George R.R. Martin denies Elden Ring Easter egg with his name, says it’s “made up”

Elden Ring is full of Easter eggs that give nods to author George R.R. Martin and his works — the Grafted Blade Greatsword is clearly modeled after Game of Thrones’ coveted Iron Throne. There’s one Easter egg, however, that Martin denies. Some character naming conventions are just a coincidence.

It seemed like Elden Ring was hiding the Easter egg in plain sight: its eight demigods have names that begin with the letter G, R, or M — the same initials as Martin himself. In fact, four key bosses are literally the same letters: Godrick, Rennala, Radagon, and Marika. While this is still true, it is not in fact an intentional Easter egg, as it turns out.

In a new blog post, Martin included a paragraph about Elden Ring. Apparently, the pattern of character names is news to the creator too. “I have been writing and publishing stories since 1971, and I suspect that I have been giving characters names beginning with R and G and M since the start,” Martin explains. “I am fond of giving family members and close kin names that have something in common.” Do the names match up? Yes. Did Martin intend for this to be some hidden thing to discover? No. “Elden Ring is exciting enough,” he concludes. “[There’s] no need to make stuff up.”

It certainly is an exciting game. If you want the aforementioned Grafted Blade Greatsword, aka the Sword of Morne, we can show you where to find it. Be warned: you’ll need to beat Leonine Misbegotten as part of the quest.