Roshar's 4 Moons and 3 Gods

[Heilven he/him]

I've posted about this before, but as I reread the books I keep seeing things which compound my intrigue in the subject. First of all, the facts:

Roshar has had 4 moons. This must have been so early in the planet's history to account for it being such a secret to everyone. Additionally, the 4th moon fell long before the shattering.

The Rosharan system has 16 total planetary orbiting bodies. 3 terrestrial planets, 3 moons of Roshar, and 10 gas giants. We can be 100% certain that the 3 terrestrial planets existed prior to the shattering. In chapter 100 of WaT, we see Tanavast arriving at the Rosharan system, and he specifically notes 3 planets. This doesn't mean that the other planets weren't there, only that we can't be certain that they were. He doesn't mention the moons either.

When Honor arrived there were 3 large aspects of Adonalsium on Roshar. This is specifically noted by Tanavast.

The moons of Roshar were placed where they are for a very specific purpose. To the singers, the moons explicitly correlate to Honor, Cultivation, and Odium.

Certain numbers have intrinsic power. 1, 4, and 16 all have power regardless of the shard, and each specific shard has their own number of power.

Now on to speculation.

The idea that Adonalsium would put 17 planetary bodies into a system seems strange, especially considering how intricately designed the system is. Additionally, as far as we know, 10 has no specific meaning to Adonalsium. Honor placing 10 gas giants into the rosharan system doesn't seem outlandish, as there was a period of at least 2,000 years where Tanavast and Koravellium had the Rosharan system to themselves. At the same time, Roshar is intricately crafted for a larger purpose, and plopping in 10 massive planets is going to disturb the place. However, if you ignore the 10 gas giants, we can get a different count of celestial bodies. 4 moons and 3 planets makes 7, but add in the sun and you get 8. The sun is not often discussed by anyone, except for the Shin. They worship the spren of the sun as one of their highest gods. This doesn't necessarily mean anything, but Sanderson tends to write religions in such a way that there is always some truth to them. This points toward the sun being a more important part of the system than we might think.

My impetus to make this post was because of a realization that I had today. Adonalsium left 3 caretakers for Roshar. 3??? That is not a number of power, and it is instead very close to 4, which absolutely is. I think the most obvious answer to this is that Adonalsium takes up that 4th slot, and perhaps the fallen moon is meant to represent him. Adonalsium exists within ancient Singer lore as an entity that seemingly had specific and frequent interactions with them, not just as a faraway creator. Other obvious answers point to a 4th guardian spren which must have left before Tanavast's arrival, and must be have been gone for long enough that there was no memory of it.

Before I continue, I should address the topic of what the 3 moons represent. The moons have distinct colorations which match up exactly to the colors of Honor, Cultivation, and Odium. The Singer's refer to Nomon as "Honor's Moon", and likely make the same connections to the other moons. This cannot be ignored, as it is clearly important. The idea that makes the most sense to me is that the moons changed colors to reflect the changing gods, adapting to them. The evidence seems stacked against the moons being representations of the 3 shards beyond surface level details.

When laying out the facts, I stated that the 4th moon must have fallen long before the shattering. In my mind, this was because a moon crashing down would have caused significant ecological devastation. Upon thinking on it further, I instead think that the 4th moon must have cause essentially no devastation. There is the timeline issue, but if an object in any way moon sized was to fall onto Roshar, it should have killed all life on the planet. The moons of Roshar are unusually small, but they are still large celestial bodies. Besides, the fact that the moon "fell" is indicative of something magical in nature, so there's no reason to believe that the landing itself was not magical as well. The moon gently touching down and burying itself seems natural for Roshar.

Then the timeline issue. If the 4th moon represents Adonalsium, the moon most likely would have fallen immediately after or during the shattering. Adonalsium may have consciously done it, not wanting his killers to find the moon and the strange material it is made of. This presents a timeline issue, as surely the Singers would have noticed the event, and it would have attached itself to their lore somehow. Tanavast should have found out about it, surely. There are a myriad of possible explanations, but it seems implausible.

