Secrets of Ice: The meaning of “Kings of Winter” and “Winter is Coming”

[Daendrew]

Secrets of Ice: The meaning of “Kings of Winter” and “Winter is Coming”

The Endgame Series | EndGame of Thrones: Part 16

This post lays the groundwork for my next posts in the series where I will explore in more detail why there must always be a Stark in Winterfell. Once that is established, I have a brand new theory post on Ice that gave me goosebumps.

Ice is the answer.

Here is a quote that starts with describing Neds “Valyrian Ice” greatsword. It then moves on to talk about another sword I call “Ancestral Ice”.

Four hundred years old it was [meaning Ned’s Valyrian Ice], and as sharp as the day it was forged.

The name [“Ancestral Ice”] bore was older

still,

a legacy from the age of heroes,

when the

Starks were Kings in the North.

- A Game of Thrones - Catelyn I

This is a literary misdirection… Starks were not “Kings in the North” during the Age of Heroes. They had a different title.

Song and story tell us that the Starks of Winterfell have ruled large portions of the lands beyond the Neck for eight thousand years, styling themselves the

Kings of Winter

(the more ancient usage)

and

(in more recent centuries)

the

Kings in the North.

- The World of Ice and Fire - The North: The Kings of Winter

So The Starks were “Kings of Winter” during ancient times… during the same ancient times of The Age of Heroes when the Starks bore Ancestral Ice. That sword is what made them Kings of Winter. Perhaps commanding an ice dragon called Winter would work too. Winter "fell" where the supercold black pool is. But there is more to this story.

When you properly put it all together we learn:

The Starks were Kings of Winter during the age of heroes and that was when they wielded (Ancestral) Ice.

The Age of Heroes was a time like the present when magic flourished in the world. And Ancestral Ice is no exception. It was a magic sword, not unlike Lightbringer.

We are primed to think about magic swords that men wield only being like Neds Valyrian Ice that was forged using fire and blood magic. But fire and blood, those are the Targaryen words. That is Valyrian magic. [it is interesting that just as Valyria went up in flames The North is about to become frozen to death.] But this is The Song of Ice and Fire and Ice has its own melody when swords sing in battle.

Let’s look to the books to try to understand the magic behind Ancestral Ice that The Kings of Winter wielded and see if we can find this sword again. To go forward to the day that Starks once again wield Ancestral Ice, we must first go back. Back to the very, very beginning.

The Prologue to A Game of Thrones:

He must have felt them, as Will felt them. There was nothing to see. “Answer me!

Why is it so cold? It was cold. Shivering,

The incredible cold came before Will could see The Other and its blade. It is the Others blade, not The Other that brings winter upon Waymar Royce

The Other slid forward on silent feet. In its hand was

a longsword

like none that Will had ever seen.

No human metal

had gone into the forging of that blade.

It was alive with moonlight, translucent, a shard of crystal so thin that it seemed almost to vanish when seen edge-on.

There was a faint blue shimmer to the thing, a ghost-light that played around its edges, and

somehow Will knew it was sharper than any razor.

So Otherswords are made of magic ice, sharper than any razor [like Valyrian steel], bringing incredible cold against their enemies. Wait a minute… that’s what "Winter is Coming" means.

Ancestral Ice, the Othersword brings horrendous winter upon their enemies. This is a cold so powerful that it extinguishes fire. Ice extinguishes fire, fire melts ice… another meaning of Winter is Coming would be if Winter was the name of an ice dragon coming for you. That would make me shudder.

But how could a Stark wield an other blade like that without themselves freezing to death?

The reason Starks were Kings of Winter because they can bring upon the freezing power of winter upon their enemies with the Ancestral Ice that only they are capable of wielding. Just as Targaryans have Blood of The Dragon, Starks have Other iceblood running through their veins from a marriage pact peace treaty with The Others dating from the first Long Night, making only Starks and Others capable of wielding such a weapon.

There are huge ramifications now that The Boltons hold Winterfell.

The reason there must always be a Stark In Winterfell

There must always be a Stark in Winterfell to protect the hiding place of Ancestral Ice. They placed it a place very cold and dark, protected by the magic of the Old Gods.

Ancestral Ice, the Stark sword from The Age of Heroes is hidden either in the deep cold black pond by the Winterfell Heart Tree or it is hidden deep in the levels of the crypts by the source of the hot springs to neutralize the cold effect. The reason for the cold pool, if the sword is not in it will be described in part 2

Coming up next... Secrets of Ice 2: Why there must always be A Stark in Winterfell. The ramifications of this will be enormous.

EndGame of Thrones is a large multipart series. Click here to see the other parts of the series

[Blazfemur]

I think Ancestral Ice was exiled with the 13th Lord Commander Stark -- and he still wields it. Never lost, just exiled with him.

[Blazfemur]

But a lot of your points we agree on that i posted a year or so ago haha. Just as Targaryen Incest gave them a magnified, more potent bloodline, so to was their degree to control dragons moreso than other valyrian houses.

So to was Craster's incest, to potenize his First Men blood, and allow them to accept the Ice Gift that much more. Perhaps he wasnt just a pig, but rather protecting his bloodline from contamination, either with or against his will.

It's not just Stark blood, it's First Men blood.

[Daendrew]

I think Ancestral Ice was exiled with the 13th Lord Commander Stark -- and he still wields it. Never lost, just exiled with him.

