The Crucible & Sacred Relic Sword | Elden Ring Lore & Theory

[@noctugal]

NOTE: It is of course very likely that the Sword is referring to Marika/Radagon, as the Elden Beast does pull the sword from the water after grabbing Radagon's body, and possibly appears to be made of two spines. This video just includes my wildest speculation on the origin of the sword, as well as the connections that the sword, or by extension, Marika or the Greater Will has to the Crucible. I also just find it fascinating that there could have been an Elden Lord prior to Godfrey, as this would imply some form of Elden Ring that resided in the lands perhaps prior to the Greater Will, and I was just giving my most outlandish connection between the sword and crucible and dragon god. I stand by much of what I said in this video, though the simplest answer for the Sacred Relic Sword's origin is likely that of the bodies of Marika and Radagon, though Marika's remains, or at least head, can still be seen in physical form after the battle with the Elden Beast, which could perhaps insinuate the sword is not wholly of those two. Regardless, none of it's entirely clear as of yet, and while the description of the Sacred Relic Sword could fit with the Tarnished choosing their own ending, I still wonder if it has deeper implications. But, I could always be totally wrong!

[@colorpg152]

just one note i dont think the greater will hates the crucible, instead i think that is marika's doing

[@wispfire2545]

While I agree it's fun to theorize that the Sacred Relic Sword could be some other god than Radagon/Marika, I do feel it's pretty clear that the sword is the aforementioned Ra-Ma pair. As you said yourself, it is the body of Radagon that gets submerged and is apparently then pulled out reformed as the sword, but there's one more interesting piece of evidence I'd like to pay attention to; the rune on the ground while casting Golden Wave. There's actually two runes in the weapon art; the arc of bounty, which belongs to Marika, and the separating cross pattern, which belongs to Radagon.

[@le0np0we]

Very interesting video! Just a little editing nitpick - at 20:31 you double up a line about the Lovecraft/Norse thematic connection. Not trying to be a dick, just wanted to let you know 🙂 Good work!

[@TheGatewayfarer]

Sorry if any of this is redundant, I was loosely listening while playing Elden Ring. I think you might have missed something, but your conclusions are quite impressive if that is the case. Take another look at the Elden Beast cutscene. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZSoh5ylmcSDkLs What I understood from that is that the sacred relic sword is Radagon transformed. The Elden beast pushes Radagon down and pulls the sword back up. I think the shot at 0:42 is meant to show this with the ribcage that can be seen in the sword. The sword is also sort of flesh colored. I also remember coming across that Marika "the Eternal" was never meant to die. It was in such a way that a phrase like the description of the sword would be read as alluding to her, but I don't remember the source and have spent about the past 10-20 minutes with no luck finding the specific source yet. The closest I came was her title "the Eternal". Something else for you to consider though is the pattern of the sword. It is a theme used elsewhere in the game and has been used more than once by FromSoft before. I think of it as the recursive ankh, probably from Cainhurst in Bloodborne. Others have also pointed out the pattern looks like a DNA helix. It can be seen elsewhere in Elden Ring like with the Godslayer's Greatsword and Miquela's Crest. A quick reference for Miquela's Crest: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXrNg4Swbqd8qbs at 16:48. I actually just watched that video before this one. I am definitely not the first to notice these, but I am interested in your take on them.

[@dankerdork]

To add, it looks like arms and legs are sorta crucified on the hilt and pommel. I also think that the spiraled blades of the sword could be the interwoven spines of Radagon and Marika. Assuming they were separate beings at one point, I do think Radagon could in some way be associated with the giants or misbegotten, his red hair bearing a striking resemblance to the two.

[@PonderingSai]

Excellent video! I'd love to see more down the road.

[@mattrozzel2997]

Lot of cool ideas here, only major issue I'm seeing with it is that tha God tha sword is made from is like 99.5% surely Radagon, we actually watch tha Elden Beast turn him into it. Tha .5% is to acknowledge tha possibility this is a purposeful misdirection but it doesn't come off that way to me.

