Elden Ring Lore - The Enduring Mystery of Renna the Witch

Renna the Snow Witch, secret mentor to Ranni herself, is a hotly debated topic in the Elden Ring lore community. This is our take...
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[@kenanperez3151]

This makes so much more sense when you think of how Miriel, Pastor of the Church of Vows, refer to Rennala as: "the great and beautiful full moon WITCH."

[@sterquiliniis7583]

Ooo, good call

[@tHEsHINYsTONES]

I like the idea that she modeled the doll after her grandmother and that she was some old school witch. thank you

[@dennisxo]

Loved this video! Similar to how Ranni’s version of Rennala during the second phase of her fight was Rennala at her prime, maybe Ranni created the doll in a form of Renna at her prime too. Maybe she WAS an elderly crone when Ranni met her. Keep the lore coming!

[@woffydoggy686]

This theory fits perfectly with the strange unique statue of old woman near to Miriel, I'm sure now this is Renna.

[@Fingledoodler]

I always thought that Renna was her own person and not just an alias. However, I was never sure of how she tied into anything other than the mentor. I like this theory, and agree that the possibility of them being family is really high!

[@suzeray87]

The one thing that gets me is the age of all of these characters. Places are in ruins. Like the star gazer ruins in the mountain top of giants with the jellyfish. But before we even get there we get the stargazer hierloom that talks about a young Rennala, that goes from an astrologer to a queen. BUT SHE LOOKS SO YOUNG!!! She’s been around since fire giants were neighbors!! Just ages from the time she met Radagon on the battlefield.

[@square-table-gaming]

It seems like the only people who age are those without power. You could interpret that as those who don't have great runes or just those who don't have runes in general.

[@brendanmuller7301]

It makes sense for renna to be ranni's grandmother for another reason. The ghost face of ranni's actually very similar if not identical to that of the doll. Which would make a lot of sense if that doll was modeled on her grandmother since many do look similar to their grandparents, me included.

[@FreedomIII]

Wait, similar? I had assumed they were exactly the same until I read your comment😅

[@LloydsSky9]

Great video! Great way to tie the plot together. Renna having her own tower has high relevance to relation by family.

[@raudiJesus]

"could this be, lover?" "try pickle"

[@SuperMaster000X]

Awesome. Also i never seen a theory or explanation of the four belfries in Liurnia. Like, what are they, why the portals open with a special key etc.

[@Never_Winter]

In ancient greek such a concept was established by cult of Hekate. Since fromsoftware closely bound there ideas to the Moon which is Selune and at some opnts of time Dark Moon was direct reference to Hekate it seems that they try to cultivate this concept.

[@TechNinjaSigma]

The Triple Goddess is also appears frequently as The Fates, who Weave the Tapestry of destiny and the Narratives of Mortals and Gods alike; "Oh little Ranni, my dear daughter. Weave thy night into being." And of course, the family is mostly known to have their Fate tied to the Stars, able to read/manipulate it in some capacity. Returning to The Fates, they are, usually, either all Sisters, hence the Three Sister Towers, or Three Generations: Crone/Grandmother, Mother, and Maiden. So yea, this Theory is pretty sound, I can't believe i never noticed it before.

[@Tigerlilly-lx5zz]

Based on how sentimental Ranni is I’d say that this theory has a lot of weight to it

[@robertsoto5713]

Love ur lore videos. Especially that long one u made with most of ur videos in one. Keep it up

[@square-table-gaming]

Glad you like them!

