While you were fighting Rennala, did you ever wonder what words her children were singing?It's
hard to make out with all the chaos going on around you..but if we extract the voice
files from this fight, then we can hear, and read this: Sleep tight, bound tight by Mother's
amber."Mother's amber" is Rennala's amber egg.
Within this egg is the Great Rune of the Unborn - a shard of the Elden Ring given to her by
Radagon, her former husband.
With it, she rebirths juvenile scholars over and over again.
According to the Juvenile Scholar Set, "Rebirth is as sleep to them, and with each awakening,
memory fades into oblivion".
Hence the lullaby.Sleep tight, find life,in Mother's umbra.Umbra is basically another
word for "shadow".
Specifically though, umbra often refers to the region of darkest shadow during a lunar
eclipse.
All of a sudden, this line becomes hugely poetic.
Rennala is the Queen of the Full Moon..and her children are being reborn in her umbra
- the shadow of her moon.
(NOTE: This symbolism of eclipse rebirth is also paralleled in Sol)This game is overflowing
with beautiful secrets and deep hidden meanings..and I think these secrets videos are a great format
to share them with you all.
What's crazy, as always, are the little details that From Software place into their games.
Did you know, for example..that Rennala's Queen's Set gauntlets hide a small secret?
When you equip these, you don't just equip the bracelets..you equip a tiny ring on your
little finger, as well.
Now, I'm probably reading too much into it - but it's been documented that wearing a
single ring on the little finger can "advertise the possession of a costlier piece of apparatus
put away in store"..and that's certainly the case with Rennala, whose boss room has a locked
chest containing Ranni's Dark Moon Ring.
This is a ring of betrothal, "supposed to be given by Lunar Princess Ranni to her consort".
THIS ring was locked away by Princess Ranni herself.
The warning engraved upon the ring reads "Whoever thou mayest be, take not the ring from this
place.
The solitude beyond the night is better mine alone.".
With this ring, you can become Ranni's consort, and unlock a new ending.
The ring goes on to say that "Ranni is an Empyrean, and any consort of hers would by
rights earn the title of lord".
So obviously, betrothal was an important concept to the Royal Family - and doubly so, for Ranni.
According to the Dark Moon Greatsword, "it is long-standing tradition for a Queen of
Caria to bestow a Moon Greatsword upon her spouse".
As such, you receive the Dark Moon Greatsword when Ranni takes you as her consort at the
end of her questline.
Now..Rennala was once betrothed to Radagon - so where then, is his Moon Greatsword?
Well..it's been lost in the consecrated snowfields, wielded by a misbegotten.
It's this, the Golden Order Greatsword.
Doesn't look like a moon greatsword does it?
Well..that's because it used to be one.
"Greatsword made of light, modeled after the Elden Ring itself.
Forged by King Consort Radagon to proudly symbolize the tenets of the Golden Order.
Telltale signs betray that this was once the greatsword bequeathed to him by his first
wife, Rennala."
So it wasn't just forged - it was reforged.
Radagon fought for the Golden Order, but then married Rennala and was given a Moon Greatsword.
Then, when he left Rennala to return to the Golden Order, he reforged his Moonlight Greatsword
into the Golden Order Greatsword instead.
At the back of Rennala's room she keeps a statue of Radagon, despite him leaving her
so long ago.
This is the same statue design that was commissioned for the Erdtree capital.
The same statue that reveals that Radagon is in fact..Marika.
If you're not familiar with the concept of Radagon being Marika, you should go and watch
my previous lore video.
It lays the groundwork for all the lore I'll be discussing in the videos to come.
But what I want to talk about isn't the statue exactly - rather, it's the backing of the
statue.
This criss-cross pattern.
This mesh is actually crazy important to Radagon as a character.
It's like his seal.
His symbol.
His..Elden Rune.
And it is something you notice EVERYWHERE, once you start looking for it.
For example, Radagon's Scarseal is "An eye engraved with an Elden Rune"..and his mesh
pattern is sealed on it.
