So I've been playing Elden Ring since it first released two years ago, and yet somehow I'm still discovering things about the game that I overlooked, and going down rabbit holes that lead me to learn interesting things, not only about the lore of Elden Ring and its history, but also about real-world history, science, and art. Like, for example, have you ever noticed this strange cloth thing behind Marika the Eternal in her official artwork and statue depictions in-game? Ever wonder what that's about? Also, why are there just birds flying around with giant blades on their feet, waiting to make your life miserable? And what on earth is going on with these giant swollen ants underground? In this first episode of Elden Ring Lore and Learning, we're going to look at three interesting pieces of lore from Elden Ring that I initially overlooked, and learn about some real-world history and facts that may have served as design inspiration for the talented team at FromSoft when bringing this world to life. So if that sounds interesting to you, let's get into it, and you can let me know what you think in the comments. Okay, so if you're anything like me, you've probably been killed by these birds with blades on their feet at Stormveil Castle, enough times to have them eternally etched into your memory. However, did you ever notice that the blades they use are actually not attached to their feet at all, but rather the blades are their feet? This was pointed out to me recently by a post from Reddit user ChimChampion, and honestly at first I was a bit skeptical, but looking at the birds models a bit more closely, this does check out. And even better still is the fact that we can find written evidence for it in the game itself. The description of the Warhawk Ashes states that Warhawks are Stormhawks that have had their talons sliced off so that Razor-fine swords could be grafted in their place. They react with extreme aggression, using their mobility in combination with their deadly talons. And yeah, their aggression certainly makes a lot of sense. This fact kind of blew my mind because it really goes to show the attention to detail that Miyazaki and FromSoft pour into facets of the game that are so subtle that many players won't even notice them. In fact, on that note, I would really like to draw some attention to this absolutely awesome concept art from the official art book that not only shows the bird's grafted legs up close, but also details the internal mechanism that the blades would use to open and retract. Definitely giving me some Sekido prosthesis vibes. They also detail the design of a little headpiece that the birds wear that allow them to incinerate you with fireballs. Anyway, these grafted stormhocks are one of many details around Stormveil that do a lot to really convey just how obsessed with grafting Godrick was. Along with the hanging limbs that we can find in Stormvale's dining hall, And of course this pile of body parts that we can infer belongs to Roderika's former comrades. Everyone's been grafted. Everyone who came with me. They crossed the sea for me. They fought for me. Only to have their arms taken. Their legs taken. Even their heads taken. If nothing else, I certainly find it pretty amusing to imagine a crazed Godrick chasing birds around his castle so that he could graft blades onto their legs. And interestingly, there do seem to be several potential real-world sources of inspiration here for these aggressive, blade-wielding birds. The first parallel that sprang to my mind is the practice of chicken fighting. Which usually goes by a different name, but I don't want to get demonetized. Although chicken fighting can still be found in the modern world, it's actually an ancient practice going back thousands of years. Most historians agree that it originated in Southeast Asia, but would eventually come to be practiced throughout the ancient world. If you're unfamiliar, the basic gist of chicken fighting is that weapons, usually spikes or blades, are attached to the feet of aggressive roosters. Which are then placed in an arena to engage in a bloody battle to the death. According to Frederick Hawley of the Oklahoma Historical Society, chicken fighting was introduced to the ancient Greeks by the Persians. The Greeks would apparently use chicken fighting as a way to stimulate the warriors to brave and valorous deeds before battles. But the practice has also been associated with gambling since antiquity. Chicken fighting is of course inhumane and illegal in most places, but I think these birds in Elden Ring may also draw inspiration from a more respected art involving birds, falconry. Falconry is the traditional art of training and using falcons, hawks, or other large birds of prey for the purpose of hunting. According to UNESCO, the practice goes back over 4000 years, with its roots believed to be in Central Asia and the Iranian Plateau. But like chicken fighting, falconry eventually became a ubiquitous practice throughout the world. It was for instance incredibly important to Mongolian Khans who practiced falconry for food and sport in between battles, and traditional falconry is still actively practiced in Mongolia today. In fact, the official bird of Mongolia is actually the Saker falcon. Falconry is also important to Japanese culture, with the earliest records first dating to the import of hawks from Korea to Japan in 355 AD. Japan developed its own unique brand of falconry called Takagari that was practiced in the Heian era, but only by those of truly elite social status like emperors and courtiers. Eventually though, Takagari would become associated with the samurai, and during the Edo period could only be legally practiced by those of the warrior class within designated lands called Takaba. The images you're seeing on screen now are from a book of woodblock prints by a Japanese artist named Kyosai Kawanabe, which is believed to have been published in the Edo period around 1863, and was made available online recently via the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. It's really cool stuff, and I'll put a link in the description so you can check it out for yourself. One common thing for almost all forms of falconry is that the falcons are given specialized hoods in between hunts that prevent them from becoming needlessly stressed out by visual stimulation. And these hoods almost certainly inspired the design of the flamethrower helmets drawn up by the concept artists that we looked at earlier. So yeah, although the way that these hawks are used in Elden Ring seems a little over the top, the