The Direwolve's names as pertaining to Stark children's fate's.

[SerTonyStark]

Not sure if I'm bringing anything new to the forum, but here goes.

I've read in other post's about the significance of the name "Shaggy Dog" as a literary term. It refer's to basically a long winded needlessly elaborate story that ends in an anti climax. A joke that is all setup than no punchline. It has been posited here before that this is the George tipping his hat in regards to Rickon's ultimate fate and significance to the story. Namely that he is a red herring and will ultimately have no impact really. My speculation would be that in all likelihood he's probably dead already and our favorite onion knight is on a wild goose chase.

This got me thinking about the possible significance of the other direwolves and their names.

There's Robb's Grey Wind, which as simple imagery conjures a vision of a storm. He and Robb both perish one rainy night in ASOS.

Sansa has Lady, killed for a crime she had no part in. Implications here are pretty straightforward as to Sansa's fate I fear.

Arya has Nymeria, already a lot of interesting character parallels to work with. Nymeria's namesake flee's the Valyrian's attacks on her homeland the Rhoyne, sails to Dorne with the refugees and burns her ships. She then becomes the "warrior" queen of Dorne alongside the Martell's, unifying Dorne and greatly influencing the Dornish egalitarian approach to sexual politics. The dire wolf has already escaped death at the hands of the Lannister's, only to find a new pack in the riverlands.

We now find Arya having fled Westeros for Braavos and taken up a life at the house of B&W, training as an assassin. It's pure speculation from here on, but given the parallels to this point I think it likely that Arya might not be coming back to Westeros, burning the ships in this case being losing herself and her Starkness.

Bran has Summer, he is currently in the lands of always winter with the COTF and BR. I am of the opinion (note use of the word opinion) that Bran is the Frodo of ASOIAF and ultimately will be the hero of the story. I think his work as the big daddy greenseer will lead to an endgame where the seasons are returned to normal on planetos (not going to go into all that here, it's pure tinfoil speculation really), hence Summer.

Rickon's Shaggy dog has been addressed above, it horrifies me but I can easily imagine reading in TWOW the harrowing journey of Ser Davos to Skaagos

facing and overcoming many perils & obstacles possibly meeting up with Osha only to find a Skaagosi cannibal finishing off a plate of Rickon rib's.

Lastly, the disconcerting name of Jon's dire wolf. Ghost.

Given Jon's condition last we read him the implications are worrying and have already been addressed at such great length that I will not beleaguer the subject any further.

Hope to start some conversation with this one, what does everyone think of my half thought out conclusions?

[sacsheep]

Great points! But I am sure Arya will be returning to Westeros, she has a list to check off. X.X What or who she will look like though, who knows, but she can't wait for them all to come to her.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

Good analysis though I disagree with some of it.

Grey Wind and Robb, sure. The wind blows away. The two of them are gone.

Jon's Ghost is called ghost because he's silent. And since Jon is not dead yet, I don't think we can necessarily say for certain that the name means anything, though Jon sacrificing himself to save Westeros I could absolutely see.

Sansa's direwolf was named Lady. And Sansa is pretty much set up to become the perfect Lady. Losing her wolf is not good, but does not necessarily spell her doom. She strikes me as the Lone Wolf even more than Arya does, so she'll definitely be in danger, but she may start bonding with birds. Flying can be dangerous too, but some birds spend more time on land. I'm not counting Sansa out yet, though I agree her fate is up in the air.

Arya will return to Westeros, never to wander again. Nymeria has taken on a leadership role, and I believe Arya will be a less royal version of the warrior queen. She will be important to the story, and may or may not survive.

Bran and Summer, I agree. I hope he does better than Frodo does though (that whole quest took a lot out of him). I believe Summer's name represents hope of making it through the winter and both Bran and his wolf will do so.

Rickon and Shaggy. Yes, you're right about the literary meaning of a shaggydog story. Rickon is too young to make a huge difference in the plot unless he has a major growth spurt on Skagos (something in the water?). But I think this actually gives him a much better chance of survival than his siblings have. And GRRM could very well surprise us by making Shaggy himself integral somehow (taking out Ramsay's pack of dogs with Nymeria maybe).

[Wyman Manderly's Meat Pies]

If Bran is Frodo, that makes Hodor Sam. Therefore, Hodor is the real hero of the story.

[The Ned's Little Girl]

It's pure speculation from here on, but given the parallels to this point I think it likely that Arya might not be coming back to Westeros, burning the ships in this case being losing herself and her Starkness.

But Arya is far from losing her self and her Starkness. She's asserting her Starkness left and right, and being constantly berated for it by the Kindly Old Man, who even takes away her eyesight after Arya's most emphatic expression of her Stark identity: the execution of Dareon for desertion of the Night's Watch.

And in the Mercy gift chapter, she explicitly takes back her name of Arya Stark. No more Mercy.

So no, I don't think she burned her ships when she left Westeros.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

If Bran is Frodo, that makes Hodor Sam. Therefore, Hodor is the real hero of the story.

I could get behind this.

[Pod The Rod]

If anything, Nymeria's name is foreshadowing for Arya as QitN.

It's unlikely, but far more likely than her losing her Stark identity. It's hammered home again and again in her Braavos chapters that she has no intention of becoming "no one".

I tend to think Summer's name is foreshadowing for ultimate victory against the Others, and Bran having a large part in it.

I don't think Shaggydog's name means anything. It's just what a three year old would name a direwolf.

