1 In the beginning there was only darkness - a vast, empty void that had no start and no end.
2 And in this darkness was a seed - a single seed - and then it began to break, and the shell broke and the falling fragments became the earth.
3 And from the top of the seed sprung water, and this water became sea and lakes and rivers and this water separated bodies of earth from one another and they became different lands.
4 And from the bottom of the seed grew roots, and these roots anchored themselves into the earth and soon the seed grew into a great tree, and this tree was 'Fresagga' - 'the Mother Tree'.
5 And two flowers bloomed from the tree and one was lighter than the other. And the flowers grew towards the sky and the petals fell. The pollen from the lighter flower became a warm ball of light, and this was the sun. The petals from this flower surrounded the sun and they became the clouds.
The pollen of the darker flower became a silver, reflective mirror and this was the moon. The petals from this flower surrounded the moon and they became the stars.
6 And in the top of the broughs of Fresagga, where the cloud began, five figures began to grow. There was one in each direction and one in the centre. One was Naus (North) and he was male. One was Oeesa (East) and she was female. One was Tust (South) and he was male. One was Wuee (West) and she was female.
The fifth, and last figure was Ydaga and he was neither male nor female, yet he was both. And these figures were the gods and goddesses.
7 And in the hands of Naus, Oeesa, Tust and Wuee lay seeds, which they threw to all the lands. And where these seeds landed, more trees grew and these were the children of Fresagga.
8 And as the leaves from the trees fell, creature and plants grew and each was more magnificent than the last. All were female and in turn they gave birth to a creature similar to them selves, but for the fact they were male.
9 And so here was the world, and it was perfect in all ways. And the lands were lush with glorious, green vegetation, and all the creatures that walked or crawl or swam or flew were without a flaw.
10 And some of the creature began to mate and multiply with one another and so the natural paradise fell. And some of these new creatures were good and some were bad.
11 And two of this new species of animals were the 'Day Walkers' and the 'Night Walkers'. And only one thing they had in common, and that was that they walked upright on two legs.
The Day Walkers were good, beautiful creatures who embraced the light of the sun.
The Night Walkers were evil, ugly misshapen creatures who lived in the blackest shadows of the darkest night.
12 One evening, just before the sun bid the lands farewell for another day, the Day Walkers, who were very curious, strayed into the land of the Night Walkers. And the Night Walkers, who were evil tricksters, pretended to be Day Walkers so as to mate with their opposing creatures.
13 Elile and Luflas, who were both Day Walkers, were lucky and mated with one another and they called their offspring 'Elves'.
14 Mulla the Day Walker and Entaza the Night Walker began to mate and they called their offspring 'Men'.
15 Dwellas the Day Walker and Arfaka the Night Walker began to mate and they called their offspring 'Dwarfs'.
16 Gobaka and Lintz, who were both Night Walkers, were so repulsed by the Day Walkers that they mated with each other and called their offspring 'Goblins'.
17 And so it was. The Elves were a beautiful, pure race - soft spoken and innocent of sin.
18 The Men were good and evil, enjoying both the beauty of nature and the power of war.
19 The Dwarfs were good and evil and became masters at crafting the most beautiful of structures, yet would step over the corpses of their kin if enticed by the glimmer of gold.
20 The Goblins were an evil race and intent on destruction and death. They took their pleasure by torturing Elfin children whom they caught playing in the woods.
21 And now the world was complete, perfect yet flawed, and so the Elves lived in the west, worshipping Oeesa and the power of air.
And the Men lived in the south, worshipping Tust and the power of water.
And the Dwarfs lived in the east, worshipping Wuee and the power of earth.
And the Goblins lived in the north, and worshipped on one, as they were too intent on their evil deeds.
22 And so ends the book of Elua.