The Theft of Fire

In nearly every mythology around the world, there exists a story about fire. Fire is the thing that separates man from all other animals on the Earth. More often than not, fire is seen as a godlike power, stolen from the deities and gifted to man, allowing them to conquer the world in a way no other animal could. The figures who so brazenly absconded with the knowledge of flame are featured as prominent figures in many myths. The Greeks had Prometheus; Polynesian peoples had Maui; Native American tribes across the continent have various different animal spirits like Coyote, Rabbit, or Possum; and the mythology of Elden Ring names a character called Adan.

Not much is known about Adan in-game, appearing in the Malefactor's Evergaol and mentioned only in the same breath as the Flame of the Fell God which he purportedly stole. The description of the spell names Arghanthy, a noble and "Chief Guardian" of the flame, as the man from whom the flame was stolen, but there is a deeper connection to real myth here. The Flame of the Fell God, as is to be expected, is said to be created and begotten of the Fell God, another loosely-defined and scarcely represented figure in Elden Ring. The Fell God is referenced as being an opposing force to Queen Marika and the Erdtree (rightly so, as the flame is one of scant few forces that can burn the thorns and branches of the tree). Echoes of the Fell God still exist in the world, however, not only in the form of the Fire Monks who guard the flame, but in the sole remaining Fire Giant that impedes the journey of the player as they venture through the Forbidden Lands.

Upon the chest of the Fire Giant can be seen a second face, with one singular eye that opens upon depleting half of the boss' health. While not explicitly stated, it is heavily implied that this is the face of the Fell God whom Marika defeated, sealing the Forbidden Lands and the dangerous flame away from the Erdtree for good.

So, we have the bones of a story here: The Fell God opposed the Erdtree with its forbidden flame, Marika defeated her foe, worshippers of the flame posted guard to protect what remained of the blasphemous embers, and a man named Adan fled as far as Liurnia with the stolen flame, pursued by the monks who established camps in the surrounding area. But how similar is Adan to our other fire-thieves? We may never know what his plans were, as the player finds him imprisoned in an Evergaol, defeating him without learning much about him.

Let us compare first to the most well-known of our fire-thieves: Prometheus. Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were Titans, beings that ruled over the known world before the Olympians like Zeus took over. Epimetheus was tasked with the creation of all the creatures that would inhabit the Earth, while Prometheus was to oversee his work. Epimetheus granted unique abilities to each creature, but when he came to make humanity, he had run out of aspects to give to them. As a solution, Prometheus decided to light a torch in heaven and bring it down to give to humanity. For this, after the Olympians took power, Zeus had him punished by chaining him to a mountain where an eagle would peck out his liver. Being an immortal, Prometheus' liver would regenerate overnight, and the eagle would return to peck it out again, condemning the Titan to eternal torment.

Here, we have a few parallels to Adan: the fire coming from a heavenly source, as well as their imprisonment make for rather key similarities. Without much more information about Adan, however, it's difficult to draw any conclusions. Prometheus seems to have more in common with the Fire Giant, the protector of the flame, rather than Adan the thief. Both are members of a race in opposition to the established order (Prometheus a Titan in the age of the Olympians, the Fire Giant a blasphemer in the eyes of the Golden Order), and both are imprisoned upon mountains, suffering eternal exile or punishment as meted out by Zeus and Marika, respectively.

Maui as depicted in Disney's Moana

Let us instead take a look at a different deliverer of fire: Maui of various Polynesian cultures. Stories about Maui's search for fire differ among the diverse island peoples, but they do contain certain similarities. The Maori tales tell of a curious demigod who extinguished all the fires of his village, from the biggest bonfire to the smallest candle. The village chief said someone would have to find Mahuika and ask for more. Maui volunteered and paid the goddess a visit, where he discovered that she produced fire from her fingernails. One by one, she gifted Maui her fingernails, only for him to extinguish them. Furious at his impudence, Mahuika threw her last fingernail at Maui, but he dodged it, causing the fire to imbue its essence in the nearby trees. Maui took dry sticks of the trees home and showed his people how to make fire by rubbing the sticks together. The Hawaiian myth comes to a similar conclusion, as Maui captures the leader of a flock of birds who have mastered the secret of fire. The birds reveal to him that certain sticks, when rubbed together, can produce fire. Tongan, Tahitian, Samoan, and more all conclude that the power of fire is stored within wood, and can be unleashed by rubbing sticks together.

The myth becomes rather practical when viewed through this lens, clearly attempting to instruct rather than simply explain about the power of fire. As for connecting any of these tales to Elden Ring, it seems we've come to a dead end once again. Without even a cursory motive, Adan hardly seems like a Maui-esque figure. Similar to both Adan and Prometheus, however, in many of the Polynesian stories, fire is the domain of the gods before it falls into the hands of Maui and/or is absorbed by trees.

There is, perhaps, one story that might better fit the archetypes of Adan and the Fell God than any other we have discussed so far. This story comes from a source both unexpected and entirely sensical. At the dawn of the world, there was only darkness and fog, then fire emerged and so too did disparity. Heat and cold, life and death, light and dark. Four gods arose, claiming souls from the flame: Nito, the first of the dead; the Witch of Izalith and her Daughters of Chaos; Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight; and the furtive pygmy, so easily forgotten.

This is, of course, the opening cinematic of Dark Souls, a previous work by Elden Ring's developer From Software. The "furtive pygmy," as it is known, can by the other Lords be considered a thief of sorts. While Gwyn, Nito, and the Witch of Izalith all became veritable gods in the world of Dark Souls (each of which overcome by the player character in the game), the furtive pygmy is nowhere to be found. It is surmised by players that the pygmy was the progenitor of the titular "Dark Soul" which produced humanity.

As the gods in Dark Souls appear in-game and can be challenged directly, they paint a much clearer picture than the Fell God of Elden Ring. The Fire Monks and Prelates, worshippers of the Fell God, are akin to the followers and knights of Gwyn, notably of a race of giants themselves. Adan, on the other hand, is an NPC much like the player character, not a boss of gargantuan scale like most others. This clearly paints Adan as a pygmy-esque figure in the face of his giant-worshipping brethren.

This may indeed spell the end of our story: the giant Fell God and his worshippers are merely a reference to From's past work. Even if that is true, however, that doesn't mean there's any less significance to the story. In Dark Souls, fire is life, and the "linking" of the First Flame is what maintains the world as we know it. In Elden Ring, the giants' flame is used to burn down the Erdtree and begin the new age founded by our Tarnished warrior.

And that's what fire is: a new beginning. The Promethean fires of creation, the rising of the phoenix from the ashes, the purging of the old to make way for the new, fire is all of these things and more. It truly is no wonder why it is often depicted as a godly power, provided to humans via divine intervention. The gods represent that which stands above even the highest of mortal achievement. Fire is the drive to achieve in spite of impossible odds. It is life, it is light, it is rejuvenation. Truly, mankind could not have chosen a more fitting cultural symbol across all of our many peoples.