Summary
FromSoftware games are well known for their cryptic lore, which can more often than not be found scattered primarily throughout the many item descriptions found in the games. Beginning with the launch of Demon’s Souls in 2009, fans have been meticulously piecing together their own theories and speculation as to what exactly is going on.
Elden Ringis no different, carrying on this piecemeal tradition through the dozens of items that can be found in the game, their descriptions often raising more questions than they answer. This list will explore a few of those items and the lore they contain.
Updated on June 16, 2025, by Matthew Kaempf:With the launch of Elden Ring’s first and only expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, dozens of new weapons, talismans, and other assorted items have been added to the game, each with their own unique description and lore. While many of these help to shine a light on some of the topics that were originally touched upon in the main game, they also introduce plenty of new details and mysteries to confound and delight even the most stalwart seeker of knowledge. Whether recontextualizing old questions or posing new ones, there’s plenty of juicy information to comb through, including the entries added below.
13Stone-Sheathed Sword
A sword that none can pull from its scabbard of cracked stone. Relic of a lost civilization from a time long past, said to have served a ritual purpose at altars of light and darkness.
The Stone-Sheathed Sword isa unique weapon in Elden Ringthat, by discovering the locations of magical altars, can be transformed into one of two separate weapons. The origins of this sword, and the purpose it served in the society that forged it, remain largely a mystery.
The Lands Between is host to the crumbling ruins of many ancient civilizations, and this sword is a reminder that the history of this world is still shrouded in mystery beyond what may be depicted in the game.
12Telescope
Astrology tool used by members of the Carian royal family.A stolen part of a larger instrument.Allows the viewer to better see faraway things.During the age of the Erdtree, Carian astrology withered on the vine.The fate once writ in the night skies had been fettered by the Golden Order.
The telescope is a common tool that can be found in many Fromsoft games, used to allow the player to see over greater distances than they would normally be able to. While the telescope that can be found in Elden Ring is no different in this regard, the description includes some intriguing details.
Used originally by the Carian royal family, the telescope that you can eventually obtain was stolen following the decline of Carian astrology during the age of the Erdtree. Who had stolen it, and why?
11Memory Stone
A black, lightly beguiling stone. Prized by the sorcerers who produce them.Increases memory slots.Said to be a fragment of the black moon that once hung above the Eternal City.
The Memory Stone appears, at least, to be a simple pendant of black marble. Reading the item description will reveal that it was once a prized possession of the sorcerers who had created it, and was actually itself a fragment of the “black moon that once hung above the Eternal City.”
Home to a people called the Nox, the Eternal City (or Eternal Cities) is said to have been orbited by a black moon that is now lost. Precisely what this “black moon” was remains a mystery.
10Jar Cannon
Jar cannon which uses explosives to fire greatbolts. Deals great damage but is slow to reload.Experimental firearm brought to the assault on Volcano Manor, where it was discovered that no one knew how to use it.
The Jar Cannon is a ballista,a powerful ranged weaponthat can inflict high damage on enemies. The origin of the Jar Cannon lies in its use in an assault on Volcano Manor. Volcano Manor is a legacy dungeon, and the Jar Cannon was an experimental weapon that was brought to lay siege to this location.
However, when they arrived, it was quickly revealed that no one understood how to actually use the weapon. One could interpret this as a warning about the dangers of hubris that come with the use of this weapon.
9Shattered Stone Talisman
Shattered linchpin stone. Raises potency of kicking and stomping skills. Linchpin stones are spiritual anchors said to hold the ground in place and quell the fury of earthquakes—when this one shattered, the surrounding town fell into the broken earth. One account claimed that the moon itself had come tumbling down.
The description of the Shattered Stone Talisman retells the destruction of the town where it can be found, Moorth. The shattering of this stone spelled doom for the town, but the most intriguing part of this item is the specific language used to describe the destruction.
Lunar imagery appears frequently in Elden Ring, from the twin moons of Lunar Princess Ranni and the rest of the Carian royal family to the fabled black moon of Nokstella. What connection there may be between these celestial bodies and the fate of Moorth is left only to speculation.
8Rivers Of Blood
Weapon of Okina, swordsman from the Land of Reeds. A cursed weapon that has felled countless men.When Mohg, the Lord of Blood, first felt Okina’s sword, and madness, upon his flesh, he had a proposal, to offer Okina the life of a demon, whose thirst would never go unsated.
Rivers of Blood is an infamous weapon amongst fans of Elden Ring, at one time being prized for its outstanding stat scaling. Rivers of Blood is a katana, and, as with many of the other weapons of Japanese origin in previous Fromsoft games, contains an intriguing bit of lore in its item description.
Aside from being cursed, as many weapons tend to be, this particular sword comes all the way from the Land of Reeds, where it was wielded by a swordsman named Okina.
7Winged Greathorn
Distinctive horn suffused with the power of ancestral spirits. This large, wing-shaped specimen is wielded as a weapon of spirit worship. In the ancestral spirit-worshipping faith, these are considered envoys' wings, made to reap the lives of beings which experience no sprouting.
The Winged Greathorn is, as the name would suggest,a greataxe. Said to be “suffused with the power of ancestral spirits,” this weapon was once used in the worship of ancestral spirits, a now bygone faith in the Lands Between.
The ancestor spirits are ancient beings who take on the form of various animals, whose existence lies somewhere outside the power of the Erdtree. The existence of these beings suggests a history far beyond the scope of what we experience in the game, and a past that remains a mystery.
6Memory Of Grace
The memory of first grace, which once guided bygone Tarnished to the Lands Between.Lose all runes and return to last site of grace visited.It is merely a cycle. Stand before the Elden Ring. Become the Elden Lord.
The Memory of Grace is an item that all classes start with in Elden Ring. This item can be used to teleport the player to the last site of grace visited at the cost of all their runes. The description of the Memory of Grace contains an important facet of the lore of Elden Ring, if not many of Fromsoft’s games in general.
The story of Elden Ring is a cycle, much like the linking and fading of the flame in the Dark Souls series.
5Ruin Fragment
Stone fragment found near places where ruins have fallen from the sky. Can be used for crafting, or simply for throwing at enemies. These shards of stone are believed to have once been part of a temple in the sky. They glow with a faint light from within.
Ruin Fragments are an item that can be found from the earliest stages of the game, found readily throughout the Lands Between and used as a material in crafting recipes.
What most people will not realize until much later is how this foreshadows the existence of Farum Azula, a flying ruin trapped eternally in time amidst the heart of a great storm. The details of Farum Azula’s creation harken back to the eras before the age of man, when dragons ruled the earth.
4Curseblade Meera
Curseblades appear to dance when they spin their shimmering circular blades. These ascetics, who failed to become tutelary deities, were a scourge for those who attempted to invade the hornsent homeland.Long ago, before the land was overshadowed by invasion, this scourge was shunned, and the curseblades were imprisoned. It was during this confinement that Meera met Labirith, and upon her death, Labirith was plunged into a devastating darkness.
Throughout the realm of shadow, altars featuring what are referred to as tutelary deities are a frequent sight. These are where Revered Spirit Ashes can be found, and were sacred to the Hornsent civilization that flourished there in the times before the Golden Order.
Just as Omens would go on to be reviled in time of the Erdtree, the Hornsent had their own groups they deemed undesirable. Among these were the Curseblades, of which Meera was one such individual. According to the item description, these are beings who once failed to become tutelary deities and were in turn locked away.
