Origin of The Well of Eternity

Question

In the Warcraft universe, the Well of Eternity was the primary font of magical energy for all of Azeroth. During the War of the Ancients,

the Well was destroyed so that it would no longer lure the Burning Legion to Azeroth. The destruction of the Well shattered the single landmass into five separate continents and created The Maelstrom. A single vial of its waters (one of several taken by Illidan prior to its destruction) was later used to create The Sunwell, which functioned as the source of all magical energy for the High Elf civilization for centuries. Obviously, the original well was a VAST source of magical energy - apparently one without equal, if the Burning Legion's interest is any indication.

We later find in the Cataclysm expansion for World of Warcraft that

the Maelstrom itself is directly above the inner realm of Deepholm and its World Pillar, which "holds up" the elemental forces of Azeroth.

Given the relationship of the two and the fact that the Well's origins are never mentioned in any of the games (but possibly are in the books), do we know the origin of The Well of Eternity? Or was it always there and the Night Elf civilization just sprung up around it eons ago?

I've checked the WoW wiki and was unable to find a satisfactory answer. I'm hoping that someone more well-versed in the books or comics might have an answer.

Answer 1

In the original lore books included in both Warcraft 3, as well as WoW, the titans placed the Well of Eternity in Azeroth as a gift for the peoples of this planet. They also empowered/created the dragons to protect Azeroth/the Well, as well as killing/enchaining all of the Old Gods that lived on Azeroth. After the defeat of the Old Gods, the titans basically reshaped Azeroth and gave it the Well so that it could prosper after the destructive wars that layed waste to most of the planet when they dealt with the Old Gods. They wanted Azeroth to be a beautiful world, safe from the agents and corruption of the Burning Legion. However, the well itself is what drew Sargeras to Azeroth, as the power it contained would allow him to overpower the other titans.

Answer 2

Himarm's answer was the original idea of the Well of Eternity, but it appears to have been retconned, as the recent book World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 gives a different explanation.

In this book, the entire history of the universe is explained, with focus on Azeroth, and it gives a lot of insight into the largest-scale events.

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The Void Lords' attempts to destroy all life in the universe entails spawning Old Gods, and throwing them into the cosmos, for them to plague and infest whatever worlds they hit.

Some of these Old Gods inevitably hit Azeroth, among others Y'Shaarj.

The Titans, who vowed to protect the universe from the influence of the Void Lords, tried different tactics to deal with the Old Gods on Azeroth, but eventually, Aman'Thul - the leader of the Titans, and the first one to awaken - decided to take a more direct approach with Y'Shaarj.

Aman'Thul, in a desperate attempt to rid Azeroth of Y'Shaarj, reached down and ripped Y'Shaarj out by force. This act left a scar upon the planet, and the magical well is literally the blood of Azeroth, which is also a nascent Titan.

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Now, most of these terms, like Aman'Thul, Old God, Void Lord etc., could require quite a few paragraphs of its own to explain, but for that, you should probably create new questions if necessary. And I'd love to answer those too if I see them.

Answer 3

Alec's answer is mostly correct, but he missed some important details.

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The Chronicle Volume 1 introduced the fact that Azeroth's core is a "sleeping" Titan.

When Aman'Thul ripped out Y'Shaarj, the wound on Azeroth started bleeding arcane energies. That energy was the lifeblood of the Titan inside (not the Old God's blood, Arcane is generally associated with the Titans).

The Well was then the result of the Titans trying to mend the wound.