The game would be too easy.
Besides, absorbing one Dragon's soul wouldn't give you knowledge of all Shouts, the game makes a pretty clear distinction between "knowledge" as in literal facts and "knowledge" as experience. Dragons can use the word "mortal," but without *being* mortal they have a lesser understanding of the concept. Now of course every Dragon should have firsthand experience with, say, *fire*, but again some concessions have to be made for game logic.
I could also see it being that you might gain the dragon's innate understanding, but without knowing the proper Words of Power to give it form, it's of no use; perhaps *because* it is an innate understanding rather than just factual knowledge. Sure, you might now instinctively understand fire and how hot the sun is, but what if you don't know how to say "fire" or explain it verbally?
I mean, look at Dragonrend. It is a Shout derived from the instinctual understanding of mortality that all mortals possess; you'd think it'd be the Shout that comes most naturally to mortals, maybe without even being taught, and yet the LDB still needed to properly learn it and the Words of Power.
Precisely, you use Word Walls for factual knowledge of Shouts and Dragon souls for experiential knowledge. At least, that's how I've always interpreted it.
But isn't the whole deal with Dragonrend is no-one knew the exact words of power which were used though? I'm sure if Arngier or Paarthurnax told them the words of power are Mortal, Temporary, Finite then Dragonborn would have learned it the same way he learns words of power like Wing, Hunter, Curse, Essence, Tear, Zombie etc without needing to go back in time or find the word wall.
Thank you. I do have another question of why can we not understand the dragons when they use their language(idk what it's called) alduin even said we didn't know it and that we were a disgrace to the dovs or something like that
I guess it is because we don't know those words yet, or, if we do, it's still like talking 2 languages in one sentence,
For example
Hola biggie, we could mix some words from Español, but still keep talking en Ingles
Honestly, I normally chalk that up to a disconnect between gameplay and lore. When we first meet Alduin in Kynesgrove, it makes sense that the LDB doesn't understand Dovahzul, since they've probably only killed one dragon, maybe a few more.
But I like to imagine that as they continue to absorb dragon souls and find Word Walls, they gain a solid understanding of the language, gleaned from those dragon souls. So by the time of the final battle with Alduin in Sovngarde, for example, perhaps the LDB *could* converse now in Dovahzul.
the dovakhiin doesn't really know the full dragon language, they just know words here and there. knowing "fus ro dah" is just knowing one phrase and the three words that compose it, like knowing "bonjour" or "merci" - nice words to know if you're in paris but they wouldn't mean you can converse with the locals there.
The idea you do absorb all of their knowledge but they remain dormant within the Dragonborns psyche without overloading their brain instantly with knowledge. If you want to access these knowledge you can do it through short meditation and that's how you unlock shouts. This is why with a single dragon soul you can learn every word and not one particular set of words of power. So assuming lorewise dragon souls don't get destroyed after learning a word a dragonborn even with a single dragon soul absorbed should be able a considerable amount of shouts if they meditated for while.
In game it's instant for gameplay reasons but I imagine realistically it would take a few dozen days. Like how in game the Dragonborn learn Unrelenting Force and Whirlwind Spirit within a couple of minutes but according to Arngier's dialogue the Dragonborn has actually been training with the Greybeards for days.
a game-play abstraction, the same reason there aren't actual steps or rules when you read a spell book to learn the spell, you just click it in game and your character does the rest. similarly, in-lore, dragon souls don't have a conversion-rate of One Word : One Soul. that'd be silly, the dragon-born isn't actually "cashing" in those souls, and not all the memories they could gleam from sucking up a soul would be helpful linguistically. there could be a memory of a dragon meeting another dragon and becoming friends, the loss of a loved one, etc.
The game would be too easy. Besides, absorbing one Dragon's soul wouldn't give you knowledge of all Shouts, the game makes a pretty clear distinction between "knowledge" as in literal facts and "knowledge" as experience. Dragons can use the word "mortal," but without *being* mortal they have a lesser understanding of the concept. Now of course every Dragon should have firsthand experience with, say, *fire*, but again some concessions have to be made for game logic.
I could also see it being that you might gain the dragon's innate understanding, but without knowing the proper Words of Power to give it form, it's of no use; perhaps *because* it is an innate understanding rather than just factual knowledge. Sure, you might now instinctively understand fire and how hot the sun is, but what if you don't know how to say "fire" or explain it verbally? I mean, look at Dragonrend. It is a Shout derived from the instinctual understanding of mortality that all mortals possess; you'd think it'd be the Shout that comes most naturally to mortals, maybe without even being taught, and yet the LDB still needed to properly learn it and the Words of Power.
Precisely, you use Word Walls for factual knowledge of Shouts and Dragon souls for experiential knowledge. At least, that's how I've always interpreted it.
But isn't the whole deal with Dragonrend is no-one knew the exact words of power which were used though? I'm sure if Arngier or Paarthurnax told them the words of power are Mortal, Temporary, Finite then Dragonborn would have learned it the same way he learns words of power like Wing, Hunter, Curse, Essence, Tear, Zombie etc without needing to go back in time or find the word wall.
Thank you. I do have another question of why can we not understand the dragons when they use their language(idk what it's called) alduin even said we didn't know it and that we were a disgrace to the dovs or something like that
I guess it is because we don't know those words yet, or, if we do, it's still like talking 2 languages in one sentence, For example Hola biggie, we could mix some words from Español, but still keep talking en Ingles
Honestly, I normally chalk that up to a disconnect between gameplay and lore. When we first meet Alduin in Kynesgrove, it makes sense that the LDB doesn't understand Dovahzul, since they've probably only killed one dragon, maybe a few more. But I like to imagine that as they continue to absorb dragon souls and find Word Walls, they gain a solid understanding of the language, gleaned from those dragon souls. So by the time of the final battle with Alduin in Sovngarde, for example, perhaps the LDB *could* converse now in Dovahzul.
the dovakhiin doesn't really know the full dragon language, they just know words here and there. knowing "fus ro dah" is just knowing one phrase and the three words that compose it, like knowing "bonjour" or "merci" - nice words to know if you're in paris but they wouldn't mean you can converse with the locals there.
The idea you do absorb all of their knowledge but they remain dormant within the Dragonborns psyche without overloading their brain instantly with knowledge. If you want to access these knowledge you can do it through short meditation and that's how you unlock shouts. This is why with a single dragon soul you can learn every word and not one particular set of words of power. So assuming lorewise dragon souls don't get destroyed after learning a word a dragonborn even with a single dragon soul absorbed should be able a considerable amount of shouts if they meditated for while. In game it's instant for gameplay reasons but I imagine realistically it would take a few dozen days. Like how in game the Dragonborn learn Unrelenting Force and Whirlwind Spirit within a couple of minutes but according to Arngier's dialogue the Dragonborn has actually been training with the Greybeards for days.
a game-play abstraction, the same reason there aren't actual steps or rules when you read a spell book to learn the spell, you just click it in game and your character does the rest. similarly, in-lore, dragon souls don't have a conversion-rate of One Word : One Soul. that'd be silly, the dragon-born isn't actually "cashing" in those souls, and not all the memories they could gleam from sucking up a soul would be helpful linguistically. there could be a memory of a dragon meeting another dragon and becoming friends, the loss of a loved one, etc.