These environmental details were somehow missed

[@SmoughTown]

Here’s to one of the greatest members of the community! Thanks so much for your work TA and happy new year!

[@tarnishedarchaeologist]

Happy New Year Smough!

[@Pires009]

@@tarnishedarchaeologist Do you have a similar account for Dark Souls / Bloodborne?

[@mattbergamin9001]

The dickriding is crazy 🤣🤣

[@botero01]

THE greatest in my estimation.

[@spacecowboy5486]

"Gwyn is mr. White" Jesse, we need to link the first flame Jesse

[@colin9112]

"if you've ever tried ripping someone's tongue out of their mouth" all the time man

[@p34ch3s4m4]

General shout-out. You came outta nowhere on my feed and made me aware of obvious-but-transcient things. Like your Leyndell coverage that this wasn't the first burning of The Great Tree and that they define separate eras. I'm living for these videos.

[@AaryonTeragon]

so wait, Mr.White ended finding friendship in an unlikely young guy (relative to him), that made an entire cave out of crystal. is Seath Jesse?

[@probellum8844]

Another fun etymology for Elden Ring: Eochaid, the mysterious land of the 'ascetics' or such, is derived from the old Irish/Gaelic name. Etymologically, it means derives from the word Horse, and essentially means Horseman. However, Eochaid itself is a name assigned to a myriad of Irish and Scottish kings and rulers, and is even given as a name for one of the most important old Celtic Deities, the Dagda. It was also a name of the king of the Fir Bolg. This has a lot of potential associations in Elden Ring, but it's always a bit sketchy trying to piece things together in such ways. Still, the Dagda Connection made me think of the Gaulish Sucellos, one of the gods he is likened to, and particularly a well known statue/figure from the Walter Art Museum which I feel like tingles something in my brain in regards to having seen something similar in Elend Ring somewhere... Still, Sucellus was commonly depicted with a long mallet hammer and a bowl, two things that show up a lot in Elden Ring.

[@tarnishedarchaeologist]

Very nice sleuthing!

[@leonhighwind2305]

The way you delve into the environmental storytelling and the archeological inspirations behind the lore was the one thing that rekindled my interest in Soulsborne lore. A toast to you, Tarnished Archeologist! And a happy new year!

[@Rose_in_Blue]

Sinclair Lore isn't very often mentioned in lore videos, so it was a nice surprise hearing the mention. I love Sin and Sophie, they provide both some real lore discussion and a, for the lore community, unorthodox "just having fun and being goofy" atmosphere.

[@_faultee_]

Ancient enormous giants could probably move the giant furnace working together scaled up with muscle and flesh on them theyd be even bigger. Wonder if they are related to the Nox skeleton priestesses/queens and the ancient Dynast in anyway as elden john seems pretty tall in his statues.

[@K8theKind]

Best Elden ring yt creator

[@Jay-ys2cf]

This guy is to Elden Ring what Redgrave was to Bloodborne

[@p34ch3s4m4]

I assume a redddit thread has covered it by now, but LoughTown also discusses the red sparks in the air of the Snowfields. If The Great Tree was burned once, and this forge was dangled by its branches--then its being earthbound in the fall of the tree would explain the erroneous Crucible energy and rampant Misbegotten? And the giant skeletons we witness were the FIRST giants Hoarah Loux was actually waging war against? And why he had to be such a beef wall to compete?

[@Graysett]