This more or less brings me to the end of my thoughts. I have no answers and am certain of nothing. I have like 3 different competing theories, all of which seem possible. I think I will bother to actually do the math on approximately how large the moons are, as that seems interesting.

[Treamayne]

2 hours ago, Heilven said:

When laying out the facts, I stated that the 4th moon must have fallen long before the shattering. In my mind, this was because a moon crashing down would have caused significant ecological devastation. Upon thinking on it further, I instead think that the 4th moon must have cause essentially no devastation. There is the timeline issue, but if an object in any way moon sized was to fall onto Roshar, it should have killed all life on the planet.

Personally, pending further evidence, I think there was 1 moon before the Shattering; at which time Adonalsium's Moon also Shattered - leaving three celestial bodies in orbit, and the remaining detritus to burn up on re-entry, until only survivable fragments made it to the Plains to be covered by Crem and Time. Because of whatever like-but-not-aluminum properties (duralumin being the common theory) that Moon had(has), as Shards entered the Rosharan system, each moon Connected to one of the incoming Shards and, suffused with that Shard's Light, the coloration of the moon changed to fit the Connection. 

[Jult]

17 hours ago, Treamayne said:

Personally, pending further evidence, I think there was 1 moon before the Shattering; at which time Adonalsium's Moon also Shattered - leaving three celestial bodies in orbit, and the remaining detritus to burn up on re-entry, until only survivable fragments made it to the Plains to be covered by Crem and Time. Because of whatever like-but-not-aluminum properties (duralumin being the common theory) that Moon had(has), as Shards entered the Rosharan system, each moon Connected to one of the incoming Shards and, suffused with that Shard's Light, the coloration of the moon changed to fit the Connection. 

If this were the case, wouldn't Nomon, Salas, and Mishim be made of the same material as the original moon? Tanavast didn't seem to recognize it. Or do you think the possibly-duralumin metal formed when the falling moon pieces were heated during re-entry?

Sel also had aluminum fragments rain from the sky in its history. They remained aluminum, but maybe there was no copper for the Selish aluminum to alloy with (assuming duralumin is our mystery metal)?

20 hours ago, Heilven said:

I think I will bother to actually do the math on approximately how large the moons are, as that seems interesting.

We know that they're very small. WoB:

Spoiler

Peter Ahlstrom

Roshar's moons are much much closer than our moon. Their elliptical orbits bring them closer to Roshar's surface during the night than geosynchronous altitude.

Robot Aztec

Are the tides funky for moons then? Or are moons too small?

Peter Ahlstrom

They are very small. Think Phobos and you'll be in the ballpark.

Miscellaneous 2014 (Feb. 27, 2014)

And not of a uniform size. Salas is the smallest, Nomon is the largest, and Mishim is somewhere in the middle.

Running numbers on them might be hard though. They have very unstable and unnatural orbits.

[AltonicKeys he/him]

Do we know if they are different sizes, or just different distances from the ground, like different orbits? Is it stated how different they are? 

[Heilven he/him]

On 9/11/2025 at 1:35 PM, Treamayne said:

Personally, pending further evidence, I think there was 1 moon before the Shattering; at which time Adonalsium's Moon also Shattered - leaving three celestial bodies in orbit, and the remaining detritus to burn up on re-entry, until only survivable fragments made it to the Plains to be covered by Crem and Time. Because of whatever like-but-not-aluminum properties (duralumin being the common theory) that Moon had(has), as Shards entered the Rosharan system, each moon Connected to one of the incoming Shards and, suffused with that Shard's Light, the coloration of the moon changed to fit the Connection. 

