[Lore] Clerics and Paladins

Argent Dawn
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Here’s a topic I’ve been discussing all over the place in discord this past week across several servers and figured I’d compile the sources here for clarity and ease of linking going forward. The message limit on Discord makes it hard to link novel scenes, you feel me?

Paladins are not just priests in plate.

Of Blood and Honour makes specific mention of explaining clerics -- warrior priests -- being separate entity from paladins.

Tirion Fordring looked up toward the colorful image and felt his spirit soar. Kneeling upon an ornately carved dais, Tirion humbly bowed his head in prayer. To his left, a group of somber men dressed in flowing white robes stood in attendance. They were clerics—warrior priests—who hailed from the Northshire region. The pious clerics were present in order to offer Tirion their support and spiritual guidance, should he require it.

To his immediate right, another group stood in observance, all dressed in heavy suits of highly polished armor. They were the Knights of the Silver Hand—the Paladins. The shining Paladins were the champions of Lordaeron and the Alliance. They stood in support of Tirion—the newest initiate to their hallowed ranks.

In the next scene we see Tirion undergo the ritual of empowerment which marks him as a paladin. The Clerics and Paladins both bless him and and Tirion felt energised by its power as every fibre of his being was ignited by divine fire, made anew.

“In the Light, we gather to empower our brother. In its grace, he will be made anew. In its power, he shall educate the masses. In its strength, he shall combat the shadow. And, in its wisdom, he shall lead his brethren to the eternal rewards of paradise.”
Finishing the verse, the Archbishop closed the book and turned toward the men on the left. Tirion felt a rush of excitement sweep through his body. He breathed in deeply and tried to focus on the solemnity of the moment.

“Clerics of the Northshire, if you deem this man worthy, place your blessings upon him,” the Archbishop said in a ritualistic tone. One of the white-robed men walked forward, carrying an embroidered dark blue stole in his hands. The Cleric reached the dais and reverently placed the blessed stole around Tirion’s neck. He dipped his thumb in a small vial of sacred oil and anointed Tirion’s sweating brow with it.

“By the grace of the Light, may your brethren be healed,” the Cleric said in a whisper. He bowed and backed away to stand once more amongst his fellows.

The Archbishop turned to the men on the right and spoke again: “Knights of the Silver Hand, if you deem this man worthy, place your blessings upon him.”

Two of the armored men moved forward with obvious pride on their faces and stood solemnly in front of the dais. One of the men held a great, two-handed warhammer. The hammer’s silvery head was etched with holy runes and its haft was meticulously wrapped in blue leather. Tirion could only marvel at the weapon’s exceptional craftsmanship and beauty. The knight laid the hammer on the dais before Tirion’s feet. He then bowed his head and backed away.

The second knight, carrying dual ceremonial shoulder plates, stepped forward and looked Tirion in the eye.
He was Saidan Dathrohan, one of Tirion’s closest friends. The knight’s face was alight with pride and excitement. Tirion smiled knowingly. Visibly composing himself, Saidan placed the silver shoulder plates upon Tirion’s shoulders and spoke in a stern voice. “By the strength of the Light, may your enemies be undone.”

After he finished speaking, Saidan adjusted the silver plates so that the blue stole streamed out from beneath them. He then backed away and returned to the group of attendant knights. Tirion’s heart pounded in his chest. He was so overcome with joy that he felt almost light-headed.

The Archbishop strode forward once again and placed his hand upon Tirion’s head.
“Arise and be recognized,” he said. Tirion got to his feet and marveled at the sheer magnitude of the honor being bestowed upon him. The Archbishop leveled his gaze at Tirion, then read aloud from the book.

“Do you, Tirion Fordring, vow to uphold the honor and codes of the Order of the Silver Hand?”
“I do,” Tirion replied earnestly.

“Do you vow to walk in the grace of the Light and spread its wisdom to your fellow man?”

“I do.”

