What They Don't Tell You About Hermaeus Mora - Elder Scrolls Lore

In this Skyrim video we explore the depths of Hermaeus Mora's realm of Apocrypha and test and tie theories together to uncover the secrets of the Daedric Prince.

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0:00 - Intro
2:22 - Origins
5:00 - Ysgramor
7:04 - The Woodland Man
9:01 - Hermeticism
10:29 - Mephala's Brother
13:02 - Miraak
15:11 - Dragonborn Theory
18:27 - Apocrypha
20:08 - Water is Memory
22:51 - Oghma Infinium
23:59 - Black Books
30:22 - Dragon Souls Theory
36:04 - Enemy of Vaermina
37:16 - Summary

[saberzgaming]

21:06 I just realized why it took so long for Hermeaus to take the skaals knowledge because they keep entombing their bodies in stahlrim which is literally divine ice 🧐

[bacd-nnlg]

This is definitely my favorite Daedric Prince in Elder Scrolls. He gives you so much useful knowledge, only demanding few sacrifices. This guy definitely know what happened to Dwemer.

[annamolly]

I think Hermeaus Mora's need for a dragon born to collect and harvest dragon souls is more in line with the established lore of the dragons and how they share knowledge. Their souls.
When a dragon is killed there is no body to decompose, just bone. And when Alduin resurrects dragons so too do their memories return. Since Hermeaus Mora cannot access this dragon souls and memories passively as he normally does with other races, thus the use of the dragon born.

For Hermeaus Mora it's like getting access to the forbidden part of a library. And knowledge of Akatosh, since the dragons are born timeless and of himself.
Kind messed up in a way. "I (Hermeaus Mora) will use your (Akatosh) creation to slay your spawn to gain knowledge of you."

[EvonneSol]

Consider this: the books aren't his library. The books are the lure that draws in the minds of men and mer, seekers of knowledge, but the true library is the inky black ocean that lies underneath. If we look at his appearance and at the tendrils specifically that he summons and uses they look like they're made of ink, perhaps constructed from all the knowledge he's stolen over the millennia. If that is indeed the case, then the true danger is getting grabbed and drawn down into those depths, never to re-emerge again. One's mind and memories become part of the library, drawn in by the promise of forbidden knowledge. Of course, that's all just speculation.

[dmitrigourianov]

In Doctor Who, there is an entire planet that's a library. In the episodes, they refer to this library as "a great big forest" because the books are made from wood. Perhaps Herma Mora is the woodland man because his woods are the library of Apocrapha

[prawduhgee]

I think another aspect in the rivalry between Hermaeus Mora and Vaermina is that they both collect memories and could be fighting over who gets to keep them.

[captaincrunchiii]

It’s an interesting analogy that Vivek uses for being a god. It almost sounds exactly like playing a video game, while playing u are “awake” within that worlds time but u are still awake within the real world (in which u are very busy). When u die or log off, it doesn’t matter how long u wait in the real world cause time will not have moved in the game when u log in or awaken

[isaiahburns]

This was my favorite Skyrim DLC. Lovecraftian af. So cool that Herma plays on the Lovecraft quote, “The oldest and most primal fear is the fear of the unknown.”

[chadharger]

Mora has a lot of references to HP Lovecraft stories. The Wood Man is a reference to Shug Niggurath of the Wood and its 1000 young. Mora's 'young' are his servants in Apocrypha The underwater sense of Apocrypha is R'leyth which is Cthullu's home. People that get fully ensnared by Mora are transformed into the tentacle face monsters. In HP's novels it is the hope of the Cult of Cthullu to be transformed into bodies that can't die. The Lurkers are the Deep Ones who hope for Cthullu to once again awaken. The book with Elf Skin and Black Books is clearly a parallel to the Necronomicon.

[ryanedgerton]

The idea that the memories of departed souls reside within the waters of the mortal plane (a strange parallel to how Daedra, when their forms are destroyed, are cast upon the waters of Oblivion until they can reform) has sorts of interesting implications. When you drink water, you are refreshing yourself with the echoes of lives past. When you cry, you release some small part of a moment that is too great for your soul to fully contain. And Skyrim, land of ice and snow, is also the land of frozen echoes of the past... home, also, to snow from the Throat of the World which never melts -- memories forever sealed away.

Poetic, but it goes to show just how much room to play there is with this tidbit of lore.

[taracenaryan]

Another interesting thing regarding Herma Mora and Ysgramor is the theory that Ysgramor was a dragon. While this is unlikely due to seeing him in Sovngarde, I find it more likely the Ysgramor was the first true Dragonborn, he himself ignorant of that fact.

It would explain Herma Moras obsession with Ysgramor, and in failing to acquire him, setting his eyes and tentacles on Miraak next

[MythsMana]

My idea for the brain jars. It's when someone realizes they did not in fact want the forbidden knowledge they learned and asks hermaeus to "take it away"

[LittleMetallic]

I just got my boyfriend into TES and have recommended every single one of your videos for him to watch, but I will DEFINITELY put this one on the top of the list for him, he is such a knowledge buff and so incredibly booksmart, even though he only has around 10 hours of gameplay, I already know that Hermeaus More will be his favorite Daedra!

[groupthree]

Theory about the forest association: Memories are stored in the water and knowledge on paper. A tree has its roots steeped in memory and it's branches etched with knowledge. A forest is a reservoir of memories and a future treasure trove of knowledge yadda yadda.
Apocrypha also having flying scrolls above, like leaves in the wind, and being rooted in the inky water below is also very tree-like.

[kaidanthecursed]

Wait... I just noticed something at 20:34 : "Hermaeus Mora taught her how to sever her ties to Oblivion and bind herself to Mundus." This sounds very much to me like what Lorkhan did. Binding himself to Mundus, although on a much larger scale in his case. The "sever one's ties to Oblivion" part sounds even more like Lorkhan if you believe Mankar Camoran's claim that Lorkhan is, or was, a Daedra.
So, could Hermaeus Mora be somehow related to Lorkhan ? Perhaps Septimus Signus had good reasons to think he would find the Heart of Lorkhan inside that Dwemer vault.

[rizzovonhammy]

I had the oghma infinitum in my inventory when I entered apocrypha for the first time, and master mora's greeting was downright warm.

[mrmosty]

“Hermaeus Mora learns fascinating new ways to skin a Horker and you become the second most powerful Dragonborn to ever live.”

-Master Neloth

[nateb]

I hope we get a game that focuses on Vaermina as the main daedra to get emphasis, I would love to know more about the Prince of Dreams relationship to the dreaming Godhead

[angrypumpkinchannel]

I can't help but feel like there is a connection between his name translating to forest/wood and one of his nicknames being "The Gardener of Man"

[carternagy]

Herma Mora is probably my absolute favorite deity in the Elder Scrolls Universe. I love the idea of his whole existence being based around the acquisition of forbidden knowledge. Just thinking of all the things he knows about everyone and everything throughout history.