[@NickCombs]

Renna excelled at cold sorcery, but how? Did it come from astrology, did she learn it from the Zamor, or was it something else? We've got nothing. With the moon sorceries the Moonlight Altar explains the origins of such magic, likewise for glintstones and the prominent stars throughout Liurnia. So we should expect the place the crone called home to exhibit icy coldness. We also know she was discovered by Ranni in a woods. This leaves two options: the Forbidden Lands and the Mountaintops of the Giants. The Mountaintops only have ghost trees which could count, but they are rather sparse and so don't exactly fit the description of a traditional woods. The Forbidden Lands do have many corporeal trees and they are creepy looking much like we'd expect if within a classic witch's domain. So I'm going to say that was probably Renna's home. So what can we find in the FL? It's a pretty small area, but there's a point of interest: the hidden room in the western elevator shaft. In it, we find the Blade of Calling and the Official's Attire. These two items seem to place Melina as the subject of some grim secret rituals by a Golden Order inquisitor. That's intriguing because we know that Ranni's doll (who supposedly looks like Renna) is the spitting image of Melina, with the eye markings reverse like so many mirrored twins within this world. I don't think we have enough to connect the dots, but there's something important yet to be revealed in all of this. Speculation time! If the rituals were done in secret, perhaps it was towards the goal of the cardinal sin rather than against it? That would explain a reason for Renna (the body) to be somehow transformed into Melina (the burned and bodyless spirit). The Blade of Calling is much alike the Black Knife, so it may have been used in much the same way. Ranni's body also burned let's not forget. Melina's knowledge of her origins seems incomplete and following twists and turns. She was supposedly born in the Erdtree long ago, so probably back when the tree was in its heyday. She speaks of her mother but shows a strangely unloving relationship with this person and mothers in general. She speaks of a purpose given to her by said mother, but has amnesia and reduced mobility until we've brought her to the foot of the Erdtree. In fact we never learn this purpose from her except that it is not to become the kindling of the flame. If Gideon is to be believed, that purpose is to struggle like the Greek myth of Sisyphus, forever. However true purpose may have always been to kill the Lord of Chaos if a tarnished were to succeed along that path. Of course that leads us into theories about her and the Gloam-Eyed Queen which makes it even more complicated!

[@sterquiliniis7583]

This is as solid as theories come dude, very nice work 🎉

[@square-table-gaming]

Appreciate it!

[@TheHogfatherInvades]

The mystery of all time!

[@AegisKHAOS]

True or not, I like this theory. Given how little we know if Renna, this sounds quite plausible.

[@eldenringpvpenthusiast1710]

wow I did not know about the triple goddess concept, I have been looking into flowers and beings related and found a little side story of a necromancer who sacrificed his wife and two kids for a weapon that he holds. Rite outside are flowers that bud their children from themselves. The flowers and some other beings now have children in similar ways and it seems to be related to a curse binding their lives like that. I wanted to keep this part short but I think ranni's soul is grafted to the actual snow witch, and your theory of the crone being their mother/grandmother reminds me of what necromancer garris did. St.Trina's lilly is a flower close to wilting, while Miquella's lilly is one that has started to wilt, but is being held togather by intricate threads. The flower was "believed" to be loved by Miquella "in his youth". St. Trinas torch has a face that eerily resembles the face of ranni and her doll, but with the center single eye instead. Iv'e been trying to find the footsteps of St.Trina and Miquella as if they were each others alter egos. But it feels like St.Trina's tracks just vanish and Miquella takes over. It's really hard to tell what happened, but mohgwyn mosoleum is at the center of some explosion that destroyed the ancestrals trees, and it has to do with preventing an infant ancestral beast from rising and instead everything there got sacrificed for Miquella with the nox in safe eternal meteor bunkers. But anyways Mohg and Miquella are both in the cocoon of something else, the formless mother maby? but something similar i feel is going on with Ranni. It just worries me that it seems like Miquella hooked her up with that puppet body. It also worries me that the two fingers like to play people like puppets. Just how many strings are Miquella pulling to become a god, and we never even see him. The meticulate craftsman who truely grasps the essence of life. But I think St.Trina may have been a sacrifice for Ranni's new body, being able to put people asleep including beings afflicted by chaos which is respectable i'd say. It's really out there but it would be cool if the 1,000 year voyage into the stars was into the past before the shattering.

[@turntapeover5749]

Renna must have been a very powerful women because we know very precious few who were bestowed the title of Witch by the academy.

