The Inferno in Elden Ring
By JB Maeng
Elden Ring is a worldbuilding masterpiece constructed by George R.R. Martin and Hidetaka Miyazaki with the idea of mythological mysticism in mind. While drawing inspiration from the Dark Souls series, it is considered a separate work in terms of the world that the creators seek to create. Miyazaki’s storytelling style makes Dante’s Inferno have more of an implicit impact through the themes that are established by the Inferno which are used in Elden Ring.
Elden Ring accomplishes its sense of mysticism and mythology by employing various thematic elements encompassing religion, culture, and mythology in a manner similar to the Inferno. Using the Golden Order, a religious power, as an in-game parallel to Christianity portrayed in a way similar to as depicted in Dante’s Inferno, Elden Ring uses the interactions of the Golden Order with the other religions it places to form a cohesive world that merges all these different sects. This is similar to Dante’s Inferno, as it merges the influence of Greek mythology, Christianity, Pagan characters, Roman characters, and even Islamic (Battistoni, Giorgio, and Hall) parallels.
Additionally, Elden Ring seems to embrace the trope of the Seven Deadly Sins established by Dante. The Seven Deadly Sins of Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth, Wrath, and Pride align directly with the Shardbearers of Elden Ring, who the player character must defeat in order to achieve the ending of the game. This journey is reflective of Dante’s own journey through the Inferno, and even beyond the Inferno to Purgatorio.
Through the various depictions of Christianity combined with other real-world religions, paired with the character’s journey through the equivalent of the Seven Deadly Sins, Elden Ring draws from themes shown in Dante’s Divine Comedy to produce a world with the mysticism intended by Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin.
Works Cited
Elden Ring, Microsoft Windows, FromSoftware Inc, 2022
Dante Alighieri, and Allen Mandelbaum. Inferno. Illustrated by Barry Moser, University of California Press, 1982
Battistoni, Giorgio, and Kyle M. Hall. “Dante and the Three Religions.” Dante Studies, with the Annual Report of the Dante Society, no. 125, 2007, pp. 249–70. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40350667. Accessed 12 Dec. 2023.
Dhabliwala, Fr. Neil. “What’s the Origin of the Jesse Tree?” St. Catherine, 25 Nov. 2019, www.stcatherinercc.org/single-post/2019/11/25/whats-the-origin-of-the-jesse-tree.
Angelico, Fra. “Fresco.” The Yorck Project, 2002, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:10,000_paintings_from_Directmedia. Accessed 12/11/2023