u/tahaelhour

Not much here I just thought it was neat.

I have personally dedicated a significant amount of time to learn of Elden ring lore as this retelling of human history through a mythological lens has been my fascination for literal years. Elden ring's storytelling brings into reality abstract concepts and metaphysical questions and puts them in the most literal form imaginable. Death is a tangible resource in this world and a multitude of cultures exploited it, honored it, denied it...

And ever since the DLC dropped I have been more focused on the middle eastern and Mediterranean origins of the faiths that inspired this game, from the epic of Gilgamesh to Zoroastrianism, the Abrahamic faiths, gnosticism, Kaballah, Sufism and various other offshoots.

I hope I don't have to convince anyone of the Abrahamic leanings of Elden ring, this is a topic of contention for some reason even though Marika is literally on a cross, the divine trinity is a plot point for Goldmask's questline, Miquella has 14 stations of the cross, kills his flesh for our sins, returns after death in divine aspect, has a crown of light and enchants the disbelievers into submission to usher in the kingdom of a thousand years and the final battle of the DLC happens directly in front of Bab-Ellim, the gate of Babylon. I will not argue that certain aspects of the lore don't have more central asian, Arthurian and norse themes after all the death of Godwyn and the shattering call back to the death of Baldur and Ragnarok but it all comes back to these roots in my opinion.

The God of the storm ;

To begin, the earliest depiction of the God of everything we all know today was done in an ancient Caananite tablet reporting the defeat of the people of Yahweh, describing him as a foreign storm God worshipped by raiders from the near highlands. Further research into the murky origins of Yahweh has led to a multitude of findings backing this depiction even pointing to a certain adoption and replacement of the local horned God of storms and metalworking "Baal-Haddad-", scholars even point that certain old testament verses began as hymns to Baal like slaying the sea serpent which is a common story between them one kills Lotan and the other Leviathan, if you've ever delved into the testaments and wondered "why do they keep coming back to worshipping this Baal guy every time" it's because a large portion of the population didn't know the difference or simply didn't care, they just wanted someone to bring the rain and bless their forges to be hot enough for blacksmithing. Monotheism as a doctrine comes way later down the line. This schism is depicted in certain stories in Abrahamic sources from the old testament to Quran, for example Elijah challenging the Baal worshippers to see who can really bring the rain and save the land from drought, he even brags after his sacrifice to Yahweh calls the rain, joking that Baal might be on a toilet break, while this sounds like a simple joke, it does have roots in actual archeology as Baal's most prominent myth is his yearly slaying and journey to resurrection leading to his return to the throne and blessing the world with lightning and winter rain, the joke being that Baal can't really do anything without miserably dying every year and is currently busy fighting for his life until his sister pieces him back together.

The Baal cycle :

To summerise the Baal cycle, Baal arrogantly challenges Mot (death itself the Moloch of Mawt, the underworld), bragging the death is beyond a God, but Mot says that his death is now forever destined because of his insolence and murder of Lotan the serpent, Mot's brother. Mot then literally eats Baal whole like a lamb. Baal's sister then avenges his death and resurrects him by turning Mot into fertilizer for the lands and food for birds. This revives Baal who sits on his throne to bless the lands with rainwater. Since Mot is eternal, every year Baal is destined to die at his hand and the cycle repeats.

This is a very important mythos because it gives a simple and effective cultural distinction between Baal and Yaweh, one that survives to this day. Every single Abrahamic religion, sect across the time line from before the old testament to this day has as a core tenant and that is respect to and acknowledgement of the eternal aspect of God, "the living" a major title of the Abrahamic God, it's one of his highest titles in the Quran too across his 100 names and there is good reason to believe that it originates from this schism as an instant distinction from Baal in an age where oral tradition dominated religious practice and titles gods were constantly conflated from city to city all the while implying superiority. This is cultural rejection of death of the divine, alongside monotheism and the later principle of unity of all things are major underlying currents of religious development all around the world.

To take it back to Elden ring, beyond the title of the Eternal, the age of the erdtree called an epoch of life, the multitude of christian imagery used in the game, the one I would like to bring attention to is Belurat and the hornsent.

The hornsent worship the crucible, but not just the crucible or rather not just the crucible directly. The horns of the hornsent are infused with a spirituality that they channel to summon the divine beasts whose dances are the storm itself, the most ancient signifier of divinity. The spirituality of this people has also created a culture of veneration of death and spirits. The hornsent are very similar to the cults of Baal in their imagery as the worship of a horned storm God who gains kingship through death, the ritual at the gate of divinity could even be extended to that as the Lord requires death and resurrection.

Enraged divine beast :

"Divine beasts are messengers of the heavens, and their rage mirrors the tumult of the skies, of which storms are the pinnacle."

Taylew the golem smith ashes :

"Taylew was said to be the runt of the litter and the first to stop moving, but it was he who became the guardian deity of smithery."

Divine bird warrior ashes :

"Ornis succeeded in taming the divine bird

and made its wings his own as he soared through the sky.