[@sk8legendz]

If you look at the environment where you find Rannis Dark Moon in chelonas rise, its a snowy forest area. Its actually the only snowy forest area in game. Based on the description of where Ranni met the snowy crone, this is the only possible area she couldve met her. Its literally the only snowy forest setting and the location is right where the carians wouldve practiced moon worship. Rennala took her to the moonlit plateau to find her own moon, shortly after Ranni discovers her dark moon, she meets the snowy crone deep in the woods whom would teach her about cold sorcery and the dark moon. So i lean more towards her being an unrelated snow witch named chelona. A cross of chill and luna which could mean cold moon, which is fitting given the knowledge she has over cold sorcery and the dark moon which is said to be and functionally shown as associated with cold/snow. That said she couldve easily have been Renna and sister/relation of Rennala that chose to settle in chelonas rise on moonlit plateau, being forgotten by all and "rediscovered" by Ranni. Rennas rise likely was just made in case she showed back up/ out of memorial to her memory

[@jasN86]

So I do like how you're bringing up finding the legendary sorcery there, however, it may just be a place where Ranni "hid" the knowledge of that sorcery, as she knew it would be very hard to get to. You have to admit, it's late game and kind of annoying/dangerous to get to lol.

[@-Banoffee]

Chelona, I think, most likely references the animal kingdom order: "Chelonia," to which all *turtles* belong. I remember the Chelona's Rise puzzle being the most memorable for the the wonderment factor. It felt childlike. I imagined young Ranni laughing and playing with turtles as a child (tell me the flying one doesn't make you think of a children's story). I figured turtles were something her mother or teacher got her into, but in this case, (I guess it was still her teacher) her grandmother, which is more fitting. I thought for a while that Renna and Ranni's teacher may not be the same person and that Chelona was the name of Ranni's actual teacher. There still isn't a description I'm aware of that explicitly states Renna is Ranni's teacher. While that still might be the case, it led me to connect Chelona with a longstanding tradition of all the rises upheld by their owners and their related turtle puzzles. Heretic's Rise being the only one that understandably isn't since that likely references Primeval Current or an outer god. Either way, turtles. Turtles gave me more of a headache than Malenia without spirit ashes.

[@Okkusen]

Thank you for your effort in making these videos!

[@square-table-gaming]

Thanks for watching!

[@darklordauron]

I thought the crone was Melina. As she is effectively disembodied when we meet her, she can choose her forms she shows us. That her daughter of Marika young self is that of the maiden she chooses to show our tarnished, the gloam eyed queen is her mother form, and Renna the Witch is her elder form burned and torn from her flame she chooses ice magic to salve herself. But this does not rule out your theory either. For all we know, the Emperyan gene came from Great Grandmother Marika... Two sets of the triad rhyme afterall.

[@danielgatford7686]

I realy like that renna is the grandmother who chose a more pagan lifestyle the one she knew her whole life rather than the comfy lifestyle of the Manor maybe she foresaw the fall of her family due to to there lavish lifestyle and so saved her granddaughter and taught her to become a force of nature the tripple goddess symbolism is extream in these 3 woman

[@alexandermorgan5958]

This theory makes more sense than I thought it would when I first heard it.

[@square-table-gaming]

Without context, it seems wild.

[@suzuyasucksatcs]

keep it up with these vids im loving them, i apreciate the time you take to research for these videos, the info is great, i love elden lore.

[@square-table-gaming]

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoy our stuff!

[@anhdunghisinh]

I had always think renna was like aunt or cousin of ranni, not her grand mother.

[@launcelotdulake8075]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the possibility that the snowy crone may have been, in fact, a Wraithcaller. Given that the puppet modeled after her has blue skin and four arms (and the fact that Ranni owns a Spiritcalling Bell), it's a difficult notion to overlook.

[@square-table-gaming]

Ranni was given the bell by torrents former master who is most likely Miquella. The idea of her being a wraith caller seems very out of left field as not a single wraith caller we encounter utilizes sorcery, especially cold sorcery. They also don't seem big on conversation.