[@mattrozzel2997]

I actually have been of tha mind that tha lands between is on a skull simular to tha story of Ymir although I'm starting to lean more towards turtle shell lol

[@asparagoosagus5954]

interesting video. My interpretation of the sword is that the god refered to is Marika. In the cutscene where the elden beast comes out it looks like it grabs Radagon/Marika and drags them under the surface, and when that hand reemerges it is holding the sword - and the sword looks like two spines wrapping around eachother.

[@lepistanuda]

yeah this was my impression too, I really think it is that simple

[@gorge3030]

Some of the deepest content on Elden Ring! Have you checked out David Lightbringer's content on GRRMartin's mythology in ASOIAF, I'm not sure what part of ER mythology he influenced but it's worth looking into.

[@noctugal]

I have not but I definitely will! Thanks for the recommendation!

[@jacobleonard5138]

I always thought the sword was the body of Radgon after he submerged his body

[@dracorex426]

A lot of this theory is based on mistranslation. From what I've been able to gather, the Crucible and the Great Tree don't exist. The root description actually just said something like "these big tree roots used to be connected to the Erdtree". There *was* a tree prior to the Erdtree, but that was the Primordial Erdtree, and is actually what's usually supposed to be referenced when the Crucible is mentioned.

[@noctugal]

I see your point, but it's not quite as clear cut as that from everything I've read. I do know the translations differences you're referencing, though it used the terms interchangeably to further confuse things. I also personally don't see how that conflicts with the theory, as there still was some primordial tree prior to the Erdtree.

[@stephenlucas8836]

@@noctugal the KZbin Last Protagonist covers translation from Japanese to English across all of Fromsoft’s soul games. You be surprised how much spoon feed lore because incredibly cryptic with one a few poor word choices.

[@psychicmane7636]

@@noctugal also the elden beast and the elden ring came before the crucible elden stars says it is the most ancient of those ghat derive from the erd tree the crucible incantations say they derive from the erd tree as well they are also boosted by the erd tree seal if you look at the magic symbol that appears with the crucible incantations upon use it has the image if the elden within a tree just like the erd tree the elden beast and the elden ring where there before the golden order with the removal of destined death the golden order began meaning the elden ring in its past state had destined death within since this marked the creation of a new golden order this means there was an order before that did contain destined death

[@Graff-z4x]

Forgive, this comment is the byproduct of your wonderful, inspired video, and two strong coffees. GO! So, although i think you're suffering from wanting an early idea of yours to 100% make sense; the core of your idea based on the implications of the sacred relic sword is on point. And you actually landed a connection no one has yet made and its been driving me insane. So thank you a million times. I'll get to that. I do still think the sacred relic sword is Marika/radagon combined, the simplest answer is often the best. But you make a very important point that marika's body is still present afterword. While it could be argued that we don't receive the weapon except first as a remembrance. Or even less concretely, that we're inside a displaced dimension when we fight the elden beast; but this is as speculative as what you're offering so i can't exactly disprove your idea entirely with all that lol Nitty-gritty: You made a connection btwn the crucible and the 3 fingers. This is the most important finding! Firstly tho, No, the crucible was not the source of all life gosh darnit. This is the gravest mal-interpretation. It is a popular one. But trust me miyazaki is not this ontological in his approach. It blended all existing life together. Life already existed aplenty when the Outer Will (pun intended) sent the beast and the crucible. The power of the Outer Will (it's sticking) was Grrrrreat! Too great, in fact. It was killing all life before developing into fruition. The 5 Fingers of the Godhand i mean Greater God wtvr, was too powerful. Like any symbiote/parasite, the old order had to sever 3 of its fingers in order to sustain life long enough to accomplish the tasks of the big GW. The British are here! Ahem... I think placidusax was comfortable with housing the elden beast and that's the missing god who ran away. We think marika was all powerful? Placidusax was connected to all 5 Fingers dawg. Er... Necks, as it were. One thing about Outer Gods i wanted to offer. There cannot be a uniform "state of being". There is at least 2 forms. Physical, and well ethereal Eldritch. We see Astel. Actually we see multiple astels to the point we can analyze its stages of development in life from "larvae" to mature adult. We know the goddess of Rot exists, but theoretically we don't see her. We see the face, sort of, and eye of the god of chaos. But no manifest singular form. We know of the Greater Will, but only see the Elden Beast. Ok what's my fkn point. If the outer gods follow the same laws as the rest of life, then they all have physical forms and we've yet to see some, although this makes the GW special in that it can seemingly employ/create beasts that are as powerful if not more so than most other outer gods... If they do not follow the same laws, then Astel is either a false outer god and more akin simply to a cosmic creature that lives/survives like an extremophile until it crashes on a viable planet... There is speculation that Astel is "man-made". Two other possibilities. Outer gods can be a blanket term, but a true god exists in a different dimension of time-space. This latter state of being is the commonly accepted belief. Conversely i think it is equally possible that the belief in the form of Outer Gods is as exaggerated in the game as they are outside the game. If Astel is truly an outer god. Then it's not such a reach to assume that the never-seen Elden Beast is really and truly all there is to see of the Greater Will's physical body. Not so omniscient after all. Just another outer god controlling this planet. Killable indeed. You're aware of the "man-made" dual-spined dagger found for Ranni. It's clear the Nox were not intimidated by the Elden Beast and it's Orders, creating their own weapon capable of slaying the fingers. They may have suffered greatly as a result. But they were not mystified in the least. And are even still persistent and determined to oust the god of gold, at all cost. If it weren't for Nephali's Storm i'd argue the Lands Between might have have zero direct connection with Faram Azula. Just a glimpse into another land that was dominated by the Greater Will. But there is an intentionally lost history here. The Order establishes its own truths. May our prayers for lore-revealing dlc be answered! 🙌☀