When he finally fell to earth,

he lived on as the guardian deity of the temple quarter."

Ascetic training and tutelary deities were very common in the lands of shadow. The land of shadow itself contains all manners of death, that wash up to the spirit groves only to be suppressed. The frowning cross of destined death is a constant presence in these lands and ironically enough, Marika's smiling coss only exists in burned villages made with sticks and cut horns from the dead hornsent and later churches built by the crusaders then defaced by them.

The remembrance of the regal ancestor says :

"Life sprouts from death, as it does from birth.

Such is the way of the living."

Ancestor spirits existing beyond the purview of the erdtree makes more sense as the erdtree is believed to be eternal, the ancestor dies and embodies spirits to gain their power during his boss fight, he siphons them to heal... things impossible under a categorical rejection of the divine.

This also explains the ancestral spirit worshipping folk, that mimic so many hornsent cultural practices worshipping at the foot of a minor erdtree. It is categorical proof of the failure of rejection of death, and from the shattering, the death of the erdtree, sprouts life, minor erdtrees, who themselves feed on warrior jar corpses to grow. "Such is the way of the living".

Seed talisman :

"The Erdtree was once perfect and eternal, and thus was it believed that Erdtree seeds could not exist."

Golden seed :

"A golden seed, found at the base of an illusory tree.

When the Elden Ring was shattered, these seeds flew from the Erdtree, scattering across the various lands, as if life itself knew that its end has com**e."

The foundation of the golden order as detailed to us by Enia is the removal of the rune of death, or destined death from the elden ring and its confinement within Maliketh the black blade. Before that, a similar schism has arose in the lands between where death was in the hands of the gloam eyed queen, the dead queen and the Marika the eternal. The metaphysical rejection of death of the divine is the very creation of the golden order.

Even before that, Bayle the dread and Placidussax are both lightning storm Gods one Eternally living in the storm beyond time even after we kill him as confirmed by Florissax who still offers him her sleep and gets rejected by him if forced to sleep using Thiollier's concoction on her and the other destined to die but will return to lay it all to waste one day only to be struck down again.

Extra info I couldn't fit anywhere else :

Baal-Haddad was argued to be based on hadad or Adad from sumerian myth, who was linked the demon of the storm and son of Tiamat "Ugallu", literally meaning big weather beast. That was a lion headed storm wielding benevolent demon with eagle feet. Reminding me of the hornsent divine lion and bird warriors.

Baal is also depicted with long lightning spears unlike the ones Zeus uses wich are generally shorter and more stylized. Lightning spears being a signature weapons of ancient dragons and Bayle the dread. Bayle being a horned dragon might be also to call to his relation to Baal.

Elden ring's Abrahamic inspiration is very well documented and explored but I never really saw anyone discuss this, especially after the links keep piling up and I would like to explore some of them.

For starters let's discuss Noah and his people, most know him because he built the ark to prepare for the whole world flooding but across all Abrahamic faiths the timeline implies or sometimes outwardly states that Noah was sent to preach to his people for 950 years, they kept dismissing him over and over until God ordered him to build the arc and take a pair of 2 animals with him. A theory has sparked in certain circles that the people ignored him because being 950 wasn't abnormal in those days.

Now for the Numen :

The Numen are the descendants of denizens from another world. They are said to have come to the Lands Between from the lands of the Numen. They are long lived but seldom born, and are of the same stock as Queen Marika herself.

Now, how did Marika and her people come to the lands between? Ships are the likely method. I personally believe the people of the ancient dynasty were the first Numen for a multitude of reasons.

1. the multitude of similarities between the stone coffins in the coffin fissure and the ancient dynasty ruins. The figure of the old man clutching the tablet existing in both contexts. (The tablet clutched by the old man has been identified multiple times before as the imago mundi, the first map ever drawn on a clay tablet depicting the land of Mesopotamia between the tigris and euphrates. Mesopotamia meaning "the lands between the two rivers". In elden ring terms, the lands between designated by being between the rivers of the siofra and the ainsel).

2. the plant characteristics of the statues of the old man of the Dynasty linking him to shamans as he is seen growing roots and planting trees on the stone coffin art.

3. Mohg, when confronting Gideon concerning the whereabouts of Mohg, he says something interesting, he speaks about the REVIVAL of the Dynasty. This would make sense if Mohg, the son of Marika the shaman, traces his lineage to the dynasty.

If the flood of the lands between wasn't a flood of water but of molten rock as theorized by tarnished archeologist, then stone boats should have been the way to survive instead of wood. This would make sense then why we find them embedded into solid rock and on the shore of the cerulean coast.

Following the Abrahamic timeline that would mean the colossal giants were destroyed soon after that migration or during it.

