We already know that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla harbors some incredibly immersive gameplay. Buried within its own lore is a reference to another expansive fandom, which gives a nod to the “little folk” of Middle-Earth.
Ubisoft’s twelfth Assassin's Creed installment is massive, and it packs a ton of Norse mythology into its components. Valhalla also offers further insight into the Brotherhood at its early stages of establishment, slotting into the timeline after Odyssey and Origins.
The Assassin’s Creed franchise is rife with easter eggs from all walks of pop culture, from Batman to Blade Runner, and Valhalla is no exception. We’re already aware that the game has a subtle tip of the bow to Robin hood - by including Sherwood Forest in the map - and there’s also a book reference to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.
A third connection to a substantial fandom has also been discovered by several people, stumbling across none other than an honorary easter egg for J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece The Lord of the Rings. YouTuber Skull Busters took the liberty of sharing this find in a short video, which concerns a moss-covered house in the town of Gloucester (or "Glowecestre"), that references the hobbit Bilbo Baggins in particular.
Upon finding the house, a key can be obtained from underneath a basket, and what lies inside the house is subtle but touching. Placed on a table, there is a note that references the “little folk” who asked a builder to “make the door smaller… to keep unruly houseguests from his house”. The note is accompanied by a golden ring.
This isn’t the first time that the fantasy-adventure series has been acknowledged in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. The spin-off mobile game Assassin’s Creed: Pirates included the Garnet Ring description "One ring to woo them all and in his cabin, bed them." - a parody of the Black Speech tied to the One Ring from Tolkien's work. Additionally, two references came from Assassin’s Creed Origins, where Bayek’s discovery of a precious ring featured similar camerawork in the cutscene to that of Peter Jackson’s filmmaking in The Fellowship of the Ring's Prancing Pony scene.
Both of these significant fandoms are set to receive new releases next year. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s dice game Orlog is getting a physical board game release in 2021, and Daedalic’s The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will also be arriving on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch next year.