[@nolanrussell9162]

Good video! This is about to be a long comment encapsulating my thoughts on the ER timeline and your video helped fill in a couple gaps. The god which created TLB and the Crucible from which life emerged was almost certainly The One Great. Placidusax was probably its Elden Lord considering the 5 heads. It says Farum Azula began to crumble when it was hit by a meteor. I like to think that meteor was the Elden Beast itself, as TOG split into the Greater Will/Frenzied Flame, and the dragon's god "left". Placidusax may have lost his heads at the impact and kept all but 2 to signify the GW's dominance. What he was Elden Lord of before the beast containing the ring came may have just been the Crucible itself, but it is certain the beast is a vassal of the GW. Alternatively, Placidusax may have ruled under TOG, then controlled the ring and the Crucible for a time before Marika. The beast likely merged with the Crucible and attached itself to the original Great tree. Marika the Numen is born and chosen as an Empyrean by the Fingers that have popped up to interpret the GW, and she gets Maliketh as her shadow. The choosing of Marika as an Empyrean means the Dragon's time is coming to an end. She merges with the ring/beast itself and marries Godfrey to wage war. Now it is a little unclear what happens first, or how much time passes between each war. We can assume that the Dragon War happens first, because it is said the ice dragons, which are not ancient dragons, ruled the mountaintops before the fire giants took over. So Gransax attacks the capital that is built around the newly forming Erdtree that is still very Crucible like. We can assume the Erdtree is growing at this time, connected at the roots to the Great tree, and so all the war and death is feeding it rapidly. This is the time where its blessings and amber drip down. War with the dragons likely lasted a very long time, as it wasn't over until Godwyn befriended Fortisax, so long enough for Marika and Godfrey to have at least one of their three children grow up. Anyway, dragons lose, dragon cult springs up in the capital, Erdtree keeps growing. It's also theorized that the Storm lord that Godfrey faces could have been Placidusax, slicing off those heads, and forcing him to retreat beyond time, but I more suspect that he did that to commune for answers about why he lost control of the ring and never fought the dragon war. Eventually the fire giants move in the mountaintops and Marika realizes their Fel God's flame can harm the new Erdtree. Godfrey handles that too with help from some allies but they imprison the last one because Marika realizes there may come a time where she needs to plot against the GW and the flame is the only recourse. They install the fire monks to guard the secret of the flame as well, but that turns out to be a bad idea. Over time, the capital continues to expand its control and fights multiple wars with the Carians which all stalemate until "Radagon" marries Renalla. Once Godfrey dispatches his last foe and basically maximizes their territory, he is banished, and Radagon returns to the capital to "marry" Marika. The Erdtree has reached its zenith at this point, and the Crucible is a distant memory, as are things associated with it. I like the theory that Radagon was always an aspect of Marika after she merged with the ring and could be two forms in one. People theorize about how Placidusax could have been Elden Lord if the lord is just the consort to the god who embodies the ring but perhaps Placidusax with his five heads had a similar multi-soul situation to Marika/Radagon. This is when the Erdtree begins to decline. The Godskin apostasy begins, and some fire monks betray their duty to worship the godslaying black flame. I also believe the apostasy was begun by the Numen of the eternal cities, and was the heresy that got them banished underground. We can piece together that the gloam eyed queen (possibly a child of Marika) was able to channel the rune of death within the ring and bring destined death. Between the godskins of the movement, and the fingerslaying blade, it was a problem that led Marika to seal the rune with Maliketh. The sealing of the rune of death creates the Golden Order proper, having always been flawed by its rejection of natural death. The Erdtree stops growing and becomes stagnant along with everything else. That is, until the Night of Black Knives, when Godwyn is killed. When he is buried, deathroot seeps into the land. They disconnect the Erdtree from its roots (also could have been done when death was sealed) but it still spreads. Soon, the ring is shattered, the Erdtree splinters, in full tilt, and the seeds of the minor Erdtrees are spread. The size of the minor ones gives an idea of how long it's been since the shattering. And how long this comment has been. If you read this long, I hope you enjoyed!

