I am,
very frustrated
by my lack of progress at identifying Saint Eligius/Trezigor
it is absolutely not the actual 7th century saint because it can't be, the timelines do not match up; and while temporality in the Neath is rather elastic (see The Trade in Clocks) it is not so freewheeling that it bounces by millenia
the things we know for sure about Eligius: he was Christian, deeply faithful, possibly Catholic but probably Anglican; he spoke English; he arrived in the Neath during the latter days of the Fourth City (presumably early 19th century).
things we (I) speculate about Eligius: he was a poet; the way in which Pages slides into verse when describing him in MotR, in context, strongly implies he was quoting Eligius' religious verbiage directly. He was well familiar with esoteric Christian mysticism; his reference to Joachim of Fiore's prophecies is very precise. He was a lover of animals; there were plenty of humans to proselytize to in the Neath, but he went to rats, and then to goats.
These facts and assumptions would seem to narrow the scope. All signs point to us looking for a well-educated Christian British poet, possibly one known for particularly charitable views towards animals, who lived and died somewhere between 1740-1810.
But confound it all, no matter how much these things fit I just can't seem to find a candidate that fits. The Lake Poets lived and died too late; the 18th century luminaries never make mention of Joachim even in passing; and none seem to espouse views that would align with or lead to the dogma and new Gospel displayed by Eligius in the Neath.
and fucking Trezigor. What does that mean?? Is that a phonetic translation of a word or sentence in another language into English? Is it a cipher? Is it just complete gibberish? It does not fit with anything, not just my theories.
I've been trying to crack this particular puzzle since 2024 to no avail. If I ever got one freebie lore question to ask Failbetter, it'd be WHO THE HELL IS THIS MAN.