Dualism in Religion and Gender Symbolism

[Lord Martin]

This is the third post in a series exploring different Ice/Fire analogs. This one gets a little meta....

The first post dealing with Warging and Dragonbonding is here: http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/105378-warging-and-dragon-bonding/

The second, dealing with Weirwood and Obsidian is here: http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/105380-weirwood-and-obsidian/

This post focuses on religion, gods and deity symbolism

There are more similarities between the Faith of the Lord of Light and the Faith of the Seven than the High Septon or Benerro would like to admit and the two are not necessarily incompatible. Both espouse a dualism of sorts and there are overlapping themes.

The Faith believes that the seven gods are one aspect of a single god-head, the Father who sits in judgment, the Warrior who protects all, the Smith who creates and builds, the Mother who gives birth and life, the Maiden who is virtuous and pure, the Crone who is wise and the Stranger last of all. Oddly, there is no supernatural source of evil in the Faith, no Satan, no source of sin, no Other.

But remember the Seven are really seven gods in one god-head. Thus the Faith is monotheistic rather than polytheistic and reads like a perversion of R’hllorism with each of the gods being an aspect of R’Hollor. R’Hllor dispenses justice when the guilty are burned as the Father would. R’hllor’s flames protect humans from the dark as the Warrior might, fires are what a Smith uses to forge weapons and plows, Melisandre is able to birth shadows as the mother births children, fire can also purify according to Mel, making one as pure as the maiden. And R’Hllor gives visions, a form of wisdom invoking the crone, “lighting” the way so to speak.

The odd-god-out is the Stranger. He is described as bestial or unhuman-like, from Davos:

They were all afire now, Maid and Mother, Warrior and Smith, the Crone with her pearl eyes and the Father with his gilded beard; even the Stranger, carved to look more animal than human. The old dry wood and countless layers of paint and varnish blazed with a fierce hungry light. Heat rose shimmering through the chill air; behind, the gargoyles and stone dragons on the castle walls seemed blurred, as if Davos were seeing them through a veil of tears. Or as if the beasts were trembling, stirring .

And Catelyn:

And the seventh face . . . the Stranger was neither male nor female, yet both, ever the outcast, the wanderer from far places, less and more than human, unknown and unknowable. Here the face was a black oval, a shadow with stars for eyes. It made Catelyn uneasy. She would get scant comfort there.

And Sansa:

The Mother's altar and the Warrior's swam in light, but Smith and Crone and Maid and Father had their worshipers as well, and there were even a few flames dancing below the Stranger's half-human face . . . for what was Stannis Baratheon, if not the Stranger come to judge them?

The stranger transcends typical notions of dualism by not being fully male or female, human or non. And so by transcending dualism, the Stranger can be both an aspect of R’Hllor as well as his opposite, The Great Other.

Consider the old riddle, If god is all powerful, can he create a stone so heavy even he cannot move it? Its an unanswerable riddle. Similarly, can a god be so powerful it can destroy itself?

This is consistent with the Stranger as an agent of death for death also transcends dualism. Death is not the condition of being one thing vs. another, instead it is the lack of being. Valar Morgulis, all men must die, at first blush seems a sad refrain. But really it should be celebrated because everything must come to an end. Death must exist for life to go on. Hence death is both a part of life and its opposite.

The Seven suggest gender balance in their godhead, 3 female, 3 male and 1 neither. But R'Hllor has all the appearances of a male figure, the "Lord" of Light. Similarly, Mel calls the great other "he who must not be named." This suggests a lack of balance in this faith...

The male/female aspects of religion permeate the story. I have always been intrigued by Dany’s vision towards the end of AGOT:

No, Dany wanted to say, no, not that, you mustn't, but when she opened her mouth, a long wail of pain escaped, and the sweat broke over her skin. What was wrong with them, couldn't they see? Inside the tent the shapes were dancing, circling the brazier and the bloody bath, dark against the sandsilk, and some did not look human. She glimpsed the shadow of a great wolf, and another like a man wreathed in flames.

"The Lamb Woman knows the secrets of the birthing bed," Irri said. "She said so, I heard her."

"Yes," Doreah agreed, "I heard her too."

No, she shouted, or perhaps she only thought it, for no whisper of sound escaped her lips. She was being carried. Her eyes opened to gaze up at a flat dead sky, black and bleak and starless. Please, no. The sound of Mirri Maz Duur's voice grew louder, until it filled the world. The shapes! she screamed. The dancers!

