Arya / No One / and the Water Motif in Braavos

[Manderly's Rat Cook]

The Hekate parallel:

Hecate or Hekate ( /ˈhɛkətiː/; ancient Greek Ἑκάτη, Hekátē; /ˈhɛkət/) is an ancient goddess, frequently depicted in triple form and variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, fire, light, the Moon, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, necromancy, and sorcery.^[1][2] She has rulership over earth, sea and sky, as well as a more universal role as Saviour (Soteira), Mother of Angels and the Cosmic World Soul.^[3][4]

Hecate may have originated among the Carians of Anatolia, where variants of her name are found as names given to children. William Berg observes, "Since children are not called after spooks, it is safe to assume that Carian theophoric names involving hekat- refer to a major deity free from the dark and unsavoury ties to the underworld and to witchcraft associated with the Hecate of classical Athens."^[5] She also closely parallels the Roman goddess Trivia, with whom she was identified in Rome.

Today Hecate is just one of the 'patron' goddesses of many witches, who in some traditions refer to her in the Goddess's aspect of the "Crone". But other traditional witches associate her with the Maiden and/or with the Mother as well, for Hecate has three faces, or phases. Her role as a tripartite goddess, which many modern-day Wiccans associate with the concept of 'the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone',^[6] an interpretation clearly from the ancient myths, songs and statuary, was again made popular in modern times by writers such as Robert Graves in The White Goddess, and many others. This association is also noted in the 20th century, with the occult author Aleister Crowley. Historical depictions and descriptions show her facing in three different directions, a clear and precise reference to the tripartite nature of this ancient Goddess. The later Greek Magical Papyri sometimes refer to her as also having the heads of animals, and this can be seen as a reference to her aspect of Motherhood, who is often depicted as a 'Mistress of Animals'.

Arya is also associated with the moon, magic, poison, necromancy (UnCat) and sorcery. It stands out to me how much has happened in the books at the Inn at the Crossroads as well. I know the idea of the triple godess (maiden mother and Crone) has been mentiones before, but not in relation to this specific goddess I believe.

The Mistress of animals aspect is also extremely interesting, for Arya IS a mistress of animals.

For more on Hecate, check the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hecate

[Manderly's Rat Cook]

Diving deeper into Hekate:

she is described as having three heads: one dog, one serpent, and one horse.

A dog; could stand for the Hound, or the direwolf. The Serpent represents poison, which Arya uses and gets accostumed to in the HoB&W. The horse, stands for her excellent rider skills, and swiftness.

If Hecate's cult spread from Anatolia into Greece, it is possible it presented a conflict, as her role was already filled by other more prominent deities in the Greek pantheon, above all by Artemis and Selene. This line of reasoning lies behind the widely accepted hypothesis that she was a foreign deity who was incorporated into the Greek pantheon. Other than in the Theogony, the Greek sources do not offer a consistent story of her parentage, or of her relations in the Greek pantheon: sometimes Hecate is related as a Titaness, and a mighty helper and protector of humans. Her continued presence was explained by asserting that, because she was the only Titan who aided Zeus in the battle of gods and Titans, she was not banished into the underworld realms after their defeat by the Olympians

Arya has already been succesfully compared to Artemis/Diana, so the fact that they fit, can be related to the fact that Hecate fits as well. Very interesting is that she's a Titan, the Only Titan who aided Zeus in the battle of gods and Titans. The Titan is associated with Braavos. You could see her as the only Braavosi who will assist Westeros in the fight against the Others.

Hecate also came to be associated with ghosts, infernal spirits, the dead and sorcery. Shrines to Hecate were placed at doorways to both homes and cities with the belief that it would protect from restless dead and other spirits. Likewise, shrines to Hecate at three way crossroads were created where food offerings were left at the new moon to protect those who did so from spirits and other evils.^[34]

Again Death, ghosts and the moon, all of those are things that have something to do with Arya.

In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Hecate is called the "tender-hearted", a euphemism perhaps intended to emphasize her concern with the disappearance of Persephone, when she assisted Demeter with her search for Persephone following her abduction by Hades, suggesting that Demeter should speak to the god of the sun, Helios. Subsequently she became Persephone's companion on her yearly journey to and from the realms of Hades.

Persephone was abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld to be his wife, he took her to the underworld, and Demeter, the goddess of earth and nature, was so devastaded that she neglected taking care of the earth, which caused winter. Eventually Zeus decided that Persephone should stay with her mother half of the year, and the other half with Hades. This explains the seasons.

We all know that Winter is Coming, if Arya is related to Hekate, it could be that she will be the who brings back spring, for at the moment she's making a journey through the underworld.