“Do you vow to vanquish evil wherever it be found, and protect the weak and innocent with your very life?”

Tirion swallowed hard and nodded while saying, “By my blood and honor, I do.” He exhaled softly, overcome with emotion.

The Archbishop closed the book and walked back toward the center of the altar.
Turning to face the entire assembly, the Archbishop said, “Brothers—you who have gathered here to bear witness—raise your hands and let the Light illuminate this man.” Each of the Clerics and knights raised their right hands and pointed toward Tirion. To Tirion’s amazement, their hands began to glow with a soft, golden radiance.

He supposed that, in the excitement of the moment, his eyes were playing tricks on him. Yet, as he watched in wonder, the sunlight that poured in from above began to move slowly across the floor. As if in response to the assembly’s command, the light came to rest upon Tirion himself.

Partially blinded by the intense radiance, Tirion felt his body warmed and energized by its holy power. Every fiber of his being was ignited by divine fire. He could sense life-giving energies flowing through his limbs, energies enough to heal any wound or cure any disease. He mused that these energies were enough to burn even the souls of the accursed denizens of the shadow. Despite himself, he shuddered involuntarily.

Ablaze with hope and joy, Tirion knelt down and took hold of the mighty hammer—the symbol of his holy appointment and station. With joyous tears streaming down his face, he raised his head and looked toward the Archbishop, who smiled warmly back at him.

“Arise, Tirion Fordring—Paladin defender of Lordaeron. Welcome to the Order of the Silver Hand.”

The motif repeats in Arthas's knighting ritual in Rise of the Lich King where he's scrubbed clean and purified, then filled back up with the Light's power after he's empowered by the Clerics and Paladins.

Faol gave him a quick wink of reassurance, then turned to address both the clerics and the paladins. “Brothers and sisters—you who have gathered here to bear witness—raise your hands and let the Light illuminate this man.”

The clerics and paladins all lifted right hands, which were now suffused by a soft, golden glow.
They pointed at Arthas, directing the radiance toward him. Arthas’s eyes were wide with wonder, and he waited for the glorious glow to envelop him.

Nothing happened.

The moment stretched on.

Sweat broke out on Arthas’s brow. What was going wrong? Why wasn’t the Light wrapping itself around him in blessing and benediction?

And then the sunlight streaming in through windows in the ceiling slowly began to move toward the prince standing alone in shining armor, and Arthas exhaled in relief. This had to be what Uther had spoken of. The feeling of unworthiness that Uther assured him all paladins felt simply seemed to drag out the moment. The words Uther had spoken came back to him: No one feels he deserves it…its grace, pure and simple… but the Light loves us anyway.

Now it shone down on him, in him, through him, and he was forced to shut his eyes against the almost blinding radiance. It warmed at first, then seared, and he winced slightly. He felt—scoured. Emptied, scrubbed clean, then filled again, and he felt the Light swell inside him and then fade away to a tolerable level.

He blinked and reached for the hammer, the symbol of the order. As his hand closed about the haft, he looked up at Archbishop Faol, whose benign smile widened.

“Arise, Arthas Menethil, paladin defender of Lordaeron. Welcome to the Order of the Silver Hand.”

Arthas couldn’t help it. He grinned as he grasped the enormous hammer, so large that for a brief moment he thought he wouldn’t be able to lift it, and swung it upward with a whoop. The Light, he realized, made the hammer seem to weigh less in his hands.

In both novels, they separate clerics and paladins as different classes and then show us the ritual which makes a paladin what they are – vessels of the Light, while clerics are regular warrior priests lacking the ritual of empowerment.

The Paladin order hall in Legion also gives us lore on the to-date most prolific cleric, Mara Fordragon, the High Cleric of Stormwind. She was a priest clad in plate and shield who escorted the refugees of Stormwind to safety during the First War. Paladins did not exist yet at that point.