Next, we see this same pattern on the door that blocks access to the Erdtree.
Of course, Radagon is inside at this point - and his seal is a part of what prevents
you from entering.
Next we find it on the Mask of Confidence, in gold thread sown over the mouthpiece in
a crossed fashion.
It reads: "When Radagon married Rennala, he ordered the Carian magic preceptors to don
these masks.
To make it clear that all of their matters were to be kept strictly private".
As you probably know, Radagon was indeed keeping a lot of secrets.
I want to thank Quelaag, whose work on the lore I respect a lot, for pointing out the
masks to me!
And finally, this pattern is found..on the main menu, and the Elden Ring itself.
So why does the Elden Ring have Radagon's seal upon it?
Well..this is probably a new element added when Radagon became the vessel for the Elden
Ring.
It's now housed within him.
It makes some sense then that his seal..would be represented upon the symbol of the Elden
Ring, in some way.
But what does Radagon's mesh represent?
It's very orderly, like Radagon himself - so I do think the character is represented in
the design..and the Scarseal item clarifies "These seals represent the lifelong duty of
those chosen by the gods".
The stronger version of the Scarseal is the Soreseal, and it reads "Solemn duty weighs
upon the one beholden; not unlike a gnawing curse from which there is no deliverance."
The red seals on these eyes become so embedded that their shape becomes barely recognisable.
A heavy duty, indeed.
Of course, Marika has seal talismans as well.
And as with Radagon, the talismans reveal the shape of her seal - hers is a crucifix.
You would have seen this crucifix all throughout the Lands Between.
It's present in every area because the crucifix is the symbol of the summoning pool, but you'll
find a ton of crucifixes in Limgrave especially, where there are countless undying, screaming
bodies pinned up.
I'll admit - I'm not sure why these bodies only scream at night, nor why they've been
punished in this way..not why they're smouldering..nor why they're undying, even after you release
the rune of death.
You could interpret this as her being in shackles for shattering the Elden Ring, as the Elden
Beast also likes to punish us with a crucifix of its own - but beyond these shackles, it's
undeniable that this pose became a symbol of her entire reign.
For example, go and look at the statues of Marika throughout the game.
All feature her with her hands flung out, almost as if she's mimicing the shape of the
rune of death..This woman, this god, removed death from the land, and I think this posture
is the symbol of that blessing, and her seal.
The vertical line coming down through the center of the Elden Ring is present in almost
all of the Great Runes symbols, and it really helps in aligning them all together to form
the shape of the Elden Ring.
Something like this, perhaps?
But how many Great Runes do you really need to complete the Elden Ring?
Well..there would have been a point in your playthrough where the Two Fingers tell you
that you only need to collect Two Great Runes to earn the right to become Elden Lord, and
to restore the Golden Order.
You might have thought this was strange right?
How can the Elden Ring be complete with just two Great Runes?
Well remember: Morgott guards the Erdtree..he's not an optional boss at all..and with his
Great Rune..you have three - and the Elden Ring starts to look pretty complete at that
point.
Complete enough to restore order, apparently.
In fact, even if you get every Great Rune in the game and theoretically fully restore
the Elden Ring - it's possible that it's still not really complete.
For example, In Faram Azula, there's an even bigger Elden Ring..with even more rings.
Nothing explicitly mentions this Mega Elden Ring, so speculation is all we have.
My best guess at this stage is that maybe this is some primordial form of the Elden
Ring?
Since it has more rings, maybe this is something that existed in an earlier age?
As for the roots, I kind of interpret this as the way the Mega Elden Ring's blessings
might have been filtered down to the world?
In a more natural way, perhaps?
Elden Ring will almost certainly receive DLC - so I wouldn't be surprised if we were able
to collect more Great Runes in the future.
From a gameplay point of view it makes sense - there is a system for equipping Great Runes
in the game, after all.
But from a lore point of view - we do know of at least one other Great Rune that we haven't
found yet.