Hold onto that thought. Part 2 is coming up. Both our points are not mutually exclusive :)

See this post from before basically has the answer. That pond is really cold even though all around it are hot springs. The sword and the NK is there at Winterfell. in the pond. The reborn Nights King has seen the future and flown from there. already.

[IceFire125]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Benjen Stark emerged from the shelter he shared with his nephew. “There you are. Jon, damn it, don’t go off like that by yourself. I thought the Others had gotten you.”

They descended to the yard in silence. Outside, Jon looked up at the Wall shining in the sun, the melting ice creeping down its side in a hundred thin fingers. Jon’s rage was such that he would have smashed it all in an instant, and the world be damned.

So many stars, he thought as he trudged up the slope through pines and firs and ash. Maester Luwin had taught him his stars as a boy in Winterfell; he had learned the names of the twelve houses of heaven and the rulers of each; he could find the seven wanderers sacred to the Faith; he was old friends with the Ice Dragon, the Shadowcat, the Moonmaid, and the Sword of the Morning

“Can they talk?” asked Jon Snow. “I think not, but I cannot claim to know. Monsters they may be, but they were men before they died... My lord father used to tell me that a man must know his enemies. We understand little of the wights and less about the Others. We need to learn.”

Ser Patrek smiled. “Tell me, Lord Commander, should the Others turn up, do you plan to offer hospitality to them as well?”

for every song must have its balance

[Dorian Martell]

there are a lot of assumptions here, like assuming the sword is magical just because we don't have any info on it. For all we know it was just a bronze sword in accordance with the age of heroes being a bronze age, or maybe it was an Iron sword in an age of bronze, or maybe it was a magical blade from the others. We have no way to tell, and since the only info we have is from a short single line sentence, well, that is it.

[ilikethesebooks]

Enjoyed this look forward to part 2

[Daendrew]

there are a lot of assumptions here, like assuming the sword is magical just because we don't have any info on it. For all we know it was just a bronze sword in accordance with the age of heroes being a bronze age, or maybe it was an Iron sword in an age of bronze, or maybe it was a magical blade from the others. We have no way to tell, and since the only info we have is from a short single line sentence, well, that is it.

Because in the age of heroes where we now learn the stories are tree and there are wight walkers ice zombies, and dragons, and shadow babies, and trees that drink blood.... a sword of the kings of winter is totally not magic.

Because it totally don't make sense to have a sword that fires cold and darkness in a story with a hero with fire and light.

Of course it is magic. Zero doubt.

[Dorian Martell]

.Of course it is magic. Zero doubt.

Prove it.

There are many possibilities about the stark house words origin that have nothing to do with a magic sword and are grounded in actual story.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not discounting it, I am just wondering if you have any reason for your idea that is not assumption.

Assumptions that are unique to your idea and not found anywhere else in the book, like how there is a requirement for a bloodline to wield the sword, or that the sword was lost right under the noses of the Starks themselves, in Winterfell, to the point they purchased a Val-steel sword 600 years before the story, or that it unlocks some ice weather power that no one has mentioned before. A secret power, never ever hinted at through book 5, driven by a sword of the others, a sword shown in the very first part of book 1, so cold that it shatters the best steel made in the kingdom yet somehow the kings of winter, (aka, kings of the north, a place that is so cold it snows mid summer) can wield it. Other legendary swords, like Lady Forlorn and Dawn are not only mentioned but deeds involving them are told as well. Why not original Ice, that was given a single passing line by someone who wasn't even a stark themselves.

[Daendrew]

You saw the Others sword.

You see the cold pool. They are surrounded by hot springs yet that is very cold.

[Wolf of The Wall]

I liked it :drool: :drool: :drool:

[rozemarijn]

The pool? What about the crypts he has been teasing us with? isn't it far more likely anything magic is hidden there?

I won't say much, to avoid spoilers, but it seems they are starting to mention them a lot in the show as well, very casual.

[LordImp]

I really like this stuff.

[Daendrew]

The pool? What about the crypts he has been teasing us with? isn't it far more likely anything magic is hidden there?

I won't say much, to avoid spoilers, but it seems they are starting to mention them a lot in the show as well, very casual.

Hold on to that thought. "Winter".... Part 2... is coming.

The pool ITSELF is a crypt.

[ilikethesebooks]

How long till part 2? I'm jonesing!

[Daendrew]

Read the other parts of my EndGame series. The bulk of the secrets are there. I have something else to add on top that made my arm hairs stand on end.

Especially read The IceBrandon and Skinflaynging post.

[Wolf of Dorne]

Hold on to that thought. "Winter".... Part 2... is coming.

The pool ITSELF is a crypt.

Would osha know about it? Didn't bran find her swimming in the pool in front of the heart tree?

[Avlonnic]

Would osha know about it? Didn't bran find her swimming in the pool in front of the heart tree?

We have seen Osha and Hodor in the WF tree pool...and Benjen fell in.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

Would osha know about it? Didn't bran find her swimming in the pool in front of the heart tree?

...and she never found the bottom.

[The Tower of Almond Joy]

I'm intriqued. I haven't read it all yet and don't know if I agree, (Is this considered fanfiction? but I sure am grateful you posted this today. I needed something good to read after this past weekend...

Where and when are you going to post Part 2?