# Orberosia — Penguin Island character guide

> Orberosia in Penguin Island by Anatole France.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** young Orberosia, The fair Orberosia, the fair Orberosia, the pious Orberosia, St. Orberosia, The virgin Orberosia, the blessed Orberosia

**First appearance:** 0016-v-the-marriage-of-kraken-and-orberosia

## Snapshot

A farmer's wife of insatiable appetites who becomes the dragon's consort, then Penguinia's most venerated virgin saint, her legend built on very earthly loves.

## Who they are

Orberosia is the beautiful, restless wife of the hero Kraken, whose affairs with shepherds and neatherds she conceals beneath a show of angelic modesty. Her desire is boundless and her cunning practical: when the Church proclaims that only a pure virgin can tame the dragon, she quietly grasps that Kraken's days as a monster are numbered. She matters because her transformation from adulteress to St. Orberosia exposes how Penguinia manufactures its own sanctity.

## Relationships

### [Kraken](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/characters/kraken)

_romantic_

Kraken and Orberosia share a passionate and tumultuous romantic relationship, marked by intense attraction and conflict.

### [Kraken](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/characters/kraken)

_romantic_

Kraken and Orberosia share a passionate and tumultuous romantic relationship, marked by intense attraction and conflict.

### [Kraken](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/characters/kraken)

_romantic_

Kraken and Orberosia share a passionate and tumultuous romantic relationship, marked by intense attraction and conflict.

## In the story

### [V: The Marriage of Kraken and Orberosia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/chapters/v-the-marriage-of-kraken-and-orberosia)

A young and charming woman Penguin, the first to wear garments of chastity; she becomes Kraken's consort.

### [VI: The Dragon of Alca](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/chapters/vi-the-dragon-of-alca)

The most beautiful of the Penguins, she has disappeared and is feared devoured by the dragon.

### [VII: The Dragon of Alca](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/chapters/vii-the-dragon-of-alca)

Mentioned as the fairest of the Penguins, mangled by the dragon's teeth.

### [IX: The Dragon of Alca](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/chapters/ix-the-dragon-of-alca)

Engages in secret affairs with Marcel and a neatherd; overhears the proclamation about the dragon and becomes concerned for Kraken.

### [XI: The Dragon of Alca](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/chapters/xi-the-dragon-of-alca)

Spins wool in the cavern, listens to Kraken's complaints, and devises a plan for her to pose as the virgin who will 'overthrow' the dragon.

### [XII: The Dragon of Alca](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/chapters/xii-the-dragon-of-alca)

Claims to have survived the dragon and to have received a divine revelation; she will subdue the dragon with her girdle.

### [XII: The Dragon of Alca](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/chapters/xii-the-dragon-of-alca)

Tames the dragon with her linen girdle, later becomes a saint and patron of Penguinia.

### [II: Draco the Great](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/chapters/ii-draco-the-great)

The virgin saint whose relics are transferred to Alca by Draco the Great; she appears to a peasant to demand restoration of her sanctuary.

### [Queen Crucha](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/chapters/iii-queen-crucha)

St. Orberosia's shrine is carried in procession during the Porpoise siege of Alca.

### [I: Mother Rouquin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/chapters/i-mother-rouquin)

St. Orberosia, the patron saint of Penguinia, whose shrine is desecrated and relics burned; Mother Rouquin saves ashes and bones claiming they are her relics.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/characters/orberosia
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/penguin_island_se/characters