Regional Themes and Metaphor of Elden Ring

This post is to cover some of the metaphors and themes in the regions in Elden Ring. I won't discuss every zone here, some are not worth mentioning. This post is also not interested in themes that are woven throughout the game and not contained in a single area: they will get their own posts in time (such as Scarlet Rot.)

I will also pose questions that I'm not sure about, in case anyone else would like to discuss it.

FROM's games have always had excellent world building, but the themes are usually straight forward or less considered than they could be. In Elden Ring however, much more focus has been placed on not only the world building but the themes and metaphors woven throughout them. No doubt this stems from both hiring GRRM, but the fact that they thought it was necessary to hire a renowned writer meant they were focusing more on the story and world this time.

Limgrave

The themes shared by Godrick and Limgrave are fairly straightforward. Godrick is power hungry but weak, literally taking the limbs of others to bolster himself. His army is the same, it's the remains of a defeated army of another region forced to slink to the outskirts, if they aren't banished knights already. The entire region is similar: it's on the outskirts, far from the political hub of the Lands, and Godrick's army is rapidly expanding to conquer. Like Godrick, his army is weak and relies on theft, stealing forts and even foraging through wreckage of the Shattering for anything useful.

Stormveil is undermined by the awful Godwyn, spreading his rot not only through the fortress but through the warriors. This fear of death strikes Godrick, too. While he isn't physically effected by the roots of Godwyn, he is terrified of his own weakness and death. He tries to channel the strength of his bloodline by using the dragon head, a symbol of Godwyn's alliance with the dragons, to no avail. Godwyn is dead, and his memory haunts Godrick.

One question:

How does the theme of wind (the hawks, Stormveil, the general strong wind in the zone) tie into the rest?

Liurnia of the Lakes

This region is a little more complex, from the metaphor to the actual history of the region.

Let's start with Rennala. As the head of both the Carian Royal family and the Academy of Raya Lucaria, she's in a politically powerful position. She is the lynchpin of both the Carian and Academy alliance but also the alliance of Liurnia as a whole and Leyndell. When Radagon left her, she abandoned all her duties and shut herself up in the library of the Academy. Instead of choosing to follow Leyndell or her people, she chose neither. Likewise, when the Shattering happened, the Academy and the Royal Manor shut their doors instead of taking action.

Another theme is the idea of the rebirth into perfection. It's Rennala's only pursuit, granting rebirth to the students who come to her in hopes they will find the perfect form, only for them to lose reason. It's echoed in the pursuits of the scholars who either scoff at anything outside their strict conspecti, or end up being reborn into the nightmarish Graven Masses. The sorcerers even wear the stone crowns to appear like the founder of their conspectus, a simple way of remaking themselves in the image of their idols.

I'm not sure how the name of the entire zone relates to the themes. I couldn't discover any potential translation or reference in the name Liurnia. Likewise for Raya, although Lucaria was a Roman festival, likely celebrating an army that survived by hiding in a grove (Lucus) of trees, similar to the sorcerers themselves hiding from external conflict.

Questions:

What do the names Liurnia and Raya Lucaria mean, and how do they relate to the themes of the zone?

Do the Cuckoo Knights fit in this schema, or is it better to look at them through a broader lens?

Caelid

This rot-infested land is a little different than the others covered here, being heavily linked to two demigods instead of just one. The name is Latin for "the Heavens", and as such it's a microcosm of the conflict of the gods. Literally a microcosm, it's the smallest zone and (almost) the lowest on the map. As above, so below.

It has a war between demigods, armies following creeds long after the war is over, the core is rotted out and infested, it even has sorcerers hiding away, dragons, and Nox meddling. Plus, it even has a minor appearance from a certain Cleric of Death. That the previous description can apply equally to Caelid as it can to the power structures of the Lands Between should illustrate my point!

Altus Plateau

The meaning of the name Altus is obvious: it's a reference to the mythical Atlus who holds the Heavens on his shoulders. Being the home of the Goddess Marika and the Eldtree, it's an apt name.

As for the capitol, Leyndell, the name is a bit more complex. "Dell" means a hollow or valley with trees, fitting for the area, but "Leyn" isn't as obvious. It could be the Yiddish word for "to read", but that seems unlikely. "Lleyn" is a historically common spelling of "Llŷn", the Welsh name for a Gaelic population group called the Laigin, which means "Spear". Notably the group wasn't originally from Wales and even had royalty, much like Marika and her people coming to the Lands Between. Leyndell would then mean Valley of the Tree Spear or Valley of the Tree, Home of the Spear People. I'm not entirely convinced of this meaning, but it was worth mentioning.

Of course, being the seat of the Eldtree there's a lot to discuss about Leyndell, but much of it spreads throughout the whole game and lore and it out of this post's scope.

Questions:

This interpretation of Leyndell isn't a solid as others, is it correct? If not, what's the right one?

Mt. Gelmir

This zone is a natural fortress, home to the primal power of the volcano. "Gelmir" likely comes from Old Norse "Yeller", a name used in parts of many Giants' in Norse mythology; one can imagine an erupting volcano appearing like a warrior's battle cry. It is similar to the name "Bergelmir", which can be translated to "who roars in the mountains", or in light of the fact it's a volcano, "who roars like a mountain." The rocky exterior is supplemented by the fortress of Volcano Manor. Proud, impenetrable, and sinking into the lava, filled with wretches and monsters. It's not hard to see the themes echoing through the once proud Rykard embracing the ancient serpent.

The title of Praetor sheds some light the theme of duality. An ancient Roman title, one who bore it held two official roles: commanding an army and civic duties. Rykard lives in a lavish manor that doubles as a fortress, and is home to some of the worst torture and bloodletting in the Lands. He is a demigod, yet he embraces a primordial serpent. His Manor is high above the land on top of a volcano, but it's sinking into the earth. He hides away deep underground, yet his reach is felt in every corner of the Lands Between through his abductors.

With this duality comes the loss of balance, falling into degradation. Not only in the explicit sinking of the Manor into the lava and Rykard's sacrifice, but also the wretches offering themselves to the serpent men and the Tarnished murder questline where the player sinks further into evil before almost being devoured entirely.

Wrap Up

Even a simple look at the game it's clear that the zones and characters were designed to compliment each other well. You simply couldn't move a demigod to another zone without needing to change everything else about it. Of course, this post just scratches the surface of themes and metaphor in this amazingly huge game. Later posts will discuss specific themes, so there's bound to be enough content for these kinds of posts for a long time!

Note: the Haligtree was covered in its own post here: https://mauthedoog.substack.com/p/the-symbolism-of-the-haligtree