The reason why this topic is important to me is that upon starting to RP a cleric myself these past months, I’ve run into a lot of people who are claiming to be paladins but the concept they’re RPing boils down a cleric. There’s nothing wrong with RPing either, but since there’s tangible sources explaining the difference between the two classes, it would enhance the RP a lot more to understand the difference and play the roles accordingly.

Clerics aren’t some second class citizen compared to a paladin; their roles in battle are fundamentally different (front line priests vs the Light’s champions) and clerics are still required to complete the ritual of empowerment to create a paladin in the first place as seen in the above passages.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

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Totally agreed!

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That boggles my mind!

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These are great reads and extremely interesting, thank you for posting these. I would however like to offer a different perspective on some of the content, particularly in combination with other sources of lore. While I have never read a Warcraft book outside of Chronicles, I have roleplayed a Light-using character since Cataclysm - this does not qualify me as any special kind of expert, I simply wished to demonstrate my long-standing interest in the subject.

In short, I disagree with the definition of a cleric as suggested above that they are front line priests. However, there’s enough here that I think it may prove an intriguing read to anyone with an interest in the lore of human-centric Light-use.

Firstly, the first quote refers to clerics as warrior priests, however I believe the phrase warrior is taken in terms of its literal meaning (someone who fights), not simply WoW’s class of a plate-clad melee unit. In that quote, those clerics are wearing white cloth - they are simply priests trained to use their holy magic in battle. This matches with the clerics of Warcraft 1 who simply wore cloth and cast supporting magic from the back lines.

It should also be noted that cleric is used as a general term throughout WC1, WC2 and WoW to encompass a variety of cloth wearing Light-users, few of whom ever wear armour - Anduin, Mara, Alphus are among the exceptions. While less common as a term, cleric appears to be synonymous with priest in the greater Warcraft lore.

The origin of paladins, as per the Warcraft II manual, is that Faol had come to realise that clerics were not well-suited for combat and suffered great losses - thus he sought out knights to tutor them in the ways of holy magic. Simply put, while they are more than priests in plate, the distinction is thin. They are knights who have been taught a priest’s magic.

While the rituals in those books are newer lore than that in WC2, at no point do any of these quotes suggest that a paladin is somehow empowered with more Light than a priest/cleric would otherwise have already, especially as the ritual stems from priests/clerics. If anything, it appears as if this ritual kick-starts a knight’s connection with the Light akin to an awakening of sorts, not unlike how the draenei were all given the Light by the Naruu. The only tangible difference I can see is that it gives paladins an immunity to disease and sometimes holy features such as glowing eyes (though this is not strictly exclusive to paladins anyway).

Notably, Uther was a priest/cleric before he learned to use a sword/shield while practically all other paladins I know of were knights first before acquiring holy magic. If the ritual somehow gave a paladin more powerful magic/access to different magic, then surely all priests would undergo the same ritual given that all it takes is a few holy casters to point while someone speaks some words. It’s shown to have no cost whatsoever except a very short amount of time and brief discomfort in the recipient.

My overall point here is that a cleric is a priest, a paladin is a knight taught to use a priest’s magic, and an armoured priest with a weapon could potentially share the same abilities of a paladin. In essence, I want to emphasize that, in my view, it’s their role, origin, and organisation that separates them, not their magic.

In detail, a traditional paladin is a holy knight that answers to the church, with a knight of course being a prestigious warrior recognised with a title - very much a martial role.

A priest is a holy person who performs various rites and services, typically without the martial focus and certainly without a martial origin.

A warrior priest, aka a cleric by these quotes (though again, unlike the D&D class for example, cleric appears to share its real life meaning throughout WoW - namely a priest), is a priest who primarily uses their abilities to support other fighters. The term cleric is still being used for a cloth-wearing spellcaster as recently as Legion.

The paladins specialised in healing, aka holy-spec paladins in-game are interesting in that they appear to share the exact same role as a priest in combat, especially since we have priests that can effectively fight in plate armour. Given that each possess the ability to buff, shield, heal, and cleanse, I think it’s safe to assume their abilities are potentially the same. Naturally, a paladin would focus more on martial abilities.

