Tyrion = Gargoyle = Stone Dragon

[pobeb]

Theory:

Tyrion is a metaphorical gargoyle, and thus a stone dragon.

Evidence:

The Hound tells Arya:

“Bugger Joffrey, bugger the queen, and bugger that twisted little gargoyle she calls a brother."

Cersei tells Sansa:

"You are a lovely girl. It seems almost obscene to squander such sweet innocence on that gargoyle.”

Tyrion, as he thinks of Penny:

They hacked off her brother’s head in the hope that it was mine, yet here I sit like some bloody gargoyle, offering empty consolations.

Tyrion's first encounter with Jon in Winterfell:

Tyrion Lannister was sitting on the ledge above the door to the Great Hall, looking for all the world like a gargoyle.

As the Battle of the Blackwater is unfolding, Tyrion watches atop the battlements in deep thought:

Motionless as a gargoyle, Tyrion Lannister hunched on one knee atop a merlon.

Bran dreams of gargoyles after his fall:

The gargoyles watched him ascend. Their eyes glowed red as hot coals in a brazier. Perhaps once they had been lions, but now they were twisted and grotesque.

Funny that Bran should mention grotesques:

When Tyrion speaks with Jaime after Bran's fall, he tells his brother that he is "“Speaking for the grotesques"

On Dragonstone, Maester Cressen observes "the army of stone grotesques"

So, we can assume Tyrion speaks for this army. Maester Cressen would like to speak to the gargoyles, but relents, thinking "If stone tongues could speak . . ."

Even so, which of the gargoyles would Cressen talk to? A friend, perhaps?

gargoyles that rose twelve feet tall on either side of him, a hellhound and a wyvern ... he thought of them as old friends.

You can also see Davos considering a gargoyle an "old friend" - while he makes some rather suspicious, Tyrion-esque, references:

Out front squatted a waist-high gargoyle, so eroded by rain and salt that his features were all but obliterated. He and Davos were old friends, though. He gave a pat to the stone head as he went in. “Luck,” he murmured.

And which of these "old friends" does Cressen eventually trust to support himself? Well:

The old man turned away from the dawn, keeping a hand on his wyvern to steady himself.

So, metaphorically speaking, Tyrion is this Wyvern Gargoyle.

Wyverns are "winged creatures with the head of a dragon"

Therefore, Tyrion is metaphorically a Stone Dragon

The Greyscale Factor:

Cressen describes Shireen's greyscale as:

Across half one cheek and well down her neck, her flesh was stiff and dead, the skin cracked and flaking, mottled black and grey and stony to the touch.

Shireen, who has greyscale, is quipped as being a gargoyle by Littlefinger:

“A trade envoy from Lys once observed to me that Lord Stannis must love his daughter very well, since he’d erected hundreds of statues of her all along the walls of Dragonstone. ‘My lord,’ I had to tell him, “those are gargoyles.’”

The greyscale infected men on the Rhoyne are called "Stone Men"

Speaking of the Rhoyne, and it's greyscale infested waters, didn't Tyrion swallow a bunch of it?

When he opened his mouth to curse them all, black water filled his lungs, and the dark closed in around him.

“How long must I continue to torture myself? When will we be certain that I’m clean?”

“Truly?” said the Halfmaester. “Never. You swallowed half the river.

How come Tyrion isn't dead? Doesn't Val tell Jon of a different name for greyscale?

“Greyscale.”

“The grey death is what we call it.”

"The Grey Death"? How does Tyrion survive if he swallowed "The Grey Death"?

“Death comes out of the dragon’s mouth,” Septon Barth had written in his Unnatural History, “but death does not go in that way.”

Starting to see the bigger picture?

The parallels of a dragon's greatest weapon (mouth) and Tyrion's greatest weapon (mouth)

The parallels of waking a dragon from "stone"

Tyrion is that Stone Dragon

one gargoyle still poked above the drift, its grotesque face snarling sightless at the sky.

Tyrion: “Snarling? An amiable fellow like me?”

[Driesel Snow]

well thought out. The people in the camp of tyrion is one of the three heads should rally to this argument.

[UnmaskedLurker]

well thought out. The people in the camp of tyrion is one of the three heads should rally to this argument.

We have--believe me--we have.

