massive oak tree, Deep Sashelas has appeared as a giant, towering (vaguely humaniform) wave of sea water, Aerdrie Faenya has appeared as a white cloud, and Corellon Larethian has appeared as an azure crescent moon or star.
One is struck in elven theology by the close relationships between the Fair Folk, magic, and the natural world. Most of elven faiths emphasize elven unity with life and nature, and they tend to blend the distinction between elves and their environment, much as the Seldarine are held to be spirits of Arvandor. For example, the Fair Folk have spirits, not souls, and many elves believe they will be reincarnated as animals, plants, faerie folk, or even elves once again. Similarly, elves are creatures of the Weave, tightly bound to and part of the web of magic that envelops Theras.
The Fair Folk refer to themselves as Tel'Quessir, an elvish term meaning ‘the people.’ They refer to all other beings as N'Tel'Quess, a less-than-diplomatic elvish expression meaning not'people. The Tel'Quessir originally included seven known subraces of elves, each of which is believed to have appeared in the Realms over 25 millennia ago and all of which have interbred with humans to form half-elves. The earliest elven inhabitants of Theras were the Or-Quessir, commonly known as green elves, forest elves, sylvan elves, or wood elves, the Ethil-Quessir, commonly known as lythari, and the avariel, also called winged elves.
The Ssri-Quessir-also known as dark elves, the name of the most successful tribe-emerged from the Western jungles of Rakion around the same time that the Sel-Quessir, commonly called gold elves, sun elves, sunrise elves, moon elves, or high elves, appeared in the northern reaches of Rakion. The Ethil-Quessir, commonly known as aquatic elves, sea elves, or water elves, appeared in both The Red Ocean and the Sea of Wrath sometime thereafter. Although the two geographically isolated populations of Sea Elves have since diverged in skin tone, they are still in-terfertile and considered a single subrace. Finally, elven crossbreeds, incredibly rare for most of elven history, have slowly emerged as a small but distinct population in theras. While most half-elves are of mixed Human and elven heritage, legends speak of halfling-elf and dwarf-elf crosses as well.
In keeping with the generally tolerant natures of the Seldarine, elven churches, particularly that of Hanali Celanil, are far more welcoming and accepting of half-elves than elven society in general.
The diversity of the elven pantheon reflects the wide range of elven subraces, for each subrace is closely associated with a subset of the Seldarine and each elven power is closely associated with one or more of the subraces. In particular, Corellon Larethian, Hanali Celanil, and Labelas Enoreth are closely associated with the Sel-Quessir and Hanali Celanil, Sehanine Moonbow, Elmae, and Solonor Thelandira are closely associated with the Or-Quessir. Similarly, Rillifane Rallathil, Shevarash, and Solonor Thelandira are closely associated with both the Or-Quessir and (with the exception of Shevarash) the Or-Quessir, while Deep Sashelas is closely associated with the Ethil-Quessir. Before the Descent, the Ssri-Quessir were closely associated with Araushnee (now Lolth), Eilistraee, Vhaeraun, a relationship that still exists between the drow and the dark gods they worship. The deep schism between the drow and the other elven subraces is also reflected in the divisions between the Seldarine and Araushnee and her brood, also known as the Dark Seldarine, just as the deific battles between the Seldarine and the anti-Seldarine reflect the strife of The Elvish Kin Wars.
by Michael Dubisch
Members of the Seldarine in this order from left to right: Elmae, Aerdrie Faenya, Corelllon Larethian, Fenmarel, Deep Sashelas and Erevan Ilesere.
by Vince Locke
Members of the Seldarine in this order from left to right:Hanali Celanil, Labelas Enoreth, Rillifane Rallathil, Sehanine Moonbow, Shevarash, Solonr Thelandira
The Seldarine Pantheon
Basic Information
Membership
Relationships
Type
Religious, Pantheon
Permeated Organizations
Divines
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
Related Myths
Comments