Elden Ring’s Shadow Tree has a more interesting name in English but has caused pronunciation problems for fans
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree includes the Shadow Tree. In Italian it is a simple and clear name, but in English there are many more meaning games and it is interesting to discover the details.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree , as you might guess from its name, is linked to the Shadow Tree which takes the place of the Mother Tree in the base game. In Italian, however, its name is a bit too direct and explicit and loses the linguistic finesse of the English version.
In English, in fact, it is called ” Scadutree “. But what does “Scadu” mean?
The English version of Elden Ring’s Shadow Tree
Scadutree is a particular term. Streamer DrDeComposing – who is known for completing the base game using a saxophone – analyzed the word and explained that in Old English “sc” is pronounced like the modern “sh”, so Scadutree is actually pronounced Shadutree. In other words Shadu-tree, or Shadow – Tree. Many have only discovered in this way what the correct pronunciation of the English term is.
Elden Ring’s Shadow Tree has a more interesting name in English but has caused pronunciation problems for fans
Today I learned that the “sc” consonant pair is actually pronounced with a “sh” sound in Old English.
That means that the Scadutree is actually pronounced closer to “Shadutree” — Shadow Tree.
FROMSOFT YOU LINGUISTIC NERDS I LOVE YOU pic.twitter.com/8LU3urnmfw
— Dr. Doot 🎷 (@DrDeComposing) June 26, 2024
More precisely, although Scadu is not a real word, it is plausible that it is derived from Old English Sceadu, which then became Middle English Schadowe and finally Modern English Shadow.
It is also not new that the terms used for trees originate from Old English. For example, Haligtree is based on the word that later became “holy”, meaning sacred. In fact, in Italian it is called Albero Sacro. Erdtree, on the other hand, is based on the term that later became Earth, so technically it is called Albero della terra (in Italian it is Albero Madre, like Madre terra if you like). This also creates a trio of meanings: the three trees represent the sacred (which can be understood as heaven), the earth (or the plane of life), and the shadow (intended as the underworld or the dead, an interpretation supported by the fact that in the plot the lands of the Shadow are where everything that is dead ends).
In Italian some of the meanings remain, but in English the linguistic game is much more elaborate and interesting , which is why we wanted to share it with you.
However, if these language games don’t help you overcome the difficulties of the DLC, know that even the creator of Elden Ring says he “sucks” at video games and needs all the help he can get . Don’t be too hard on yourself, then.