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The Little Red Riding Hood in ASOIAF


ShadowCat Rivers

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Little girls and big bad wolves: Is this story told? And, how?



In a recent interview, GRRM spoke about his fascination with wolves:


"Well, they're mythic. I think even as a kid I responded to the werewolf legends and the wolves in the wood and, you know, Little Red Riding Hood and all of that".



This reference to the famous fairytale was the incentive to look for retellings of this story in ASOIAF. After all, the author has incorporated themes of other popular fairy tales in his work, such as the Beauty & the Beast and the Evil Stepmother’s mirror (in regards to Cresei’s prophesy). It would only be normal to have also included aspects of the LRRH, in a saga centered, by large, on a family of “direwolves”.



What follows is not really an essay, more like an attempt to organize some thoughts on the matter and hopefully, a start to discussion.




A. Introductory notes



The Little Red Riding Hood is one of the most popular and well known fairy tales that is rooted in the oral tradition and has been retold over and over in many variations. I suppose that everyone knows the plot, but in case anyone needs a refresher here’s a collection of various versions.



While the basic plot remains more or less the same, there are significant differences in the ending from version to version:


  • In the first written version by Charles Perrault, the LRRH is eaten by the wolf and the story ends there with her death.
  • The version written by the Grimm brothers has added the huntsman (male authority-paternal figure) who saves the little girl and the grandmother, who come out of the wolf’s belly alive.
  • In the earlier tales, the girl escapes the wolf without external help, using her own cunning.
  • The story is heavy on sexual references and allusions, their intensity varying from version to version.
  • Modern retellings of the story, influenced by the feminist critique, return to the roots of the earlier tales of the oral tradition, having the young heroine assert power in various ways: in one retelling the LRRH kills the wolf using a shooting gun while in others, focusing on sexuality, the LRRH is as seductive and sexually “aggressive” as the wolf.

The story has been the subject of many analyses from many different standpoints.


It has especially been a favourite story to apply the Freudian psychoanalytic approach.


From Wikipedia:


Id, ego, and super-ego are the three parts of the psychic apparatus defined in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche; they are the three theoretical constructs in terms of whose activity and interaction our mental life is described. According to this model of the psyche, the id is the set of uncoordinated instinctual trends; the super-ego plays the critical and moralizing role; and the ego is the organized, realistic part that mediates between the desires of the id and the super-ego. The super-ego can stop one from doing certain things that one's id may want to do.


Or, in short :) :


Id: I want it now!


Ego: I need to do a bit of planning to get it…


Superego: You can’t have it. It’s not right.



According to freudian analyses, the Wolf represents the Id, appealing to the girl’s desires and impulses, the mother urging the girl to stay “on the path” (along with the other adults) represent the Superego while the girl herself has to find the balance between the two (Ego).


The freudian model is of special interest IMO, because having the “wolf blood” describes a personality with strong impulses and desires and a tendency to give in to them – that is, very close to the freudian Id.




B. Parallels in ASOIAF



I can think of two cases where a variation of the LRRH story is almost fully performed from beginning to end:



1. Lyanna



At face value, the official tale of Lyanna’s abduction in conjunction with Ned’s remark that she was “beautiful, and willful, and dead before her time” evokes directly the moral of Perrault’s tale:


Children, especially attractive, well bred young ladies, {a child-woman of surpassing loveliness} should never talk to strangers, for if they should do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf. I say "wolf," but there are various kinds of wolves. There are also those who are charming, quiet, polite, {fits well Rhaegar’s description} unassuming, complacent, and sweet, who pursue young women at home and in the streets. And unfortunately, it is these gentle wolves who are the most dangerous ones of all.



A beautiful but willful girl, who -somehow, Ned does not explain- left the “path”, got herself in trouble as she ‘apparently’ gave the opportunity to a malevolent man to take advantage of her and eventually died for it.



But there is one problem: Enter the animal association, which for Starks and Targaryens are more than “beasts sewn upon a scrap of silk” and the image doesn’t fit… for Rhaegar was the last dragon and no wolf at all. Lyanna, on the other hand, had


‘The wolf blood,’ my father used to call it. Lyanna had a touch of it […]



So we might see Lyanna as both the girl and the wolf of the story. By this interpretation, we can observe a trade-off between Perrault’s and Grimm’s ending:


The huntsman of the Grimm version (Ned) could not save the girl; she died as in Perrault’s. But, he did save someone who came alive out of the (she)-wolf’s belly…



The true story of Rhaegar and Lyanna remains still an unknown. But there are quite a few clues that Lyanna will be revealed as a lot more wolfish that the official tale credits her with, driving the story closer to modern, feminism-influenced retellings of the LRRH.