[Monctonvike]

Not sure if I'm bringing anything new to the forum, but here goes.

I've read in other post's about the significance of the name "Shaggy Dog" as a literary term. It refer's to basically a long winded needlessly elaborate story that ends in an anti climax. A joke that is all setup than no punchline. It has been posited here before that this is the George tipping his hat in regards to Rickon's ultimate fate and significance to the story. Namely that he is a red herring and will ultimately have no impact really. My speculation would be that in all likelihood he's probably dead already and our favorite onion knight is on a wild goose chase.

This got me thinking about the possible significance of the other direwolves and their names.

There's Robb's Grey Wind, which as simple imagery conjures a vision of a storm. He and Robb both perish one rainy night in ASOS.

Sansa has Lady, killed for a crime she had no part in. Implications here are pretty straightforward as to Sansa's fate I fear.

Arya has Nymeria, already a lot of interesting character parallels to work with. Nymeria's namesake flee's the Valyrian's attacks on her homeland the Rhoyne, sails to Dorne with the refugees and burns her ships. She then becomes the "warrior" queen of Dorne alongside the Martell's, unifying Dorne and greatly influencing the Dornish egalitarian approach to sexual politics. The dire wolf has already escaped death at the hands of the Lannister's, only to find a new pack in the riverlands.

We now find Arya having fled Westeros for Braavos and taken up a life at the house of B&W, training as an assassin. It's pure speculation from here on, but given the parallels to this point I think it likely that Arya might not be coming back to Westeros, burning the ships in this case being losing herself and her Starkness.

Bran has Summer, he is currently in the lands of always winter with the COTF and BR. I am of the opinion (note use of the word opinion) that Bran is the Frodo of ASOIAF and ultimately will be the hero of the story. I think his work as the big daddy greenseer will lead to an endgame where the seasons are returned to normal on planetos (not going to go into all that here, it's pure tinfoil speculation really), hence Summer.

Rickon's Shaggy dog has been addressed above, it horrifies me but I can easily imagine reading in TWOW the harrowing journey of Ser Davos to Skaagos

facing and overcoming many perils & obstacles possibly meeting up with Osha only to find a Skaagosi cannibal finishing off a plate of Rickon rib's.

Lastly, the disconcerting name of Jon's dire wolf. Ghost.

Given Jon's condition last we read him the implications are worrying and have already been addressed at such great length that I will not beleaguer the subject any further.

Hope to start some conversation with this one, what does everyone think of my half thought out conclusions?

Very well done!!!!!!!!!!!!1

The only thing I would say, I mean in the end who know really. I think Arya will make it back to Westeros

[Lord Lyman]

I don't think Shaggydog's name means anything. It's just what a three year old would name a direwolf.

This is my thought as well. It's like naming an orange cat, Butterscotch.

[of man and wolf]

I wouldnt want to be some skagosi trying to get through Shaggy so he could have a piece of Rickon. Shaggy will be well fed.

[SnowCastle]

I always thought Shaggy dog implied that Rick on would grow up a little wild and savage, so he's in the right place for that.

[SerTonyStark]

If Bran is Frodo, that makes Hodor Sam. Therefore, Hodor is the real hero of the story.

Obviously.

[Lord Fauntleroy]

If you think "shaggy dog" being a literary device is just a coincidence you are very foolish.

[Pod The Rod]

If you think "shaggy dog" being a literary device is just a coincidence you are very foolish.

Ah, personal putdowns without evidence behind them. Nice.

I'll wait to see your evidence that GRRM was deliberately referencing a literary term most people have never heard of.

[Aderyn]

Interesting topic. I have often thought about the relationship between the Stark kids and their wolves and how they reflect each others but I've never considered it in a nomen est omen way...

A lot of the ideas have been mentioned already, but I thought I'd still contribute. These are of course mere speculations but I don’t see them as completely unreasonable. GRRM is hardly random in his writing.

“Grey Wind” is a very harsh and gloomy name, and with that in mind it resonates well with Robb’s fate.
“Ghost” may or may not hint at what will come of Jon's Julius Caesar incident, we’ll see what happens.
“Lady” could be seen as foreshadowing Sansa gaining a position of power in the end. By inheriting Winterfell for example, she would become the lady of a major House. (Personally I would love to see that happen, fingers crossed…)
“Nymeria”, named after the famous warrior queen from Rhoyne... maybe it hints at the fact that Arya will have to burn some ships (or bridges) of her own before the story's end. She has definitely been struggling with that already, by having to constantly hide her roots and going down a path that would ultimately lead to her giving up her identity for good. Only it's not so clear if she'll end up doing so or not. It seems that there is one 'ship' she is not willing to burn and that is of her personal vendetta, as seen in the Mercy chapter.
To me, "Summer" first and foremost represents Bran's innocence and idealism in the beginning of the series. He is a summer child. But as the story proceeds, Bran is quickly robbed of his childhood innocence. As a powerful warg and greenseer, I could see Bran having a crucial part to play in the endgame, especially in the war against the Others. As some of you have mentioned before, summer means hope and I think that is what Bran symbolises as well.
I also definitely agree with the idea that "Shaggydog" reflects what Rickon will be like if/when discovered by Davos. Depending on his Skagosi nurturers, his temper may or may not have calmed down a bit. But I think he will also be displaying real northern strenght, despite his young age. Or, Rickon could of course prove to be just a shaggydog story, a mere pun laid out by GRRM... or, that might be what he wants us to think.