One random thing I've noticed that I've never seen anyone mention is that the Nox (or whoever built their elevators) are the ones who made the transporter gates like the one behind the third church of Marika. Another is that the Nox might've been banished AFTER Marika's disappearance, as the Golden Seeds state they flew from the Erdtree when the ring was shattered, but there's one seed in Nokstella and one in Nokron, despite both being underground. Following up on the theory that the eternal cities all used to be above ground in some capacity, that would place their banishment after Marika's disappearance, but before the shattering war actually started. (This has a contradiction though. Sellia is a town heavily implied to have been made after the Nox were banished, as the Sellians are described by Gowry as "descendants of the Eternal" and most of the important stuff there are Nox related. But also, Lusat is from Sellia, and Lusat left there and went on to help get Raya Lucaria going alongside Azur and Renalla, and as far as I can tell that HAS to have happened waaaay before Marika disappeared. The best alternative for the Golden Seeds being underground in those locations I came up with is, idk, someone who had one came from above ground for some reason, then died or disappeared or something and dropped them there at some point, but that doesn't feel quite right.) Oh also another one I noticed just a bit ago is that Leyndell has a ton of ash in it even BEFORE we set the tree on fire. I hadn't got a new file into Leyndell since my first one until recently, but it struck me on my run through today that there was actually quite a lot of ash already present all over it. I'm not sure whether that means the tree was set on fire at least once previously, or if there was some other big fire that could've caused it, but it's definitely strange. (As is the general state of disrepair and decay it's in considering outside of Gransax's attack there hasn't been any largescale conflict within the city proper. The Black Knives are the closest second I can think of, but even then that seemed more like a hit and run sort of deal and not a "we're gonna set the city on fire, screw you guys" one. Why are so many doors wax'd shut???)

[@AtopDoomedMoons]

11:54 *Seath, we need to cook.*

[@Sesharon]

I've also heard it said somewhere that Raya Lucaria was originally meant to be 'Rayalu Caria', as in Royal Caria Academy.

[@Artaxerxes.]

Makes sense. It's interesting how Raya Lucaria sounds so much more nicer

[@matiasluukkanen7718]

Raya is Sundanese/old Javanese word that means big, major, important. The name of Raya Lucaria is probably combined of two different linguistic families for added exotic effect. Historical Caria famously was name of western Anatolian region near the marshy lands of Liburnia (Liurnia)

[@jtillman8251]

One thing I noticed that I haven't seen anyone else mention is that the items you consume for runes in Elden Ring are literally golden irises.

[@exquisitedoomlapointe185]

Good catch

[@theULTIMATElife50]

My guess is that Gwyndolyn was originally the name for the Nameless King and after he was removed from history the name was given to Gwyn's next eldest son whose original name is now forgotten. The name likely wasn't associated with Gwyn similar to how the other daughter is named Filianore.

[@nocantry]

I came from Smoughtown's channel, as he only had praise for you whenever he referenced your videos and theories. The fromsoft community and the content creators within it are one of the best things I've stumbled upon all year.

[@tarnishedarchaeologist]

It really is a great community

[@jacobanderson8219]

And now you've laid the seeds in my mind for yet another custom character, a distant demigod successor of Gwyn's lineage who is forced through an inter-dimensional portal to the Lands Between. Gwynadlais (white echo) shall show the power of the Gods to this foreign land! Thanks for all the videos this year, you've established yourself firmly in my mind as one of the best lore channels available.

[@agressicum]

The most important question for me, still unanswered in Elden Ring lore, and I hope you'll answer it in some of your future videos is - who built the sacred towers where we gather runеs after defeating bosses? And why exactly their runes being stored at that towers? Obviously they were built before golden age and even before, as you named it, Saint's age. So who the hell built it? What's their purpose? And where did their creators gone?

[@alephnole7009]

Really wish we could see the Old Demons souls versions of the statues for consistency sake.

[@Serio555]

Firstly, great video! I learned so many new and interesting things from your video. I just want to comment about the bark in yharnam, i thought it was associated with willow bark historically being used in medicine due to it containing salicylic acid, the precursor to aspirin. Aspirin being used as blood thinner and willow bark being used historically to treat wounds and such I thought with the yharnam blood industry those are medicinal barks used for extraction and preservation of blood, as the cut on the trees look more like one done with a draw knife, whereas cork are cut with a hatchet and peeled as a single layer.

[@AliBaba-sw4ej]

"In Welsh, Gwyn is Mr. White"

[@nightscout9979]

Gwyn is so white that his theme is even played with only the white keys on a piano.

[@Squirrel_314]

Did I hear that right? Dark Souls gets the Tarnished Archaeologist treatment next??? It’s going to be a very good 2023!

[@LastOptionPils]

I had assumed that the stripped trees were territorial markings for beasts because that’s a thing bears do, but cork makes way more sense.

[@_ipsissimus_]

Ayo Mr Gwyn! lets cook that cracked crystal!

