Lands Between is the stage of the story of ELDEN RING.

However, its nature is little known, and you may think like below:

What is the meaning of the name Lands Between
What is outside the Lands Between?
Is the Lands Between a planet?

In this article, a native Japanese writer explained the structure of the Lands Between including Japanese backgrounds.

目次 (Contents)

Basic Notes
The Name of “Lands Between”
Lands Between and Outside World
Postscript

Basic Notes

First, let’s summarize what we can see about the Lands Between.

From the map of Lands Between above, we can see that the Lands Between consists of Erdtree, lands, sea, and fog.

So, let’s think about these components.

By the way, the motif of the Land Between may be the ancient earth, because the shape of the land is similar, as shown below

Erdtree

The symbol of the Lands Between is Erdtree standing in the center of the world.

The role of the Erdtree is to record the soul and body and give them eternal life.

In addition, the Erdtree may be the World Tree coexisting with the Elde Beast, Golden Order itself, which is explained in detail later.

Lands

The lands in the map of Lands Between would actually reffers the Lands Between, which is explained in detail later.

In addition, one of the important place is underground.

There is the world that looks like outer space under the map of Lands Between, which is explained in detail later.

Sea and Fog

The Lands Between is surrounded by fog.

And, the fog separates the Lands Between from the outside world, which is implied in the texts below.

Prologue
Ye dead who yet live, your grace long lost, follow the path to the Lands Between beyond the foggy sea to stand before the Elden Ring.

Opening
The great Elden Ring was shattered.
In our home, across the fog, the Lands Between.

From the text above, you can see that there is Lands Between beyond the fog.

In addition, the fog would represent the boundary between life and death.

In fact, we can see boats floating on the sea on the map of Lands Between.

The ship must be Tibia Mariner that has the role to guide the souls of the dead.

Tibia’s Summons
The dead have long been left to wander; what they need is leadership.

From the above points, souls who died in the outside world pass through the fog, cross the sea, and come to the Lands Between.

By the way, we can see some gorgeous boats in the map of Lands between.

And, people exiled from the Lands Between would be on the gorgeous boats.

Actually, boats are used when people left the Lands Between, as described in the text of Rusted Anchor.

Rusted Anchor
A rusty anchor wielded as a weapon. Each of its four flukes is thick and sharp, enabling piercing attacks.
While the Tarnished left the Lands Between with their Lord, one boat alone was said to have been left behind.

By the way, the Tarnished mentioned above would be Godfrey.

Those are about the sea and fog.

The Name of “Lands Between”

Next, let’s think about the name of “Lands Between”.

In conclusion, Lands Between would represent the place between life and death.

This is because Erdtree a symbol of Lands Between plays a role to circulate life and death.

In addition, the following facts are also consistent with this interpretation.

I will explain it later.

Lands Between and Outside World

There are few texts that clearly state the positional relationship between the Lands Between and the outside world.

So, I guessed and made the picture shown below.

The evidences of this picure is explained below.

Space

First, the bottom layer would be a space.

We can see the concept of space actually exists in the world of ELDEN RING from the Japasene text of Scepter of the All-Knowing.

Scepter of the All-Knowing
Scepter in the form of a hand grasping a pearl. Signature weapon
of Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing. The pearl stands for the
world, the heavens, and an eye, representing the many forms of
knowledge, never fully attainable. Even knowing that, the All-
Knowing’s hand grasps for it.

百智の王笏
珠を掴み取る手を象った王笏
その珠は、世界であり、宇宙であり、瞳であり
識ることの終わりなきを示している
それでも、百智卿は手を伸ばすのだ

The “heavens” is translated into “宇宙”（space）in Japanese version.

In the real world we live in, the most fundamental layer is generally space, so let’s think so in the world of ELDEN RING.

Greater Will

And, the Greater Will would be in space.

That is because Enia implied that Greater Will is somewhere far from the Lands Between.

Enia
Well, you managed to return.
You know what this means. The Erdtree has spurned you.
The Fingers remain still.
Shaken by this turn of events, they are busy consulting the Greater Will.
When they are finished, the Fingers will once again offer their guidance.
But thousands, if not tens of thousands, of moons must first pass.
No matter for me. But you? How will you ever manage the wait…

In Japanese, the “consulting” is translated into “交信” a term used when communicating between distant locations, such as between the ground and space.

In addition, the consulting needs thousands days, which suggests Greater Will is somewhere far from the Lands Between.