This theory works even better. Omitting the gas giants, that makes 4 orbiting bodies. I like that number much better than 8. On the "Wouldn't all of the moons be made of the same material" question: this is a deeply magical event. Perhaps the 4th moon was the core of our prime moon, or something to that effect. Moons don't tend to spontaneously break apart into several different moons with specific orbits. There's a level of non-realism here that I think is very rational to expect.

[Jult]

On 9/12/2025 at 12:57 PM, AltonicKeys said:

Do we know if they are different sizes, or just different distances from the ground, like different orbits? Is it stated how different they are? 

The relative sizes of the moons that I listed came from the Coppermind, but I did some digging around to see if I could find any exact quotes on their size differences. And I interestingly found conflicting statements.

TWoK Chapter 2 (Kaladin's perspective):

Spoiler

Quote

Salas was the smallest and dimmest of the moons, and while her violet coloring had inspired countless poets, she didn’t do much to help you see your hand in front of your face. 

Mishim is also described as small in TWoK. I actually couldn't find a quote that specified Nomon as the largest, but there are several times that it is called the brightest, which I guess is why the Coppermind entry assumes it to be the largest. Since a bigger surface area would reflect more light (though there are other ways to be the brightest). 

Chapter 3 of the Stormlight World Guide for the RPG does call Nomon the largest. However, Mishim is listed as the smallest instead of Salas:

Spoiler

Quote

Day and Night
The humans of Roshar divide the planet’s day into twenty hours. Dawn arrives at the fifth hour, and dusk sets in at the fifteenth hour, giving the planet ten hours of daylight and ten of night.

Moons
Roshar’s three moons orbit the planet once a day. Because of their predictable rise and fall, humans mark time at night by marking each moon’s moonrise, moonheight, and moonset over the course of ten hours, as shown on the Rosharan Moonrises table. Aside from the darkness of the seventeenth hour—sometimes known as the hateful hour—one moon is always visible in the night sky.

The moons’ colors echo the Shards of Odium, Honor, and Cultivation:

Salas, the dimmest moon, always rises first. It’s violet, a color associated with Odium.

Nomon, the largest moon, always rises second. It’s pale blue, a color associated with Honor.

Mishim, the smallest moon, always rises last. It’s green, a color associated with Cultivation.

I'm not sure which source to trust more. The World Guide is obviously much more recent than TWoK. But it's also a secondary source.

As a fun bonus, there is also an image of the 3 moons in the World Guide (which does also depict Mishim as smaller than Salas):

Spoiler

[Through The Living Ash he/him]

17 minutes ago, Jult said:

The relative sizes of the moons that I listed came from the Coppermind, but I did some digging around to see if I could find any exact quotes on their size differences. And I interestingly found conflicting statements.

TWoK Chapter 2 (Kaladin's perspective):

  Hide contents

 

Mishim is also described as small in TWoK. I actually couldn't find a quote that specified Nomon as the largest, but there are several times that it is called the brightest, which I guess is why the Coppermind entry assumes it to be the largest. Since a bigger surface area would reflect more light (though there are other ways to be the brightest). 

Chapter 3 of the Stormlight World Guide for the RPG does call Nomon the largest. However, Mishim is listed as the smallest instead of Salas:

  Hide contents

 

I'm not sure which source to trust more. The World Guide is obviously much more recent than TWoK. But it's also a secondary source.

As a fun bonus, there is also an image of the 3 moons in the World Guide (which does also depict Mishim as smaller than Salas):

  Hide contents

Looking at the relative sizes of the moons the way it mentions in the World Guide, I had a thought: Does the size of the moon correlate to how much the respective Shard Invested Roshar? Cultivation seemingly did far less than Odium and Honor, but as Honor was on Roshar before Odium it would make sense that he Invested the planet more. I'm not suggesting that the size of the moon would change if they suddenly Invested the planet more or less, but that it was potentially planned that way. 

I like the theory of the 4th moon falling during the Shattering, although perhaps better if it was not an intentional act. 

