Lore:Tsun

Stone depiction of the Bear

Tsun guarding the bridge to the Hall of Valor

Tsun is the Nordic god of trials against adversity. He died defending Shor from foreign gods, with his death remembered as bringing about the current world. Tsun and his brother Stuhn were both Shield-thanes of Shor. Dead gods such as Shor and Tsun don't need temples, for they have the biggest one of all; a vast hall of drinking and revelry known as the Hall of Valor (Shor’s Hall). He currently guards the Whalebone Bridge to the Hall of Valor of Sovngarde. At Shor's bidding, he has taken on the role of the master of trials, asking new arrivals to the utopia to prove their strength in combat against him before they can enter the Hall, where he fights using his axe. The Bear was also one of the ancient Atmoran animal totems, associated later with the Nord god Tsun.

Tsun held great respect for magic, which he called the "Clever Craft", and wielded the power of the Voice. He and others desired to face Alduin when the Time-Eater set his soul-snare in Sovngarde, but for reasons unknown, Shor held them back, though Alduin's grip on Sovngarde eventually was broken by the Last Dragonborn. Only Tsun can transport the living from Sovngarde by summoning Shor’s Might to return them to the Throat of the World.

The spirits of clawthanes, wolves who've been accepted into Sovngarde, are said to often stand watch over the Whalebone Bridge alongside Tsun.

Notes

• A ghostly figure called the Watcher at the Bridge guarded the portal during the Interregnum, but their exact relation to Tsun was unknown.

Gallery

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  Bear totem (Skyrim)

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  Tsun's Battle Axe

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  Ternion Aspect of the Bear (ESO)

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  Frostbane Bear

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  Atmoran Snow Bear

See Also

• For game-specific information, see the Skyrim article.

Books

• A Dream of Sovngarde by Skardan Free-Winter — A Nord soldier's account of his dream before the Battle of the Red Ring
• Kodlak's Journal by Kodlak Whitemane — The last writings of a Harbinger of the Companions
• Varieties of Faith... by Brother Mikhael Karkuxor of the Imperial College — An expansive list of the pantheons and associated divine spirits of Tamriel's dominant cultures