And, Divine Towers are designed to be quite high, which would be for Two Fingers, at the top of the Divine Tower, communicating with Greater Will existing in the space.

From these points, I assumed that the Greater Will exists in the space outside of Erde.

Outer God

The Outer Gods would exist in the space, just like the Greater Will.

One evidence is that the Outer Gods need a communication, as described in the text of Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear.

Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear
Trident of Mohg, Lord of Blood. A sacred spear that will come to symbolize his dynasty.
As well as serving as a weapon, it is an instrument of communion with an outer god who bestows power upon accursed blood.
The mother of truth desires a wound.

The text above implies that the Outer Gods are far from the Lands Between.

In addition, the original source of the Outer God in ELDEN RING would be Outer Ones in Cthulhu Mythos.

Outer Ones in Cthulhu Mythos
The creation of the universe, the existence that was drifting in the outer space before the big bang.
Or it could be the Big Bang itself, a being that transcends the human imagination.
They are often said to be disembodied supernatural beings or masses of pure energy, and even the beings called the Great Old Ones just prostrate themselves.
It is said that external gods rarely interfere with humans, but the existence of Nyarlathotep, who is summoned by humans himself, is an exception.
An existence beyond the reach of human intellect. It is really dangerous to look into even a fraction of it.（Quotes）

As described above, the Outer Ones in Cthulhu mythology are conceptual entities that drift in space without having a physical body and rarely interfere with humans unless they interfere from humans.

And, these features of the Outer Ones is similar to those in ELDEN RING.

In fact, Mohg seems to be pulling the something out of empty space when he gets his powers from the Outer Gods.

In addition, the eye of the Fire Giant, who gained power from an outer god, reflects the same pattern as the surface of Jupiter.

The eye of the Fire Giant (left), and the surface of Jupiter (right)

From these points, the Outer Gods would be in space.

Stars and Moon

Next, stars would be in the range of Erde.

That is because the power of Elden Ring extends to the stars.

Announcement Trailer
I doubt you could even imagine it… that which commanded the stars, giving life its fullest brilliance. The Elden Ring – ohhh, Elden Ring! Shattered… by someone, or something. Don’t tell me you can’t see it. Look up at the sky. It burns!

From the text above, the Erde contains the stars.

In addition, the moon follows the stars in ELDEN RING, so the moon would be in the heigher hierarchy than the stars.

Moon of Nokstella
This legendary talisman is a treasure of Nokstella, the Eternal City.
Increases memory slots.
This talisman represents the lost black moon.
The moon of Nokstella was the guide of countless stars.

The relationship between moon and stars are explained in this article.

And, the Greater Will can manipulate the stars but not the moon.

Remembrance of the Naturalborn
A malformed star born in the flightless void far away. Once destroyed an Eternal City and took away their sky. A falling star of ill omen.

Elden Stars
It is said that long ago, the Greater Will sent a golden star bearing a beast into the Lands Between, which would later become the Elden Ring.

Therefore, I put the Greater Will and the moon on the same layer, and put the stars in the layer below.

Erde

In this game ELDEN RING, Erde and Land’s Between are used interchangeably.

However, I think that Erde represents the heavenly realm of the world ELDEN RING, and the Lands Between represents the ground part of the Erde.

When interpreted in this way, there are many points of agreement.

For example, there is no term “Lands Between’s Lord” but “Elden Lord”.

So, I think the Erde would contain the Lands Between.

In addition, Enia said that the Great Forge of the Giants the highest peak in the Lands Between, which suggest that the Lands Between does not refer to the entire Erde, but to the ground part of Erde.

Enia
You must find kindling. Only the smoldering flame in the Great Forge of the Giants,
on the highest peak in the Lands Between, can burn the Erdtree.

Also, the prologue below make sense if the Lands Between represents the ground.

Prologue
Ye dead who yet live, your grace long lost, follow the path to the Lands Between beyond the foggy sea to stand before the Elden Ring.

From these points, the ground part of the Erde would be the Lands Between.

Along with this, God, Elden Lord, was placed in the same hierarchy as Erde.

Erdtree

I think that the Erdtree stands on the underworld such as badlands.

The evidences are below.

Evidence1: World Tree

The motif to Erdtree would be World Tree, which is implied in what Enia said.

