Eilistraee.com

I am curious if there is a functional list of the nicknames given to Eilistraee? The one I tend to favor and use is 'Moonlight Maiden' but I don't know if it's used anywhere else. I just happen to take it upon myself to use it. I've been chewed out for it too but don't plan to stop.

Lady Silverhair
Dark Maiden
Lady of the Dance

There's also ''Eilistraee, the Dark Dancer'', the nickname I like the most

Come to think of it I rather expect there would be a wide range of nicknames including some that come and go with time.

There has to be a fine line to be balanced here between standing up with pride for who you follow and keeping your mouth shut to avoid attracting unneeded hostile attention. That being said I figure nicknames would come and go as the need to speak in code may occur. Need to hold a conversation with fellow followers in a crowded room where odds say there maybe enemies you don't want to deal with in that time and place? Nicknames an aliases are born.

I have a drow character from the city of Guallidurth who sometimes refers to Eilistraee as "She Who Dances." Guallidurth is under Calimshan, so it's a bit of a result of that influence. He usually says it when swearing though. Very occasionally when swearing reverently...but mostly just when swearing.

ie: "That's what we're going to have to cross? She Who Dances and her silver singing [i:19urb0ux]sword.[/i:19urb0ux] Do these people think drow can [i:19urb0ux]fly[/i:19urb0ux]?"

Something like that.

I [i:2i5jan2z]think[/i:2i5jan2z] I was saw the name "Lady of the North" or such, but I can't remember where I saw it. It just stuck with me because I didn't understand [i:2i5jan2z]why[/i:2i5jan2z] North and the mystery was intriguing.

Then again it could be my memory playing tricks on me, so take it with a grain of salt (no source and all that). If I don't forget I'll see if I can find where I got it from when I get home tonight.

But yes, I think that The Dark Dancer is probably my favourite as well.


Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

AH, never mind that. I looked at my books yesterday and couldn't find it, so I must've imagined it.

Even so, I think it would be nice to have a nickname that doesn't seem to make sense, something that isn't directly tied to her portfolio but helping to flesh out her character a bit more. Perhaps something hinting at something in her distant past.

For example, and I know that this probably doesn't fit in with lore but just as an example... say in ages long, long past when the gods were still young they lived on the same world as mortals. They were, while very powerful beings, not yet the cosmic entities we know today. They were still discovering who they were, with no real distribution of portfolios or anything like that. The mortal races meanwhile were just primitive tribes, maybe groups of a dozen or so living together in caves, no way for long-distance transport or anything like that, just surviving day to day. There would be no dark elves or gold elves or anything like that yet. Some of the gods might be more directly involved with the mortals, but others would largely keep to themselves. In this Eilistraee would be a huntress perhaps, keeping mostly to herself, finding her own way in things. She'd have no real connection to the mortal races (remember, no dark elves yet). But occasionally her path would cross that of the mortals who wouldn't know her name and thus would have another way to refer to her. And perhaps Eilistraee lived far to the north of these mortal tribes and as such they would come to call her the Lady of the North. And though now, uncountable centuries later, the name has no meaning anymore and nobody (except perhaps Eilistraee herself) would know what the name means, occasionally it might still come up making our lady smile with the memories of that far-off time.

Anyway, that's a story I came up with to explain something like that. Though an explanation isn't really needed, just to say that it would be nice to have something that hints at something now unknowable in her past. (And unknowable where the heck I got that from ).


Oh, and moving the thread to Theological Debate since it's about discussing the goddess.


Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

[quote="Shir'le E. Illios":19g9478q]AH, never mind that. I looked at my books yesterday and couldn't find it, so I must've imagined it.

Even so, I think it would be nice to have a nickname that doesn't seem to make sense, something that isn't directly tied to her portfolio but helping to flesh out her character a bit more. Perhaps something hinting at something in her distant past.