[@wowwow1691]

Thank you for doing this! You are irreplaceable

[@Antichupius]

Valantenian Theology is deeply connected to the concept of deities being Androgynous…and out of all the Gods, who’s Aldrich devouring when we meet him in game? Gwyndolin. Fromsoft just seems more genius with each detail you learn.

[@Cherryjango]

Caelid more likely is named after Caledonia (the latin name for Scotland), rather than after a caleigh, which is a dancing event.

[@tarnishedarchaeologist]

Could be! Nice find.

[@prudesude9794]

Nothing like the incarnation of God's might burning away to set the mood in for festivities

[@dasninjastix]

Really appreciate the insights you've been providing. Look forward to all your future content. Thank you!

[@_faultee_]

One thing bothers me still is Radagon, did he always exist or did Marika like split herself and make him? It says that the fell god of the fire giants cursed Marika and then later Radagon shows up, this guy who hates his red hair and turns out to be half Marika. Perhaps Radagon is the curse put on Marika by the fell god and Radagon was her way of seperating it from herself. Radagon still being part of her but part fell god curse with red hair and wielding a hammer of all things, something religious to giants and trolls.

[@holyspear26]

And “flame of the redmanes” etc refers to radagon. And radagon forges things such as trying to repair the Elden ring and he forged the golden order sword from rennalas sword. Interesting theory

[@luvlols4462]

I think Radagon always existed and Marika was his mimic. This is based mostly on the cut quest line with the mimic Asimi. She was from the eternal city and afraid to die. she would have begged us to let her "merge" with us and departed at some point after becoming "whole". Unlike Radagon, we would have found her and put her down instead of leaving her unchecked to become a god.

[@finnmcdermott7248]

I love that you build your lore theory's from actual history

[@Kanrararaa]

i know your focus is mostly ER but i would love to see more dark souls content too! das3 especially

[@aragingrupert]

A really interesting vid! Sometimes these kinds of vids are full of stuff u already know or has already been discussed elsewhere

[@thestralner6335]

very happy to hear youre hoping to make vids on other fromsoft titles

[@Andy-rf5jx]

I always thought the trees around the city of bloodborne were for the cleric beasts to rub there horns on because if you ever hunted you notice deer They do this to mark there territory, and to show there dominance. But it could be also the blood bottle.

[@patriciapandacoon7162]

regarding the Forge of the Giants: I think it's more likely that it was either hanging off Farum Azula or Farum Azula constructed it and lowered it onto its current resting place. Perhaps it was after this that the Giants swore to the flame and became its slave in order to defeat their frost dragon foes. Also, I always took the "fell" of Fell God to indicate it being sinister (which it definitely is) but what if it means the God who Fell? From floating Farum Azula before the meteor struck it, shattering it?

[@tropezando]

Stocking stuffers from TA? Truly, this is the age of abundance!

[@friendoftheoyster3906]

Im so glad I found this channel! Since you mentioned Sinclair Lore, I cant help but get excited for if you potentially become a guest on their podcast

[@DomPreciso]

Truly amazing work! Blessings of the Sun upon you!

[@tarnishedarchaeologist]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@hobosorcerer]

The political history associated with Gwyndolin is something I've been deeply fascinated with. Here's hoping he gets the recognition he deserves.

[@saedt]

Replaying Elden Ring again after seeing your videos made me enjoy it all so much more!

[@eonwe5885]

Someone cooked here Seriously, thanks for all you do TA, and happy new year. I look forward to learning the secrets of Dark Souls from you, as well as following the rest of your Elden Ring investigations.

[@maltajade9058]

Happy New Year! Thanks for all the amazing knowledge in 2022, and I'm looking forward to 2023 with ya!

[@lukmeatstealer1570]

Thx you, so interesting, so well craft.