This vision is in keeping with a theme of this thread, the idea of song or singing. For what do dancers need to dance? A Song. The Song of Ice and Fire is a clash (perhaps a divine one) between these two images that Dany sees. The wolf figure is the Other and the man aflame is R’Hollor, the Lord of Light.

This vision is also in keeping with the parallels between Dany and Bran that are referenced in other parts of this series. Bran is symbolized as a wolf. The shadow of the wolf that Dany sees is similar to the boy with a wolf’s head that Melisandre sees in her flames at the Wall.

The man on fire symbolizes Dany. This is the first time, but not the last, where Dany’s gender is confused, the most famous example being the “prince” who was promised.

Another interpretation is Dany as a “bride of fire.” That would make her the consort to R’hllor. But when talking duality is she his partner or his enemy? I say why not both? If madness and greatness are the same side of a coin, why not friends and enemies?

We know that the Dothraki and Quartheen myths also evince a certain male/female and sun/moon duality. Dany’s handmaids tell her:

A trader from Qarth once told me that dragons came from the moon," blond Doreah said as she warmed a towel over the fire. Jhiqui and Irri were of an age with Dany, Dothraki girls taken as slaves when Drogo destroyed their father's khalasar. Doreah was older, almost twenty. Magister Illyrio had found her in a pleasure house in Lys.

Silvery-wet hair tumbled across her eyes as Dany turned her head, curious. "The moon?"

"He told me the moon was an egg, Khaleesi," the Lysene girl said. "Once there were two moons in the sky, but one wandered too close to the sun and cracked from the heat. A thousand thousand dragons poured forth, and drank the fire of the sun. That is why dragons breathe flame. One day the other moon will kiss the sun too, and then it will crack and the dragons will return."

The two Dothraki girls giggled and laughed. "You are foolish strawhead slave," Irri said. "Moon is no egg. Moon is god, woman wife of sun. It is known."

"It is known," Jhiqui agreed.

Dany's skin was flushed and pink when she climbed from the tub. Jhiqui laid her down to oil her body and scrape the dirt from her pores. Afterward Irri sprinkled her with spiceflower and cinnamon. While Doreah brushed her hair until it shone like spun silver, she thought about the moon, and eggs, and dragons.

Classically moon = female, sun = male. And here, the dragons come from the moon, hatch from the egg, are born from the female. This calls to mind, “Mother of Dragons” as well as “moon of my life” two of Dany’s early names. Later Dany will be called “bride of fire.” Leading to the question, who is her husband? And what will the nature of their relationship be? Procreative or Destructive?

Discussion Points:

In continuing with the Bran/Dany parallels, are there any other sun/moon parallels? And note, for the moon to shine, it must reflect the sun. True darkness only comes when there is no moon and no sun.

Is it a coincidence that Dany is told she can never have children and that Bran may also be incapable of having children (Per Ned's musings in AGOT).

If fire consumes but ice preserves, what does that say about Dany and Bran?

Why does R'hllorism lack a female deity? What does that say about it as a force for balance?

What role does "mother earth" play in this song?

Is the balance or "harmony" of the "Song of Ice and Fire" not just about the balance between ice and fire but also the balance between ice and fire on one side and nothingness on the other?

Could the COTF be instruments for the second layer of balance? If so, could they end up being opponents for both the agents of ice and fire?

[LmL]

I am personally outraged that this post got no replies. Makes me doubt the seriousness of some folks on here. This is great work, Lord Martin.

I am working right now, so no time to reply, but I have thoughts on your discussion points, and will leave some later.

Meanwhile, everyone else reading threads gets another chance to give this work the respect it deserves. I highly recommend parts 1 and 2 first, they aren't very long and they are excellent. Links above in the OP

[Mychel_Redfort]

This vision is in keeping with a theme of this thread, the idea of song or singing. For what do dancers need to dance? A Song. The Song of Ice and Fire is a clash (perhaps a divine one) between these two images that Dany sees. The wolf figure is the Other and the man aflame is R’Hollor, the Lord of Light.

It seems so obvious now that you have pointed it out I feel stupid not to have figure it out by myself. And all your post is a very interesting read.

[Lord Martin]

Thanks guys! Glad to see this is getting some action!

I'm also buried at work... and my wife is due to deliver our first in less than a week!!! So I'm 'm AWOL a bit you'll all know why.

Hopefully there will be a chance to add some more to these themes!

Cheers

[LmL]

Love and blessings to your wife, yourself, and your kiddo, Lord Martin!!

(Had to put the wife first)

Glad to see this is getting some love as well. Definitely deserving.

[King of Vaes Tolorro]

The Seven do not demand Human sacrifice. And they are the gods of Light, not fire.