For example, and I know that this probably doesn't fit in with lore but just as an example... say in ages long, long past when the gods were still young they lived on the same world as mortals. They were, while very powerful beings, not yet the cosmic entities we know today. They were still discovering who they were, with no real distribution of portfolios or anything like that. The mortal races meanwhile were just primitive tribes, maybe groups of a dozen or so living together in caves, no way for long-distance transport or anything like that, just surviving day to day. There would be no dark elves or gold elves or anything like that yet. Some of the gods might be more directly involved with the mortals, but others would largely keep to themselves. In this Eilistraee would be a huntress perhaps, keeping mostly to herself, finding her own way in things. She'd have no real connection to the mortal races (remember, no dark elves yet). But occasionally her path would cross that of the mortals who wouldn't know her name and thus would have another way to refer to her. And perhaps Eilistraee lived far to the north of these mortal tribes and as such they would come to call her the Lady of the North. And though now, uncountable centuries later, the name has no meaning anymore and nobody (except perhaps Eilistraee herself) would know what the name means, occasionally it might still come up making our lady smile with the memories of that far-off time.

Anyway, that's a story I came up with to explain something like that. Though an explanation isn't really needed, just to say that it would be nice to have something that hints at something now unknowable in her past. (And unknowable where the heck I got that from ).


Oh, and moving the thread to Theological Debate since it's about discussing the goddess.


Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le[/quote:19g9478q]

I like this, a lot. One of the reason I care about the deities in FR -and Eilistraee in particular- is that they are not merely cosmic forces, but that they have a story and personality. Anything highlighting this aspect adds depth and flavour to their character. In particular, for Eilistraee and the elven/drow deities, -given the history that their people know about them- one could even speculate that in the past they were indeed archfey (or something similar) living alongside mortals, and that this part of their lives had a substantial role in shaping the role that they currently have and the way people see them, including nicknames.

IIRC, according to FR canon, when the dark elves lived as scattered tribes on Faerun, even before other kind of elves came on that world from Tintageer, Eilistraee and Vhaeraun had already been exiled and started wandering on the prime, especially Toril. That's because it was populated by the dark elves whom the two siblings were bound to, even if the Torilian elves didn't worship the Seldarine nor any related deities at the time, so Eilistraee and Vhaeraun were still unknown to them and had still to ''conquer their hearts'', so to speak. Considering this, I'd say that what you propose could be entirely possible.

Thank you. I quite liked it too.


Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

That opens doors by the thousands. Nitch names that have difficulty spreading, regional aliases and the like. Also lends itself to the conversation in another thread regarding the influence deities may have on other 'worlds' aside from Faerun where they have minimal interaction but do have minor representation.

I'd have no issue with that. Quite the contrary; it seems fun to me to think to know everything about the goddess but then run into an isolated group (possibly even on another world) who have a slightly different view and history with her. Learn to know a whole new side.


Love -x-x-x-

Shir'le

That opens up another option. A high end fan of Eilistraees traveling the planes posing as her. Spreading a religious teaching similar to hers.

A high end fan of Eilistraee would have little reason to pose as their goddess. I mean, they would try to help her, maybe attempt to become a proxy/chosen of her, or would cooperate with her in other ways. They could bring the presence of Eilistraee to other planes acting as a proxy, and I'm sure that the Dark Dancer would benefit from that (if the fan actually spreads her ideals and not some misbegotten interpretation of those).

Well I did say fan, not follower. And we were talking about alternate versions of ways people my understand or act on Eilistraee's lessons in other worlds or isolated cultures.

[quote="Kaote Bruchedaine":3pg623l7]Well I did say fan, not follower. And we were talking about alternate versions of ways people my understand or act on Eilistraee's lessons in other worlds or isolated cultures.[/quote:3pg623l7]

I see, but I feel that fans (i.e. people who like Eilistraee) may want to try to work with her, rather than posing as her (unless they acted without consulting the goddess, with the intention to draw more people to her cause -and perhaps bring her more followers- by bringing her message and appearing as her). Eilistraee herself would likely quickly know about this kind of ''deception'' and may give her blessing and elevate the ''high end fan'' to proxy/whatever, if she sees it as an opportunity to rally more drow under her banner, or try to ''correct'' them if they were spreading ideals that she doesn't want to be known as hers.

If the fan had serious intentions of simply posing as Eilistraee, I don't know whether she would take it well...