The Lands Between are the setting of Elden Ring. While many players can experience this game purely focusing on the gameplay, Lands Between has much deeper and more intricate lore that is easily missed. FromSoftware has always been keen on burying a lot of its lore and not having it clearly shown through cutscenes or exposition dumps.
Elden Ring has our character only appearing towards the end of a much longer story, as the Lands Between have deep lore and have been in turmoil long before the return of the Tarnished. Through conversations with NPCs, item descriptions, and a little bit of drawing conclusions, we are able to untangle this massive web that sets the stage for the events of Elden Ring.
The Greater Will And The Elden Ring
The Greater Will is an outer god that sent an extension of itself to the Lands Between to do its bidding as it’s so far away. This extension was the Elden Beast, whose power manifested as the Elden Ring and the Erdtree. While the Erdtree is an incredibly sized tree, it actually existed before the Greater Will as the great tree worshiped by the inhabitants of the Lands Between. The Erdtree was the extension of the Great Will’s influence, dominating the great tree and turning it into the Erdtree.
As the Elden Beast and Erdtree rooted themselves in the Lands Between, the power of the Greater Will became the Elden Ring. The Elden Ring is a set of powerful runes that created the rules of the land, with the most prominent example being destined death. While the Erdtree was asserting its power over the land with the Erdtree, it needed a vessel to connect the Elden Ring with the people of the Lands Between, eventually deciding on Queen Marika.
The Elden Lord And The Old Wars
Queen Marika and her people followed the Golden Order and worshiped the Erdtree, receiving its grace as a blessing. Marika saw the Golden Order as the absolute truth of the land and waged war on those who didn’t follow it to make the land only inhabited by followers of the Erdtree. Queen Marika married a warrior named Hoarah Loux from the Badlands outside the Lands Between. After their marriage, Hoarah Loux became more civilized and was renamed Gofrey, The First Elden Lord, and led the Golden Order’s armies against their enemies.
The Capital City housed the Golden Order and was the seat of Marika and Godfrey’s power. To the north were the fire giants who held a power said to be able to burn the Erdtree. Ancient Dragons were fought through the Lands Between as their control of time was seen as a threat to the Golden Lineage and the Erdtree. The Stormlord ruled within his castle over the surrounding lands and refused the Golden Order. The final and most prominent enemy of the Golden Order was the Carian Royal Family. The Carian Royal Family made an alliance with the Academy of Raya Lucaria, which worshiped the moon and used sorceries to battle the Golden Order.
Each of these groups ruled separate areas of the Lands Between, with all being beaten by the Golden Order except for the House Of Caria. The House of Caria was led by Rennala, who led the combined army of Raya Lucaria and Caria. Renalla would soon fall in love with Radagon, the leader of the armies of the Golden Order, and their marriage brought about peace between these two remaining armies. As war in the lands finally stopped, Godfrey and his army were labeled Tarnished, as the grace of the Erdtree left them, and they were exiled from the Lands Between. Radagon then left Rennala to become the next Elden Lord and marry Marika, leaving Rennala and The House Of Caria in disarray.
The Golden Lineage
The Golden Lineage are those who stem from the line of Marika, being deemed gods and demigods within the Lands Between. The first of the Golden Lineage were Marika and Godfrey, who had three children, Morgott, Mohg, and Prince Godwyn. The three children were seen as demigods, held incredible power, and were greatly blessed by the Erdtree.
It is eventually revealed that Marika and Radagon are the same beings, operating one body that switches between the two beings. As Radagon and Rennala were married, their children also became a part of the Golden Lineage. These children were Radahn, Rykard, Ranni, Miquella, and Malenia.
The Shattering
Marika used her power from the Elden Ring to remove the rune of death, keeping the golden lineage and the people of the Lands Between immortal. Malekith protected the rune of death until a piece was stolen. On the Night of the Black Knives, the shard of the Rune of Death was used to kill Prince Godwyn, resulting in the first death of a demigod in the Lands Between. In a fit of rage after her son’s death, Marika shattered the Elden Ring in an event known as the Shattering.
After the Shattering, the various demigods waged war on one another to obtain pieces of the Elden Ring in an attempt the fix it and become the next Elden Lord. After a long war, it eventually became a stalemate, as none of the demigods could kill the other. Seeing the world in a stalemate war with the Elden Ring shattered, the Greater Will called back the Tarnished in an attempt to upset the war and reform the Elden Ring.
