What Is The Elden Ring? - Story Explained

Elden Ring contains story and lore as dense as its gameplay. Here's a beginner's guide (for the first dozen hours or so) to the setting of the Lands Between, what exactly a Tarnished is, and why all those jerks keep calling you maidenless after the Shattering of the Elden Ring.
Between Godrick the Golden, the Golden Order, the Greater Will, and sites of grace, there are a lot of terms, characters, and ideas in Elden Ring that can be difficult to keep straight in your head. Melina, Marika, Godfrey and Godwyn all have their parts to play, so we're here to help. Keep in mind this isn't exhaustive, but kind of a table setting for the world of Elden Ring, so there's plenty more to discover for yourself! But here's a bit of the story and lore explained for Elden Ring.
#IGN #Gaming #EldenRing

[@heroicsquirrel3195]

I’ve played for like 90 hours am level 105 and pretty much have no idea what’s going on, I’m here to kill bosses with my big sword

[@bloody_outlaw8000]

Lol you get the point

[@benmauler1279]

@ZeldaZ ZeldaZ Cutscenes are cool but they mainly just intimidate u before u fight bosses

[@lindleymacasuhot1752]

@ben haha like Radahn

[@Daemon.05]

The lore isn’t in the gameplay it’s in the item info

[@neelpatel9668]

same here, defeated Elden beast but no idea about the story.

[@paulbowler5345]

Brilliant game No idea what I'm doing in it half the time but still having fun with it!

[@KikoMakai]

this lol

[@pizzawhisperer900]

Pretty much all from software soulsborne game

[@yoarteemj1790]

Fr😂

[@glee8135]

Same lmao

[@felixford899]

ITS LIKE RUN AND GUN GAME. KILL KILL KILL AND KILL

[@colejohnson844]

One of the only things bugging me about this game is it feels like everyone else took a course in Elden ring lore. I'm trying my best to understand what's happening and why but a lot of the time nothing makes sense.

[@raziel_kronix5660]

Read all the items and talk to everyone you can that's how you find the story and lore. It's because all soulsborne games function the same with lore.

[@eldendynast]

Unfortunately Sousborne lore will usually be an acquired taste depending on whether you like the vague style given through cryptic item descriptions and dialogue. When read as a whole or in lore videos it is pretty cool but in game it can be confusing and not satisfying if you say miss important items.

[@eoinjoseph6081]

@@raziel_kronix5660 it’s just annoying cos your character knows it’s purpose but at first you don’t

[@midnightdragon8812]

Mate I’ve played demon souls and dark souls 3 also bloodbourne and never understand fkn any of it lmao

[@regularlife88]

A course on Elden Ring lore lol! Souls series, and Bloodborne are the same in how lore is delivered. Except Elden Ring actually does a better job being more transparent. Although it is more open to handing you lore bits than the Souls series, there is still going to be aspects you don't understand. Or that no one does. And that's when theorizing comes in handy. There are many smart people putting lore of Souls, and now Elden Ring together.

[@johnbowman6649]

The Golden Order is not a group of people, it is a law that governs the world. The Japanese for “Golden Order” in the game translates to “Golden Logic.”

[@AILorer]

They should've just called it the Golden Law or something.

[@buggy5079]

@@AILorer not really, its more correct to say "the universe is in order" then to say "the universe is in law"

[@OvlerGW]

@@buggy5079 Golden Law's still better

[@magnem1043]

Its finding the one piece 💀 power of friendship

[@mysticolored]

Im sure it was intended to have a dual meaning

[@Denny159]

It would be dope if you went deeper into the story of Radahn. I’ve heard it’s awesome/heartbreaking but it’s tough to find any other videos on it.

[@christracey5813]

Sub Vatti Vidia, it will come eventually

[@paulwin9036]

Basically. He was a proud general that his soldiers looked up to. In his fight with Melania, he was corrupted by scarlet rot, losing his mind and becoming a mindless beast. To give him an honourable death, his soldiers created the Radahn festival where great warriors were tasked in battling the general. The general can have one last epic battle to have an honourable death. Here are some tidbits of lore. He was the child of Radagon and Rennala. He grew put his gair as he looked up to Godfrey. As he grew large and heavy, he learned gravity magic so he wouldn't kill his childhood horse while riding him. Despite bis looks, Radahn was a very smart individual.

