Lore

The narratives of Elden Ring and Elden Ring Nightreign are built bit by bit and told mainly through context and environmental storytelling techniques. This page summarizes the main story and lists the major factions, characters, and events that define the Lands Between and broader Elden Ring setting. This page allows users to easily locate parts of the text that offer insight into each topic. Please refer to the Lore category for a complete list of articles.

Story[]

In the beginning, the Greater Will fractured the One Great, which led to divisions, births, and souls.^[1] It sent its daughter, Metyr, Mother of Fingers, and its golden vassal Elden Beast through the Primeval Current to the Lands Between,^[2] the place to which all Death inevitably drifts.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] The Elden Beast held the power of runes and was the living embodiment of Order, and it was later forged into the great Elden Ring.^[7]^[8] The Lands Between became the arena of champions vying to become the Elden Lord.^[9]^[10]

Prologue[]

Long ago, in the Lands Between, the Two Fingers directed the Empyrean Marika to claim godhood at the Gate of Divinity and become the next vessel for the Elden Ring.^[10]^[11] Marika then waged a violent War Against the Giants to upend the Fell God and suppress the Flame of Ruin, using a Golden Seed to transform the primordial Crucible of life into the Erdtree. This act ushered in an age of Plenty. Empowered by soaring Grace of Gold, Godfrey, her first Elden Lord, and his warriors set out to conquer the entirety of the continent in her name. However, this age of abundance soon came to a swift, unforeseen end. Marika later removed the Rune of Death from the Elden Ring and commanded her loyal shadow, Maliketh, to seal it away. Thus, she, her Demigod offspring, and those blessed by her Grace of Gold would live forever, earning her the title of Queen Marika the Eternal.

Godfrey, by then known as the Lord of the Battlefield, fought until Marika's reign was absolute. When the last worthy enemy fell to his axe, the very same Grace that blessed him and his army was taken away by Marika, who instructed them to wage another war and die abroad, with the promise that life and Grace would be returned to them after death. All those who were stripped of their Grace, as well as their descendants, were Tarnished, and forced onto boats and across the Sea of Fog to carry out their Long March into the Badlands, though one vessel failed to leave. Queen Marika also sent her son Messmer and an army of outcasts on a crusade to destroy the hornsent, the old folk who dwelled in the Land of the Tower. She trapped them in the Realm of Shadow to protect herself from the Base Serpent and to conceal her shrouded origins.^[11] She later claimed Radagon of the Golden Order as her second Elden Lord, who was, in truth, her other self and a very part of her being.

After a time, Marika later instructed her children to rise as Lords or gods, or become sacrifices. She then shattered the Elden Ring, fracturing her Golden Order and releasing its Great Runes into the Lands for her children to claim. After that, Queen Marika was nowhere to be found—punished by the Elden Beast and imprisoned within the Erdtree. The Demigods were each corrupted by the power of their Great Runes, triggering the appalling Shattering, a war from which no victor arose, leading to their abandonment by the Greater Will. True to Marika's promise, it was then that the Grace of Gold returned to the Tarnished, and beckoning them back to the Lands Between so that one might repair the shattered Elden Ring and become the Elden Lord.^[10]^[12]

Nightreign[]

Elden Ring Nightreign shares the same world and backstory as Elden Ring, but takes place on a parallel timeline that diverged after Marika shattered the Elden Ring. A Shattering War also took place between the Demigods; however, it had a different outcome: Heolstor the Nightlord, empowered by the Primordial Nightlord's Rune, ushered in the Night. An azure Night's Tide created the Nightlords and threatened to wash away the Lands Between.^[9] The Dreglord, a comparable threat, emerged soon after, driven by vengeance to smash the Night.

Cinematics[]

Trailers[]

ELDEN RING - Official Announcement Trailer 2019

ELDEN RING - Story Trailer

ELDEN RING - Official Gameplay Reveal

Elden Ring Gameplay Overview Trailer

ELDEN RING – Rise, Tarnished - Official Launch Trailer

ELDEN RING Shadow of the Erdtree – Story Trailer

ELDEN RING Shadow of the Erdtree – Official Gameplay Reveal Trailer

ELDEN RING Shadow of the Erdtree - Official Launch Trailer

ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN – REVEAL GAMEPLAY TRAILER

Elden Ring Nightreign The Forsaken Hollows - Gameplay Reveal Trailer - PS5 & PS4 Games

Cutscenes[]

ELDEN RING - INTRO - OPENING 4K

ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN - INTRO - OPENING 4K

Topics[]

These lists are incomplete.

Lands[]

Events[]

Main article: Category:Events

Concepts[]

Main article: Concepts

Main article: Objects

Characters[]

Main article: Characters

Main article: Unseen Characters

Factions & Creatures[]

Main article: Factions

Main article: Enemies

Artifacts[]

References[]

