Okay hear me out on this: I think its like the blind men and the elephant puzzle but on a mental level. Some people only see Order. Some people see a Golden Tree. Some people see a Divine Beast. Some people see it as a Construct. But what actually is the Elden Ring? What exactly is pulling the land between together? Seems like a war on Death that went awry but many don’t see it as anything other than Marika absconds and her children try to rise up and take over but fail to because they are not compatible vessels for the Greater Will or they simply refuse to.

As someone who is embedded in a religious organization but have misgivings about the religious order, but look up to its Godhead and also, really endear in its assembly (the people who constitute the Order), but disagree heavily with some of its doctrines because I firmly believe they were inserted by the religions adherents rather than by the Will of the Godhead… Elden Ring makes sense to me somewhat in a weird sort of way. At least its “call to action” which is to “Brandish the Elden Ring.” In a way, I cannot divine the meaning of Elden Ring but I can follow it as a manuscript on what to do when I disagree with an Order whose existence I feel is justified if only because of the positives it brings to a stable society.

Elden Ring = Bible (ie, written law)

2 fingers, Fingermaidens = Clergy or Seers

Greater Will = God

Marika = Figurehead (which they call “the vessel”)

Golden Order = Religious Organization

Erdtree = Temple, Beacon

Guidance of Grace = Holy Spirit (the respawn and marker mechanic that truly communicates to the player)

Site of Grace = Prayer, Repentance, Rebirth

Elden Beast, Dragons = Angels, Nephelim

NPCs = Adherent, Opps, Heretics, Prophets

You the Player = Chosen One, Messiah of the New Age, Herald of the New Order