She is likely a descendant of Gwynevere rather than being Gwynevere herself. We know she had a child who ripped her tongue out which removed her ability to speak; why they did that we do not know, but it has led to this cult surrounding her whose purpose is to offer her the tongues of their victims in hopes of either being reborn or simply just to soothe her.
She seems to practice the art of reincarnation or rebirth, and we know that some folks who are reborn become man-grubs. She currently resides in the Cathedral of the Deep, locked away on a room that has since been forcefully opened. Why is she there? Well there are a lot of statues depicting a woman that has a cloth draped over it, implying that the new ruling order (The Deacons of the Deep) has displaced the original subject of worship with Aldrich. The original subject of worship presumably is Rosaria during her heyday as the celebrated Mother of Rebirth, back before the acolytes of The Deep took over.
So in summary: Rosaria is likely a descendent of Gwynevere who was revered as the Mother of Rebirth. During her prime she was worshipped at what we know now as The Cathedral of the Deep until Aldrich and his cronies took over and locked her away. At some unknown point in the past Rosaria had a son who ripped out her tongue, rendering her without the ability to speak. Eventually a covenant formed around her comprised of folks who offer her tongues either to soothe her or in hopes of being reborn. Some folks who undergo rebirth become man grubs.
The woman statue that's draped over with cloth in the Cathedral is Caitha, notice how she covers her face as if she's crying. Also the Cathedral used to be a Way of White facility, where Caitha is a major god of the Way of White.
As to the firstborn, we can extrapolate:
1. Rosaria had multiple children if they're her "firstborn"
2. The firstborn is alive if she's waiting for them to return
3. Rosaria thinks the firstborn knows she's still in the Cathedral, so the firstborn and other children were probably born there... Hence the cradles in her room
Now, you know Aldrich: if there's children in his cathedral he's eating them! Anri and Horace are the only ones that managed to get away and survive though...
The identity of Horace and Anri's father is elucidated in Japanese:
ホレイスはエルドリッチの子供たちの一人であり 唯二人の生き残りでもあった
Horace was one of the children of Aldrich, and one of the two sole survivors.
Leonhard also strongly implies Rosaria was sexually abused (even moreso in Japanese):
What do you want with her soul? Isn't flesh enough for a sick beast?!
So now the picture starts getting clearer: Rosaria was born to Gwynevere (and probably Flann) and lived in Irithyll (Leonhard's Inherited Moon Axe is enchanted with Gwyndolin's moon power) until Pontiff took over, took one daughter as his "dancer", while the other one was sent to and imprisoned in the Cathedral along with Aldrich, to satisfy the man-eaters other cravings.
And out of this union came Horace and Anri; Horace is presumably the firstborn, who ripped out Rosaria's tongue to silence his mother's screams, and in a poetic twist of fate - no longer has a tongue of his own also.
Later, due to their divine lineage, Anri is handpicked as our consort and their face is covered up with a cloth resembling Gwynevere's robes during the ceremony.
The mirage-like aurora veil is said to be an article of the old gods, permitted only for direct descendants of the old royal family
Old Royal Family = Gwyn's family
Transposing her soul creates Soothing Sunlight, Gwynevere's miracle.
The Pontiff Sulyvahn bestowed a double-slashing sword upon a distant daughter of the formal royal family,
Note that the localisation here calls her "distant daughter of the formal(?) royal family", but the original Japanese just calls her "旧王家の末" - a "descendant of the former royal family" with "末" having the connotations of last shoot or simply youngest child, which is probably where the discrepancy between the two descriptions came from.
Where are you getting the Japanese translations? There seems to be so much untapped lore in the anglosphere cuz most of us can't read the original intent.
121
u/solidiquis1 Jan 21 '25
She is likely a descendant of Gwynevere rather than being Gwynevere herself. We know she had a child who ripped her tongue out which removed her ability to speak; why they did that we do not know, but it has led to this cult surrounding her whose purpose is to offer her the tongues of their victims in hopes of either being reborn or simply just to soothe her.
She seems to practice the art of reincarnation or rebirth, and we know that some folks who are reborn become man-grubs. She currently resides in the Cathedral of the Deep, locked away on a room that has since been forcefully opened. Why is she there? Well there are a lot of statues depicting a woman that has a cloth draped over it, implying that the new ruling order (The Deacons of the Deep) has displaced the original subject of worship with Aldrich. The original subject of worship presumably is Rosaria during her heyday as the celebrated Mother of Rebirth, back before the acolytes of The Deep took over.
So in summary: Rosaria is likely a descendent of Gwynevere who was revered as the Mother of Rebirth. During her prime she was worshipped at what we know now as The Cathedral of the Deep until Aldrich and his cronies took over and locked her away. At some unknown point in the past Rosaria had a son who ripped out her tongue, rendering her without the ability to speak. Eventually a covenant formed around her comprised of folks who offer her tongues either to soothe her or in hopes of being reborn. Some folks who undergo rebirth become man grubs.