It is also interesting that Lyanna’s story is invoked as a cautionary tale in Ned’s efforts to lesson his wolf-blooded, impulsive and disobedient little girl.




{ From TWoW sample chapter Mercy }



2. Mercy



In a chapter heavy of sexual symbolism and explicit references, Mercy & Raff seems to be taken out of some storybook for big nasty but unsuspecting scum to warn them against the danger of sweet little nymphets.


It follows quite closely Perrault’s storyline and fits very well to the Freudian analysis of id - ego - superego.



Raff the Sweetling is an unlikely LRRH. Warned twice by the older Lannister guard (superego) on the grounds of morality and duty, Raff chooses to satisfy his id and go pick Mercy’s flower ;). So he follows the seemingly harmless Big Bad Wolf (Mercy) into the deep forest of Braavos’ crooked alleys and canals, to a secluded place where, to his horror, he witnesses the transformation of the little girl -Mercy- to the hungry (but not for food) big bad Arya. Next thing he’s into the canal and no one will hear from him again…


The big bad, from her part, seems to have a quite well-adjusted ego: she comes with a plan to lure him out of sight before eating him, while keeping in-time for her other duties…



The funny thing is, that for the ‘public’ perception the opposite will seem to be the truth: that little Mercy ignored her older friend’s advice {They’re terrible savages, Mercy. Best stay well away from his sort.}, and followed her impulse {“Stay away?” Mercy giggled. […] “No. I’ve got to get closer.”}, to her eventual presumed (off-stage) “rape and murder” by the savage Westerosi.





Apart from these complete narrations, I think there may be a few scattered allusions of the LRRH and the Big Bad Wolf in Arya’s story.



First of all, because of her warg connection: any mention of the Big Bad Wolf in ASOIAF will necessarily evoke Nymeria. Who else? Not the quiet and well behaved Ghost, not the strong but calm Summer, not the angry but otherwise unknown Saggydog and certainly not the dead :crying: Grey Wind and Lady…



Nymeria is the one who proudly owns the Big Bad title:


“Some will tell you that they are demons. They say the pack is led by a monstrous she-wolf, a stalking shadow grim and grey and huge. They will tell you that she has been known to bring aurochs down all by herself, that no trap nor snare can hold her, that she fears neither steel nor fire, slays any wolf that tries to mount her, and devours no other flesh but man.”



But contrary to the classic fairy tale, the Big Bad Wolf has repeatedly been protecting the little girl, be it against Joffrey in early AGOT or the hunting squad in ASOS after she escaped Harrenhal, to preserving her identity against becoming no-one in the HoBaW in Braavos. Of course it helps that they are practically one…




Another occurrence might be found in Sansa I AGOT, where Arya is presented as a sort of Little Red Riding Hood rejecting instructions given to her by Sansa, in the role of the adult female figure (with Ned as the indulgent figure):



Arya was wearing the same riding leathers she had worn yesterday and the day before.


You better put on something pretty,” Sansa told her. “Septa Mordane said so. We’re traveling in the queen’s wheelhouse with Princess Myrcella today.”


“I’m not,” Arya said, trying to brush a tangle out of Nymeria’s matted grey fur. “Mycah and I are going to ride upstream and look for rubies at the ford.”


[…]


Sansa regarded her scrawny little sister in disbelief. “You can’t look for rubies, the princess is expecting us. The queen invited us both.”


I don’t care,” Arya said. “The wheelhouse doesn’t even have windows, you can’t see a thing.”


[…]


None of which stopped Arya, of course. One day she came back grinning her horsey grin, her hair all tangled and her clothes covered in mud, clutching a raggedy bunch of purple and green flowers for Father. Sansa kept hoping he would tell Arya to behave herself and act like the highborn lady she was supposed to be, but he never did, he only hugged her and thanked her for the flowers. That just made her worse.


[…]


You’re not supposed to leave the column,” Sansa reminded her. “Father said so.”


Arya shrugged. “I didn’t go far. Anyway, Nymeria was with me the whole time. I don’t always go off, either. Sometimes it’s fun just to ride along with the wagons and talk to people.”


[…]


Sansa was running out of patience now. “You have to come with me,” she told her sister firmly. “You can’t refuse the queen. Septa Mordane will expect you.


[…]


Arya grabbed Nymeria around her neck, but the moment she pulled out the brush again the direwolf wriggled free and bounded off. Frustrated, Arya threw down the brush. “Bad wolf!” she shouted.



