On the one hand, Elune remains a great mystery of the cosmology of Warcraft (Retail) that is not clearly explained in the lore yet (its relation or not to the Light, to the White Lady moon, with the soul-world Azeroth, with the Titans, and through them the precise relationship between Arcane and the stars and so the moons…) This mystery has the merit of being clearly stated as a mystery.
The devs do know the expectations about the matter of Elune.
Yet on the other hand there is a heavenly body that is nevertheless evident, and omnipresent, but so present that we forget its presence, and that the lore-enthusiasts seem to despise … The Sun.
This star is so despised by the community that most fans do not care if the SUNwell has a link with the Sun, do not care to remember that it intervenes in the Druid’s Nature spells or the Holy spells from Tauren Paladins and Priests.
But what is the nature of the Sun?
If WoW suddenly plagiarized Elder Scrolls, we could then explain the star “Sun” as a metaphysical breach towards the Aetherius from which the light escapes and therefore magic(ka) does too (because in this universe these two are in fact the same. Convenient.)
However in World of Warcraft we must admit that ‘Sol’ has been copiously neglected by the writers, only mentioning it as an aesthetic pretext here and there without really explaining to us what it is, without even describing what it represents for most of the mortal races.
Remember, however, that it is particularly important in two cultures of Azeroth: Tauren and High Elves / Blood Elves.
From Vanilla we know that Tauren myths consider the Sun, under the name of “An’she”, as one of the two eyes of Earth Mother with Mu’sha the moon.
Their lines of greetings or blessings (NPCs) include “May the Eternal Sun shine upon thee.”
Since the end of WOTLK, the “Sunwalkers,” an order of warrior-monks descended from Druidism (recently rediscovered by this race), have developed their own interpretation of the Paladin-type unit as a fighter wielding the magic of the Sun. The rise of this doctrine does not stop there, it has been accompanied by the appearance of “Sun Priests” (cf. Legion class hall) for the Priest-type unit, also referred to as “Seers” elsewhere. Notice - seers - we will come back to this.
In these classes, solar energy manifests itself through the Holy school of damage.
Balance Druids have been known to use solar energy in their Wrath spell (Nature damage), and the sun is depicted pretty much every time in their caster cycle mechanics, in each revamp for many expansions.
Finally, the Sun, under the name “Belore”, is very present in the culture of the Thalassians, in particular those who still live in Quel’Thalas i.e. essentially the Blood Elves.
One must have noticed that NPC lines refer to the same “Eternal Sun” over and over again. Kael’Thas had been given the nickname Sun King, and the entire ruling Sunstrider dynasty, many Thalassian surnames, like their entire kingdom is imbued with solar aesthetic and with references to his name.
Indeed, the whole thalassian culture is turned towards the sun. But contrary to what many fans still believe, it is not just a setting to look pretty.
Chronicles still reminded us (using older texts from the lore, perhaps the old description on the website) that when the High Elven ancestors were driven out of Kalimdor by the Night Elves, they abandoned the cult of the Moon (and therefore Elune) then, to draw their strength from the sun.
Their source of magic was named Sunwell, and also many official game content items and official visuals (that are often still denied by an misleaded section of fans (including, that’s a shame, wowpedia)) did recall its waters’ connection to arcane energy and holy energy - the energy of Light. Its magic made it possible to put the seasons in stasis in their kingdom. It undeniably had an effect on the flora, including the latest addition to the background: the mothertree Thas’Alah, ‘light of the forest’ in Elvish.
So much for the reminders.
But unfortunately none of these lore points explicitly reveal how solar magic works. You just call it? pray it - like paladins and priests… - You just capture it? - like a vulgar photovoltaic cell …?
Nowhere the subjective point of view of the mortal races is given about the Sun (other than the obscure tauren myth in Thunder Bluff that I mentioned above.)
None reveals the exact nature of the entity.
The spells and the items referring to it sometimes evoke:
- Nature. Relation to photosynthesis? (Pokémon fans will remember the Plant-type Solar Beam ability)
- Fire (NPC casters of the Sunseekers sin’dorei spells). The sun as a fireball floating in the Darkness Beyond?
- Arcane (perhaps not directly but “the stars” are associated with the Arcane, it remains to be seen whether the lore implies that the Sun is a star like any other one or not)
- Holy / the Light.
Finally, we find the same problem with the Sun like with Elune and the Moon: they seem to rule over several primordial energies.
But without being able to provide an answer I will nevertheless come with an old theory of mine, regarding the place of the Light in all this.
The Sun would be a huge ball - or solid block - of Light.
Sun and light - if you take a few minutes to think about it, that’s literally part of the concept.
