Statue of the woman

[Princess Maxima]

In Dark Souls you come across many statues of a woman holding a child, but it is never explained to you who this is. This is my theory.

It is often said that it is Gwyn's wife with his firstborn, because of the sunlight straight sword. However, I don't believe this to be the case, because Gwyn destroyed every statue of the firstborn in his anger, so why would he leave several statues unharmed?

I believe that the statue is of the godess of sin, Velka, but she is not holding her own child - the child represents something else.

Firstly, this statue is the one in front of the altar in the Undead Church, which implies it is the deity that the church was built in honour of. On top of the church is Oswald, he is clearly a bishop of Velka (he sells many items that are associated with her, and wears the garments of a priest of Velka (if you look at the item descriptions)). This would imply that the church honours the deity Velka. Also, there are several statues of wariror women lining the walls, and (I'm not certain of this) it looks like they are holding a couple of feathers in their hands. Velka is often associated with crows, so perhaps these are her elite warriors, who can turn into crows (like those you find in the Painted World).

Another reason I believe this to be Velka is that she is holding a child. Dark Souls took its inspiration form many different cultures, but there are possible links with Christianity (such as the Way of the White covenant), and in the Bible it is said that as soon as a child is born they begin to sin. I believe that the child Velka is holding represents sin, which she is the godess of.

Now, the child is holding a sunlight straight sword, which is the chosen weapon of the Warriors of Sunlight. This is where my theory splits in two directions.

1: The sunlight straight sword is indeed meant to represent Gwyn's firstborn, and Velka is holding him because of his sins (which caused Gwyn to get so mad at him). This would mean that Gwyn destroyed all statues of him, but then allowed more to be built in order to show everyone his firstborn's guilt and misguided ways. Personally, I don't like this theory as much.

2: The sunlight straight sword just happens to be a random sword, because it is possible that they were used before the Warriors of Sunlight began using them, isn't it? If this is so, I believe the sword is meant to represent war and death, and it is held by a child because it shows man's violence against his own, and how even children are not innocent/will become killers.

So, that is my theory. The statue is of Velka, and she is either holding a child that represents sin amongst all humans, or she is holding Gwyn's firstborn. The widespread nature of the statue would imply Velka was often worshipped by the humans of Lordran, and was quite a 'popular' deity in the pantheon (of which we know very little). It is true that Velka is the godess we hear the most about.

What do you think of my theory? Do you think the woman is Gwyn's wife? Are there any gaping holes in my argument? Please, leave a comment with your thoughts. And remember that FromSoftware made the lore in this game very murky for a reason, so there isn't necessarily a 'right' answer to the question of who the woman is.

[MekaKamiyama]

I assumed that Gwyn had better things to do than send knights to destroy statues. I think this theory is very plausible. I can't find very clear pictures of all the statues but isn't the one in painted world without a child?

[Princess Maxima]

Yes it is, and I believe that those statues are definitely meant to be of Velka regardless of who the other statues are of. However, it's not like there would only be one type of statue.

I suppose Gwyn would have other things to do, but considering he had a lot of men at his disposal it probably wouldn't have been too difficult for him. The statue at the sunlight altar in Undead Burg has been destroyed, so why wouldn't the others?

[boiling pie]

I agree with the statues representing Velka. However, I have my special theory about Velka: I believe she was once the wife of Gwyn, and she is the mother of his children. But then she betrayed him with Seath and had another child: Pryscilla.
She had sinned, and Gwynn threw her out and stroke her name from the annals. This turned her into the Godess of Sinn, and she is at war with the Anor Londo Gods since then.

[Princess Maxima]

That's interesting, and certainly plausible. After all, Velka's Rapier does occult damage (which is used against the gods and the faithful), and the dark ember (used for occult ascension) is found in the painted world, which has definite links to Velka.

Out of interest, is there any real evidence for Seath being Priscilla's father, or is it just because he is the only dragon left that people assume he must be the father?

[SundownKid]

In my opinion, the statue is Gwyn's wife, whoever she is, and the child is the God of War. The Sunlight Straight Sword was the personal weapon of the God of War, and replicas of it were forged as the official weapon of the Warriors of Sunlight cult/religion who were worshipping Gwyn.

Originally posted by Yago:

Out of interest, is there any real evidence for Seath being Priscilla's father, or is it just because he is the only dragon left that people assume he must be the father?

There is no real evidence that proves that. The only unusual thing is that Priscilla is stuck in a world with the crow demons that Seath created and she is also a pale white half-dragon. We know that Seath was unique amongst dragons as an albino. It could perhaps mean she was created by one of Seath's "experiments" and that is how she came to be.

[Princess Maxima]

I agree, the theory that it is Gwyn's wife is plausible, but that was just my theory. Best thing about Dark Souls - the players are left to piece the lore together.

And I suppose Priscilla pretty much has to be Seath's daughter, considering her pale complexion and the fact that he is the only dragon left (except for all those other dragons... we'll ignore them for now :P).