[@reissroony2677]

I like the idear of renna being a litteral finger crone that didnt like what she saw of the two fingers a hatched a plan against it

[@square-table-gaming]

The title of witch is granted to those who study sorcery. It seems unlikely that a finger reader crone would be addressed that way

[@reissroony2677]

It's is a wild one I'm well aware 🤣

[@tereljones283]

Hey. Babe wake up square table gaming posted another elden ring video

[@lmasternull889]

Honestly im very tempted to believe that the name of ranni's real master is chelona, not renna. Considering you do get ranni's dark moon from the rise, unless you might think that chelona might be rennala's mother instead, if not mentor.

[@frankiefromky]

Excellent theory craft, top notch content! Another banger, no doubt on the road to 1M subs! Cheers!

[@ethanwintersseveredhand]

Once I saw a comment that said something like: it's not ranni that gives you the bell, it's renna. We don't know much about ranni because the game doesn't tell much about her😂

[@square-table-gaming]

Well that's just silly, she outright says "I believe the last time we met I said my name was Renna" haha

[@ethanwintersseveredhand]

@@square-table-gaming right? Some people just don't listen😅 it's a shame so many people skip these amazing story arcs just to focus on the challenge.

[@Ash_Hoonter]

miyazaki when making souls lore: ''yes... feet'' (btw i'm referring to the character in demon souls that has feet lore)

[@goldenbough6563]

I like the triple goddess theory. The game uses the lunar phase imagery associated with this concept so much there has to be a connection. Ranni's an excellent fit for the maiden archtype as is Rennala for the mother. The problem I've always had with placing the snow witch in this model is the duality evidenced in her appearance. The snow witch is two people merged into one. That would seem the most plausible explanation for the design of Ranni's doll. In Elden Ring, twins are thought to share a soul. What would the spirit ash of dead twins look like? Probably, a lot like Ranni's doll. Also, how does the gloam-eyed queen fit into the triple goddess model? As a female goddess of death, her and the snow witch seem to be occupying the same space. Could they be the same person? Could the snow witch be the spirit of the gloam-eyed queen? .

[@square-table-gaming]

Not sure where the idea of the snow witch being 2 people merged into 1 comes from. The only reason ranni has 2 faces is due to her soul residing in the doll.

[@jasN86]

Love this theory, it's very easy to believe.

[@user-qk4kg7xw8o]

Amazing Video :)

[@MIDO44444]

Istg I had a crisis when thinking what's the difference between Rennela and Renna and Ranni

[@kylerblack5189]

Bro you guys should make a video on the undead of elden ring. They’re kinda interesting, these undead soldiers that litter the land. Who the tibia mariners are and those giant spectral skeletons that are very similar to the giant skeletons from Japanese folk lore.

[@adriangreen5228]

I also haven’t gotten to watch this vid yet, but is there a possibility that arena is one of the dead carian princesses? There’s this them in Elden Ring with first letters of names and there’s Ranni, rennala, rykard, radahn, and Radagon… Doesn’t seem like a coincidence that the snow witch Renna has the same first letter as the royal family? Perhaps she was banished for her study of cold magic and not the moon?

[@adriangreen5228]

Never mind I agree with your theory! Nothing new there hahaha

[@jandeiification]

❤ i love this theory, you have given depth of the possible relationship of the old crone to the Carian Royal family. it owuld be natural for her to remove herself from thw palace ground in protest for rennala taking the wolf named radagon into their family

[@TroyTheCatFish]

Fantastic Video as Always! :) 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 ❤️❤️❤️ 💖💖💖

[@adriangreen5228]

*mystery :) Love y’all videos keep up the amazing work

[@RogerSwabknuckle]

I love the content good fellow

[@square-table-gaming]

Thank you!

[@twurlywurly6720]

W vid w channel w game

[@TiberiusRex182]

The Mister T

[@leperface]

Random thought: I wonder if Renalla herself got rebirthed when Radagon left her with the egg and great rune. She talks funny.

[@kenanperez3151]

She talks funny because she went insane.

[@troycoley-cn5bb]

POG

[@YuuhhhYeet]

Common STG W

[@VolleyR1055]

LOOOOORE😊

[@electricarrow4565]

Plot twist

[@gedoplanet]

I’m pretty sure Renna was a wraith caller, not Ranni’s grandmother. She had blue skin, four arms, rode a spectral steed, and used a spirit calling bell.