The only thing that would have kept you away from this idea all the time despite the obviousness, is that you may have implicitly considered that magical/divine light and secular/profane light are two separate things in WoW.
And it is true that the former Human lore, and a whole part of the fanlore influenced by IRL Christian theology and of the Warcraft Expanded Universe of dubious canonicity, speak about the “Holy Light”. As if to specify that it is a special “divine” light, not the light of a candle on the table or… of the sun.
Here we touch the famous RL historical Christian distinction between Lux and Lumen.
But even if it means flipping the table, hang in there: it seems to me that this interpretation is incorrect and outdated in the understanding of WoW cosmology.
Already because the “Light” is “the Light” - at least in the Draenei culture that is much more advanced and informed on the subject, and in all the mortal cultures in fact: there is no longer any question of a “Holy Light” apart from the “rest of things that enlighten”.
The “Light” is “the Light”.
Let’s talk a bit about aesthetics.
The spells of Holy school - of Light then - actually illuminates the characters - in the canon of the game. The visuals are proof. Characters like Anduin amaze crowds with their halo of holy light.
The well-established and systematic color code of Holy spells endorses the white and gold color of RL Christian iconography (as a reminder, the colors of the Holy See flag are … white and gold).
These colors are also those of the Sun, the one in Warcraft like the IRL one (white containing all wavelengths, and the yellow-gold halo due to the atmosphere).
(As such, as I explained in the Sunwell controversy years ago, the author of the (fanfic) short novel In The Shadow Of The Sun had a misunderstanding and a misleading headcanon when describing a Lor’Themar who is blinds to the Light spell of the Quel’dorei Priestess.)
Now let’s talk about the troubling facts.
And it’s the incongruous race of the Kobolds that will enlighten us…
The absence of lighting, the absence of sunshine light and of firelight, causes creatures of the Void to appear. This is taught and demonstrated to us in Highmountain during Legion.
Now, the Void is linked to the Shadow, like the Light is linked to the Holy - according to the Chronicles (which is wobbly you may say, but we have nothing better for the moment) which dictates the general terms of the cosmology of WoW Retail now.
If the Kobolds are so attached to their candles (YOU NO TAKE CANDLE) it is because they are a source of light, literally - a source of light … which preserves them from the Void … which is the opposite of the Light (with a capital L).
I bet you see the pieces of the puzzle coming together.
In the Chronicles of Warcraft cosmology, the Light was placed next to the element Fire: yet the fire enlightens. There is the sacred fire. But also … torches, candles.
Back to the Draenei and the precepts of Velen and Nobundo …
The Light gives deeper visions to those who revere it. This is the case of the prophet Velen, of Xe’ra, of the tauren Seers.
But we’ll have to recognize that it just gives us the sight, the worldview right around a character, in Warcraft as well.
The Draenei shamans and in particular the Brokens consider the Elements as a substitute for the Light, as diffractions of it.
But, the mortal worlds are composed of these primordial elements.
So, to see the rocks, the waters, the sky, the flames, it is to see fragments of the primordial Light of the original Warcraft cosmos, separated and rearranged as a result of the encounter with the Void.
The Void (and the Old Gods) can certainly give visions, but they are officially described as deceptive, shifting, speculative, in short all the fantasies born in the absence of the clear view that provides a concrete lighting … from the daylight. Or from a torch.
If I lose the Light, if I turn away from it, “I only see …darkness … before me …” as Arthas said.
Velen speaks well of “torchbearers” and in the magic world of WoW, metaphors tend to come to life - then take them literally.
- Here is our conclusion
The light that illuminates the mortal worlds in WoW is not the visible wavelength electromagnetic rays we know from Real Life. There is no such thing as “profane light” in lore, at least not that we know of.
We must therefore consider that there is only one and unique “Light”, a sacred light which inspires priests and prophets, but also which enlightens the worlds on a daily basis all those endowed with eyes in good enough state for the sense of view.
What changes between the regular and the sacred part, it is the way it’s wielded by magic, by spells (thus a use of mana, of spirit …) or simply left there to enlighten the environment.
The light that illuminates the environment of the characters is sometimes that from Fire - which we have seen is cosmologically close to Light - but it is often that of the Sun!
We can therefore -very logically- deduce that the Sun is a source of light, as a source of Light with a capital L, and vice versa, because profane light and divine light are One.
Finally, as an opening to Elune fans, let us add that the Moon is also a source of Light, as proved by the existence of the Kaldorei priestesses of the moon (and their sacred spells) and the various interventions of lunar light rays, especially under Tyrande’s implorations (the End Times dungeon fight for example).
), Rukhmar, Anzu or Sethe… this does not address my problem:
But somehow I was still keeping hope.