- "Some would say that all things must end, so that the next can come to pass. Perhaps this world is simply the Egg of the next kalpa?"
- ―Paarthurnax[src]
A kalpa, referred to as the Ending Time by the Redguards[1] and Next Pounce by the Khajiit,[2] is a period of time over which the world of the Elder Scrolls exists. Some sources indicate that at the end of the kalpa, time resets to a new Dawn Era.[UL 1] Various creation myths prescribe certain deities to the role of destroying the world in order to create it anew; Nordic beliefs state that "our gods are as cyclical as the world itself," and attribute this role of destruction to Alduin,[3][4][5] Redguard tradition involves Satakal,[6][5] Argonian tradition involves Atakota,[7] and Skaal beliefs involve Thartaag.[8] In both Yokudan and Argonian myths the deity associated with the cycle is also the Aurbis and forms from the conflict between the equivalents of Anu and Padomay in these myths.[5][6][7]
Due to the age resetting at a new Dawn Era, the creation of Mundus can emerge in different ways each kalpa, with different et'Ada playing different roles. For example, Vivec recounts Molag Bal being prince of the Dreugh in what may be a previous kalpa,[9] and Umaril's father is claimed to be god of the world river in a previous kalpa.[10] This is apparently possible because the Leaper Demon King hides parts of the world from Alduin each cycle, which are then stuck into the world by the Greedy Man, who is likely to be Lorkhan.[11][UL 2]
The Yokudan creation myth states that Satakal sheds its skin to create a new world, a cycle that enabled spirits that ultimately learned to travel between worldskins to form. These spirits were able to stride between worldskins through the creation of the Walkabout, a way of "moving at strange angles".[6][12][5] The Walkabout became so easy for these spirits that it became a place called the Far Shores, which is considered to be "a time of waiting until the next skin."[6] The process has been described as "a never-ending cycle of rebirth" and a "reincarnation of Mundus itself,"[13], and is believed to be something that Satakal has done and still does many times over, in Yokudan mythology.[5]
Reachmen speak of Hircine fighting with them at the "end of all days" as the Dark Heart spreads an all-consuming darkness that will leave only Namira's worshippers.[14]
The end of a kalpa is believed to be the end of the world as well as the end of Time, past which even the dragons, who "ride the currents of Time" cannot see.[4] The outer realms also experience the end of the kalpa.[15] The only realm known to endure the end of a kalpa is the Far Shores.[6]
Trivia[]
- "Kalpa" is a Sanskrit term for eon, and has specific meanings (and different lengths) in Hinduism and Buddhism.
References[]
- ↑ Plea for Open Eyes
- ↑ King Hemakar's Grave
- ↑ Divines and the Nords
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Dialogue with Paarthurnax during "The Throat of the World"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Varieties of Faith in the Empire
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 The Monomyth
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Children of the Root
- ↑ Aevar Stone-Singer
- ↑ 36 Lessons of Vivec, Sermon 28
- ↑ The Song of Pelinal, Book VII
- ↑ Varieties of Faith: The Bretons
- ↑ Dialogue with Hayazzin during "Satak was the First Serpent"
- ↑ "Coil of Satakal" antiquity
- ↑ Arana and High Shaman Glynroch's dialogue
- ↑ Dialogue with Molag Bal during Molag Bal's Quest