Enia
Only the smoldering flame in the Great Forge of the Giants,
on the highest peak in the Lands Between, can burn the Erdtree.
But special kindling is required to reignite the flame.
For the flame to burn the Erdtree, a sacrifice is needed. Of one who envisions the flame.

エンヤ
世界樹を焼く火は、狭間の地の最も高い場所、巨人の大釜に燻っている
けれど、それを燃やすには、特別な種火が必要なのさね
…火の幻視を宿す者、その贄だけが、大釜の火で世界樹を焼くんだよ

In Japanese, Erdtree (黄金樹) is sometimes translated into World Tree (世界樹).

So, we can see that the Erdtree and the World Tree would be somehow related.

In addition, wikipedia says that World Tree stands on the underworld and reaches to hevenly world.

So, Erdtree would also stands on the underworld and reaches to the Erde.

Evidence2: Root of Erdtree

The second evidence is about the root of Erdtree.

As a premise, the Erdtree is Elden Beast coexistiong with the World Tree.

And, we can see the root of Erdtree in the underground area, the Nameless Eternal City.

And if you look closely at this area, you can see two kinds of parts of Erdtree, yellow roots and white trunks.

The yellow roots must be the tail of Elden Beast, and the white trunks would be that of World Tree.

By the way, we can see only white trunks in Nokron.

That would be because Nokron is so far from the Erdtree that the tail of Elden Beast cannot reach there.

In summary, Elden Beast would be rooted in the Lands Between, and the World Tree would be rooted in the ground of underworld.

Evidence3: Starry Sky of Underground

Starry sky spreads in the underground of Lands Between.

The starry sky would represent the sky seen from the underworld.

In the world of ELDEN RING, lights represent the soul.

In addition, since the Erdtree calls the souls from its roots, what is we can see from the underworld would be the lights of the soul.

Dialogue of the ghost at Stormfoot Catacombs
A proper death means returning to the Erdtree…the root calls to you

I think the reason why the starry sky exists is that the developers wanted to imply the existance underworld.

Underworld

As I mentioned earlier, the Lands Between and the underworld are connected through the fog.

Furthermore, if you died in the underworld, your soul would return to the Lands Between because Hoarah Loux returns to the Lands Between again after dying in a Badland.

The upper photo would be Hoarah Loux who died in the Badland, and the lower photo would be Godfrey’s soul, which is implied in what Marika says.

Marika
My Lord, and thy warriors. I divest each of thee of thy grace.
With thine eyes dimmed, ye will be driven from the Lands Between. Ye will wage war in a land afar, where ye will live, and die.

Marika
Then, after thy death, I will give back what I once claimed.
Return to the Lands Between, wage war, and brandish the Elden Ring.
Grow strong in the face of death. Warriors of my lord. Lord Godfrey.

Also, Marika’s words below implies that the underworld is not included in Erde.

Marika
The Erdtree governs all. The choice is thine. Become one with the Order. Or divest thyself of it. To wallow at the fringes; a powerless upstart.

There may be areas where the orders of the Elden Ring do not reach, and I thikk that this is the underworld.

From these points, the underworld exists under the Lands Between and outside the Elde.

World Lines

There will be some World Trees in the world of ELDEN RING.

One of the reasons is the background at the fighting of Elden Beast.

This background may imply the existance of World Trees.

In addition, the texts below implies the existances of other world lines.

Numen
The face of the Numen, supposed descendants of denizens of another world. Long-lived but seldom born

Samurai
A capable fighter from the distant land of reeds. Handy with Katana and Longbows.

And, assuming the existence of other world lines, we can also interpret the storm beyond time.

In other words, the storm beyond time is the place where the world lines are crossed, and the flow of time differs for each world line.

In fact, the storm beyond time seems to cut through the fog, so the place would be connected to another world.

Moreover, in the storm beyond time, we can reduce the influence of Outer Gods, as described in the text of Miquella’s Needle.

Miquella’s Needle
One of the unalloyed gold needles that Miquella crafted to ward away the meddling of outer gods.
Capable of subduing the flame of frenzy if inherited, allowing one to cheat fate and avoid becoming Lord of Frenzied Flame.
However, the needle is as yet unfinished and can only be used in the heart of the storm beyond time said to be found in Faram Azula.

The influence of Outer Gods cannot reach to other worlds, so we can reduce the influence in the storm beyond time.

From these points, there will be other world lines, and the storm beyond time would be the place where the world lines crossed.

Postscript

This article explained the structure of Lands Between.