Elder Secrets of Glorantha was written by Greg Stafford and Sandy Petersen, with a cover by Nick Smith and illustrations by Dave Dobyski, and was published by The Avalon Hill Game Co. in 1990 as a boxed set containing a 124-page book, a 52-page book, and a large color map.[2]
Shannon Appelcline commented that once Avalon Hill and Chaosium learned that removing Glorantha from RuneQuest was a bad idea, "The Fantasy Earth supplements came to an abrupt halt and Glorantha material started appearing - much of it updating second edition releases, but some of it including totally new material, including the well-received Glorantha (1988) and Elder Secrets (1989)."[3]: 222 Appelcline further described this relationship between the two companies: "Though Chaosium initially set new RuneQuest material in "Fantasy Earth," they quickly moved back to Glorantha, publishing classics like Gods of Glorantha (1985), Glorantha (1988), and Elder Secrets of Glorantha (1989). Unfortunately, the relationship between the two companies frayed entirely in 1989. Chaosium ceased working with Avalon Hill and as a result Gloranthan publications ended the next year."[4]: 56
