The Riddle - Alison Croggon [203]
One of the more intriguing aspects of the Naraudh Lar-Chanë is its unusually detailed portrayal of Elidhu. If we accept, as most scholars do, that the Naraudh Lar-Chanë was in fact written by Cadvan of Lirigon and Maerad of Pellinor rather than later chroniclers, then we must accept that it records firsthand Bardic encounters with the Elidhu for the first time since the Dhyllic civilization of the Dawn Age. Most references to the Elidhu in the post-Restoration scrolls are hearsay or legend, and many Bards in the later years frankly doubted their existence. We must remember that it was very unusual for the Elidhu to be the architects of decisive interventions in human affairs, as both Ardina, Queen of Rachida, and Arkan, the Winterking, are in the Naraudh Lar-Chanë, and that these Elidhu were consequently far from typical. In this tale, the fate of the Elidhu and their relationship to human affairs take center stage.
All the documents portray the Elidhu as representations or personifications of the forces of the natural world (as is reflected in their Annaren name, Iltaranaeren, which I have translated as Elementals). Every Elidhu is linked either to some natural phenomenon — Ardina, for example, is a manifestation of the moon — or to some feature of landscape or place (the Landrost, the Elidhu who captures Cadvan at the very beginning of the story, is, for instance, synonymous with the mountain he inhabits; another aspect of Ardina is as a forest Elidhu). It is also generally agreed that they have supernatural powers and are immortal, that their eyes have irises like those of a cat, and that they are capable of manifesting in different forms, both animate and inanimate. After the beginning of the Great Silence, most of the Elidhu withdrew from the human world, a withdrawal that persisted after the Restoration, although whether this was their own choice, or because after Arkan’s alliance with the Nameless One they became distrusted among Bards, remains unclear. It seems most likely that the breach was a result of both.
Thus far all the documents agree. But beyond this it is very difficult to draw conclusive interpretations of who or what the Elidhu were. It is difficult to characterize precisely how the Elidhu were regarded by the peoples of Edil-Amarandh — it is tempting to see them as personifications, for instance, of an animistic religious sense, similar to the pantheon of Greek gods, but this seems to me to be not quite accurate. Elidhu were linked with local superstitions and customs all over Edil-Amarandh, and were often called on like votive gods in specific circumstances — to find lost property, for example, or to bless a venture. However, the peoples of Annar and the Seven Kingdoms were used to asking Bards for similar blessings or charms, and Bards, for all their spiritual status, were not by any means regarded as gods. Despite their immortality and supernatural powers, there are no records in Annar or the Seven Kingdoms that speak of the Elidhu being worshipped as gods, or of shrines or rites accorded to them that could in any sense be recognized as organized religion,9 and the rise to prominence of particular Elidhu is not anywhere traceable to the rise of particular families or regions to power (as the importance of Athena, for example, rose with the importance of Athens).
The Winterking’s assault on Edil-Amarandh in the Age of the Elementals can be read as a parable of an Ice Age and as an explanation of certain natural phenomena, such as the Osidh Annova, but again this