[Treamayne]

29 minutes ago, Jult said:

The relative sizes of the moons that I listed came from the Coppermind, but I did some digging around to see if I could find any exact quotes on their size differences.

WoBs:

Spoiler

Quote

Leiyan

Can you tell me which is the most massive moon [of Roshar]? Not the biggest, but the most massive moon.

Brandon Sanderson

I think the biggest is the most massive. All three moons are much closer than our moon is.

Leiyan

Yes, I gathered that. And so is that Nomon?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Leiyan

How big is Nomon on the night sky, compared to our moon?

Brandon Sanderson

Larger than our moon, but not dominating of the sky.

[Interruption]

I do believe Nomon is, I told Peter, bigger. But he had to run the actual calculations, so he may come back and say, "No Brandon, that's not possible." But I believe it is bigger than our moon in the sky. You're supposed to be able to see moderately well by Nomon.

Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing (March 21, 2014)

Quote

Leiyan

Do you know, do the moons orbit the opposite direction of Roshar's rotation?

Brandon Sanderson

I believe they do but I'm not 100% sure.

Leiyan

There's no eclipses as far as I can tell, so the plane of the orbit must be inclined pretty strongly, because there'd be an eclipse every day if there were eclipses...

Brandon Sanderson

We had to fudge that because as you said, if there were any it'd be all the time.

Words of Radiance Philadelphia signing (March 21, 2014)

Quote

Gagylpus (paraphrased)

What's up with Roshar's moons? Do they all have the same orbital period? What is that orbital period?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

They all have the same orbital period. Peter figured out their orbital configurations; they orbit twice per day.

When Worlds Collide 2014 (Aug. 9, 2014)

Quote

Herald (paraphrased)

Is there more significance to the 10 other planets around the Rosharan star system and them being gaseous? We know that Roshar's moons have unnatural orbits; so there seems to be some astronomical manipulation in the system.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes there is significance of 16 in cosmere and 10 in Rosharan system.

Herald (paraphrased)

The outer 10 gas giants in the Rosharan system suggest a tie to the number 10 that predates the arrival of the current Shards. Is the prominent numerology we see around the cosmere an inherent property of the planets, rather than the Shards who invest them?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Big RAFO.

Herald (paraphrased)

Would Ashyn/Braize share the 10-centric numerology of Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Yes 10-centric is for the entire Rosharan planetary system...wait Braize is 9-centric.

Arcanum Unbounded San Francisco signing (Nov. 30, 2016)

Quote

Questioner

Roshar has three moons that orbit it, and I notice that these orbits somewhat collide. I was wondering if the moons have anything to do with...

Brandon Sanderson

The moons are a little bit of a hint, but it’s not about what you’re thinking. They are not in a stable orbit on astronomical terms. They’ll last tens of thousands of years before they degrade. But it is a little bit of a hint of things. The fact that Roshar has three moons in a very specific orbit is a hint about things.

Boskone 54 (Feb. 19, 2017)

 

Hope that helps

[Through The Living Ash he/him]

[WaT]

Spoiler

With Cultivation now gone from the system, could we expect something to happen to Mishim? Maybe not crash, as we are using that as an analogy to Shattering for Adonalsium so Splintering for a Shard, but dim in some way? And could Salas and Nomon crash together or get caught in each other's orbits?

 

[Jult]

4 hours ago, Ashkaloda said:

[WaT]

  Hide contents

With Cultivation now gone from the system, could we expect something to happen to Mishim? Maybe not crash, as we are using that as an analogy to Shattering for Adonalsium so Splintering for a Shard, but dim in some way? And could Salas and Nomon crash together or get caught in each other's orbits?

 

I was actually thinking this after reading your previous post. It's possible that there is no contradiction between TWoK and the World Guide. Perhaps Mishim just shrunk after Cultivation's departure? And it stole the title of smallest moon as a result? Most sections of the World Guide do describe the current post-WaT state of Roshar.

Idk. I'd say doubtful, but not impossible.