The Wood Elves' Pantheonic Mandala, displaying the two sub-pantheons of the Cadai and the Cytharai equally.
The Elven Pantheon is the family of gods worshipped by all the kindreds of the Elves, including the High Elves of Ulthuan, the Dark Elves of Naggaroth and the Wood Elves of Athel Loren.[4a]
Ask most Men about the gods of the Elves and though they might be able to tell you wild stories they have heard, there would be little in the way of facts to their tales, for Elven religion is shrouded in mystery, much like the Elven race itself. Elves worship a pantheon of gods, much as do Dwarfs and Men, but not in any way recognisable to the other mortal races.[4a]
Elven culture is suffused in mysticism and magic, and Elves believe their gods surround them and are a part of them. An Elf considers their every action, their every thought, to be mystical in some respect, and therefore everything they do is somehow connected to the gods, every action is a devotion in its own right.[4a]
It is unclear how the Elves worship their gods or what rituals and ceremonies they might undertake. Some speculate that given the Elves live such a long time, how they regard these beings is necessarily different from the ways Humans and other short-lived mortal races might perceive them. A few whisper that perhaps the Elves are even gods themselves![4a]
Men would never profess to understand the faith of the Elves, most believing either the Elves do not believe in gods, or those that they do worship are but different aspects of the Human pantheon. Of course Elves believe the reverse, claiming all of the Human gods are merely a distorted reflection of the Elven Pantheon. The truth, in all likelihood, is probably somewhere in between.[4a]
Due to this lack of understanding, there are very few Humans who worship the gods of the Elves -- the culture of the Elves is too alien to grasp, their faith too oblique and impenetrable.[4a]
Elves living within the Empire of Man continue to worship their gods in the same manner they would anywhere, for they have no formalised religions, and conduct all worship on a personal and intimate level. In some of the larger cities of Men frequented by Elves, in particular Marienburg, small shrines to the Elven gods can be found.[4a][4b]
Although Wood Elves venerate the entire Elven Pantheon, they worship Kurnous, god of the hunt and father of the Elves, and Isha, goddess of fertility and nature and mother of the Elves, more than any other. In Wood Elf society these gods are elevated in status, perhaps due to the presence of their king and queen -- Orion and Ariel -- taking on the role of their divine avatars in the mortal world.[4b]
The deities of the Elves are divided into two sub-pantheons -- the Cadai, the Gods of the Heavens, and the Cytharai, the Gods of the Underworld. While the Dark Elves give greater prominence to the latter, and the High Elves more strongly venerate the former, the Wood Elves worship both equally, with the highest attention given to Kurnous and Isha, as noted above.[1a][2][3a]
All the gods of the Elven Pantheon were extinguished with the mortal world during the events of the End Times. Yet their Elven servants, even after their demise, did what they could to defeat the last Chaos invasion of the world of Mallus, without success.[8a]
Cadai
The Pantheonic Mandala of the High Elves, displaying the Cadai, the "Gods of the Heavens."
The Cadai are members of the Elven Pantheon of deities and represent the gods of the heavens. While the High Elves of Ulthuan worship the entirety of the Elven Pantheon, they prefer to venerate those deities who comprise the Cadai. These gods represent all the virtues and fundamental aspects of Elven life. The Cadai are ruled by Asuryan the Creator.
- Isha - The goddess of fertility, nature, the harvest, and the bountiful land; protector of the natural order and mother of the Elves [2k][3c]
Cytharai
The Pantheonic Mandala of the Dark Elves, displaying the Cytharai, the "Gods of the Underworld."
The Cytharai, also called the "Deeper Gods," represent the Elven gods of the Mirai, the "Black Pit" that is the mythical Elven Underworld. They embody the darker and more threatening aspects of life, as opposed to the Cadai, the more nurturing and benevolent group of Elven deities. Morai-heg, the goddess of fate and death, is sometimes said to be part of the Cadai, Cytharai or can be aligned with neither.
The Dark Elves revel in the worship of the Cytharai. The most powerful religious cult in their land of Naggaroth is the Cult of Khaine. Many also pray to Ereth Khial, the goddess of the Underworld, to take their souls in the afterlife -- seeing eternal servitude to that dark goddess as better than oblivion at the hands of Slaanesh.
- Anath Raema - The goddess of the Savage Hunt[1a]
- Ereth Khial - The goddess of the Underworld[1a]
- Hekarti - The goddess of conjurations and Dark Magic.[1a]
- Khaine - Called the "Bloody-Handed;" the god of violence, war, cruelty, blood, destruction, and murder[1a]
- Nethu - The gatekeeper and defender of the Underworld[1a]
Unaligned
Morai-heg is often considered to be a part of the Cadai or the Cytharai and sometimes is aligned with neither.
- Morai-heg - The goddess of fate and death
Other Elven Gods
This list includes other Elven gods who have appeared in various publications. It is not clear if some of them are part of the canon as some appear in older editions of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and Warhammer Fantasy Battles, while others are only mentioned in official publications such as White Dwarf and various novels.
- Amex - Sea Elf god of wealth and happiness that engendered the Amazons along with Rigg (mentioned in The Second Citadel Compendium and in White Dwarf 307 (although without naming it).
- Khirkith - Depicted crouched upon a pile of bones, a jewelled necklace in his hands as he admired his looted treasure.[5c] Khirkith is one of the Cytharai.[5d]
- Kourdanrin - Elven deity prayed to by diviners.[5a] Mentioned alongside Asuryan, Isha, and Lileath, thus likely one of the Cadai.
- Mannanin - Named as the "god of the waters," this may simply be an alternative name for Mathlann.[7a]
- Meneloth - A grim deity,[5b] mentioned alongside Ereth Khial and Nethu, thus likely one of the Cytharai.
- Sarriel - Elven god of dreams adored in the Laurelorn forest (mentioned on pg. 81 of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Tome of Salvation).
- Torothal - Elven goddess of rain and rivers venerated in rainforests (mentioned in White Dwarf 92, in the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: Shadows Over Bögenhafen, and on pg. 81 of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Tome of Salvation).
Game History
The division in the Elven Pantheon between the Cadai and the Cytharai is a fairly new convention in the Warhammer universe, and only first appeared in Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves for the 7th Edition.
The Elven Gods are also worshipped by the Aeldari in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, sometimes under different names, like Cegorach for Loec, though often times the names and portfolios of the gods remain exactly the same.
Sources
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (8th Edition)
- 2: Warhammer Armies: High Elves (8th Edition)
- 3: Warhammer Armies: Wood Elves (8th Edition)
- 4: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Tome of Salvation (RPG)
- 5: Malekith (Novel) by Gav Thorpe
- 6: Shadow King (Novel) by Gav Thorpe
- 6a: Ch. 19
- 7: Caledor (Novel) by Gav Thorpe
- 7a: Ch. 7
- 8: The End Times: The Lord of the End Times (Novel) by Josh Reynolds
- 8a: Ch. 15