[@square-table-gaming]

The wraith callers do not ride steeds like torrent and we have no confirmation at all that she ever owned torrents ring or the calling bell, both are given to us by Ranni who says they were entrusted to her by torrents former master. Since the dlc annoucement it seems most likely Miquella was torrents former master. Also, the wraith callers do not use cold sorcery.

[@reissroony2677]

The former master of torrent surely has to be miqella or marika based on the dlc pic

[@square-table-gaming]

My money is on Miquella

[@reissroony2677]

@square-table-gaming possible they are both masters at smithing much like sauron mequllas gold needle marika smashing the elden ring with her ancient smith looking hammer it looks took right from sauron in mordor but yes I'm leaning to miqella

[@Carrot-Man1876]

Greetings from the Carrot-Man 👋🥕

[@square-table-gaming]

My liege

[@jeffluo9591]

Why not include Renna's voice and dialog story into your video like your previous Roderika video which I like much better.

[@square-table-gaming]

Renna is not actually in the game. The line of Ranni calling herself Renna is very short and would have been intrusive.

[@jeffluo9591]

Yeah I actually meant Ranni then the video is about Renna not Ranni so it's my mistake, sorry. I guess I was hoping for a full Ranni story like the Roderika's. @@square-table-gaming

[@SterbsMcGurbs]

*Insert inappropriate comment about four hands here*

[@Reblobler]

First

[@jmarra07]

The face of the thumbnail is AWFUL

[@sterquiliniis7583]

You can't handle the sheer Stacey energy.

[@Memnoch_the_Devil]

You are so close. You are SO close. Almost everything here lines up. But there are holes in your theory. Little holes, granted. But holes nonetheless… I’ve been following your content for a while now so I feel compelled to tell you this: LOOK AGAIN LOOK CLOSER LOOK. AT. THE. SISTERS.

[@haydenbright111]

Brother, she calls herself Renna because it’s the short version of her mother’s name Rennala this theory is barely a theory at all

[@square-table-gaming]

Proof? Also, why would rennas rise hold the snow witch set?

[@haydenbright111]

You’re basing your entire lore theory on misinformation. Proof? It’s in their name. No where is it even implied that the tower belongs to the old crone. Seluvis literally also has a tower, does that make Seluvis the old crone? It could also be said the witch set is kept in the other tower as a keepsake for Ranni, but no, the crone’s name is not Renna. It’s literally her mom’s name. Why would a character known for schemes and lying not use her mother’s name and use a fake tower to keep stuff in? The old crone is also never said to be part of the Carian Royal Family either, so I don’t know where you’re basing any of this information on. I’m sure someone with better theories could also list a hundred reasons why Ranni would keep momentos of her old teacher in a tower named after her mother. Maybe it could even imply that the old crone was more of a mother to Ranni than Rennala was in the end, I don’t know, but please don’t go around spreading misinformation. It’s clearly not intended to be the crone, it’s Rennala but short. @@square-table-gaming

[@square-table-gaming]

@@haydenbright111 I mean, you provided nothing to back your assertion other than "their names are similar" which I also address in my video with the naming conventions of royalty in the lands between. I also outline clearly the idea of the triple goddess which is paralleled very strongly between these 3 characters. Not saying your idea can't be right, just that it disregards others context clues. Also, we clearly state this is a theory, so it's only misinformation if you take every theory as gospel.

[@haydenbright111]

Okay let’s take a more logical approach then, why on earth would a random witch have the same name as Rennala? it’s a bad theory is my point, misinfo wasn’t the correct word there @@square-table-gaming

[@sterquiliniis7583]

@haydenbright111 are you honestly the one proposing redirection to more logical thinking? Let's just approach each other with a little thing we call "good faith" here. STG is a good example of this here, try to come at each other with a mindset of bridging the gap in communication, instead of being right over somebody else. It's much more productive. Also, sorry to jump in, but I'm an avid theorist around here in the community, and it's a little pet peeve of mine that I see too often imo.