[@mmamatt88]

Check out Gingy KZbin videos on backstory and lore and always KZbinr Games from Mars. They got great videos on elden ring

[@SplitWasTaken]

Radahn single handedly physically arrested the stars with gravitational magic, even holding back a meteorite from hitting the land

[@liljay3019]

The lore in this game is superlatively impeccable dude. Definitely the most multi-layered and coherent world FROM has created thus far. I’m so obsessed with all of the characters too.

[@RobbyGood1]

Its INCREDIBLE so far. But it is gonna have to clear a VERY high bar to surpass Bloodborne in terms of lore for me. I'll be in this world for many more hours, so we'll see. 😊

[@liljay3019]

@@RobbyGood1 lol it surpassed bloodborne for me before it was even released. bloodborne is a 10/10 experience for many of the same reasons, but its world feels like a light pond tread, especially how it’s comparatively handled, relative to the oceanic plunge that is the world of elden ring.

[@jas6853]

Martin helped with that

[@AgentPazuzu]

Sekiro is still a debatable champion from my own experiences. Would love to see an open world sequel of it next

[@dannyboylan5926]

@@AgentPazuzu Fingers crossed for a Bloodborne or Sekiro sequel next! I'd be very happy with either, but Sekiro has a special place in my heart. My first FromSoftware game to 100% complete.

[@Akherousia502]

I'll wait for Vaati, thank you very much.

[@johnthemangood8700]

Aye

[@Anzeal3]

Damn right my friend!

[@KingseekerFrampt]

Amen

[@Kantoro]

Be nice, it’s not Vaati but it’s a nice video

[@soon5637]

@@Kantoro exactly, theres no need to be like that here

[@blueapple007]

Dungeater doesnt strike me as a party animal. He's pretty messed up from what ive seen.

[@minial0015]

"Pretty messed up" is an understatement

[@Absolyim]

and there goes the joke..

[@mattsherman4964]

The dude literally kills people and “defiles” their corpses in order to “share the curse with them” he’s a monster among monsters

[@ryoukoshinonome4201]

@@mattsherman4964 but let's party!

[@EleosGames]

Vaati should have an in-game NPC , one that sits at the roundtable and that you could ask lore related stuff :)

[@neelpatel9668]

agree

[@ImTrans-Former]

Such a deep story and lore for just a game. This would make a great series of books or movies(if done by the right person).

[@donalddarko3676]

Its not story if its not actually in game. This is ALL lore.

[@blaelgore]

Well the story was made by the guy who wrote the games of throne.. So

[@kyleserfass4455]

His title is The LOATHESOME Dung Eater, and you will kindly address him as such!

[@alan9tails148]

this was a perfect idea for a video. not spoliery at all for where im at in the game but a nice recap and tying together of things! thanks!

[@missmeeper]

The Elden Ring was Golden set of rules that governed the Universe that physically manifested itself through a Giant Tree. It shattered when a certain someone stole the manifestation of how Death works. Slight spoilers after this, scroll down for Who. After defeating Godric you learn that it was The Ice Witch Ranni who stole Death

[@minial0015]

Marika shattered the elden ring after godwyn died

[@yarikmedvedev5199]

@@minial0015 u can only get that far when your precious first born dies

[@niftycell8431]

Actually that is wrong. Ranni stole the rune of death to kill her physical body. She wasn't the one that killed Godwyn. Also Ranni did not shattere the ring. Marika shattered the ring

[@yarikmedvedev5199]

@@niftycell8431 and we still don't know if it was marikas rebellion against greater will or death of her firsthorn that made her shatter elden ring

[@niftycell8431]

@@yarikmedvedev5199 True we don't know the motivations of why Marika destroyed the ring. But it has been confirmed through item description that it was Marika who destroyed the Elden ring. Read the description of Marika's Hammer

[@vitek2]

Trying to wade into Vaati's house eh? Bold move IGN, bold move.