Sansa appeals to authority and calls to stay “on the path”, while Arya prefers to ride out “into the woods” and pick flowers (and rubies). Near the end, Nymeria fittingly reflects the behavior of her human and gets called a bad wolf. As we know, it all ends badly.


That chapter is Sansa’s introduction, building on the dichotomy of the closer to woman maturity, obedient “good girl” (Sansa - superego) in contrast to closer to childhood, playful and disobedient, horsey riding :), wolf girl (Arya - id).




C. Additional observations



In both Perrault and Grimm versions, the LRRH is presented as a little bit spoiled child by the doting of her mother and grandmother; her distinguishing red cap is presented as a token of indulgent attitude towards her. Accordingly, Lyanna (speculatively) and Arya (very explicitly) receive presents that indulge their inner wolf and become their personal literary totems:


  • For Lyanna, it is the crown of blue winter roses. Taking into account the KotLT story, it seems more likely that the crown was given to her as a reward for her bravery and honour, thus also indirectly rewarding and encouraging her unconventional rebellious nature. The crown becomes her symbol and follows her through in most Ned’s memories of her.
  • It goes without saying that Arya’s is the Needle: nothing indirect here, this gift promptly aims to preserve, encourage and empower her wolfish wild nature.
  • As a potentially intriguing concurrence, in various versions of the older story of the Grandmother, the LRRH chooses the path of needles. In this retelling of the LRRH, the girl saves herself on her own by using her wits and improvising skills. A very interesting article on the subject is Terri Windling’s “The Path of Needles and Pins”.


Another important aspect of the LRRH’s red cap is the symbolism of colour red (first introduced to the story by Perrault): in many analyses the red symbolizes the blood of menstruation, the sexual awakening and transformation into an adult woman.


In Lyanna’s case the parallel is quite direct. The imagery surrounding her is heavily associated with the blood of childbirth, woman’s blood.


In Arya’s not so much, yet. Arya is also associated with blood, but not her own: it’s the blood that she spills in her “big bad wolf” capacity that has earned her the “blood child” moniker.


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Sansa is also techinically (and temporarily) a Lannister. What are the colors of House Lannister? Gold and red. Her wedding cloak could be the riding hood here.

Yes, the colour fits.

What other thematic connections are there, though?

(That's a genuine question, it's possible that you see something that I don't)

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Loved it, Thank you. What an interesting analysis.

There was a good likening of LRRH to Sansa in one of the P2P threads, but I can't recall who wrote it. :/ anyway it took the loss of virginity angle.

Glad that you did!

I would love a link to the PtP post, if you can find it. I tried to find relative content in this and other asoiaf sites, but google search didn't yield any results...

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I have remembered something, and am trying to look now. I recalled that it was either part of, or directly followed the Gothic horror discussions. I was absolutely delighted with the Jamaica Inn essay by Doglover. (as it is one of my favourite stories.) And female sexual awakening is a theme in literature which I appreciate greatly. This is a huge part of why I love Sansa's story so much.


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Praise to @ShadowCat Rivers for a very good analysis.



If you edit your OP again, you might help readers by mentioning the spoiler Part is from the Mercy chapter from TWoW outside of the spoiler itself.



eta:





search function is down as well.





You can still search like this:



"Eddison Tollett" site:asoiaf.westeros.org via DuckDuckGo



or like this:



"Eddison Tollett" site:asoiaf.westeros.org via Google



...without hurting the forum engine.


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As an interesting side note, I think it is really interesting to examine the various versions of trad folk tales. I recently read this article. http://www.salon.com/2015/02/21/down_and_dirty_fairy_tales_how_this_rediscovered_stash_of_darker_than_grimm_stories_destroys_our_prince_charming_myths/


Which is about a collection of folktales compiled at roughly the same time period as the brothers Grimm, but which instead of seeking to write a well selling people pleaser just recorded the tales as told to him. And the overriding theme of Patriarchy in the Grimms version is blatant. Whereas in the tales recorded as told to the other collector the gender roles are often reversed both in the villain and the hero's.


I really want a copy of this book now.


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LRRH is a pathetic story of keeping young girls 'in line'. You have nothing to be afraid of in the woods if you are the wolf, as we shall see.

Well thats kinda what I'm interested in though, the true tales, the versions not homogenized by the brothers Grimm, who very clearly altered all the stories to suit the patriarchal agenda of the day.

In quite a lot of versions of LRRH, it is Red who outwits the wolf, who kills him, and saves Granny and herself.

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