The idea of the divine beasts always fascinated me because of the implications that animal spirits run so deep into the mythos and cultures of the lands between. But while the hornsent heavily focused on the divine lion, the first divine warriors were the divine bird warriors. I wanted to share a theory of mine concerning their nature, since i am pretty convinced of the consistent links between the deathbirds and the hornsent. This whole thing started because I noticed the brownish red wings on the deathbird of Liurnia so you're welcome to dismiss my insane ramblings but I genuinely believe there is some sense to it.

- The hornsent's veneration of death :

While the more pronounced aspects of cultural symbology of the hornsent rely on veneration of the crucible and the storm as the most ancient signifier of divinity, the desire of a whole civilization to be uplifted through the spiraling winds to become gods there is always an undercurrent of fanatic admiration of death surrounding them. Their lands being where all death wash up only to be suppressed, their affinity for manipulating spirits, their tutelary deities, the overwhelming presence of gravebirds in Belurat and Enir Ellim, the frowning cross of destined death on stone graves as opposed to the smiling cross of Marika represented in statues and built with makeshift horns in burned villages, the revelation that the sacred rite of the tower requires death of the lord and of the god in flesh in order to achieve ascension, Taylew the smithing golem being venerated as guardian divinity of smithing because he was the first to die, Ornis becoming the guardian spirit of the temple quarter in death, the burning of corpses in tibia mariner boats in the black keep, the presence of a deathrite bird in Charo's hidden grave, the regal ancestor in the specimen storehouse and i can just keep going. Even down to abstract things like the scadutree being eternally dying while being alive and bountiful as opposed to the spectral dead erdtree.

- The deathbirds as manifestation of the crucible :

Feathered branch swords :

"A talisman adorned with red feathers, once used in ancient death rituals, The heart sings when one draws close to death,

and a glorious end awaits those who cling so tenaciously to life."

"The heart sings when one draws close to death,

and thus does one cling so tenaciously to life - to render up a death worth offering."

Death ritual spear :

"Ritual spear used by priests of old who were permitted to come among the Deathbirds.

The priests became guardians of the birds through the rite of Death,

which also serves as an oath sworn to their distant resurrection."

Twinbird kite shield :

"Shield featuring a vividly painted twinbird.

The twinbird is said to be the envoy of an outer god, and mother of the Deathbirds."

From these item descriptions we can conclude a few things. Red and blue are consistent in theme when talking about deathbirds as presented by the feather branch talismans and the twinbird kite shield, the deathbirds harvest death for power with the struggle for life being a sign to the quality of the offering and the deathbirds promise resurrection to those who join them in their lonely endeavors.

- The divine bird :

Divine bird warrior Ornis

"Ashen remains in which spirits yet dwell.

Use to summon the spirit of Ornis the divine bird warrior.

Spirit of the divine bird warrior from whom the horned warriors claim descent.

Clad in golden armor, and granted wings and feathers by divine invocation.

Ornis succeeded in taming the divine bird

and made its wings his own as he soared through the sky.

When he finally fell to earth,

he lived on as the guardian deity of the temple quarter."

Divine bird warrior armor

"Armor of divine bird warriors, the very first of all horned warriors, made from a golden metal. The golden-hued divine birds are known to be cruel, never taking to human companionship. Those who invoked their divinity were few and far between."

The divine birds are said to be golden hued and similar to the crucible in nature. This implies the cycle of siphoning of life that all crucible related phenomena are related to, from the erdtree burials, Enir Ellim, the euporia, the ancestor spirit worshipping faith and even Rykard. The harvesting of the power of life through death allows one to obtain power.

- the nascent deathbirds :

Something obvious to anyone is that the deathbirds we fight in game are juvenile. Whether it is through comparison to real life bird skulls or the twinbird kite shield, the reddish hue of the deathbird wings, the red part of the twinbird and the cycle of harvesting death in ghostflame to offer resurrection lead me to believe adult deathbirds are reddish or golden and have power to grant life, the closeness of the grave birds to enir ellim and belurat leads me to believe the divine birds worshipped by the hornsent are these adult deathbirds. The twin headed bird would even be venerated in hornsent culture as they love two headed animals since they're symbols of the spiral. Alas, ever since the sealing of destined death, the replacement of burning bodies in ghostflame with either dumping corpses down rivers or erdtree burials, the deathbirds are stuck in eternal nascency.

Finally I would like to add some evidence I couldn't fit anywhere else, mostly linking horns to siphoning life and wings of the angels of death :

Ancestral spirit horn talisman :

"Item cut from the horns of the Regal Ancestor Spirit.

Restore FP upon defeating enemies.

A number of new growths bud from the antler-like horns of the fallen king, each glowing with light.

Thus does new life grow from death, and from death, one obtains power."

Greathorn hammer :

"The ancient horn is imbued with the power of ancestral spirits. A small amount of HP is restored upon defeating an enemy."

Winged Greathorn :

"Distinctive horn suffused with the power of ancestral spirits. This large, wing-shaped specimen is wielded as a weapon of spirit worship.

In the ancestral spirit-worshipping faith, these are considered envoys' wings, made to reap the lives of beings which experience no sprouting."