The Gods of the Wilds

The Gods of the Wilds/Wild Gods, The Forest Lords, the Forest Gods, or Elven Shu'ladui, is the catch-all term given to the numerous deities and groups of deities worshipped or at least recognised by most of the nordling tribes of the Old North. Most historians agree that there are likely over one thousand distinct gods, but the vast majority are tribal and local ones, often recognised only in limited geographic areas, while a far smaller number seemed to be supra-regional.

It must be noted that the "modern" pantheon of deities has at least been partially "corrupted" through a long period of syncretism which inevitably followed the conquests of the elven dominion in ages past. The elves had found great similarities between their own pantheon and the gods revered by the multitude of nordling tribes they had conquered on Neuvalon and elsewhere. This inevitably led to instances of these diving beings being slowly supplanted in their respective pantheons by their equivalents in the other and vice-versa, in some cases birthing entirely new gods by combining the attributes of two or more.

Given how there were extremely few to no written sources referring to the pre-elven pantheon, most information on the nordlings' religious practices came from elven and post-dominion writers, at which point the influence of the elven deities became obvious.

Nonetheless, some believe that the elves' policy of non-interference when it came to religious matters of the peoples they had annexed into their empire was one of the reasons why, after initial resistance was squashed, there were few notable instances of rebellion and revolt in formerly nordling lands. The connection and mutual understanding came over time, rather than being forced unto them.

The Pantheon
The makeup of the Wild God pantheon varied greatly depending on era and location. WIP