Author George R.R. Martin claims in an interview that the world ofElden Ringis based on Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. However, there also seems to be more inspirations behind the game besides Tolkien.
The critically acclaimedGame of Thronesauthor teamed up with game director Hidetaka Miyazaki to build the world, lore, and characters ofElden Ringyears ago, and is excited to see his vision come to life. Martin has gone on record claimingLord of the Ringswas his main influence for creating the game’s world; Miyazakihimself has expanded on many other influences.
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Nordic Folklore Influence
The key to understanding the full scope ofElden Ring’sloreis knowing about the converging influences from both Martin and Miyazaki. In the gameplay trailer and much of the game’s art is a golden tree, ever-present in the game’s world: the Erdtree. According to Miyazaki, The Lands Between are all blessed by the Elden Ring, symbolized by the glow of the Erdtree.
The giant tree based on Yggdrasil, also known as the World Tree, which appears first in the Poetic Eddas from Norse Mythology. Yggdrasil connects all nine realms of Nordic folklore; similarly, the Erdtree connects The Lands Between to the power of the Elden Ring. According to Miyazaki, the player won’t have access to the whole open world, but willchoose which order players access each open-worldarea.
Each area’s boss is one of the offspringof Queen Marika the Eternal, and the one gaining the most attention is Tarnished, which makes several appearances in the gameplay trailer and the cinematic trailer. The red-haired demigod’s design draws from the same Prose Edda influence, as her armor resembles a Valkyrie from Norse mythology.
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Gaelic Folklore Influence
Queen Marika the Eternal isthe red-haired character repeatedly shownin trailers. The demigod shares similarities with another mythological character, Nuada of the Silver Arm, from the Book of Invasions, which is a collection of stories and epic tales from Ireland explaining how the island came to be inhabited. Nuada is first characterized as a fallen hero who was robbed of his kingship because the king of Ireland needed to be completely able-bodied. He met a physician that made him a prosthetic silver arm and reclaimed his kingship.
The red-haired demigod seems to merge these two mythologies, as she has the outward appearance of a stereotypical Valkyrie, yet she seems to have fallen from grace like the rest of the Tarnished. This reference to being a fallen demigod with a prosthetic arm but godlike skills on the battlefield must mean she is a hybrid of influences. In fact, the whole game is a hybrid of influences,rather than having a singular influence.
Elden Ring’s Literary Influences
Nothing exists in a vacuum, meaning that the entirety ofElden Ringhas a hybrid of influencesincluding Tolkien’s Middle Earth, Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian Age, and Isaac Asimov’s Foundational universe. The only part of the story that singularly uses Tolkien as inspiration may be the Elden Ring itself; it is comparable to the One Ring forged in the pits of Mount Doom.
Elden Ringseems to take placein a world that mirrors the three authors' fictional worlds. The game splits its world into different kingdoms ruled by a demigod with their piece of the Elden Ring, also known as Great Runes. The world’s lore definitely holds to its Tolkien influences, and the game’s universe mirrors other fantastical settings as well.
A Hybrid of Influences
When it comes to all of the influences surrounding the creation ofElden Ring, there are likely too many to count. Martin was tasked with creating the game’s world years ago, and helping with enemy and monster designs. He work feeds off western mythological and fairytale influences spanning hundreds of years of literature. On the other hand, Miyazaki is influenced by an entirely different set of creators, his most famous being mangaka Kentaro Miura, creator ofBerserk. It seems that Miura’s influence has not gone away forMiyazaki’s asElden Ringcontinues the trendof monster-infested landscapes with a world on the brink of erasure.
Elden Ring’sLands Between does something unique with its massive menagerie of influences. Fans were right when speculation began that western folklore would have a greater influence on the game than other entries besideBloodborne.Fans have made many fakelore bossessince the game’s first announcement, and now that it is on the way, fans will be able to find the connections between the game’s lore and the folklore it borrows from.
Overall, it seems that theLord of the Ringsis one of the biggestinfluences on the game’s plot, yet there are so many more that affect the game. The Shattering war that caused the Elden Ring to become broken seems to mirror legends as far back as the Olympian gods fighting against the Titans, something that the game has in common withDark Souls. It would not be a stretch to say thatElden Ringuses the same beats asDark Soulsand other FromSoftware games, in which the player is a stranger to a hostile landscape and must defeat literal gods to advance to the end.
Elden Ringis set to release on Aug 04, 2025, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
