The Legend of Elun’Ahir
The Legend of Elun’Ahir tells of a legend about a first World Tree, one that was planted by the Titan Eonar herself. Like Nordrassil, this World Tree came from G’Hanir, the greatest of all trees that grow within the Emerald Dream.
According to the story, Eonar was gifted a branch of G’Hanir from Elune, and she named the World Tree that grew from the branch “Elun’Ahir, in honor of her great love”. The Titan Aman’Thul was angered by Eonar’s actions and ripped the World Tree out of Azeroth.
Eonar noticed that the tree’s roots remained in the crater left behind, and she charged her Keeper Freya with protecting these roots. Later, mysterious guardians arrived who dedicated their lives to protecting these roots.
According to the book itself, this story could be a legend rather than history, but it provides an interesting perspective.
The resulting crater left behind after Aman’Thul pulled out the World Tree is, presumably, Un’Goro Crater, and the guardians who arrived the Wild Gods.
Eonar has always seemed a little more Life-aligned than Order-aligned, and this legend suggests she’s close with Elune. There has been some hint of this before – the realm in which her spirit hid from Sargeras and the Burning Legion is called Elunaria. While that realm was never confirmed to be related to Elune, its name combined with this legend suggests it was Elune who helped protect Eonar.
The book also portrays something rare – conflict between the Titans, with Aman’Thul driving Eonar to tears, and in retaliation, Eonar hiding the secret of the first World Tree’s roots still being present on Azeroth from him. It’s interesting to imagine Freya planting Nordrassil from a seed of G’Hanir might have gone against Aman’Thul’s wishes.
According to this legend, Eonar was gifted a branch of G’Hanir from Elune – which somewhat contradicts the idea that G’Hanir was planted by the Keeper Freya. Instead, it suggests the Emerald Dream is not, as previously thought, a realm created by Freya that serves as a blueprint for Azeroth, but rather supports the theory that the Emerald Dream is a separate, ancient dimension that Freya merely tapped into. In fact, the suggestion is that the roots of that ancient World Tree are the connection to the Emerald Dream – the reason why Freya could access that realm. This makes sense, since traditionally World Trees have always granted access to the Emerald Dream.
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As we gather to defend Amirdrassil, we cannot help but recall the tragic fates of world trees past.
Those lost to sacrifice. To corruption. To flame.
Yet there is an ancient tale–some claim it merely a legend–that tells of an earlier world tree that also met a sorrowful fate. Though it lived only a short time. its legacy endures.
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Long before the first dragons drew breath, Azeroth was conquered by writhing horrors that plummeted from the skies and infested our world.
The Old Gods.
How long the reign of their Black Empire lasted, we cannot know. Surely it must have been a time of unimaginable suffering.
But at long last, there came hope.
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The brave titan Aggramar discovered Azeroth, shining like a beacon in the Great Dark.
As he gazed upon the beauty and power of its slumbering soul, he realized it was imperiled. He told the other members of the Pantheon how the world they sought had been corrupted by the Old Gods.
The titans gathered to eradicate this dark influence.
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Seeking to bring hope and healing, our patron titan, Eonar, carried a gift given to her by Elune–a branch of G’Hanir, the mother world tree.
The titan believed that the influence of Life would drive the darkness away.
So she reached down her hand and shaped the soil of Azeroth, planting the branch where it could be fed by river and sky.
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The branch swiftly grew into a tree, its roots extending deep, deep below the surface. Eonar smiled, for everywhere the roots stretched, new life emerged.
She called the tree Elun’Ahir, in honor of her great love.
When Aman’Thul saw what Eonar had done, he chided her. “This is not Order!” he bellowed. “You have infected this world with uncontrolled chaos!”
The Highfather took hold of the world tree’s trunk and tore it from the earth.
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Eonar wept bitter tears that rained down upon the resulting crater.
But as she peered down upon the sundered earth, the titan realized a truth she did not share with the Highfather. Though he had destroyed the tree, its winding roots still held firm beneath the soil, hidden from Aman’ Thul’s gaze.
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As the forces of the titans waged war against the Black Empire, Eonar bid her keeper, Freya, to watch over the crater and nurture the life that blossomed there.
Below ground, the roots fed upon the tears of Eonar and grew strong.
The war was long, but in the end, the titans claimed victory, And Eonar was pleased. knowing Elune’s legacy would endure.
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It is said that much later, as the world entered a new age, mysterious guardians arrived who dedicated their lives to protecting the roots.
But that is a tale for another time.
Now let us stand with our allies to defend Amirdrassil, crown of harmony, Together. we will preserve this symbol of hope. This symbol of the future.
On the Nature of the Dream
The origin of the Emerald Dream is further expanded on in On the Nature of the Dream, where the author points out the way that the Titans consider ordering something to be the same thing as creating it, and directly challenges the claim that Freya created the Dream.
The book also calls into question the claim that the Emerald Dream is a blueprint of Azeroth, suggesting that far more than Azeroth is reflected within the Dream. It seems more likely that the part of the Emerald Dream that Freya ordered was that part most closely linked to Azeroth, but that as a realm it’s linked to far more than one planet.
The book makes a reference to Elune and the Winter Queen when it refers to Life and Death being “sisters”, but suggests the Titan keepers aren’t comfortable with this fact.
The book’s author, a dragon, also speculates that dragons are aligned with other forces beyond just those of Life and Order – this continues an ongoing trend throughout Dragonflight where dragons begin to question the Titans and their own expected devotion to Order.
