The Lord of the Rings is an indomitable fantasy franchise with incredible influence in the genre. It is nearly impossible not to compare contemporary fantasy to The Lord of the Rings, at least in terms of iconography or the choice of relevant themes, trinkets, and terrors. Elden Ring, no less, inspired these comparisons with its title alone.
Not that The Lord of the Rings has a monopoly on all of fantasy, but its impact has been significant since its release. Elden Ring does have The Lord of the Rings influences, as well as influences from other fantasy franchises and tabletop RPGs that bear familiar elements. Recently, the tumultuous journey Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee depart on has been realistically recreated in Elden Ring's Lands Between, and the resemblance it has to The Lord of the Rings is striking.
TikTok user @p1cklel0verr has invited Frodo and Sam from The Lord of the Rings to Elden Ring and demonstrates what the Hobbits' adventure would look like if the Lands Between was substituted for Middle-earth. The lonesome companions can be seen resting at campfires of their making, sprinting across Limgrave's lush fields as they leave the Shire, trekking through Liurnia as it represents the Dead Marshes, and racing through Caelid, which aptly resembles the desolate horrors of Mordor.
The TikTok user makes creative substitutions for certain characters that obviously do not exist within both IPs; for example, Frodo and Sam hide crouched in bushes as a Ringwraith, substituted for one of the Night's Cavalry, passes by. Sam also rushes in to strike Shelob, who is represented by Elden Ring's Grafted Scion in Liurnia of the Lakes, as Frodo lies still in the fetal position gesture.
The Hobbits sneak around near Liurnia's Frenzy-Flaming Tower, which has a swirling flame atop it and therefore closely emulates Mordor's Barad-dûr. If within view of the tower, players are quickly afflicted with Elden Ring's madness status effect and must approach it while in cover, just as the Hobbits needed to do as they crept around Barad-dûr.
Finally, Frodo and Sam rest at their journey's end on the slopes of Mount Doom subsequent to the completion of their task, which is depicted perfectly atop Elden Ring's Mt. Gelmir. The TikTok user's recreation shows that the two are similar in terms of their iconography and fantastical locations, and the Shire's theme is played overtop to fully sell the authentic immersion.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
