Traditional Edition Changes
The Traditional Edition is based directly on dumps of TES III: Morrowind’s text. It also reintroduces the indentation system seen in the early versions of Sermon One, Sermon Two, and The Imperial Library, before and during the time that TES III came out.
Listed below are the edits I made. In total, only 15 words have been changed. Four of those are the same misspelled word (AMLSIVI, likely the result of a copy error), three of them are merely compactions (major domo), and one was a missing letter (PSJJJ). Only one noun was changed (Narsis) and one word was removed (a leftover to). There were only eleven punctuation changes, all within Sermon 11, curiously enough.
Sermon 07:
| | Passage |
|---|---|
| Original | A duke among scamps wandered into the House of Troubles, pausing before each scripture door to pay his respects, until finally he was met by the major domo of Mehrunes Dagon. |
| Changed | A duke among scamps wandered into the House of Troubles, pausing before each scripture door to pay his respects, until finally he was met by the majordomo of Mehrunes Dagon. |
| | |
| Original | The major domo, whose head was a bubble of foul water and fire, bowed low, so that the head of the Duke of Scamps became enclosed in his own. |
| Changed | The majordomo, whose head was a bubble of foul water and fire, bowed low, so that the head of the Duke of Scamps became enclosed in his own. |
| | |
| Original | To which the major domo said, ‘Duke Kh-Utta, your legions while mighty are not enough to destroy Nerevar or the Triune way. |
| Changed | To which the majordomo said, ‘Duke Kh-Utta, your legions while mighty are not enough to destroy Nerevar or the Triune way. |
Sermon 08:
| | Passage |
|---|---|
| Original | It tells me that, like it, we must for awhile be like he is and, as a people, cloaked in our former enemies, and to use their machines without shame.’ |
| Changed | It tells me that, like it, we must for a while be like he is and, as a people, cloaked in our former enemies, and to use their machines without shame.’ |
Sermon 11:
| | Passage |
|---|---|
| Original | These were the days of Resdaynia, when Chimer and Dwemer lived under the wise and benevolent rule of the AMLSIVI and their champion the Hortator. |
| Changed | These were the days of Resdaynia, when Chimer and Dwemer lived under the wise and benevolent rule of the ALMSIVI and their champion the Hortator. |
| | |
| Original | "Keep nothing in your house that is neither needed or beautiful. |
| Changed | 'Keep nothing in your house that is neither needed or beautiful. |
| | |
| Original | "Ordeals you should face unimpeded by the world of restriction. |
| Changed | 'Ordeals you should face unimpeded by the world of restriction. |
| | |
| Original | "There is no true symbolism of the center. The Sharmat will believe there is. |
| Changed | 'There is no true symbolism of the center. The Sharmat will believe there is. |
| | |
| Original | "There is once more the case of the symbolic and barren. The true prince that is cursed and demonized will be adored at last with full hearts. |
| Changed | 'There is once more the case of the symbolic and barren. The true prince that is cursed and demonized will be adored at last with full hearts. |
| | |
| Original | "The ruling king that sees in another his equivalent rules nothing. |
| Changed | 'The ruling king that sees in another his equivalent rules nothing. |
| | |
| Original | "The secret of weapons is this: they are the mercy seat. |
| Changed | 'The secret of weapons is this: they are the mercy seat. |
| | |
| Original | "The secret of language is this: it is immobile. |
| Changed | 'The secret of language is this: it is immobile. |
| | |
| Original | "The ruling king is armored head to toe in brilliant flame. He is redeemed by each act he undertakes. His death is only a diagram back to the waking world. |
| Changed | 'The ruling king is armored head to toe in brilliant flame. He is redeemed by each act he undertakes. His death is only a diagram back to the waking world. |
| | |
| Original | "Hortator and Sharmat, one and one, eleven, an inelegant number. |
| Changed | 'Hortator and Sharmat, one and one, eleven, an inelegant number. |
| | |
| Original | "According to the Codes of Mephala, there is no difference between the theorist and the terrorist. |
| Changed | 'According to the Codes of Mephala, there is no difference between the theorist and the terrorist. |
| | |
| Original | God has no need of theory and he is armored head to toe in terror." |
| Changed | God has no need of theory and he is armored head to toe in terror.' |
Sermon 13:
| | Passage |
|---|---|