Anduin is a guide to his people before he is a warrior, which happens to fit in exactly with the WC1 description of a Cleric. I think this is a key aspect of his character, and helps to truly differentiate the fundamental difference between a paladin, specialised as a healer or otherwise, and an armoured priest/cleric.

That aside, and on a very small note, I don’t see why clerics are required for the paladin ritual. In both of the quotes it specifically states that several knights/paladins are among the clerics performing the ritual, and they appear to be doing the exact same thing as the clerics. It is just one use of the Light for any Light-user to perform as far as these passages show.

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Also if I recall correctly, back when the paladins were coming out of the woodworks
it was believed their power could be taken away

If I am not mistaken it was this punishment that was put on Fordring when he saved Etrigg
and he lived until much later into wows storyline beliving his power was gone, however as it would turn out, it wasn’t gone and never was.

I would be inclined to think while different their spells are more or less the same but utilised in vastly different ways with some overlaps.

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That’s interesting, Thuzar, I wasn’t aware of that or had perhaps forgotten it. If that’s true then that further makes them resemble the draenei - they are truly given the magic of the Light from an external source and had no previous ability to call on it at all. Do you know where I can find a quote?

I suppose you could then compare a priest/cleric and a paladin to a necromancer and a post-WC3 Death Knight. The former of each learns through practice alone, calling directly on the magic - while the latter of each has to draw it from themselves after the former has created them.

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I think it was mentioned in Tirion Fordrings backstory, I could easily be wrong on this.
but I read it on the one of the wow wikis, a long time go, and you know how blizzard likes to retcon things. So I encourage you to read what you can on Tirion Fordring and Eitriggs backstories.

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Chronicles 2 describes the initial training of the first paladins, and they were all adept and trained in the ways of the Light before they were knighted as paladins of the Silver Hand. If there’s functionally no difference between a paladin and a priest sans their choice of attire, there wouldn’t be much of a need to go through with the ritual. And if it’s so simple as waving your hands and saying the right words, why not mass produce them?

The passage in Rise of the Lich King goes about how Uther told Arthas that everyone feels unworthy in the moment, and that only those who truly are worthy are granted the honour, so there’s some selection going on to determine who can and can’t undergo it.

Tirion’s passage also involves the conductor of the ritual asking both the Clerics and the Paladins to bless the recipient only if they deem him worthy.

It’s a religious ceremony. Them wearing robes for the occasion is very much par the course; the paladins wear their armour because they’re also a knightly order and they’re initiating a new member.

When old lore clashes with a newer source, Blizzard’s stance has been that the newer one takes precedence. Mara Fordragon’s the most prolific recent example of those old school clerics (read: warrior-priests) we have now along with Uther, who was both a cleric and a Knight of Stormwind pre-First War according to Chron 2.

While there are indeed many regular clerics in-game who are just bogstandard priests in cloth, we do also have examples of in-game clerics playing the role of armoured priests using only priest abilities.

https://wow.gamepedia.com/Scarlet_High_Clerist

The over all argument is that a paladin is not just a “priest in plate” – they’re something more as seen in the rituals above. Chronicle 2 describes them as beacons of hope in the darkness as the Light’s champions. A priest in plate is a cleric, though not all clerics are in plate.

Definitely, I agree with you on those points :+1:. There’s nothing stopping one from drawing inspiration from one another for certain abilities due to the obvious crossover their spheres have, but paladins have the added bonus of their physical prowess enhanced through their blessings. The giant hammer given to a paladin upon their knighting weighs less in their hand due to the blessings the power Tirion describes coursing through his veins and every fibre of his being.

It’s from the Of Blood and Honour novel regarding Tirion’s banishment – the whole novel focuses around his rise and fall as a paladin. The Silver Hand believed they successfully cut him off from the Light entirely as they excommunicated him, but that was a misconception on their part – they only succeeded in removing the blessings that empowered Tirion.