concept of training and using birds in this way is actually fairly grounded in historical reality. Although I'm curious to hear what you guys think in the comments. And this type of bond between man and beast transitions us nicely to the next topic, the disconcertingly large ants and the Nox residents of the Eternal Cities. Honestly, I'm not looking forward to editing this segment because no enemy in Elden Ring grosses me out more than these ants, but here goes. So as you're probably aware, in Noxstella we find that the Nox have somewhat domesticated these giant ants, using some form of magic that renders the ants eyes purple and allows the Nox to ride on them like oversized insect steeds. But venturing into the ants' nests, we find evidence that the relationship between the ants and the residents of the Eternal Cities wasn't always a peaceful one. Piles of bones, skulls, and even full corpses litter the floors of the ant tunnels, suggesting that the ants were feeding on the Nox for sustenance. But it actually gets even more interesting than that. When you venture further into the nests and find these swollen ants. I've seen some people call these chunky boys "ant queens" but, as pointed out by Reddit user SaltedStarleaf, this sort of swollen abdomen is actually characteristic of an ant called a "replete", which are also called honeypot ants. In real life ant colonies, repletes basically function like living storage containers for other worker ants, who pump them full of food that they can later retrieve if supplies become scarce. And what's interesting is that killing these repletes yields... Numen Ruins. suggesting that the piles of corpses that the ants fed on were in fact Numen. Now, one of the things that I've been trying to tease apart for a while now is the relationship between the Nox and the Numen. We know, for example, that the Black Knife Assassins are rumored to be Numen with close ties to Marika herself. We also know that Rogier describes the Black Knife Assassins as scions of the Eternal City. And it's fairly common knowledge that Marika herself is a Numen, as the Numen Rune states, "The Numen are said to have come from outside the lands between, and are in fact of the same stock as Queen Marika herself." But aside from these references, we don't see much explicit representation of the Numen in-game. To be fair, the Numen are described as "long-lived but seldom-born." But I think the fact that these replete ants drop Numen runes really strengthens the idea that the Nox are the direct descendants of the Numen. Why else would these ants, who are clearly feeding on the Nox, be filled with Numen runes? At least, it's the only explanation that seems to make sense to me. What do you guys think? In any case, one Numen who we can say for certain wasn't eaten by the ants is Marika the Eternal, who is now absent from the lands between, but whose stone depictions remain a ubiquitous presence throughout the game. But one thing that I started to wonder about is, what is this thing behind Marika in her statues? I've seen many people online make the claim that this is just an extension of her dress, but looking closely at the model in-game that doesn't seem like it's the case, as there is clearly a visible separation between her dress and the flowy bit that extends behind her. Some users have theorized that this might be a representation of the Elden Beast, who from a lore perspective, certainly looms behind the scenes of Marika's rule. Others have suggested that this represents an umbilical cord. And finally, I've also seen some point out that when viewed straight on, it seems to take the shape of the Elden Ring itself. Honestly, I think all of these are fairly compelling ideas, but I do wonder if there isn't another explanation. For one thing, when we look at this concept art of Marika, we can see that there is some sort of cloth behind her here, and in this case we have the benefit of seeing it in color, which presents some interesting opportunities for comparison. Is it possible that this cloth could relate to the baldachin-like canopy found in Marika's bedchamber, which shares a similar color scheme? As many people have pointed out, this cloth-like canopy seems closely tied to the cloths we see draping the sky in the shadow of the Erdtree trailer. Or, as we speculated on in this video and the card, could this be a representation of a concealing veil, a giant version of the same veils used by the Black Knife Assassins, and that was perhaps used by Marika to hide away the Land of Shadow itself? Well, we can only speculate on the lower aspects for now. But what we can say with more certainty is that as pointed out by user Icey definition and several others on Reddit, This billowy cloth was probably inspired by a real life art tradition from ancient Rome, called In Velificatio. According to Wikipedia, this framing of a deity with a billowing garment is meant to represent an epiphany, or the vault of heaven. If we look at this depiction of Aura, the Roman goddess of wind and Marika side by side, there definitely is some visual similarity with how they are both framed by these cloth-like shapes behind them. And so while I definitely hope we learn more about what this thing might be in terms of the lore in the expansion, it's pretty cool to see what likely served as real-life inspiration for its design. And as I have hoped to highlight throughout this video, the team at FromSoft really deserve a lot of credit for putting in so much research and thought into the minute details of Elden Ring's visuals. From ant colonies with biologically accurate, physically diverse ants, to the sketching out of prosthetic mechanisms for their grafted warhawks, to the incorporation of real-life classical art motifs into their statues, a ton of care went into making the visuals of the lands between the rich setting that it is. And I find it really fascinating to dig into these diverse sources of inspiration and to learn about stuff I probably would never look into otherwise. And I hope it was interesting for you as well. This is my first time making this kind of video that goes beyond just the in-game lore and item descriptions. So I'm curious to know what you guys think. Do you want to see more of this type of content? Let me know in the comments either way. If you enjoyed this video, don't forget to like and subscribe, and maybe hit the bell so you don't miss the next one. And hey, I'd appreciate it if you maybe considered supporting my work on Patreon or by becoming a member. Thanks a ton for watching, and I'll see you in the next one.