| Original | These were the days of Resdaynia, when Chimer and Dwemer lived under the wise and benevolent rule of the AMLSIVI and their champion the Hortator. |
| Changed | These were the days of Resdaynia, when Chimer and Dwemer lived under the wise and benevolent rule of the ALMSIVI and their champion the Hortator. |
Sermon 15:
| | Passage |
|---|---|
| Original | These were the days of Resdaynia, when Chimer and Dwemer lived under the wise and benevolent rule of the AMLSIVI and their champion the Hortator. |
| Changed | These were the days of Resdaynia, when Chimer and Dwemer lived under the wise and benevolent rule of the ALMSIVI and their champion the Hortator. |
Sermon 17:
| | Passage |
|---|---|
| Original | ‘I am an atlas of smoke.’ With this, Vivec become greater than he had been. |
| Changed | ‘I am an atlas of smoke.’ With this, Vivec became greater than he had been. |
Sermon 20:
| | Passage |
|---|---|
| Original | He was known as Moon Axle, and he harvested the leftovers foibles of nature. |
| Changed | He was known as Moon Axle, and he harvested the leftover foibles of nature. |
| | |
| Original | Vivec did not slay him outright for to do so would to keep the foibles of nature within him and not back where they belonged. |
| Changed | Vivec did not slay him outright for to do so would keep the foibles of nature within him and not back where they belonged. |
Sermon 25:
| | Passage |
|---|---|
| Original | ‘I raise lanterns to light my hollows, lend wax to the thousands the candlesticks that bear my name again and again, |
| Changed | ‘I raise lanterns to light my hollows, lend wax to the thousands of candlesticks that bear my name again and again, |
| | |
| Original | This is the flowering scheme of the Aurbis. This is the promise of the PSJJJ: |
| Changed | This is the flowering scheme of the Aurbis. This is the promise of the PSJJJJ: |
Sermon 32:
| | Passage |
|---|---|
| Original | That some are more evil than others in not an illusion. Or rather, it is a necessary illusion.’ |
| Changed | That some are more evil than others is not an illusion. Or rather, it is a necessary illusion.’ |
Sermon 34:
| | Passage |
|---|---|
| Original | The monster accepted Muatra with a peaceful look and his bones became the foundation for the City of the Dead, anon Narsis. |
| Changed | The monster accepted Muatra with a peaceful look and his bones became the foundation for the City of the Dead, anon Necrom. |
Sermon 36:
| | Passage |
|---|---|
| Original | For these were the days of Resdaynia, when Chimer and Dwemer lived under the wise and benevolent rule of the AMLSIVI and their champion the Hortator, though the Dwemer had become foolish and challenged their masters. |
| Changed | For these were the days of Resdaynia, when Chimer and Dwemer lived under the wise and benevolent rule of the ALMSIVI and their champion the Hortator, though the Dwemer had become foolish and challenged their masters. |
Further Explanation
Initially, the UESP Wiki served as the basis of my editions. Historically, it has been the resource for much of my Morrowind related references. Generally, it remains a primary and influential source alongside the Imperial Library. The UESP features multiple versions of the Lessons to account for any changes between games. I opted to use the Morrowind page version; my original intent was to avoid any differences between the original game’s text and TES:Online, including the deuterocanonical thirty-seventh chapter and sermon zero. Unfortunately, I later found out that all game-specific versions of text on that site are sourced from the lore page version; the text bodies are not actually entirely separate.
As I went further through my editing process, I had discovered that there were indeed small textual errors in UESP’s versions that were not present in the Imperial Library ones. Such changes would seem small to most, but in a couple of cases constituted a restructuring to the formatting. For example in Sermon Eight on the UESP, the following sequence, at the time of my collection, was rendered thusly:
Ayem said to Nerevar:
‘Seht who is Azura….
Note the colon and the dropping of the quotation to the next line. I had not carefully checked for these formatting changes until late into editing, but here is how the game renderes the text:
Ayem said to Nerevar, ‘Seht who is Azura…
No line difference. Sure, part of it is the hazardous nature of keeping a public Wiki clean. In places where spelling errors are present in the source material, UESP has made diligent efforts to preserve them and leave detailed notes. However, small formatting changes have managed to slip through, and in this case, every comma before a quote in this chapter was changed to a colon with a return.