“So be it,” Uther said ominously. “Tirion Fordring, from this day forth you are no longer welcome among the Knights of the Silver Hand. You are no longer fit to bask in the grace of the Light. I hereby excommunicate you from our ranks.”

The audience gasped at Uther’s words. Excommunication was a rare, harsh punishment that stripped a Paladin of his Light-given powers. Though it had only been used a few times, every Paladin lived in mortal fear of it. Tirion could not fathom what was about to happen. Before he could utter another word, Uther made a sweeping motion with his hand.

Immediately, Tirion felt a dark shadow pass over him, choking out the holy power of the Light. Panic threatened to overwhelm him as the grace and strengthening energies of the Light fled his body.

Later on he still wielded the Light successfully as he came across Eitrigg and healed his wounds, realising that the Silver Hand couldn’t deafen him to the Light for as long as he had faith.

Sorry for the long time replying, had to double check the sources!

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Maybe the hammer is the test to see if somebody is worthy. Maybe someone who is “unworthy” can’t lift the hammer as easily as a Paladin can/should, and thus show him as unworthy in the eyes of the Light/himself ?

Wait, did that mean he couldn’t as easily wield a Mace anymore, as he did before? And Would he have regained those blessings when he took up the fight against the Lich-King? :open_mouth:

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Unlikely, since his worth was tested in the moment as the Light graced him. The part about the hammer’s weight is something they explore through out the Rise of the Lich King novel as Arthas’s faith wanes and the hammer grows heavier in his hand. Another fact that contributed to him abandoning it in favour of Frostmourne, since at that point his faith was so shaken he had no need for a useless hammer.

They took his hammer away after the trial as he got cast out along with all his other possessions related to the Silver Hand along with his titles and ranks.

:man_shrugging: maybe. It would be weird if he didn’t, though we have no objective confirmation whether he ever did.

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Yep, I’m definitely not saying priest/clerics can’t wear armour, but there are plenty of examples of cleric NPCs without armour. Notably there are some Gilnean ones in Legion that wield cloth+staves.

I will definitely concede that the ritual does seem to grant a lot of changes. It’s almost as if they have a lot of the priest buffs/spells in-game active at all times (Power Word: Fortitude, Inner Fire, Purify, etc) which is a fun consistency in the lore.

As to why they can’t mass-produce this? I don’t see why they could not. Even if there’s some aspect of worthiness, surely ordained clerics - especially those participating in these rituals - are worthy and should all have it themselves if it’s so powerful. It appears to me like an oversight from the writers.

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A character can have a lot of reasons for not pursuing paladinhood, be it age, traditionalism, or unwillingness to step outside of their comfort zone (leaving their old order behind for another) or feeling that they’re not worthy of the honour due to self-doubt.

On top of that, those who are worthy and willing probably just go through with it to become paladins themselves.

All priests in plate are clerics (warrior priests), but not all clerics wear plate :+1:

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Butting it with here- Chronicle 2 doesn’t outright state Uther is already a cleric and a knight; it states he had already apprenticed beneath Faol for some years, which could very well mean that he is one, it just isn’t outright stated.

He isn’t said to be from Stormwind, though, judging by what Chronicle 2 has to say about Gavinrad the Dire, but I’ll leave the full lore blurb for context.

Lastly, there was Uther. He had already apprencited under Faol for some years, and he was an accomplished knight and a pious believer in the Holy Light. Lothar also sent -one- of his comrades from Stormwind to undergo paladin training: Gavinrad the Dire, a battle-hardened knight who had fought in the First War. Faol welcomed this student with open arms.

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Yeah, Faol later goes on to say in Before the Storm that the four first paladins (beside turalyon) were all focused on martial combat, whereas Turalyon was the one who was more focused on faith. So maybe the line is uncertain or the lore has been rewritten. :woman_shrugging:

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