[@CheikhFall1990]

Very bold of them indeed... they dont seem to grasp the lore

[@Jack_______oh]

Vaati's house is just reading the item descriptions and editing together a script that coherently describes them, along with reading the script like he's telling a baby a bedtime story. There are dozens of other youtubers that do the same thing and often to greater effect.

[@StillAtMyMoms]

@@Jack_______oh Who are the dozen of other KZbinrs?

[@qarcon3247]

@@StillAtMyMoms other people who do the exact same thing as vaati but have a less soothing voice as him

[@MiraPloy]

@@StillAtMyMoms gingy for example

[@jake.klusewitz]

You don’t know how exciting it is as a long-time Souls fan to see this game have such reach that even IGN is covering it’s lore!

[@illogik]

Have they never?

[@husseinali-ei6ft]

They are literally the biggest releases every few years

[@n00dl3s]

It's because nobody can decipher wtf is going on in this game

[@frank9367]

@@husseinali-ei6ft not really

[@aspirewot8408]

Ign does it every game

[@paulwin9036]

Some corrections. As stated in Marika's weapon description, Marika was the person to shatter the ring. After Ranni rebelled against the two fingers, stole the rune of death and killed herself and Godwyn, Marika Seemingly shattered the ELDEN ring, while Radagon tried to repair it.

[@nocashirl]

thanks for spoiling

[@paulwin9036]

@@nocashirl you're..... On a lore video..... complaining about..... lore spoilers? You might want to get your brain checked out.

[@nocashirl]

@@paulwin9036 this video was supposed to be until godrick, Radagon doesn't come until after that

[@spaceman_256]

Did you not watch the video? He literally said this only covers the first dozen or so hours. Meanwhile you just spoiled the single most spoilable thing in the game.

[@anybodyelseNOW]

Thanks for the coment

[@hangingon]

This game is a masterpiece! Just like Bloodborne was back when it came out.

[@chance2413]

BloodBorne makes sense though. Old blood heals, oh no, old blood make monster! Kill monsters! It only gets more complicated if you get into the ascending to godhood stuff

[@wheelyjon]

Urd? She was the chief of the 3 fights that guarded the tree in Norse mythology so it is in fact the same tree by different name

[@lordcrayzar]

This is the least boring Elden Ring lore video I’ve ever seen. Everybody just slowly reads and it puts me right to sleep. So thank you!

[@asahel980]

its a pretty much pattern for souls game, a once-great kingdom now in misery for a long time then YOU as a player steps in to interfere, its either to end it or continue as was before. there's a lot of vagueness in the plot , also fromsofware games specially souls have basically no NPCs , very little talking for an openworld game.

[@Hero138abcd]

This game has tons and tons of npcs

[@blackhumor5208]

@@Hero138abcd Skyrim has tons of npcs this game has maybe 15-20? with whom you can actually talk

[@AA-pz9ud]

“….so basically this game makes you feel like the Elden Ring and thus you are it”

[@jo-fhreycorpuz]

Great lore. Great gameplay. Great Visual designs. Also respect players by not making you dumb. Hard but satisfying

[@NexusismTV]

Dude, it was explicitly stated that Marika broke the ring while Radagon attempted to repair it. It’s in the weapon description.

[@bongia_6300]

Yes the weapon at the end of the game

[@nickmontana9657]

They're the same person

[@bongia_6300]

Yes still trying to understand the how and why

[@theonewhoismany8072]

Marika and Radagon are two egos of the same body

[@bongia_6300]

Yes that s the only logic conclusion but it isn't enough she married rennala and we know literally changed gender, then she married herself

[@link212112]

This video is not entirely accurate on a lot of stuff. For people that want actual lore there is already some decent video's out there or wait for Vaati. In Dark Souls there was more of an interpretation but Elden Ring has a lot more concrete stuff that is just flat out wrong in this video.

[@TimoNaaro]

Can you give example what is wrong?

[@theonewhoismany8072]

@@TimoNaaro Marika was the one who actually shattered the Elden Ring while Radagon tried to fix it. It's in the description of Marika's Hammer.

