Vhenadahl


 * ''Mostly the old ways are gone. Each generation forgets a little more of the old tongue, a little more of the traditions. And the few things we keep become simple habits, the meaning long since faded.


 * ''So it is with the vhenadahl, the tree of the people. Every alienage has one, I'm told. Or they used to. When I was a little girl, my mother told me the tree was a symbol of Arlathan, but not even she knew more. Keeping the vhenadahl is just a habit, now. Many cities have let theirs wither and die, then chopped them up for firewood. No great loss.


 * ''--Sarethia, hahren of the Highever Alienage.

The vhenadahl, or "tree of the People," is one of the major symbols of city elf culture, and one of the most visible landmarks of the alienages.

History
This massive vhenadahl, often an oak, rests in the center of most alienages, and serves as a symbol of Arlathan - the first elven homeland - with its strong roots deep in the earth and branches reaching ever for the sky. These trees are often decorated vibrantly, their trunks bedecked and candles or small offerings being lit around them, though the trees' upkeep has recently become more of a habit than a respected tradition. Indeed, some alienages have cut their vhenadahl down out of need or indifference, and no longer know or care what it represents.

Trivia

 * The wood of the vhenadahl is sometimes prized for making mallets for a game called "wallop", and sometimes for weapons (vhenadahl is a Tier 8 material for weapons in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening). Alternatively, in the Denerim alienage, residents urinate on the vhenadahl for reasons known only to themselves.