Elden Ring Lore | The Ancestral Followers & Ancestor Spirit (Part 2)

Welcome to Part 2 of our deep dive into the Lore of the Ancestral Followers in Elden Ring. Delving into their magic, their inspirations, their king, and more, their lore unravels some wider laws of the Lands Between that sheds light on Marika and the Erdtree society, Runes, Sorcery, Life and Silver Tears, Orders and much more.

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References:

Soundtrack:
Dark Souls - Character Creation
Pikmin 3 OST - Garden Of Hope - Morning (Working)
Hollow Knight OST - Greenpath
The Pathless OST - From the Antlers
Savage: The Battle for Newerth OST - A New Earth
In Other Waters OST - A Living Oasis
Kingdom Two Crowns Shogun DLC OST - Into the Green Vale
It Takes Two OST - Hopscotch
Avatar the Last Airbender OST - Agni Kai
Abzu OST - To Know, Water
Super Mario 64 OST - Dire, Dire Docks
Gothic 2 OST - lobard farm
Age of Mythology OST - (Fine Layers Of) Slaysenflite
Firewatch OST - Canyon Sunset
Ico OST - Heal
Gothic 2 OST - pyramid valley
Titan Souls OST - Depths
Journey OST - Threshold
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Combining the Fused Shadows
Kameo: Elements of Power OST - The Core
Hades OST - Scourge of the Furies
Stardew Valley OST - Spring (It's A Big World Outside)

Timestamps:
0:00 Rot Ancestrals
02:42 Freedom
07:48 Ancient Inspirations
18:00 Ancestral Faith
25:39 Ancestral Magic
36:32 Spirit Arts
39:09 Mysteries
40:42 Power of Runes
42:32 Societal Roles
48:48 Relation
51:03 A New Order

#eldenringlore #eldenring #gaming

Hawkshaw.

[KitsuneShapeShifter]

So happy you mentioned Sami peoples! I am Sami and I was screaming in my head about our traditions! Sami are Reindeer herders, antlers are extremely important! There's also the primordial white Reindeer that died to have its body become the world (similar to the giant Ymir in norse myth).

[leviathantb]

surprised you didn't bring up Torrent, the horned spirit horse who jumps in the air like the ancestor spirit.

[scholaroftheworstgame]

On a less serious note, the 'metal' pieces dangling from the shining horned headband are probably supposed to be the shells of bivalve molluscs such as mussels.

[minerman]

The lone ancestral follower in the Lake of Rot has the immunizing horn charm+1, giving resistance to the scarlet rot of the lake, and furthering the idea that they are a lone scout investigating this domain. For the Red Wolves, I ask were they bred by the Carians to be magical or found by them? They could just be a magically inclined type of wolf who had spread across the Lands Between, and some were trained by the Carian family. The boss variant in Raya Lucaria has orange magic attacks which the wilderness ones do not, as well as additional jewelry (there is another boss variant in Gelmir Hero's grave, but I don't remember which kind it is). Their placements in Carian territories are behind their manor, at their moonlight altar, and in Raya Lucaria guarding Renalla. Outside of that, one is in the Gelmir Hero's Grave as I said, but the rest of them are only in places that also have Ancestral Followers and the petrified trees: Siofra River and Consecrated Snowfield. Albeit the one in the latter area is far away from the Ancestral Followers. I don't have any conclusions here, just that food for thought.

[horrorsran]

i actually thing the discs of metal(?) you were referring to on the horns and as earrings on the shaman followers look more like clams or pearl oysters, which would align with their beliefs etc - the iridescent texture on them looks like mother of pearl, and if you look at the side you can actually see a slight dip along the center that looks like it could be a closed opening of a shell

[Pizzifrizzo]

I'm surprised you didn't mention a pretty common feature of the Horned God in various cultures: he ritually dies at the coming of Winter, only to be reborn come the Spring. Given the sacrificial practices of the Ancestrals and their conviction that something great will be reborn of the Ancestral Spirits, I've instintically assumed that they see the Era of the Erdtree as the "winter of life", because life and death are so strictly regulated by the Golden Order that, for them, it equates with cold stagnation. Hence, they think that a new Lord will arise come the Spring of Life, when the Erdtree will stop obstructing their practices. As of now, they're almost "forced" to imbibe the Ancestral Spirits with sacrificial life, because otherwise it'd either be recycled by the Erdtree or fall prey to Destined Death. This is a religion about the Erdtree as much as it is about the Spirits, it's just that, for them, the Erdtree is the Satan figure to defeat through their virtuous practices.
On another note, I'm glad someone starts mentioning the idea that the Ancestrals are a recent revanchist cult rather than an ancient civilisation. I was starting to fear I might be the only one, implausible as it may be, since no one talks about them at all.

[shira_yone]

That ending is really impactful, a surprisingly hopeful future to the lands between.

[RomanCollapses]

I feel spoiled, man. 54 minutes of Ancestral Follower lore? Please sign me up.

[PoyoDesuka]

I'd like to take this time to praise the camerawork of both parts. Entire video is stellar, but particularly excellent footage!

[buzhidao]

I see this comment on every lore channel, but for me you’re creating the absolute pinnacle of Fromsoftware games YouTube c o n t e n t right now. The well-researched attention to detail and comparisons to real world cultures and mythologies help to bring out the significance of the storytelling in these games, reminding me that they’re a reimagining of these same archetypal narratives as an interactive and participatory art form.

You’re really bringing out the best in these games with these Hawkshaw, looking forward to seeing more :)

[FLITT]

In Ireland, you find depictions of the great Irish elk everywhere. On buildings and before we switched to Euro on our coins.
A leftover of our pagan/celtic past.

[michaeljohnston]

The idea of singing and dancing to channel spiritual energy seems to be akin to entering a kind of flow state. Anyone who’s actually had practice with dance or music will know what this feels like. In universe, it seems to be a kind of cure to spiritual kegare/stagnation. This would explain why the blind swordsman taught Malenia how to dance with a blade to stave off her rot

[Lord_Nekro]

Would be interested in hearing your take on Vyke and the frenzy flame

[AbelMusa]

Finally someone gets it. The good ending we can't get. The only ones in the LB who have their shit toghether.

[AngeloChorus]

You are the best Souls-Lorist out there; keep up the Amazing and Enlightening work!

[ozsun]

It's amazing that you picked up on the Ainu people, as i believe that the form of the Lands between have an uncanny resemblance to Hokkaido if you look at the form of the whole map/island.

[BeesAcrossTheRockies]

Been waiting for this! The Elden Ring lore community is so excellent it’s really made the old DS days look amateurish, but man have I enjoyed you stepping up your game to stay competitive! Amazing stuff

[lemonautical]

41:45 the greater will and golden order have done so much to pollute the lands between, runes are like microplastics; not even the ancestral followers can get away from them

[temuulenchoi]

I too worry about the fading of my "Lands Between"!

[Jediahgames]

So happy that you're getting sponsors now