Truly Just Man Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 I was wondering whether Others understand what people say to each other. The best example I can think of is in the prologue of Game of Thrones, where Waymar Royce cried Will's name few times when he saw the Others approaching. Now, what I think is, if they knew Royce was calling somebody's name, they would have searched for him and probably killed him, but we know Will just stayed out of trouble on the tree above Royce. Others are also suggested to bed the wildling's women during the Long Night, or at least that's what some of the Old Nan's tales say. How would the Others interact with some human, if the opportunity and necessity arise? Can you please help me sort this out with some examples? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Patroclo Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 How would the Others interact with some human, if the opportunity and necessity arise? Can you please help me sort this out with some examples? Thanks in advance. By killing them, just like they did since the first book and the age of the heroes? I don't think they can talk with human beings. Learning a language though interaction requires a certain degree of empathy and good social skills, they did not show either of the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Redwyne Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Why they should even try to understand speech of these primitive beings called humans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferocious Veldt Roarer Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 A man assumes they did cut a deal with Craster. Somehow. And for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire Eater Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 The last time they came into contact with man, Westerosi spoke the Old Tongue. Now they speak the Common Tongue. There is a chance they have observed humans for quite some time, and deciphered some of the Common Tongue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcotron Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 If you believe the Night's King's Queen was an Other, it seems plausible that they understood each other. Granted, I have some friends who swear it would be a lot easier to stay married for 13 years if they didn't speak the same language as their husband... As for Craster, he may have actually made a literal pact with them in words, but he may also have tried various different things, discovered that if he left his sons in just the right place, the Others would take the sons and leave him alone, and decided that was as good as a pact. And we have very little knowledge about how the War for the Dawn ended. Maybe there was some kind of peace treaty, but maybe the Others just fled to the Land of Always Winter and that was the end of it. So, it's possible they understand human speech, and it's possible they don't. It's an interesting question, but I don't think the answer is anywhere in the text. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clegane'sPup Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 They definitely were not afraid of Waymar's longsword. The Other said something in a language that Will did not know, his voice was like the crackling of ice on a winter lake, and the words were mocking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice Turtle Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I think it should be more than one question. Which tongues spoken in current ASOIAF world do they understand? If none, do they have the ability to learn them the same way humans do with other foregin human languages? Are they physycaly able to form human speach? How long it would take them? Do they have some kind of shared colective consciousness or would every Other need to learn for himself? Are they the same individuals which "lived" during the first Long Night? Did they learn then? But I dont think it is that important for the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BalerionTheCat Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 They don't seem. But more apparently, they don't care. They kill human, then they control them. Easier that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon's Queen Consort Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 A man assumes they did cut a deal with Craster. Somehow. And for some reason. Could be. Or it could also be somehow a human sacrifice where people just killed the others without actually having a deal with the *Gods*. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Municipal Engines Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 There has been the idea thrown about that the Last Hero was more of a diplomat than a warrior, that he managed to convince the Others (probably after a victory or two) to retreat back into the Land of Always Winter. GRRM has also said that the Others are quite misunderstood, and I think he means that in the sense that they're not evil monsters but just another race with their own goals; an intelligent race that can likely communicate with men in some way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truly Just Man Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 I can imagine the Others negotiationg with, let's say, Littlefinger. I always imagined them as supernatural beings and perhaps in some way they can possibly do a sort of telepathy?Like Littlefinger facing the Great Other 10 feet apart. And the grim smile slowly appearing on his face as they silently negotiate some sort of deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcotron Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 I can imagine the Others negotiationg with, let's say, Littlefinger. I always imagined them as supernatural beings and perhaps in some way they can possibly do a sort of telepathy? Like Littlefinger facing the Great Other 10 feet apart. And the grim smile slowly appearing on his face as they silently negotiate some sort of deal.We've seen them facing humans without communicating telepathically. More importantly, we've seen them speaking to each other in a spoken language that humans can't understand; why would they do that if they normally communicated telepathically? I think if they have negotiated in the past, it was probably through Others speaking human languages, or humans speaking the Others', or maybe the Children translating between the two. And if they negotiate at the end of the series, it will probably be something similar. Maybe they know the Old Tongue but not Common; maybe Jon will learn their language somehow; maybe Bran will be able to facilitate communication between the sides... really all we can do is speculate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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