[@embargovenom9948]

I'd been meaning to ask whether you'd turn your eyes towards the Dark Souls series once you were done with Elden Ring. Glad to know this is in the cards, and even sooner than I thought. ^^

[@platzypus5683]

Regarding the etymology of Leyndell: my research has led me to conclude that the root words (heh heh) are "leynd" and, as you said, "dale." "Leynd" is an antiquated term for "lind" referring to lind trees or, as we call them more frequently, lime trees or basswood. Lime trees are significant symbols of fertility and abundance, being so rich in nutrients that sap (referred to as "honeydew") literally drips from its leaves and branches (if you've ever walked down the street and seen a car covered in a weird sticky green substance, that's honeydew from a lime tree!) You've probably heard of a real life city whose etymology is based upon its forests being "linden" or "in the valley of the linds," signifying abundance and prosperity: London! Notably, young lime trees have shallow, wide-reaching root systems, and it isn't until they age that they develop a secondary root system which defends and anchors the tree deep in the soil. This feature of lime trees makes it highly competitive against other tree saplings by precluding large swaths of land from foreign roots, but it also makes it particularly vulnerable to fungal attacks from below which kills the tree by consuming it from the inside; this type of death leaves the tree hollow and especially flammable, and you can often see the hollow stumps of lime trees in forests where other more hardy species have taken root. Lime trees' abundant foliage and nutrient density causes them to be very desirable as shade trees which provide nutrients to shallow-rooted foliage like grass and brush, but their weak root system makes them notoriously difficult to cultivate from seed. They are adaptable however, so most lime trees are actually cultivated by grafting a scion, or cutting, onto the stump of a hardier, deeper-reaching tree species. I haven't looked nearly as deeply into this one, but from my preliminary research: Elphael may be etymologically rooted in the words "elpe" and "hael," with "elpe" referring to elm trees and "hael" meaning victory, so "victorious elm." Elms, often described as "stately," are symbolic of law and justice; early Brithish judicial processes would be conducted under elm trees in order to receive natural guidance toward fairness and dignity. Elm trees and lime trees have similar wide-reaching, shallow root systems, but, unlike limes, elms actually never develop a secondary root system to defend from fungal attacks. Indeed, they are most vulnerable to be rotted from the inside before they can reach full maturity. Elms are also symbolically associated with briars, but like I said I need to dig into this one much more before I can feel confident speaking on it. Oak trees, being extremely hardy and deep-rooted, allows them to grow to incredible sizes. Because of this, oaks are often called "great trees." And indeed, the Celtic Tree of Life is thought to be a great oak tree which governs life, death, and rebirth. If you look up a depiction of the Celtic Tree of Life, you may find that it looks very familiar to the symbol of the Divine Crucible. Anyway, that's enough ranting about trees. Dm me if you decide to look into tree species and their biological/symbolic implications, I would love to collaborate with you on this. Your series is the only one I've found which actually explores the more granular storytelling in Elden Ring and doesn't just rely on item descriptions, it has been an absolute joy to watch. Keep up the great work TA!

[@beardfistthegoldenone7273]

Ooohhhh perfect timing!

[@christianmeusel6817]

Wow, incredible Observations as always!

[@darksteal993]

Love your work, please continue.

[@kimlee6643]

What an unexpected year's end treat! Happy New Year!

[@mhiggs8001]

1:47 ah! I’ve only just started exploring the consecrated snowfield and I kept seeing these rocks and wondering why they looked that way. There’s were so many that I felt them to be deliberate. I’m also curious about why so many graven masses are there and what the mountainous slabs with writing on them are. I was thinking the slabs could be graves maybe?

[@BossSaucer_7132]

Love your videos, happy new year my guy

[@UnironicallyToast]

You guys are truly the archeologist FromSoft deserves. The amount of details that would otherwise remain unseen without yout content is amazing

[@CyberSerumYT]

maybe the forge was hanging from the Great Tree

[@minespatch]

The Prometheus heiroglyph on pyromancy looks similar to the ones in the city of Shulva in ds2. Always was curious about those wall carvings.

[@nedeleavitt]

TFW you have even attended cèilidhs and you still don't notice the meaning in ER

[@matteoflamigni550]

Nice holiday present sir

[@Herr_Gamer]

I know this video is old, but is an alternative explanation for the damaged Yahrnam trees not just simply beasts clawing on them? Even in desperation, I’d think wooden or oilskin lids would be a more immediate go to than trying to use non-cork bark for corking

[@selfawaretrashcan4594]

How did I miss this video?!