[pobeb]

Added the Greyscale tie-in, which I believe is VERY strong

[Woman of War]

There has been a hugely interesting thread about this topic but it was for some raeson closed prematurely. Uuups, I just realized it had been staarted by you, pobeb :D

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/113454-tyrion-is-a-gargoyle/

Quoting myself from it ;)

Gargoyles on medieval cathedrals had several functions.

First, the obvious as mentioned above, to spill out water, meaning to deduct rainwater from cathedral walls in order to preserve the stone.

Then in their grotesque looks they were meant as sign to the often illiterate population of hell and evil in afterlife that may befall the sinners.

(apart from that: the stone mansions had a lot of fun depicting themselves or shaping grotesque caricatures of less liked rulers or neighbours high up under the cathedral's roof where, apart from those working there, not many could enjoy the pun, very private jokes, schadenfreude at its best)

Third, and an aspect that has not been mentioned so far: Gargoyles symbolized fending off evil spirits from the buildings and the city, they were protectors precisely by their grotesque and absurd looks, deducting evil spirits out of buildings and keeping dark forces away.

Gargoyles stand guard, warding off unwanted spirits and other creatures and If they're hideous and frightening enough, it was thought they would be especially effective in scaring off all sorts of other threatening creatures. Perhaps it was even believed that some came alive at night protecting people when they were most vulnerable. Better still, the ones with wings could fly and protect the village as well as the church.

And here a more ancient reference to a link between gargoyles and dragons, actually the contrary of the protecting aspect:

legend has it, that a fierce dragon named La Gargouille described as having a long, reptilian neck, a slender snout and membranous wings lived in a cave near the river Seine. The dragon caused much fear and destruction with its fiery breath, spouting water and the devouring of ships and men. Each year, the residents of Rouen would placate Gargouille with an offering of a victim, usually a criminal, though it was said the dragon preferred maidens. Around 600, the village was saved by St. Romanis, who promised to deal with the dragon if the townspeople agreed to be baptized and to build a church. Romanus subdued the dragon by making the sign of the cross and then led the now docile beast back to town on a leash made from his priest's robe. La Gargouille was then burned at the stake, it is said that his head and neck were so well tempered by the heat of his fiery breath, that they would not burn. These remnants were then mounted on the town wall and became the model for gargoyles for centuries to come.

Who is Tyrion here?

The one who fends off evil, the gargoyle as protector? Romanus or the dragon La Gargouille?

As you wrote, Pobeb, Tyrion's most important weapon is his mouth, meaning his wits. And in gargoyles the emphasis on depicting a grotesque mouth is part of their image, threatening, devouring and washing out the evil at the same time, from high above right under the sky.

And let's not forget that Tyrion repaired the sewers of Casterly Rock, like the gargoyles dealt with water damaging stones and mortar.

So many parallels

Quotes from http://northstargallery.com/gargoyles/aboutgargoyles.htm

[Suzanna Stormborn]

Nice thread at the top, all the gargoyle quotes fits in with Tyrion being a Monster, which he is constantly being referred to in DwD. Cool :)

Some of the other stuff I am not so sure about. But I have never seen all the gargoyle references grouped together like that.

[Woman of War]

People in their superstition see Tyrion as monster from childhood on, like a gargoyle.

Except gargoyles aren't the monsters, they are there to fend off monsters.

And in ADWD Tyrion sees himself as having become the monster people have always seen in him.

[pobeb]

There has been a hugely interesting thread about this topic but it was for some raeson closed prematurely. Uuups, I just realized it had been staarted by you, pobeb :D

Yea, it was definitely odd to have it locked so quickly and without explanation. I think these are definitely ideas worth having their own dedicated threads to discuss. Hopefully this one sticks! *crosses fingers*

Thanks for including all that stuff I missed!

[pobeb]

A Wyvern is a Stone Dragon

“Only a king’s blood can wake the stone dragon.”

“Dragons old and young, true and false, bright and dark. And you. A small man with a big shadow, snarling in the midst of all.”

Through curtains of fire, great winged shadows wheeled against a hard blue sky

When he opened the door, the light from within threw his shadow clear across the yard, and for just a moment Tyrion Lannister stood tall as a king.

[Queen Ayras Lord Commander]

A Wyvern is a Stone Dragon

First off, a Wyvern is explicitly different from a dragon. Please start by looking up the term. You'll start to see a ton of "consistently confused with being a dragon," quotes. Also, they are water creatures. They are never made of stone.

Stop this madness!