↑ The Three Fingers (Finger Maiden Hyetta): "All that there is came from the One Great. Then came fractures, and births, and souls. But the Greater Will made a mistake. Torment, despair, affliction. Every sin, every curse. Every one, born of the mistake. And so, what was borrowed must be returned. Melt it all away, with the yellow chaos flame. Until all is One again."
↑ Remembrance of the Mother of Fingers: "The mother of all Two Fingers and Fingercreepers was in turn a magnificently gleaming daughter of the Greater Will, and the first shooting star to fall upon the Lands Between."
↑ Spiritgrave Stone: "In places to where the dead have been brought since antiquity, the oldest gravestones turn into spirits and then fade away."
↑ Rings of Spectral Light: "Sorcery practiced by the keepers of the spiritgraves, where all death ultimately drifts."
↑ Map: Southern Shore: "Map of the southern shore of the Gravesite Plain. A captivating vista of brilliant blue flowers, intermingled with colossal stone coffins of unknown origin that seemingly drifted to this place."
↑ Suppressing Pillar: "The very center of the Lands Between. All manners of Death wash up here, only to be suppressed."
↑ Elden Remembrance: "It was the vassal beast of the Greater Will and living incarnation of the concept of Order."
↑ Elden Stars: "This legendary incantation is the most ancient of those that derive from the Erdtree. Creates a stream of golden shooting stars that assail the area. It is said that long ago, the Greater Will sent a golden star bearing a beast into the Lands Between, which would later become the Elden Ring."
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 Iron Menial: "The arena of champions...the great Lands Between...tremble in the grasp of the Night. As the day wanes, this grip will only tighten. Beware, the terror that is rain."
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 ^10.2 Memory of Grace: "It is merely a cycle. Stand before the Elden Ring. Become the Elden Lord."
↑ ^11.0 ^11.1 Needle Knight Leda: "Miquella the Kind spoke of the beginning. The seduction. And the betrayal. An affair from which Gold arose. And so too was Shadow born. What followed was a war unseen. One that could never be put to song. A purge without Grace or honor. The tyranny of Messmer's flame. And so Kindly Miquella would abandon everything. His golden flesh, his blinding strength. Even his fate. But we are not deterred. We choose to follow. Will you walk with us?"
↑ Ranni the Witch: "It happened an age ago. But when I recall, I see it true. On a night of wint'ry fog. The rune of death was stolen And the demigods began to fall, starting with Godwyn the Golden. Queen Marika was driven to the brink. The Shattering ensued; a war that wrought only darkness. The Elden Ring was broken, but by whom? And why? What could the Demigods ever hope to win by warring? The conqueror of the stars, General Radahn. And the Blade of Miquella, Malenia the Severed. These two were the mightiest to remain, and locked horns in combat. But there would be no victor. And so, we inhabit a fractured world. Awaiting the arrival of the Elden Lord. Unless of course, thou shouldst take the crown?"

[Finger_Maiden_Hyetta01-1] The Three Fingers (Finger Maiden Hyetta): "All that there is came from the One Great. Then came fractures, and births, and souls. But the Greater Will made a mistake. Torment, despair, affliction. Every sin, every curse. Every one, born of the mistake. And so, what was borrowed must be returned. Melt it all away, with the yellow chaos flame. Until all is One again."

[2] Remembrance of the Mother of Fingers: "The mother of all Two Fingers and Fingercreepers was in turn a magnificently gleaming daughter of the Greater Will, and the first shooting star to fall upon the Lands Between."

[3] Spiritgrave Stone: "In places to where the dead have been brought since antiquity, the oldest gravestones turn into spirits and then fade away."

[4] Rings of Spectral Light: "Sorcery practiced by the keepers of the spiritgraves, where all death ultimately drifts."

[5] Map: Southern Shore: "Map of the southern shore of the Gravesite Plain. A captivating vista of brilliant blue flowers, intermingled with colossal stone coffins of unknown origin that seemingly drifted to this place."

[6] Suppressing Pillar: "The very center of the Lands Between. All manners of Death wash up here, only to be suppressed."

[7] Elden Remembrance: "It was the vassal beast of the Greater Will and living incarnation of the concept of Order."

[8] Elden Stars: "This legendary incantation is the most ancient of those that derive from the Erdtree. Creates a stream of golden shooting stars that assail the area. It is said that long ago, the Greater Will sent a golden star bearing a beast into the Lands Between, which would later become the Elden Ring."

[Iron_Menial_01-9] 9.0 ^9.1 Iron Menial: "The arena of champions...the great Lands Between...tremble in the grasp of the Night. As the day wanes, this grip will only tighten. Beware, the terror that is rain."

[Memory_of_Grace-10] 10.0 ^10.1 ^10.2 Memory of Grace: "It is merely a cycle. Stand before the Elden Ring. Become the Elden Lord."

[Shadow_of_the_Erdtree_Story_Trailer-11] 11.0 ^11.1 Needle Knight Leda: "Miquella the Kind spoke of the beginning. The seduction. And the betrayal. An affair from which Gold arose. And so too was Shadow born. What followed was a war unseen. One that could never be put to song. A purge without Grace or honor. The tyranny of Messmer's flame. And so Kindly Miquella would abandon everything. His golden flesh, his blinding strength. Even his fate. But we are not deterred. We choose to follow. Will you walk with us?"

[Elden_Ring_Story_Trailer-12] Ranni the Witch: "It happened an age ago. But when I recall, I see it true. On a night of wint'ry fog. The rune of death was stolen And the demigods began to fall, starting with Godwyn the Golden. Queen Marika was driven to the brink. The Shattering ensued; a war that wrought only darkness. The Elden Ring was broken, but by whom? And why? What could the Demigods ever hope to win by warring? The conqueror of the stars, General Radahn. And the Blade of Miquella, Malenia the Severed. These two were the mightiest to remain, and locked horns in combat. But there would be no victor. And so, we inhabit a fractured world. Awaiting the arrival of the Elden Lord. Unless of course, thou shouldst take the crown?"

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