The Lore of Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon – Elden Ring

Elden Ring, as every game made by From Software, is a mix of epicness, creepiness and terrible sadness. 
Rennala, Queen of The Full Moon and head of the house of Caria, is a perfect example which embodies all aforementioned feelings. 

She really reminded me of No Eyes, a warrior dream in Hollow Knight (here’s an article about Hollow knight, by the way), since her sadness and eventual madness have strong connections to motherhood.  

I remember reaching the Academy of Raya Lucaria for the first time, and after entering the Grand Library, I felt goosebumps all over me because of what was awaiting. 

Today we will talk about one of my favorite characters in Elden Ring, and we will uncover her sad descent into madness. 

The Day Rennala Met the Full Moon 

Rennala was a young astrologer studying at the Academy of Raya Lucaria that, according to the Stargazer Heirloom, “had always chased the stars every step of her journey”. 
One day it is said that she met a full moon, and what happened after that is up to speculation: Rennala either developed Lunar magic by being inspired by the moon, or said moon gave her the literal power to summon it. 

I would opt for the first one, as the moon, aside from being then used as a source of power, is not considered really a “being” with a will. 

Rennala will later return to Raya Lucaria, and after showing her newfound powers, will “bewitch” the entire Academy with them. 
In a short period of time, Rennala will gain a lot of influence thanks to her Lunar Magic. She will institute the Carian royal family and become not only the head of the academy, but the queen of Raya Lucaria as a whole.  

Rennala’s army: The Carian Knights 

Now a queen with a kingdom, she needed an army.  
Let alone the commoners, Raya Lucaria Soldiers, her elite force was not as numerous as you might think. 

Rennala had less than twenty knights.  

But those were not your average knights, as they were incredibly versatile and powerful warriors with the ability to cast glintstone magic: their sword was embedded with a blue glintstone, thus they could also use their weapon as a catalyst. 

These knights were not only locals. Some of them were massive trolls, which were nonetheless treated as true knights and appointed with a colossal great sword. 

One of the most renowned Carian knights would be Loretta. She was a personal guard for the Carian royalty, even though she would later embark on a quest and abandon service. 

The Liurnian Wars: Rennala meets Radagon 

Marika and her House of the Erdtree were trying to unify the lands under the Golden Order… and this meant full-scale war. 
The Golden Order invaded Liurnia of the Lake, and waged war against the Carian Family.  

Godfrey, general of the Golden Order army and husband to Marika, appears to not have participate directly in these battles, but the first Liurnian War saw the rise of Radagon, a champion of the Golden Order, who will distinguish himself for his strength. 

Thanks to the glory he earned in the first war, he was given the honor to lead the army in the second war, but this time he faced Rennala and her Carian knights directly.  
Although fewer in number, the Carian Knights were strong enough to withstand the army of the Golden Order, which resulted in a stalemate. 

Affection sprouted from the battlefield, as Radagon fell in love with Rennala. He later decided to drop any act of conquest and married her in the Church of Vows. 

The house of Caria was therefore annexed to the Golden Order.  

Rennala’s Marriage and Motherhood 

Although a marriage of this kind may have strong political implications, it seems like Rennala and Radagon really loved each other. They ended up having 3 children who will later become some of the most important characters in the Lore of Elden Ring: Ranni The Witch, Starscourge Radahn and Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy. 

She will develop a strong bond with Ranni, as she will accompany her to make her discover a Dark Moon, similar to her encounter with the Full Moon. 

Those children are described in Elden Ring as demigods, so one question arises: how come they are demigods when neither Rennala nor Radagon were gods or demigods? 

The answer, like much of Elden Ring Lore, is “because of Marika”. 

After uniting the lands under the Golder Order, Marika banished her first husband, Godfrey, and took Radagon as her new partner. This one will therefore become the second Elden Lord. 
Their children, then stepchildren to a god, were elevated to the status of demigods and were tutored under the Erdtree precepts. 

From a happy, growing family, Rennala found herself alone in her kingdom. Her only comfort was Radagon’s gift, an Amber egg called “The Rune of the Unborn”, which she clutched dearly. 

Rennala’s descent into madness 

Radagon’s departure broke Rennala’s heart and mind. 
She had no more will to lead the royal family or the Academy, and the other students, after taking notice of her new behavior, stripped her of the title of champion and locked her and some of her faithful followers in the grand library. 

Lonely and with the Rune of the Unborn, Rennala started to study the art of Rebirth. It was, however, an imperfect art, since every time she tried to use it on her followers, the results were far from good: their new “children” were short-lived, frail, and with no memories of their own.  

This is the state in which our Tarnished, the main character, finds Rennala in the Academy of Raya Lucaria.  
The meeting will lead to one of the creepiest boss fights ever, where we must kill reborn students to weaken Rennala in the first phase. After weakening her enough, Ranni, Rennala’s daughter, will come in aid of her mother. 

The second phase switches the atmosphere to epicness giving us a glimpse of Rennala’s better days as Queen of the Full Moon. Ranni will summon a spirit resembling Rennala at the peak of her power, which will fight us under a Full Moon.  
After a fierce fight, however, the spirit will be defeated and Rennala will stay alive. 

She will continue perfecting her art, aiding the Tarnished to respec their attribute points through reincarnation. 

Conclusion 

This was just a sad story of a brokenhearted, lonely woman. It is a story that shows how feelings of love are so powerful to surpass ambitions and statuses and can cause terrible damages when coming to a halt. 

When I played, I was at least happy that I did not have to kill her, because she does not really deserve that fate. I was also happy that Ranni really cared for her mother after all and was willing to protect her even in that state. 

Well, that is it for this article! If you liked it, and you like From Software’s other games, you can check this article about the lore of Dark Souls. 

I will see you, dear reader, in the next article!