Drawings near firekeeper's corpse

Hey guys, I'm sorry if this had already been brought up but, the firekeeper's corpse near the Gargoyles at an altar appear to have two identical drawings each one at a side. From what I could tell, I saw the figure of a man, offering something to someone, and the face of a beast -more like a lion- right beneath the man.
Do you guys have some thoughts on the drawing.
Thanks in advance

Here's the image from the Design Works book:


https://soulswiki.forumotion.com/t4931-dark-souls-design-works

Oh, nice! Is there some explanation to it?

Looks like an egg. Maybe they're making a sacrifice to the god of omelets

Nothing official as far as I know. The images in most of the Dark Souls in game art (architecture, statues, engravings) have a strong reoccurring "mother" image. In this one you'll notice that the images are paying a sort of tribute or worship with the focal point being a mother statue.

Wheat: Symbol of fertility in many cultures, life, motherhood. Sif, is associated with wheat (the goddess, not the puppy) and motherhood and is also in the picture.

Egg: I think we all know the ties there.


Essentially, I've always interpreted this engraving to mean "all things serve the mother."

skarekrow13 wrote:The images in most of the Dark Souls in game art (architecture, statues, engravings) have a strong reoccurring "mother" image.

I'd really like to see the reasoning behind you seeing this theme, I don't see it at all

^ Well for one thing there are a ton of statues of a woman holding a baby

Given the fact that I couldn't decypher at first the other two animals, I thought that it was Gwin and Ornstein (depicted as the lion), but your theory is somewhat reasonable!

I gotta say they went really subtle with it. The most compelling argument, in my opinion, would be Solaire being infected with a parasite. Clearly this is intended to demonstrate that in Lordran, all beings serve as a mother of sorts by hosting horrible monstrosities that make them insane. This is again noted when the egghead's explode with their parasites.

Spoiler:

skarekrow13 wrote:I gotta say they went really subtle with it. The most compelling argument, in my opinion, would be Solaire being infected with a parasite. Clearly this is intended to demonstrate that in Lordran, all beings serve as a mother of sorts by hosting horrible monstrosities that make them insane. This is again noted when the egghead's explode with their parasites.

Spoiler:

It actually wasn't sarcasm for once in my life I'm generally curious as to how the mother theme comes into play, I love exploring themes in stories.

Well, for one, it would be a nice undertone as the whole game is really rather matriarchal actually. All holders of power are male with the exception of the Witch of Izalith. The only real power the women hold is in the carrying out of religious duties it would seem. This is also seen that all Firekeepers are women, serving to cement the women of the world into a care-taker role, rather than a role of any real power. I would even go so far as to say that if Priscilla had been born male, she would not have been placed in the Painted World.

My bad.....

Disregard the BS explanation then.

The repetition of the mother statue is what most people see first. There's (I think) five statues. Three are identical (Parish, Sunlight Altar and Catacombs, again I beleive). The Firelink one is sitting and the one in the Painted World has an older child, not a baby. Anyway, all of these are central structures in their particular settings.

Firelink: It's sitting. In a throne. So really just ups the "importance" of this statue.

Catacombs: Standing over a tomb where we find the key to get to Gwyndolin. The assumption is that the statue is therefore overlooking someone important to their society.

Sunlight Altar: This one seems solely for the purpose of being enshrined in that location. It's also adjacent to the (probable) God of War statue. Also also, it's part of a fountain. Fountain/water can be interpreted as symbols of life.

Undead Parish: I've noted the engravings (with their own mother symbols of egg and wheat) appear to be offering tribute to the mother statue. Also of note is the very central position in church like structure. This is the most obvious (in my opinion) sign of worship for this statue. This one is positioned much the way a statue of Jesus would be placed in most Christian churches. Also of note in this building is the statues of the guardians (similar to those of angels with flaming swords) are all female.

Painted World: There's nothing to indicate worship for this one but there are reasons to suspect it backs up the other four. The statue is necessary to leave meaning the architect (painter) made it so you HAD to notice the statue. The statue is protecting a little girl. My take is that it represents the age that Priscilla was "drawn in" to the painting. That would possibly add weight to the fact that the statues are tied to the religion of the land due to Priscilla's ties there. Also of note, the statue points back toward Anor Londo, the home of the gods.


Now that we have statues out of the way:
The Crow: We're taken into Lordran "as the crow flies" literally. We later can learn that the crow is most likely a female as it's protecting the nest. The egg symbology is again here as we have to pretend to be one to get her to notice us.

Firekeepers: All of the firekeepers are female and harbor infinite humanity which is theorized to be the progenitor of mankind. So the carriers of mankind's progenitor are all female. They're also central to the lore/pantheon in game

Banshees: There is a subtype of banshee that appears more feminine and is holding a baby. These are generally considered more dangerous and use a lightning attack. Possibly they are more tied to the gods

Anor Londo Carvings: We had a pretty good discussion on the Anor Londo architecture in Emergence's linking lore thread. Essentially we concluded that the symbols represent wheat, a kiln or over, and I think a basket with bread. Literally all of these are tied in symbolism to life and/or motherhood. These are dominant features in Anor Londo architecture.

Misc. females in prominent positions: Reah and the maidens are seemingly the Cat's Meow in their particular religion. Many elements for the Way of White seem derived from Catholicism (that's another conversation) but as opposed to the real world religion, it is the females who seem to be held in highest regard.

Seath's experiments are intended to cause horror and revulsion to his character (show how messed up he is). He seems to exclusively prey on maidens.


That's what comes off the top of my head. There's more for sure (and since I didn't look up any references and I'm out of practice in lore I might be off on a few things)

I don't think Reah is really that important. To me she seems to be merely a common Noble. She was sent with only two protectors on a "suicide" mission? I would think if she merited any real power she would have a much larger entourage than the two. And hell, even they are only there because of childhood affections if I remember the dialogue right lol.

^ I see Petrus as a kind of "cleaner" for the higher ranking nobles of Thorolund. If Reah wasn't a big deal, why would they have sent Petrus to take care of her?

I don't think they did, I think he had a station there and she was just next in line. Even though she was a lesser Noble, in my opinion, a Noble is still a Noble. And being a Noble who turns undead? Well that's just a blight to the bloodline....in our own history bloodlines have been considered tarnished for less and wiped out.

Reah is a princess. She is referred to as such by someone (I forget who), and Lautrec actually refers to her as "Miss Thorolund." This could just be a tongue in cheek way of making us jump to assumptions, but if we take it literally, it implies that she is a direct descendent of the royal family of Thorolund.

Ashran wrote:

Spoiler:

Those look like laurels to me dude. They're often used in designs in holy sites.

Spoiler:

The little three pronged leaf is pretty iconic of them.

Uh sure, but then i noticed the "chain" in the "egg". Its a pendant. I know there are laurels to decorate.

I don't see what you're talking about. There are definitely larger laurels along the sides, then in the center it looks like a small laurel ring. At least to me. Looking at it now, it could even be a sun, which is another big theme in the game. Or at the very least a flaming doughnut.