The contents of Dawnguard undoubtedly sparked much interest in the until-then enigmatic race that was the Snow Elves, even going so far as to illuminate the status of the head of their religion, the focal point of their faiths. 

but what of the other aspects?

What of military, of economy? The status of the Falmer empire before it fell? We only see this small glimpse into a very small(though by no means minor) facet of Falmer culture as a whole. While we know Auri-El was chief among the elven gods(and no less such for the Falmer), what of the others? 

It is known that the Snow Elves also revered Trinimac, Phynaster, Syrabane and Jephre, but how heavily these featured in the daily live of the falmer peoples nor their position in the ruling governmental body(whatever that body may have been) is unknown.

Working with what we know in regards to the lore and in-game experiences, I therefore propose that the Falmer’s religion goes much further than simply faithful practice, but in actuality governed the very people itself.

The Snow Elves were a Theocracy.

I imagine given the heavy pressure that faith is shown to have presided over the Snow Elves during the course of the dlc(though it may simply be because it was their only temple left standing), that the Snow Elves gave much import to their various deities and practices, even more so than the contemporary mer of the time. 

Whereas the others however had societies made up of royal families that shared sway over the masses hand-in-hand with their various churchly bodies, the Church made up the government of the Falmer on a whole.

I believe that the Falmer society was comprised of City-States, divvied up over the land of Skyrim in various “holds” comparable to the nordic system seen today, and that each church served as both temple and center of commerce for their respective states, being the most heavily-populated area as well as the center of any major military forces the falmer had.

Given the status of Arch-Curate and Knight-Paladins(the only two confirmed ranks we’ve known to have of Falmer) it can be gleaned that the Snow Elves had at the least an advanced concept of Knighthood — though whether that falls in line with our own codes of chivalry are unknown.

However, being that a Paladin is by definition an “honor guard” — a knight of such skill they are plucked from the ranks to serve as holy protector of a place of worship or royality and thus acting as a living hand of that body — it wouldn’t be too unsafe to say that each Arch-Curate of the major temples held beneath them a force of Knight-Paladins as guard and standing army.

An Arch-Curate by this means would serve as both Priest and Governor, acting as king/chief/president what have you over their respective territory. Arch-Curates were both heads of faith and state, spread across the Falmer Empire, with no one ruling body holding voice over another. In this manner a relative peace was maintained in which open trade and commerce was encouraged, as while the various holds all held their own patron deities, all of the falmer gave reverence to each of the varying gods that temples were erected for.

In tandem with this, snow elf armor and architecture heavily features animal symbols(wolf/bat motifs along the armor collar, celtic-like trinity knots, etc) that lend credit to the belief that either the worship or reverence of wildlife/natural forces was strong enough to feature on their arms and armor.

This may fall under their worship of Jephre, but it may go further than that.

Whilst the Falmer ruled their kingdom in city-states, temples serving as stronghold, capital, and church, there were still mer among them that lived in the lowlands. As stated in a previous entry of mine, not all Snow Elves lived in the frozen peaks and mountain ranges that allowed the erection of their great stone cities. Many lived in the lowlands, the pine forests, the tundra and steppe plains.

I wouldn’t doubt that among them were many nomads, and of whom the worship of the land around was much stronger than that of the residents of the cities. This isn’t to say there was a religious divide amongst the falmer, only that there was heavy respect and acknowledgement for the forces of nature; a spirit in every tree, wolf, and ridge. This aligns itself with Jephre, who is a major power in their pantheon, but also diverges into its own offshoot — as a friend of mine pointed out, closely like the beliefs of Shinto.

Going back to the presence of military and where it falls beneath this; I don’t believe that the Falmer had any sort of standing army. At least, no standing army for the whole of Skyrim.

Each Temple had beneath it its own standing force of highly trained, almost spartan-esque honor guards. Few in number but heavy with skill. Beneath the Knight-Paladins were knights themselves, whom probably still served the church but not exclusively, and instead served to protect the people of the hold/state they occupied. Below these knights were the common foot soldiers; who I tinker with the idea of having been trained in whichever State held the temple of Trinimac, the Knight of Auri-El, but I digress.

Suffice to say there was no overall governing military that protected the whole of Skyrim, but rather that each State held its own military strength, and while lowly foot-soldiers were free to come and go from whichever hold they wished(being neither knight nor paladin), there was no sort of inter-state body that could rally a force. Each Patron-Deity had beneath it its own army, that served only the good of that State.

This lends credit to the relative swiftness in which the Snow Elf Empire fell at the hands of the Atmorans, for as powerful as each states’ army was, it was by no means a match for the sheer numbers rallied beneath Ysgramor. In this manner each Arch-Curate probably distanced him/herself from whichever state was currently under siege, having wished not to lend their own armies and leave themselves vulnerable but to continue to deal with the affairs of their own State so that their army was intact if Ysgramor should break through.

This in addition to their preference for mountainous terrain for cities limited their areas for major population centers, making an easy target for Ysgramor once having ended one State and moved onto the next.

In summation:

The Falmer Empire was a Theocracy divvied up into City-States, each ruled by an Arch-Curate who acted as both head of faith and government beneath their Patron Deity. There was open trade between all the states as a whole, and each state boasted its own standing army that served the needs of the territory and their temple.

the Temple-State of Trinimac, as the god of the knight, served to train would-be soldiers hand in hand with the Temple-State of Syrabane, who taught them to combine their martial training with arcane arts to become proficient spellswords. 

The Temple-State of Auri-El(prior to the Chantry, which was built during the Atmoran Invasion), served as head of the empire(while no “official” capital nor temple took precedent over another in any real capacity, Auri-El was their chief god and thus considered their grandest hold). 

The Temple-State of Jephre was the source of most(not all) agriculture, I would think, having consisted of those who pay respect to the lands and the wild things, and reap the bounty that it provides to feed the people. Under this, many of the nomadic tribes paid more homage to Jephre than any else in daily life, and the whole of the Falmeri people practiced a passive animism that gave honor to the spirits in all living things.