I don’t levy these as criticism of the Wiki. On the contrary, I find this to be more readable and am fascinated further by the fact that I too copied these errors before discovering them, under the false assumption that nothing had been changed. Woops. In any case, this appears to be an edit to the text that sprouted up naturally. Rest assured, I have already submitted my corrections to the wiki before posting this write-up.
Another observation I made on formatting was the difference between the sermons posted online before the release of the game, as opposed to the slightly different way they were structured for the game. Undoubtedly, each sermon in the dense and cramped pages of the in-game tomes received it’s respective layout primarily due to interface and resolution constraints. However, the versions of these texts that were posted to Bethesda’s forums, and subsequently redistributed on websites during the months prior to the game’s release, feature indentations to some sections within the body. The earliest complete copy of the structured web version of the text that I could find dates to somewhere around January, 2003.
Again, this is a revelation that might seem trivial to most. However, regardless of the reason, I found it interesting to see that the Imperial Library and UESP, at some point in the ten years after Morrowind, went away from indenting those sections of text, making the format effectively dead.
At the time that I sampled UESP’s copy of Sermon 10, the following passage was layed out like so:
…or, better, in the skin of his enemies.
“The eyelid of the kingdom shall fill thiry[sic] and six folios, but the eye shall read the world.”
By this the Hortator needs me to understand. The sword is an impatient signature. Write no contacts on…
Note that after the quotation, the next sentence falls to the proceeding line. However, in the game, it is rendered thusly:
…or, better, in the skin of his enemies.
“The eyelid of the kingdom shall fill thirty and six folios, but the eye shall read the world.” By this the Hortator needs me to understand.
The sword is an impatient signature. Write no contacts on…
Once again, in the old web versions this passage appears with another lost stylistic change: indentations. See below:
…or, better, in the skin of his enemies.
“The eyelid of the kingdom shall fill thirty and six folios, but the eye shall read the world.” By this the Hortator needs me to understand.
The sword is an impatient signature. Write no contacts on…
I found these variations worthy of mention because each version could lead to slight differences in tone and interpretation. Does the phrase, ‘By this the Hortator needs me to understand’ book-end the quotation? Does it lead into the next paragraph? Is it meant to start it? How is one idea jumping off into another? Indentation could likewise be considered an important factor in presentation and emphasis which is why I thought to preserve it in the Traditional Edition.
In the end, I found enough deviations in the wiki to warrant going back and rebasing the entire text on a dump I made of the game’s resources. As stated, I submitted my corrections to UESP as well, so where it’s possible their version should now match that of the games.
Red Letter Edition
Another major influence on the Lessons is the Bhagavad Gita, and Indian epics in general. The Dunmeri language as written in the Daedric script also bears a strong resemblance to Sanskrit, especially in following the stylings of some ancient manuscripts. It’s been a historic practice to write headings, colophons, and annotations in red, to distinguish commentary and headings that surround the body of text.
In some Vedic and Jainist manuscripts, it has also been observed that alternative colors, especially red, were used to highlight important phrases or symbols for the reader. In general, highlighted sections or words in red are called rubrics, from the Latin word rubrica which means red ochre, the crushed clay that was used to make the particular ink. In medieval Europe, there even came to be an official process for adding red to manuscripts, called rubrication.
The rubrication process was a matter of discipline that belonged to scriptoria, the preparation of manuscripts for codex production. Initially similar to modern italics, red highlighting was often used for headings and emphasis within these manuscripts. In Christian liturgies, such as during the Liturgy of the Eucharist in the Catholic Mass, the Words of Consecration, often called the Dominical Institution, are stated by the priest as part of a sacrament of bread and wine. While it continues to be the practice to rubricate these words in missals, the practice did not make the jump to the Christian Bible until around 1900.
Because there were no quotation marks in any of the historic manuscripts, they were not present in the initial English versions of the Bible either. In an attempt to add emphasis, but also to differentiate from the ambiguously surrounding text, Louis Klopsch applied rubrication to the words among the four Gospels that are understood to have been literally spoken by Jesus Christ, referred to as the Dominical Words. Klopsch’s rubricated New Testament, called the Red Letter Edition was first published in 1899.