The Serpentine Herald

New video! This one’s a deep dive into all things lunar — from sovereignty goddesses and revolving castles in Welsh myth, to sea-mists and illusions in Irish lore, to the snakes and moonlight of your best friend and mine, Dark Sun Gwyndolin!

I cover:

Lunar symbolism, cycles & liminality in Celtic tradition

Arianrhod’s story in the Fourth Branch & why she’s so controversial

Manannán mac Lir’s sea-magic & illusions

Gwyndolin’s design notes (yes, the serpentine legs are moon-symbolism)

Plus a personal section on psychology in the Souls series (attachment styles, family trauma, and why Pontiff Sulyvahn is a very naughty man).

Content warnings: discussion of assault in the Mabinogi, themes of trauma/neglect (the fourth branch is WILD) Spoilers: Dark Souls series + Elden Ring (incl. Shadow of the Erdtree).

If you’re into Celtic myth + videogame lore analysis, give it a watch, and let me know: where would you most like to live in the Soulsborne worlds? (Majula is cheating) 🐍🌙

A sneak peek at my next title card :V

My next video I'm planning is on Aengus Mac Óg (Angus the young)

"Angus hath come - the young the fair, The blue-eyed god with golden hair" He oversaw: youth, poetry, love, sleep and dreams and was known as the “greatest and wisest of magicians of the Tuatha De Danaan” - Daragh Smyth

He was known for his great intelligence and supernatural charm - he specialised in sleep, love & some resurrection magic SoTE doesn't seem to follow any legends I have found yet, Celtic or otherwise. But Aengus does have a myth that closely follows the speculated/scrapped Godwyn content!

Aengus adopts and acts as protector of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne of the Fianna. He rescues Diarmuid and Gráinne - after Diarmuid's brutal death, Aengus takes his body back to their home of Brú na Bóinne - he breathes life into it when he wishes to speak with Diarmuid, but the effects are not permanent.

Ollipheisteanna — the mythical worm beasts of ancient Ireland. 

Ollipheist translates to “great beast,” or my favoured interpretation, “fabulous monster.” A famous Ollipheist, often referred to as the mother of all demons, is called Caoránach, sometimes Caolánach or just Caol.

Her name means roughly: full of fire, or more literally a round glowing orb about to burst but also can mean long, slender and serpentlike - which feeds into many depictions of her. Caor is a word which means a lot of things in Irish — it can mean a berry, a drop of molten metal, a flame, or even a ball depending on context.

(sorry I just need to show you this iconic image I found while researching)

I was researching the Ollipheists of Ireland when I came across the name Caolánach and didn't give it much thought until I said it out loud.

In my dialect? You say it like Quelaanach

I thought - this sounds very like Quelana from Dark Souls, a name which previously had been quite mysterious to me.

Caolánach is called mother of all demons in English, but in Irish the word used was péisteanna. Olliphéisteanna for the biggest ones.

Nessie the Loch Ness Monster is an example of an Olliphéist in popular culture. The ollipheists were considered impressive or fabulous because they were extremely ancient.

I’ve even seen them described as  — primordial.

|primordial serpents|

(art by Bob Eggleton) And they were very wise, but also very dangerous.

So you might be asking — what does this have to do with Dark Souls?

How the gods and demigods name their children both Dark Souls and Elden Ring, generally it's using the same prefix or same first letter of their name. Godfrey Godwyn And down the line Godrick and that palette-swap guy Godefroy

The prefix God- meaning… uh, well God, or Good.

The Witch of Izalith, Mother of Demons

Check out my video on YT where I break down the logic of all this.

This leads me to propose a family tree like:

Quelanach -> Caolánach (Mother)

Quelana → Caolána

Quelaag → Caológ or Caoróg

As an aside, (Quare-ogg) Caoróg means little berry or little flame. Very literally, it would be… young glowing sphere —a pretty apt name for Quelaag’s glowing spider body, if a little on the nose.

It’s also notable that in Irish family naming, a child named after their parent often gets called óg — “little” or “young.” 

Real life example: Father is Sean, Son is Seanóg So if the mother is Quelaanach, a daughter could easily be Quelóg.

These all tie into a real Irish name: Caoilinn

Pronounced (in my dialect) Quealin Meaning Fair and Slender Lady

Most often used in reference to Saint Caoilinn who was renowned for her self-sacrificing nature and gentle demeanor.

The (Other) Children of Gwyn

Spoiler-free for the trilogy - other than art of DS3 characters Filianore and The Nameless King

A shorter form video in the In Anim an Nathair: Etymology of Souls series and a spinoff of concepts brought up in the Witch of Izalith video. Recapping the information about Filianore and the Nameless King's possible names - and some new speculation about the Nameless King, courtesy of suggestions from r/darksoulslore.

Filianore means Daughter of Sunlight. Is it actually just a title? What's her real name then!?

Could Gwyn just not be arsed to give her a proper name? Was he maybe not the World's Greatest Dad?

Moladh don Ghrian, Grá don Ghealach and invitation to join the Serpent Family

Presenting my first video, this is about mainly the Witch of Izalith and her family, but also covers:

The Nameless King and Filianore

Frampt and Kaathe