Elden Ring Lore: Who are the Banished Knights?

Elden Ring Lore: Banished Knights

In Elden Ring lore, there are two renowned Banished Knights known as The Wings of the Storm. In this article, I will explain their lore and provide more information about the Banished Knights and their gear.

Banished Knights Engval (Left) and Oleg (Right).

Source for the images: https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/

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The Banished Knights and their Gear

You certainly must have encountered Banished Knights in your Elden Ring playthrough. They’re heavily armoured and carry Greatswords, Shields and Halberds. Your first encounter with them was probably in Stormveil Castle. I recommend reading this article to learn more about Stormveil Castle.

By reading the item descriptions of their gear, we learn more about these knights.

Banished Knight’s Armor

This is the most common version of Banished Knight chest armour.

Thick, full set of armor covering the entire body.

This armor was worn by knights who, whether by misfortune or misdeed, were forced to abandon their homes.

Banished Knight Chest Piece (Altered)
Banished Knight Chest Piece (Unaltered)

Their armour sets are actually based on real-life medieval plate armour. Especially the Altered piece. These plate armours were used by various nations, like Germany and Sweden for example. In Germany, there was a variant called “Maximilian armour” that was first made for Emperor Maximilian I.

Armour for Gustav I of Sweden (Source: Wikipedia)
Elden Ring Lore: Banished Knights
Maximilian armour.

As you compare these real-life sets to the in-game altered version, you can clearly see the similarities and it’s obvious that Banished Knight’s armour was based on medieval plate armour.

You can easily understand more about the plate armour by observing this picture from Wikipedia:

Elden Ring Lore: Banished Knights

The Banished Knights wielded beautiful and powerful swords and halberds.

Banished Knight’s Greatsword. It features intricate craftsmanship and decor, and it well suits a renowned Knight.
Banished Knight’s Halberd.

The unaltered version looks quite similar to the sets that Templar Knights wore.

Now that you know of the real-life counterparts of these sets, let’s take a look at the Knights themselves.

Banished Knight Description

Many knights were sent to the fringes, where they were forced to start anew with only despair for company. 

These fierce warriors were each and all accomplished. Perhaps that is why, despite their territorial losses, they were still named knights.

As you can see, these knights had respect and renown. Because of their misdoings or misfortune, they were banished. The lords sent them to the fringes as punishment. Despite being banished, some of these warriors were granted a Hero’s Burial: The Erdtree Burial.

Two of such heroes were The Wings of the Storm.

Engvall and Oleg, the Wings of the Storm

As the name implies, Oleg and Engvall were truly like a storm incarnate. They were lightning fast for their huge size, and they used heavy weaponry as if they were pieces of wood.

Engvall

Engvall is the Halberd-wielding knight. It is implied in the lore that he was an honourable and dutiful knight. Engvall can be found as a Spirit Ash, and his item description has some information about him.

One of the two knights dubbed the Wings of the Storm. Despite his banishment, he rejected the invitation of the Grace-Given Lord, instead keeping watch over a masterless castle for many years, gaining renown as a hero of the fringes.

Engvall had the chance to re-enlist under a Lord but he chose to defend a masterless castle. It’s clear that he was an honourable and duty-bound knight, just like someone you may have met in the game: Edgar the Castellan. He was also a Banished Knight and he chose to defend a castle that was full of rogue servants and other foes.

You can find Engvall’s ashes in the Murkwater Catacombs, which was a place reserved for the burials of heroes like Engvall.

Oleg

Oleg wields two greatswords with extreme skill. He’s very fast and immensely strong, just like Engvall. The Spirit Ash Item Description is as follows:

One of the two knights known as the Wings of the Storm. After his banishment, he attracted the notice of the Grace-Given Lord

and later, having slain a hundred traitors as the Lord’s hand, Oleg earned the hero’s honor of Erdtree Burial.

Oleg re-earned the liking of another lord and he killed a hundred traitors, which is obviously not an easy feat. It seems that Oleg earned more respect than Engvall did, and I have a few reasons for saying so.

While Engvall truly was honourable, he didn’t have a Lord, so he didn’t have anyone to give him more power. He probably earned his Hero’s Burial because of his duty-bound honourable actions, but the place where Engvall was buried and the place where Oleg was buried have a lot of differences. The place where Oleg rests, was truly a fascinating labyrinth while Engvall’s resting place was just another dungeon.

But I must say that both of these warriors deserve the same amount of respect and renown.

Let’s take a look at Oleg’s resting place, Fringefolk Hero’s Grave.

Elden Ring Lore: Banished Knights
Fringefolk Hero’s Grave is a dark and secluded location within the Cave of Knowledge. The confused and aimless dwell within.

It’s like Oleg has his own Tomb for him, and these types of tombs were mostly given to Legendary Heroes like the Ancient Dragon Knight Kristoff so it is clear that Oleg had truly earned tremendous respect and love.

Oleg is also a fan favourite summon. He shreds through bosses like paper and he lasts a quite long time on the battlefield.

An Interesting Item you come across in Fringefolk Hero’s Grave

The Dragon Communion Seal can be obtained after defeating another Banished Knight in this grave. As you progress through the game, you may notice that the Dragon Communion seems to be associated with the Banished Knights and the question is… Why?

There’s a Banished Knight you can encounter in the Cathedral of the Dragon Communion is Caelid as well, so the aforementioned information becomes obvious. These said knights use a Dragon Communion Incantation against you when you fight them and it becomes clear that they have consumed Dragon Hearts and gained Draconic powers.

Why did they do that, though?

I think it was because they were banished. They might’ve thought that they’ll be able to regain the favour of lords after gaining more power… This is just speculation, though.

You’ve reached the end.

I did a lot of research on the lore regarding the Banished Knights in Elden Ring and also information about the real-life armour that inspired the Banished Knights’ sets. I hope you enjoyed this rather long article.

If you’re interested in the backstories in Elden Ring, read more of our Elden Ring lore articles.