Godwyn the Golden

LOG · Elden Ring · Tome I · Godwyn the Golden

◈ CHARACTER

Prince of Death · The First Dead

"The Routing of the Ancient Dragons Godwyn the Golden fought to the last, Earning the friendship of dread Fortissax"
Sword Monument, Altus Plateau

Godwyn was the firstborn son of Marika and Godfrey, the Golden Prince, beloved by all, the champion who won the friendship of the dragon Fortissax during the war against the Ancient Dragons (he "fought until the very last, winning the friendship of the fearsome Fortissax"). His death during the Night of the Black Knives was the first demigod death in the history of the Golden Order, and the strangest: the Assassins used daggers imbued with the Rune of Death to kill his soul only, leaving his body alive. This inverted pattern, body alive, soul dead, created something entirely new: Godwyn became the Prince of Death, the first of the Deathless Undead.

His soulless living body proliferated beneath the roots of the Erdtree, replicating into fish-corpses, vegetative flesh-masses, and monstrous forms that infest the Deeproot Depths. The Deathroots propagated by his rotting body fed Gurranq/Maliketh, who consumed them to contain Destined Death. His Hallowbrand (the mark of the half-wheel millipede imprinted on his flesh) was found at Roundtable Hold, Fia came specifically for this mark. Fia lies with Godwyn in the Deeproot Depths to conceive the Rune of the Death-Prince, a mythic child destined to be the Lord of the Deathless. Rogier discovered the body beneath Stormveil Castle and touched a death-root: the death-gangrene that paralyzed and slowly killed him came directly from that encounter. Fortissax, his dragon friend, voluntarily entered the Deeproot Depths to fight the Death consuming Godwyn, and was himself corrupted in the process, becoming the Lichdragon.

◆ Sources

Boss Lore

Remembrance of the Lichdragon

Alternatively, it can be used to gain a great bounty of runes. After Godwyn the Golden became the Prince of Death, the ancient dragon fought long and hard against the Death within its companion. Alas, victory was never achieved and its only reward was corruption.

NPC Dialogue

Shabriri (Dialogue)

Hark, Roundtable. Disturb not the Death of Godwyn, the exalted. We, who humbly live in Death... Live in waiting, to one day welcome our Lord. Then you must kill me. For I am the companion of Godwyn, Prince of Death. I wished to be a mother to Those Who Live in Death. So it is, that any loathing, any hatred that overshadows them... Yet you still wish to be held by me? I will soon lay with Godwyn. And it will surely stir within me. the new life of the golden prince, and first Dead of the demigods, as the rune of Those Who Live in Death. Please, do one thing for me. By becoming our Elden Lord. To conceive my child, the rune. Brandish my rune, and take for yourself the throne. But I am satisfied. I choose to lie with Godwyn of my own will. Not the remains of one chosen for me. And I will bear a child. When the first of the demigods died, his flesh was marked with the half-wheel wound of the centipede. Godwyn's hallowbrand has since been recovered at the Roundtable Hold. But there is another hallowbrand out there somewhere. And I must find it. Before the time comes we receive our Lord. When Godwyn died, a hallowbrand scored his flesh. But another exists. Another mark in the shape of the half-wheel wound of the centipede. Will you still let me hold you, even then? Oh, my utmost thanks. With this, Godwyn can take his rightful place as First of the Dead. And claim a second, illustrious life. You are my-- our true champion. Can I hold you tight, if only for a moment? Godwyn... Is that you, dear? Will your kind never stop?

NPC Dialogue

Dung Eater (Dialogue)

Someone stole a fragment of the Rune of Death from Maliketh, the Black Blade. And on a bitter night, murdered Godwyn the Golden. That was the first recorded Death of a demigod in all history. And it became the catalyst.

Weapon

Lightning Spear

Charging causes a lightning bolt to strike the point of impact. Long ago, Godwyn the Golden defeated the ancient dragon Fortissax, and befriended his fallen foe—an event that gave rise to the ancient dragon cult in the capital.

Weapon

Black Knife

Dagger once belonging to one of the assassins who murdered Godwyn the Golden on the Night of the Black Knives. A ritual performed on the oddly misshapen blade imbued it with the power of the stolen Rune of Death.

Weapon

Golden Epitaph

A sword made to commemorate the death of Godwyn the Golden, first of the demigods to die. Infused with the humble prayer of a young boy; "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death."

Incantation

Prince of Death's Pustule

Raises vitality. (Vitality governs resistance to the effects of Death.) It is said that this pustule came from the visage of the Prince of Death, he who used to be called Godwyn. As First Dead of the demigods, it's said he's buried deep under the capital, at the Erdtree's roots.

Godwyn the Golden

◆ Read next