[@chance2413]

@@theonewhoismany8072 But they are the same person bozo

[@theonewhoismany8072]

@@chance2413 "Stone hammer made in the lands of the Numen, outside the Lands Between. The tool with which Queen Marika shattered the Elden Ring and Radagon attempted to repair it.The hammer partially broke upon shattering the Ring, becoming splintered with rune fragments."

[@arisvideodrop3595]

Thanks for making this video. Wouldn't know what was going on if not for these videos

[@kylerclarke2689]

I'm almost positive that GRR Martin wrote Miyazaki a brilliant, cohesive lore.. and then Mz directed his writing team to burn half of the pages before starting their work. It was cute in Dark Souls, but by now it's just exhausting.

[@WesterlyWilderness]

Done 4 playhroughs just slaying everything , now ive started again at level 1 and trying to discover as much lore as possible

[@mattcat83]

Looking to hints and environmental cues for a story is like living on hors d'oeuvres in lieu of a full meal: it's supplemental but no substitute for three-dimensional characters with arcs and driving plot.

[@L4zerLash]

the amount of detail dude that too in the end game like in the castle all the marks and the destruction the dragon holy

[@kingken0460]

5:30 safe zone you say🤔 meanwhile iv been in 2 invaded npc battles there lol

[@DeathsInverse]

How come the game doesn't have any of those cool cutscenes?

[@Codraroll]

If I've understood it correctly, the Elden Ring itself isn't even a ring. Not a geometric circle, at least. It's more like a large symbol of multiple circles, lines, and arches. It consists of several overlapping runes, the "shards" of the Ring itself. When all the runes/shards are collected together, they form the Elden Ring. But the Ring is also not an object. It's more a manifestation of the rules that govern the world. Hence, when the not-an-actual-ring Ring was broken, so was the world itself. It's now up to the plucky adventurer, the Tarnished, to kill a bunch of bosses that each hold one of the shards, so they can put the not-a-ring-Ring back together and gain the power to heal the world. Or destroy it. Or, probably more likely given the general atmosphere of the game, try to heal the world but make it even more miserable and screwed up than it already was.

[@Anthonthephoenixearl]

Ok how bout what’s with the dragons how’d they get wrapped up in this or the bosses near the giant trees

[@Sojo214]

Dragons were the previous Elden Lords/Gods of the world, Marika beats them to gain control via the Elden Ring. The Erdtree Avatars are seemingly just what their name says, they're avatars of the minor erdtrees you find them at. A cutscene showing the first one you run into being released form the tree to attack you would probably help on that front...

[@qarcon3247]

Dragons were in control before Marika.

[@Anthonthephoenixearl]

@@Sojo214 thanks 😌 I love the dragons more in the game I’m kinda obsessed with them 😳😱 but hey beating them into submission is fun as well 😁

[@obi-wankenobi8446]

@@Sojo214 so basically it's a bunch of crap that sounds fancy but means nothing

[@crishealingvtuber8626]

That's a lot of words for "storytelling in the FromSoftware Soulslikes game is so bad we still barely know the basics of Elden Ring's story, many days after the game has been out"

[@Hero138abcd]

Yeah storytelling is so bad that lore videos of souls games have over a million subscribers and 10-12 million views. U have been clowned kid

[@crishealingvtuber8626]

@@Hero138abcd damn, shame the dark souls wiki(s) has at least three different interpretations for every tidbit of the lore, same goes for lore videos of different channels. It's almost as if the mysterious aspect of lore is just lazy writing.

[@alfred0621]

@@crishealingvtuber8626 according to Miyazaki they actually wrote all the story but decided to only show part of it in the game.

[@bigmeatswangin5837]

@@crishealingvtuber8626 Imagine believing that bad writing is any story that makes you think or yields multiple interpretations. Go read Cat in the Hat bro.

[@felixford899]

Thats where souls game always loose in terms of story and interaction

[@AuronDzilk]

Finishing the game somehow feels extremely empty (done every single ending now x.x)

[@joaoafonso4723]

It literally says it was marika who shattered the ring

[@rememberingmogu]

The story to this game is absolutely convoluted and extremely confusing. Almost nothing is explained and anyone can easily get lost trying to do quest lines. The saving grace has been the incredible gameplay.

[@amuroray6930]

me waiting for vaati be like...