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I have spent ages here within the Emerald Dream, exploring its reaches and basking in its tranquility. Yet the more I experience, the more what I perceive seems to be at odds with lessons taught to us by the titan keepers.
Thus I am compelled to share my feelings here. Not to stir discontent. or to claim my theories are immutable truths. but to encourage others to ponder these subjects for themselves.
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It has been said that the Dream was created by Keeper Freya, acting on behalf of her patron, Eonar. And yet. I have noticed that the titans’ acolytes do not speak of something as “finished ” until it has been ordered.
So did they truly create the Dream, or merely discover it, seeing its vibrancy as chaos to which they were compelled to bring structure?
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Seeking an answer, I have spoken to many spirits who inhabit the Dream. Dryads, ancients, grove keepers, and others. None of them tell of a titan creating the Dream.
Instead, they speak of the first spirits awakening long ago within its wilds, in lands as beautiful and free as they are today.
(Though I wonder, since time has so little meaning here, whether those born of the Dream truly think in terms of past or present.)
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We have also been told that the Dream is a sort of framework for life on Azeroth. And it is true that we can see reflections of our world within the Dream.
Yet while it is clear these realms share a bond, is one a copy of the other? Or might both be reflections, each informing the shape of its counterpart?
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Many times I have shrugged off the call of sleep and taken wing to explore the distant reaches of the Dream. The farther I flew, the greater the wonders I beheld.
Life took forms strange and unfamiliar. Bizarre, impossible plants and trees. Creatures unlike any I beheld before.
Perhaps the Dream is bound not only to Azeroth, but to realms not yet discovered. Is it a reflection of those places, too?
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At these far reaches, I felt the presence of entities whose power seemed vast and unknowable, akin to the titans themselves.
Had I reached the edges of the Dream where it flows into the Realms of Life? Are they one and the same? Truly, I cannot say, for as waves of joy and contentment washed over me, I could no longer resist the call of sleep.
I awoke back at the Eye of Ysera, wondering if I had experienced a dream within the Dream.
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It seems clear that the servants of the titans wish the Dream to stay unchanging–at least. unchanged by any hand but theirs.
Yet the very nature of life is one of change, is it not? Things are born, live, and die, but life itself goes on.
Perhaps life was never meant to be ordered. To be static and unchanging.
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The titans’ servants do not seem to understand that Life and Death are sisters, bound together in a Great Cycle.
Do they not wish to see this truth? Or is it beyond their fundamental nature to perceive it?
If we dragons see it, then it can only mean that we are touched not just by Life and Order, but other forces as well.
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And if dragons are the product of powers great and small being eternally intertwined, then so must all mortals be.
Perhaps Azeroth herself was touched by all these forces. Or could she be their true source?
Some things are beyond knowing. Some things are meant only to be pondered… in dreams.
The Tragedy of Erinethria
The Tragedy of Erinethria is a story about a young Green Dragon who wanted to fly west – across the Storming Sea – but was warned against it by Keeper Tyr. She went anyway, and was never seen again, though some claim she found a new home and raised a brood of her own.
This is, of course, another hint that we will eventually journey west ourselves to the land of Avaloren. From previous lore book, we have learned that this land to the west is inhabited by those the Titan Keepers consider to be “heretics”, who have established some sort of defense that makes them impossible to pursue. However, pirates believe in a legend known as the Nightsquall who has traveled to this western land and returned.
We’re fairly certain that if we ever do head west, we’ll find a species of green dragons inhabiting Avaloren.
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In the days when the kingdom of dragons was young, brave Erinethria’s emerald wings soared above the clouds.
The fastest flier of her day, she feared no enemy. Nor would she back down from any challenge.
Alas, her courage would be her undoing.
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Erinethria had flown to the far corners of Kalimdor and back. She had witnessed wondrous sights, and loved to share stories of them with her kin.
Yet there came a day when Erinethria felt she had seen all there was to see of the world. She grew bored. Restless.
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Erinethria sought the wisdom of Keeper Tyr.
“Great keeper, is there any mystery left for me to discover? Any riddle yet to be solved?”
“Everything you need is here, child. What more could you want to see? What else could you seek to know?”
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As the dragon’s brow furrowed, a cool wind blew in from the west.
“The breeze, great keeper. I wish to see the place from whence the winds are born.”
Tyr grew solemn. “Beyond the Storming Sea lies only ruin. Stay close to home. Stay close to kin.”
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Tyr’s warning hung like a shadow over Erinethria’s heart. It clashed again and again with her deep yearning for answers.
One bright morning, the green dragon bid farewell to her clutchmates.
“Fear not,” she told them, “for I can fly higher than any storm. Faster than any thunder. And when I know from whence the west winds come. I shall return home and tell you all!”
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And with that, Erinethria soared into the sky.
Moons passed. And still more. Yet brave Erinethria did not return.
Even Ysera woke from her dreaming to aid in the search. But there was no sign to be found.
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Most believed that Erinethria was lost to the Storming Sea. That her mighty wings grew tired and torn by the harsh winds, and that she tumbled into the roiling waters.
But some greens claimed that they saw her in their dreams. That she reached a land beyond, where she raised a brood of her own.
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Surely, after all these ages, we must accept the truth of her loss. While we honor her courage. we must remember the wisdom she failed to heed.
Beyond the Storming Sea lies only ruin. Stay close to home. Stay close to kin.
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Beware. beware. the wind from the west, Its call holds only doom.
For if you take wing across storm and sea,
You shall share Erinethria’s tomb.