[@minespatch]

"We're just like detectives", I get the feeling PAtches is like that through the games. 😆

[@roropo1306]

Good lore and speculation, the sacred relic is such a nicely designed weapon

[@patrickborn3494]

The center of the world in astrology is called the axis mundi and basically the naval of the world. thanks for the shout out in the vid!

[@bigpapajmt]

Awesome work brother. You got a new sub.

[@MiguelHernandez-zm2ii]

Good content dude!

[@OneDayIMay91Bil]

Good job mate I'll sub in another two to three quality vids

[@K8theKind]

I honestly really like your videos and don’t really care for smoughtown, too much. I can’t say anything bad about him or anything. I just far prefer your content. Thank you.

[@Mosqueetto]

Nice video, Made it hard on yourself having to say "Ginningugap" I can't even spell it never mind say it.

[@dracorex426]

Sutr was already around before Ymir.

[@noctugal]

Where did you get that information? There are no sources I've read that would suggest that to be true.

[@frossassin213]

Your lore is a little off I think. Their first was a GREAT TREE. Then (something happened) and that is how the crucible tree started. The crucible was the mid-state between the great tree and the eard tree.

[@noctugal]

It's totally possible this is the case though it's all still pretty up in the air. I wouldn't say that ER lore is so concrete to make such a definitive statement as of yet. Looking forward to gaining more insight from the DLC!

[@wonko_the-_-sane]

The Sword Is Radagon, i thought this was already established? You see the cutscene where the Elden beast grabs his corpse and wields it against you. Enjoyed the vid, though ill i could think was how much Christian mythology stole from everything else, Easter from Egyptians, the garden of Eden from Norse and Christmas celebrations from the pagans

[@jacobberry5138]

Eden is rooted in Judaism, as is Christianity. Christianity didn’t steal it. Christmas was established by a Norse pagan king who converted to Christianity. The days to coincide with the winter solstice and so pagans could, in a different way, recognize the solstice still, as in the decoration of the tree, stockings, and the Yule log. Not everything comes from a place of malice.

[@wonko_the-_-sane]

@@jacobberry5138 who said malice? All I'm saying is it was cobbled together from other stories as are a lot of others, I'm only saying it more obvious where a lot of the "inspiration" came from with Christianity.

[@jacobberry5138]

@@wonko_the-_-sane I apologize. Stealing usually denotes malice. But I agree. Most religions today were built upon the backs of the ones before.