[@jerryhagen9476]

Still really didn't say what the elden ring actually is

[@smallredbox]

Exactly!

[@nightzeroshiki]

Imagine Geralt or Dante got portaled there

[@FelixS.]

Random?

[@Royuka1]

Too easy for Dante

[@hardeepsingh2505]

Soooooooo.....what is the elden ring?

[@Garbageman28]

A magical artefact which dictates the laws of physics/the general rules of the world it takes place in.

[@Jackdman25]

Exactly. This video explained nothing for those who have no idea what this game is

[@PlayboyHZ]

@@hiro6164 git gud

[@mariobrosstudio1]

Actually major spoilers below** Marika actually shattered the elden ring after Godwyn’s death at the hands of the Black Knifes, a group of female assassins from Numen.

[@brycelegend4288]

I'm still trying to figure out if the elden ring is like a small crown, or some giant behemoth ring, like Halo

[@wasa4403]

You can See the Elden Ring in the Last Boss Fight. Ah the Rest of it

[@DustinLittlefield]

Did you know 2 fingers were a full hand untill the smashing of the Elden ring. But now there’s the 2 fingers and 3 fingers which are “bad”

[@cwc5085]

It literally says Marika is directly responsible for the shattering of the Elden Ring in her hammer description. :P

[@corywittamori896]

Its crazy how sekiro bloodborne and elden ring are all fundamentally so similar in how their themes apply to the real world. Its almost like they keeo reinforcing an idea to their fanbase.

[@JayShifu]

Elden ring does such a bad job of telling the story. After me and my friends beat the game we were so confused on what the Elden ring is, who is Morgott and Margit and are they the same race or brothers? Who is Queen Mariketh? The demigods are all family? What is a Tarnished? What is the Lands between? Where is the Land of Reeds? How did Godfrey come back to life and what was that yellow form earlier in the game? Etc

[@MrDrPancreas]

Miyazaki intentionally leaves things vague and open to interpretation

[@kilgoretrout8896]

Bro who cares you’re an Elden lord now smdh 🙄

[@Fireyone88]

The guy with red hair looks like a supped up troll toy like the little ones we played with as kids lol

[@JoCr2]

I'm still in a dream... Dung Eater

[@CrimsonSlayer7]

How slow we talking

[@danielbeaman5165]

Easily one of the best video game stories of all time 👌

[@johanj821]

The game is amazing, but no

[@MalikATL]

LMAO please play other games The Witch 3 is far more superior

[@pulseofme6884]

Honeymoon phase 🌕🌖🌗🌘🌚

[@michaelhamilton4133]

Average souls game fan

[@armagedoc66]

@@MalikATL git gud

[@iconocast]

so its basicly heaven was ruined and the greater will has recruited "tarnished" or ppl from hell/purgatory?

[@kkagari]

godrick is marika's son...not distant cousin...

[@Michijere77]

Did you say what the ring actually was? Is it a ring ring, like for a finger?

[@dat92kid]

he talks about world trees and other games that have em but doesnt mention world of wacraft ?

[@Nedk82]

This answers many questions and makes so many more lol. How did radagan and marika have children if they were the same person. Or did they split. My theory is marika some how used her power and split part of her essence and they actually were 2 separate people while being the same person technically. Also the 2 fingers and 3 fingers were they at some point just one hand with 5 fingers

[@hussainameer3224]

Not sure if someone mentioned this in the comments but, Godrick is literally Marika's son and not a distant cousin or something lol.

[@pieceofwood7064]

Oh no Marika is directly responsible for shattering the ring, she's literally the one who broke it

[@thatrandomguycommenting1261]

Who needs a ring when you got maidens

[@ohboy5999]

So the Golden Order are Tau Players?? That's Meta AF

[@spcghst8111]

man didn't even call goldmask "ever brilliant"

[@jamesthomas2410]

Clearly it's the one ring to rule them all lol

[@StillAtMyMoms]

IGN crash and burning on trying to explain cryptic lore. Talking too fast and jumping from point to point. Leave it to Vaati.

[@kojo5928]

Still didn’t get it. Way too convoluted the story!

