The Chanting Winged Dame is one of Elden Ring’s many monsters but is unique in that she sings a hauntingly beautiful Latin chant, as long as she is uninterrupted. Though, many players rarely hear her entire song as they shoot her down with magic from afar or sneak up behind her to claim the golden runes that she drops when she is killed.
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Redditor, TheFlightlessPenguin, though, takes a deep dive into the Latin chant and even presents a translation into English. Immediately, it becomes clear that there is more to this enemy than merely being a siren-type creature that lures in her prey with her beautiful song. The Chanting Winged Dame sings about the Lands Between, motherhood, wailing and weeping, and a Golden One, which culminate in a heart-wrenching narrative about loss that manifests in the haunting song.
The land that was once blessed but is now withered is referencing the Lands Between that used to be blessed by the Erdtree but are now weakened by the shattering of the Elden Ring. The words “destinatae matribus” have the double meaning of those destined for motherhood and also brides, which is why the Chanting Winged Dame can be seen wearing bridal ornaments on her head. They wail and weep because they were supposed to be married and become mothers, but they were abandoned by grace and became tarnished, which is the word used to describe those that were banished from the Lands Between by Queen Marika and also to refer to the player characters. And finally, they ask the Golden One, probably the God or Grace they worship, why they are so angry, and they lament their fate in the form of a harrowing song.
Clearly, so much care and thought have gone into the building of the lore for Elden Ring that it is easy to overlook something as simple as the repetitive song dialogue of an enemy monster. The lore adds depth and emotion to the game and may even dissuade players from mercilessly massacring the Chanting Winged Dames.
Though it may seem silly to some to think about an obscure translation of a Latin chant during a playthrough of a video game and to actually take it into consideration when making gameplay decisions, there is something to be said about the lore and how it impacts an RPG. The vast scope of Elden Ring, along with its many characters and creatures, makes it the perfect harbor for environmental storytelling, and surely, there will be many such discoveries in the future.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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