[@dafire9634]

Great channel

[@lonelySires]

so~ speculative names for the nameless: gwyncyntafanedig, gwynhaul, gwyncryf :D

[@killermockers47]

Pretty sure Raya Lucaria is a mistranslation, because in Japanese its Realkaria aka Royale Caria Academy

[@Soul_Biscuit]

I love this channel 😅

[@alephnole7009]

Do you think the act of Tilling might be in reference to the Erd tree and it's other sprouts from your other video? Perhaps there where originally other sprouts in reya lucaria that got cut down to allow the one whe know to grow stronger.

[@jas3.14]

DARK SOULS POLTICAL ARCHEOLOGY PLEASE HAHA

[@d4670]

WALLLLESSSSSSS YEEEAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 12:00

[@lovesiriusblack]

Thank you for a lovely start to my New Year's eve! Shout-out to the friendliest lore channel, mentioned in this video, as well 🐌🍿🎉 ps, of course it's Sinclair Lore :P

[@viralengine908]

What do you make of all the interpretations of Dark Souls names in Sindarin?

[@sordschie3944]

Nice

[@ThommyofThenn]

Hey there, i recently heard of this channel from another youtuber you collaborated with recently and just wanted to say hi

[@RevanX77]

So with gwyn being "white", what is Mohgwyn supposed to mean?

[@rainbowkrampus]

I don't know that it's correct to imply that Gwyndolin isn't the rightful successor. Nameless King was removed from the lineage. Gwyndolin is the rightful successor. Gwyndolin just has the unfortunate circumstance of being a bastard, in two senses of the term. But Gwyn seems to have embraced Gwyndolin either way, even if they were shut up in a basement. Of course, this is all filtered through my belief that Gwynevere was never a real person but a fiction. A "radiant white light", otherwise known as a blinding light, meant to hide the fact that there was a ton of instability among the royal family. Namely, that the heir apparent Nameless King had gone into exile and that the current successor was a freak and a bastard. If you think Gwynevere was real then you'll necessarily come to different conclusions about lineage and succession here.

[@george16744]

I disagree with the cork assessment. I think the marks resemble rut marks, the kind that are left by deers sharpening their horns. Although the werewolves would be the culprit in this case.

[@hiddenshadow2105]

I kind of wish there were less references to 'future episodes', because to me it creates this irritating impression of nothing to be really explained and each video to be just an ad to for some other 'future video'. I understand that not everything can be fit in 10 minutes, but I believe each video should stand on its own, without persistent (and multiple per 10 minutes) danging ends. Otherwise excellent as always.

[@domfar5380]

Why aren't the subtitles in this video? I can't select them :( I'm not an English native speaker and subtitles help me understand better

[@tarnishedarchaeologist]

It should be fixed now. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[@domfar5380]

@@tarnishedarchaeologist thanks! No need to be sorry, I love your content!

[@AssailantLF]

The stripped bark used for corks in blood cocktails is an insane level of attention to detail

[@tarnishedarchaeologist]

Agreed! And it's a great example of how, when you notice something odd in these games, there's usually a very specific reason for it. Many more of these to come in 2023.

[@dynactin8908]

Man, I always thought that Caelid came from the Latin 'caelum', meaning “sky, heaven, or atmosphere” because in days past it was a pathway to Farum Azula. Thanks for the present, TA!

[@kanseidorifto2430]

Knowing Miyazaki and FromSoftware it may very well be both.

[@SeanHoltzman]

Double or further entendres are a huge thingbfor FromSoft

[@stefanostsougkranis5851]

Thank you archeologist, you're one of the lore greats. I wish you and all the other people in this community a happy 2023!

[@tarnishedarchaeologist]

What a great community!

[@platypus1216]

You should make some full length videos about locations and lore from other fromsoft games besides Elden Ring because your analysis are top-tier! You might actually be able to find new stuff that no one‘s found or noticed before. A dark souls three or blood-borne video would be really cool

[@tarnishedarchaeologist]

May 2023 be a new Age of Plenty!

[@hugostefaniu]

First off, let me say my year 2022 and my appreciation of Elden Ring were greatly enriched by being introduced to Tarnished Archaeologist. Looking forward to what you'll bring us in 2023! To think at one point I was of the opinion FromSoft had skimped out on environmental storytelling in this title... P.s.: If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to know a bit more about Tarnished Archaeologist. Are you a group of researchers? Researcher(s) and editors? It would be nice to have a better mental picture of the people behind this incredible content. Cheers!