[@OrlandoOrtiz570]

We are the 2 fingers. The players. We are the Greater Will.

[@skeetlejuice522]

3:32 thats Baphomet

[@neelpatel9668]

Still no answer to the origin of Elden ring? Was it forged from lava like TLOR Mt. Doom? What drives its strength, or why was it made?

[@chance2413]

Final Fantasy 7, The Witcher 3, Mass Effect, Knights of the Old Republic, The Elder Scrolls. Sorry, im a huge From fan, but this is not true

[@ShinobiDrip999]

Seems like the Erd tree is more of a parasite for the Elden Ring

[@Combobreaker100]

Ruin fragments are from the eternal city

[@ZCid47]

Considering that the two fingers are literally fingers a don't want to see the dung eater in his lunch time

[@budzugan]

so was it a ring ring, like the one ring or something else? and if it was a ring who was bearing it?

[@FFWorldHD]

Came to find out what the Elden "ring" is.. 💫 Got a whole video game 🕹️

[@parsian5919]

Queen Marika broke the Elden Ring while Radogan tried to rebuild the ring.

[@OscarGarcia-of6io]

What armor set is that when hes looking at the tree

[@arik2216]

Oke what is story behind BEAR scratch the Tree ?

[@Meeskoh]

Bro has numerous maidens

[@zeno6654]

The part of the map that looks like hell

[@donniep1988]

Marika shattered it Radagon tried to repair it

[@awolpeace1781]

The tree the Chirch cut down?

[@ZestyG1991]

Imagine coming to IGN for an explanation of lore regarding a FromSoftware game.

[@ragna6410]

Way to short Video for this explanation.

[@kingjayded4752]

"No combat is allowed" Oh nononononononono

[@marciocouto3543]

VaatiVidya after watching this: "That's cute"

[@MrCalmlikeaBomb]

Is this the same world as the soul games?

[@gho5tspartan26yt]

At 5:02 Horaux Loux is the Elden Lord though?

[@Shindenize]

After Godfrey was banished from the Lands Between after Marika's rule, he was stripped of the power of the Grace, which then he became the first Tarnished. That's when he changed his name to Horaux Loux, chieftain of the Badlands as he severed any ties of himself to the Golden Order when he became Tarnished.

[@pulkitpandey2416]

Still didn’t understand anything

[@nathancrevonis3351]

Doesn't address that Radagon is Marika?

[@varbanchev]

Bruh…u just dropped a legendary spoiler 😂😂😂

[@minial0015]

@@varbanchev Of course theres gonna be spoilers in the comments

[@iyeetsecurity922]

Dark Souls had a _story??_ News to me.

[@FelixS.]

There is a lot of Story it is just not presented in a way for generation CoD like you to comprehend. You are not the audience. Deal with it.

[@iyeetsecurity922]

@@FelixS. OOOOooOOoOo! Triggered much?? Lulz. Cod generation he says. Never played a single one kiddo. Been playing RPGs of all types since the NES days so I'm quite aware of various ways in which games try and tell their stories. So sorry that having to find just about every item so as to get a tidbit of a games story by reading its description isn't everyone's thing. So pander your delusions of elitism elsewhere.

[@debjyotisinha6738]

Did you even played this game?

[@acrobatmapping]

Melena means poop with blood in it, but it has decomposed causing to it be black instead of red. Why did they name her that?

[@philip47478]

So they decided to tell almost the same story like the 5th time already. A bit of wasted opportunity considering they had GR Martin.

[@DrJellyFanguzzz]

Hey this is vaatis turf

[@nelsongeraldes]

Thank you for this video

[@zichysticks2083]

Still don’t get it…

[@jerichozeplin]

Queen Marika broke the ring. It says so in a weapon description

[@NexusismTV]

This! Marika broke the ring while Radagon attempted to repair it.

[@raggg]

Definitely GOTY of 2022

[@seanplays16]

Ranni caused the night of the black knives 😉

[@mattdefreitas525]

So burning the tree is bad whoooops

[@ravi_arithocrix5040]

didn't get 90% of what u just said. fun game though

[@38siddhiwinayaks58]

Wait this isn't connected to Lord of the Rings?