Assuming we went to Sovngarde... doesn't that pretty much mean Nord beliefs are the ONLY belief and that everyone else's beliefs are false?

If this is a dumb question, I apologize. I only started TES during Skyrim.

I'm definitely not a LORE expert, but there are several more divine places and deadric realms that you can go to after death. Such as Hircine's hunting grounds.

Tamriel's gods are changed by the beliefs of mortals, that's why different areas have either different gods, or very different versions of the same god. The afterlife the Nords believe in is real for them, not real for anyone who doesn't believe. Just the ways things work here.
And if that doesn't make sense, welcome to Nirn, it gets a lot stranger. I would recommend starting http://www.imperial-library.info/content/skyrim-monomyth.

You were also in the Mythic dawn afterlife in Oblivion...

It's like here in Real Life.

I'm a Witch (Wiccan), so I when I die I'm not going to either Heaven or Hell. My Gods will send a minion to escort/help me through the Shadow Realm into the Summerlands.

But Heaven and Hell are very real for Christians, and they go to one of them upon their death.

In The Lore of The Elder Scrolls, the afterlife that an individual goes to is different depending on their religious beliefs.

The Afterlife created by Akatosh is different for an Altmer than it is for an Imperial. Likewise, if a Dunmer worships Sithis, then he'll go to the Void instead of Boethia's Realm.

Upon your death, you go where your Faith (or lack of...) leads you.

This is my theory on the afterlife:

The first thing you need to look out for is what god or goddess you're subscribed to. For example, if you're a follower of Boethia, you'll go to her realm after death. If you're a werewolf, you'll go to Hircine's realm and so on. Same with Sithis and same with the Nine Divines.

It's not just Nords that go to Sovngarde IIRC, but anyone of honor and whatnot.

So those crackpots on the corner of the street who say that when people die they go to Candyland where they are violated by a tree and then live off of sweetrolls for eternity, if I believed that that would happen?

Now that I think of it, the Gods aren't really that impressive since disbelieving can get rid of them

My understanding of it is this, they are all real places, yet you need the 'ok' from a particular master to get in. For example, if you follow Sovngarde beliefs while alive the ruler in charge of Sovngarde will fish you out of the river of souls and give you a place in his land as a reward for your dedication. However, at the same time Mehrunes Dagon would ignore your soul as not worthy to enter his afterlife, letting it drift into the abyss.

From experience we all know that multiple afterlife exist, having been to both Cameron's paradise and Sovngarde, so clearly at some point there is a divergence to different places. We just don't know the details of what exactly happens.


It might also run much deeper than that, someone's mind changes after death, their beliefs from life and their expectancy might morph their consciousness into the place they had expected to go.



People, don't bring real life into this, it would not end well. Someone will make a comment that insults the next person who feels the need to respond. That leads to flame wars.

I prefer to end up in the Misty Grove with Sanguine

The best thing about being a vampire, you don't die!

Silly Tsukasa! My inventory of pointy items that stick out of countless vampire bodies disagree with that statement!

I personally don't really view the Mythic Dawn Paradise as an afterlife, it's just a training ground to prepare for the trip back to Tamriel. If you've done the quest for the Black Star, then that is how I view it. Instead of going to where you are supposed to upon death, you are chained to the newly created world and stay there until released into the world somehow, or your object is shattered.

On a side note, was Camoran's Paradise being anchored by the Mysterium Xarxes, and if that book were to be destroyed, Camoran and everyone inside would cease to exist if such an event occured?

I don't think it's unreasonable to think that he found a way to mimic an afterlife to almost the same degree as any other. His book was after all part of Dagon himself, and infused with some hardcoe magics. When it was destroyed, I think they may have suffered an equivalent fate of those who don't accept any deity in life, left to an eternal 'sleep' and drift without any of them feeling obligated to reward those who did not accept them in their mortal life, with an afterlife level of consciousness.

Where one goes for the afterlife entirely depends on the god a mortal is bound to or not. In general, mortal are actually going to soul recycled in a place called "The Dreamsleeve." There, all memories and identity is erased. This is very much similar to how less daedra die, except that lesser daedra are completely aware the entire time and completely sensory deprived (which is why they greatly fear death).

Now, that's the general case. In addition, if a mortal is bound to a divine (daedra or aedra) they'll go to that aedroth/daedroth's realms. So, a highly devout worshiper of Azura will likely head to Azura's realm, werewolves go to Hircine's realm, and so on.

The reason why this background information is given is that in the case of the nords, more often than not, the nords hold Shor (Lorkhan in merrish tongue) above all, and Sovngarde is Shor's realm. However, those who fail Tsun's test are sent back to be soul recycled.

Oh, okay I think I get it now.

I was just... confused is all.

there's different "afterlives" depending on the situation.

for instance: People who have contracted Lycanthropy go to Hircine's Hunting Grounds upon death, while those who choose to serve Nocturnal enter her realm to continue serving her even after dieing.

I'll start by saying that I agree with your line of thought, however, I'd like to add to it.

If Camoran's Paradise is just a training ground for the attempted conquering of Tamriel, then because the Mythic Dawn worship Mehrunes Dagon, I personally think that His Realm in Oblivion would then be their resting place.

As a Skyrim specific afterlife, the Thieves Guild quests explain it best.

Nightingales serve Nocturnal, upon their death, they serve her for an undisclosed amount of time on Nirn as a Ghost/Wraith but then move at Her calling to serve her in the Evergloam. They die, they go to Nocturnal's Realm, and it doesn't matter what race they are.

^ That's because they bound themselves to Nocturnal. However, there are always loopholes, though a lot of them are not that pleasant.

Let's just state that the Dragonborn might have a pretty busy afterlife, if he/she has ended up promising his/her soul to a bunch of Daedric princes, as well as being welcome in Sovngarde.

I like how, when you go to Sovrengarde there are both Imperial soldier Nords AND Stormcloak Nords there. All that fighting and it really dosn't matter in the end.

However, to answer your question OP, you are thinking about modern religious beliefs. In TES there are many other realms, religions and gods and they are all just as real as any other. It isn't about who's right and who's wrong. It just depends on what god you worship.