Ranni's.
Ranni is said to have cast aside her Great Rune,
There was a really interesting post a little while ago by reddit user FlintVonEverec who
proposed that Ranni's Great Rune could have been hidden on the moon itself which..I mean
it just makes so much sense, considering who she is.
Amazing theory.
Amazing find.
I remember noticing that shape on the moon so long ago in promotional material for the
game, and it's crazy to think this symbol might have ended up having a meaning like
this.
Another thing that we speculated about before the game was officially released..was this
line of dialogue, from Margitt.
Cower in fear of the night.
The hands of the Fell Omen shall brook thee no quarter.
Now that the game is released, I think we have an explanation for why he says this.
The hands of the Fell Omen might just be the Night Cavalry.
According to their set "The Night's cavalry, who now wander the dim roads of night, were
once led by the Fell Omen".
That said, the set makes it clear that they USED to be led by the Fell Omen, and that
they're not any more.
So take it with a grain of salt, I guess.
In fact, you should always be taking what I say with a grain of salt - especially in
these early days, as we're all still figuring out the lore.
For example, since posting my recent Lore: Explained video, I've developed my own theories
further, and read and listened to some much needed criticisms.
So, to prevent a couple of outdated theories spreading I've actually gone and spliced out
some problematic sections of that video in the YouTube editor.
If you haven't watched that video, I still maintain that it's worth watching - but in
case you have watched that video already, I'm going to take some time now to update
you all on how my ideas have changed.
First off, there's a small part in the previous video where I call the Erdtree a parasite.
So..first - parasite was just the wrong word to use.
Calling it parasitic almost characterises the Erdtree as sinister just for feeding off
an energy source, which is..wrong, obviously.
It's a tree.
That's what trees do.
It's probably wrong to characterise the Erdtree at all, to be honest.
In the words of Quelaag, another lore creator - the Erdtree is more symbiotic, if anything.
Symbiotic is a good word, I think.
Because we know the Erdtree was symbiotic with one thing at least - the Great Tree.
Root Resin tells us that "the Erdtree's roots were once entwined with that of the Erdtree".
In my video I also put forward that the Great Tree was where the crucible of life was located..and
that this Great tree and this power source was likely what the Erdtree drew upon for
power.
Now, I still don't think I'm necessarily wrong on this, but I should have better shown my
reasoning for this statement in the video.
So, now I'd like to point out, if only briefly, that my main piece of evidence for the Great
Tree being the location of the crucible of life, is Crucible Knight Siluria's Tree Helm.
This is a "crucible" helmet..that features "Great tree ornamentation".
To me, if these knights of the crucible were fashioning their gear after the Great Tree
specifically..then that's a fairly strong connection, to me, that the crucible is linked
to the Great Tree.
However, it bears mentioning that no item descriptions explicitly link the crucible
with the Great Tree..it's all indirect evidence - so bear that in mind.
Next, I should have elaborated when I said that Marika killed the Fell God.
She didn't.
Rather, as per the One-Eyed Shield, it's "believed" that she killed the fell god.
Of course, other descriptions like "flame of the fell god" make it clear that "the fell
god still lurks within the Fire Giants", and we'll go more into detail on that later.
She certainly suppressed the power of the Fell God..you could say she defeated it - but
it's clearly still a force in the world.
and lastly, I've removed the statement that Malenia and Miquella were born after the shattering.
This was said under the assumption that they must have been born from a single conjoined
god after the shattering, but of course, you can also choose to believe that they were
born of Radagon and Marika before they were conjoined post-shattering, and I actually
think that's the more likely option at this point, so yeah - these twins were very likely
born before the shattering.
I also no longer believe the divine towers were built after the shattering, and I've
removed that point from the video as well.
So thank you, to those who critiqued me politely.
I'm always happy to admit that I'm wrong.
It means I'm learning.
So I'm going to make more of an effort to have my scripts peer reviewed, in the future.
So I'm not All Knowing.
Not yet, anyway.