A Timeline of Hearsay

• On June 13, 2016 Miyazaki claimed that a dark fantasy action RPG from a "different perspective than Dark Souls" was planned in an interview with 4Gamer.

• On March 27, 2019 Spawn Wave made a video with the first details regarding Elden Ring in part of a collaborative investigation with Liam Robertson.

• On March 28, 2019 an article was written in regards to Spawn Wave's post. Several other articles followed soon after.

• Following this, a great deal of speculation regarding the game occured, including a r/darksouls post regarding the above article.

At this point there had been no mention of anything regarding Norse mythology or the title "Great Rune."

• On May 20, 2019 a 4chan post claims FromSoftware is making a Norse-themed game, internally titled "Project Rune."

• This post makes several claims that are verifiably false, and completely omits any detail regarding GRRM, the open world, and horseback riding.

• This is the first mention of a Norse theme regarding the game.

• On May 21, 2019 Gematsu claims that "A person familiar with ongoings at FromSoftware" has told them the game is internally known as "GR."

• Several weeks later Dark Souls modder TKGP, discovered an unused asset pathway found in Sekiro's material configs containing the alleged project title "GR."

• On May 21, 2019 (six hours later) WCCFTech claims the game is called "Great Rune" and is based on Norse mythology, only citing the above 4chan post.

• On May 22, 2019 Italian journalist & FromSoftware insider Antonio Fucito expresses doubt regarding the title "Great Rune."

• On May 23, 2019 r/GreatRune became active, solely moderated by user "e_0" who also moderates several FromSoftware related subs, as well as r/codevein and r/Valheim_Seeds

• On May 24, 2019 GameRant reports that the subreddit was already two years old prior to its activation.

• On May 25, 2019 SegmentNext suggests that it is possible that the sub was just recently activated in order to take advantage of the name.

• On May 26, 2019 VaatiVidya makes a video based on these rumors.

At this point in time it becomes widely circulated that FromSoftware is working on a game based on Norse mythology titled "Great Rune."

The rumors regarding Norse mythology are entirely rooted in the validity of the 4chan post above, which contained several verifiably false claims along side several correct claims that had already been public knowledge at the time.

• On May 30, 2019 a certain individual makes a hype post for the game, and suggests that people expecting a Norse-themed game might end up disappointed.

• On June 9, 2019 Elden Ring is announced at E3

• The game is described as a "new world" created by Miyazaki & GRRM

• Xbox and IGN interviews with Miyazaki are released.

• In both interviews Miyazaki describes the game as a dark fantasy action RPG with an original mythos created through his collaboration with GRRM. At no point, does he allude to the game being Norse themed.

• These interviews verify him as the game's director (contradicting the 4chan post).

• He verifies that the game will be an open world "evolution" of Dark Souls, stating that the gameplay is "not so far" from it.

• He verifies that you will be able to design and control your own unique character (contradicting the 4chan post).

• On October 22, 2019 VaatiVidya announces an Elden Ring art competition, requiring submissions to be based on Norse or Celtic folklore & mythology.

From this point forward, the only mentions of any connections to Norse mythology come from r/Eldenring, derivative 4chan posts, and low-effort clickbait articles based on them. There has since been nothing to substantiate this rumor.