[@tarnishedarchaeologist]

What a wonderful compliment, thank you!

[@LizardOnAMushroom2358]

Thank you for giving me and others such a profound sense of renewed wonder into these worlds. It means so much.

[@tarnishedarchaeologist]

What a wonderful compliment!

[@Golden284-fan]

So excited to see you examining some of the older Fromsoft games. I loved this little grab bag of discoveries; one hell of a Christmas present. Thank you, have a happy new year everyone 🎉.

[@tarnishedarchaeologist]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@lepistanuda]

Amazing, thank you especially for the etymology discussion, I was really interested in what they were drawing from

[@beansnrice321]

Oh man, doing lore on the other games opens up so many possibilities! I swear, if you and Sinclair Lore did a Bloodborne crossover I think I'd die from squealing with joy! =D

[@lovesiriusblack]

Me too! I immediately perked up when he mentioned the snack covenant :D

[@varden506]

Count me in haha

[@minespatch]

Charred Thomas would be interesting for him to talk to as well.

[@hiddenshadow2105]

I want to note that the forge might have also been a censer, specifically a thurible, which is why it might have connotations both with a divine and a forge. The top of the giants' thurible might have become a roof of some building in now-times.

[@andrewdm372]

One detail I love is that Renalla’s crown is based off the Berlin Gold Hat. Its an old headdress with a lunar calendar engraved on it. A very obscure but cool reference.

[@vergil8833]

On the topic of place name etymology, "Haligtree" is alot like "Hellig/Helig Tre" which in Scandinavian languages means "Holy Tree".

[@OmegaThirty]

0 exaggeration, I think you may have some of the best videos on KZbin, I watched all of your videos today at work and I’m sad now that I no longer have any more videos of yours to watch.

[@ShuToshio]

Here to say I'm sure #3 will be back in your BB series :D

[@nineleafclover1477]

Happy Holidays! Would be very interested to see you visit Dark Souls with your unique style of analysis. Thanks for all the work you put into your channel!

[@moniker2804]

The trees being used for bark seems a bit tenuous. You can't use any old tree bark for cork. You need trees that grow in portugal or spain, not London. I think it's more likely to be scratched off by beasts sharpening their claws.

[@noanoerson2166]

Who is "we"?

[@darearms9790]

I think Gwyndolins name being successor is fitting and not trying to imply a falsehood. They were left as the only successor since their brother was banished, and their sister abandoned them. Gwyndolin is the only royalty left after Gwyn went to the Great Kiln

[@heatrayzvideo3007]

One small question about the lands between, where do they grow food? I don't see any agriculture anywhere

[@deeezey_2239]

Shout out to sinclair lore, absolutely under rated Format can be annoying but they go above and beyond in terms of content

[@tarnishedarchaeologist]

Bloodborne Up Close, sadly cut short (twice now), is one of our favorite lore series ever. Sinclair Lore (né JSF) is the best.

[@deeezey_2239]

@@tarnishedarchaeologist I shouldn't laugh but my first thought was probably Sophie telling us Richie died lmaoo and that's why it was cut short the first time

[@choccomoke9234]

Leyndell etymology has always seemed to me to be "Lion x Dell". (a dell being a small, forested valley; similar or the same as your "dael", or dale.) The lion imagery is pretty ubiquitous with Godfrey and maybe even Serosh, who might have an association with the real Round Table Hold which Leyndell was seemingly built to encompass afterwards. I'm not entirely sold on the "Ley" term, as it lacks an 'n' but maybe I'm missing something -- to me "leyn" just seems to be a corruption of lion. Dell and Dale are very commonly seen in place names, LOTR's "Rivendell" comes to mind, so the first half of "Leyn" might be just as straightforward.

[@john-paul3271]

Need more like button. Not enough button. Beautiful done, BTW. Happy New Years!

[@nicholasmotz6362]

Not mystery. Its just unfinished shitty writing. There literally are no answers. FS thinks that makes it cryptic and cool.

[@mralabbad7]

Layndel meaning "untilled grove" really has me thinking about the wheat fields in front of the erdtree on the dlc promo art👁