[pobeb]

First off, a Wyvern is explicitly different from a dragon. Please start by looking up the term. You'll start to see a ton of "consistently confused with being a dragon," quotes. Also, they are water creatures. They are never made of stone.

Stop this madness!

Ok

pulled straight from google:

wy·vern

ˈwīvərn/

noun

HERALDRY

1. a winged two-legged dragon with a barbed tail.

The most mentioned gargoyle in the entire story, is the Wyvern. The gargoyle Maester Cressen wishes to speak to is a Wyvern.

Gargoyle-Wyvern = Stone-Dragon.

[Queen Ayras Lord Commander]

Lolz, just lolz

Gargoyles aren't dragons, nor are Wyvern

Also, way to pick the 5th option. The four before it specify a two legged snake, a two legged dragon like creature, as for the most common and highest searched terminology=NOT A DRAGON

Wiki also smashes your argument. But don't take my word for it, take all the people laughing at you in other threads for this.

[LordStoneheart]

Would shadow fire then be Tyrion's words? (Lies?) And what would be the smoking tower he is flying out of? Tower of the Hand after Cersei burned it?

[pobeb]

Lolz, just lolz

Gargoyles aren't dragons, nor are Wyvern

Also, way to pick the 5th option. The four before it specify a two legged snake, a two legged dragon like creature, as for the most common and highest searched terminology=NOT A DRAGON

Wiki also smashes your argument. But don't take my word for it, take all the people laughing at you in other threads for this.

5th option? If you type "define:wyvern" into google search, it gives you the exact definition I quoted above. What are you talking about?

[Ser Creighton]

I actually like your theory, feel free to use the historical references on the other thread I posted about Gargoyles. Also maybe I missed it in your theory but where was the first place Jon Met Tyrion? Where was Tyrion? But I will talk about it with you, I think it's intresting.

Do yourself a favor and keep your theory on your thread.

[pobeb]

Would shadow fire then be Tyrion's words? (Lies?) And what would be the smoking tower he is flying out of? Tower of the Hand after Cersei burned it?

It's a strong possibility, I'm thinking. Tyrion and Jon Con seem like the best suited candidates thus far.

[pobeb]

Also maybe I missed it in your theory but where was the first place Jon Met Tyrion? Where was Tyrion?

Jon and Tyrion's first meeting, from Jon's POV:

“Boy,” a voice called out to him. Jon turned. Tyrion Lannister was sitting on the ledge above the door to the Great Hall, looking for all the world like a gargoyle.

Oddly enough, Jon's first description of Tyrion includes him looking like a gargoyle.

p.s. I wasn't trying to take over that other thread, I was trying to support the pro, that's all. Yes, I kept interjecting with the same thing, but simply because I think these ideas are important and were being completely overlooked.

Look at the Howland Reed = High Septon thread. Had I not persisted there, that theory wouldn't nearly be as strong, and would have most likely been swept back under the rug - where it absolutely doesn't belong.

[Ser Creighton]

I also didn't see Tyrion pissing off the wall mentioned, think about it. The Wall wall.

[Ser Creighton]

Jon and Tyrion's first meeting, from Jon's POV:

Oddly enough, Jon's first description of Tyrion includes him looking like a gargoyle.

p.s. I wasn't trying to take over that other thread, I was trying to support the pro, that's all. Yes, I kept interjecting with the same thing, but simply because I think these ideas are important and were being completely overlooked.

Yes it was and he is sitting where decorative Gargoyles are placed.

[Ser Creighton]

You also can consider the sphinxes if you want, both are also stone guardians, head of a man and woman body of dragons, usually placed on either side of a door. Always 2 and the Gargoyle sits about the door and stone again. A 3 have an association with dragons. If you wanted to follow the logic, lets say Dany and Jon. Well you have fire on one side with Dany, Ice on another side with Jon and in the middle would be water which are what Gargoyles are also associated with. Tyrions eyes represent two colors associated with two sides of the Targaryen house as well, the Blacks and the Greens.

Though this goes away from your theory a bit. Though I don't think you need to disassociate water Ice and fire from the Dragons and make it all fire. The 3 dragons are fire, but the symbolism for people does not have to be. Also it's fine to focus on indirect parallels, one character can have more than one type of symbolism and multiple sources for their inspiration. Can a Gargoyle be a dragon? Yes, it can be a lot of things, but the author already asked the question "why can't it be both." Up and down, left and right, good and evil, love and hate, Ice and fire. I guess it depends on if you want to look at his philosophical approach or not.