The modern understanding of Hecate has been strongly influenced by syncretic Hellenistic interpretations. Many of the attributes she was assigned in this period appear to have an older basis. For example, in the magical papyri of Ptolemaic Egypt, she is called the 'she-dog' or 'bitch', and her presence is signified by the barking of dogs. In late imagery she also has two ghostly dogs as servants by her side. However, her association with dogs predates the conquests of Alexander the Great and the emergence of the Hellenistic world. When Philip II laid siege to Byzantium she had already been associated with dogs for some time; the light in the sky and the barking of dogs that warned the citizens of a night time attack, saving the city, were attributed to Hecate Lampadephoros (the tale is preserved in the Suda). In gratitude the Byzantines erected a statue in her honor.^[39]

As a virgin goddess, she remained unmarried and had no regular consort, though some traditions named her as the mother of Scylla.^[40]

Although associated with other moon goddesses such as Selene, she ruled over three kingdoms; the earth, the sea, and the sky. She had the power to create or hold back storms, which influenced her patronage of shepherds and sailors.^[41]

She-dog --> She-wolf? accompanied by dogs, can easily be seen as accompanied by wolves. I can imagine her saving a city with the howling of wolves.

I can see Arya never marrying, and staying a virgin.

Earth, sea and sky, especially the first two are definitely covered in this thread, and I can imagine her as a protector of sailors.

[Manderly's Rat Cook]

And more parallels:

Dogs were closely associated with Hecate in the Classical world. "In art and in literature Hecate is constantly represented as dog-shaped or as accompanied by a dog. Her approach was heralded by the howling of a dog. The dog was Hecate's regular sacrificial animal, and was often eaten in solemn sacrament."^[50] The sacrifice of dogs to Hecate is attested for Thrace, Samothrace, Colophon, and Athens.^[8]

It has been claimed that her association with dogs is "suggestive of her connection with birth, for the dog was sacred to Eileithyia, Genetyllis, and other birth goddesses. Although in later times Hecate's dog came to be thought of as a manifestation of restless souls or demons who accompanied her, its docile appearance and its accompaniment of a Hecate who looks completely friendly in many pieces of ancient art suggests that its original signification was positive and thus likelier to have arisen from the dog's connection with birth than the dog's demonic associations."^[51]

I more and more see the dog as Nymeria, Hekate being depicted as a dog can be seen as shapeshifting. I can imagine Nymeria heralding Arya's approach with howling.

Again both death and birth, which is similar to the role of water; it gives and takes.

Athenaeus (writing in the 1st or 2nd century BCE, and drawing on the etymological speculation of Apollodorus of Athens) notes that the red mullet is sacred to Hecate, "on account of the resemblance of their names; for that the goddess is trimorphos, of a triple form".

The red mullet is a Fish!

"The fish that was most commonly banned was the red mullet (trigle), which fits neatly into the pattern. It 'delighted in polluted things,' and 'would eat the corpse of a fish or a man'. Blood-coloured itself, it was sacred to the blood-eating goddess Hecate. It seems a symbolic summation of all the negative characteristics of the creatures of the deep."^[53]

As Nymeria, Arya has already eaten corpses. She also tasted the blood that ran down her face when she was given her face as the Ugly Little Girl. Arya the Assasin can definitely be seen as a creature of the deep as well, and she also might command creatures of the deep (sea) in the near future --> water motif.

On poison:

The goddess is described as wearing oak in fragments of Sophocles' lost play The Root Diggers (or The Root Cutters), and an ancient commentary on Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica (3.1214) describes her as having a head surrounded by serpents, twining through branches of oak.^[59]

Arya works with poisons, represented by seprents, we also made many connections in this thread between Arya and oak.

Hecate was associated with borders, city walls, doorways, crossroads and, by extension, with realms outside or beyond the world of the living. She appears to have been particularly associated with being 'between' and hence is frequently characterized as a "liminal" goddess. "Hecate mediated between regimes – Olympian and Titan - but also between mortal and divine spheres."^[66] This liminal role is reflected in a number of her cult titles: Apotropaia (that turns away/protects); Enodia (on the way); Propulaia/Propylaia (before the gate); Triodia/Trioditis (who frequents crossroads);Klêidouchos (holding the keys), etc.

I can't help but see Arya's travelling everywhere again, and the relation between Arya and both Braavos (Titan), and the realms beyond the world of the living (HoB&W). Arya could be named the one who's on the way as well.

The figure of Hecate can often be associated with the figure of Isis in Egyptian myth.

I compared ARya with Isis earlier :)

Before she became associated with Greek mythology, she had many similarities with Artemis (wilderness, and watching over wedding ceremonies)^[87]

We've compared Arya to Artemis/Diana before.

Regarding the nature of her cult, it has been remarked, "she is more at home on the fringes than in the center of Greek polytheism. Intrinsically ambivalent and polymorphous, she straddles conventional boundaries and eludes definition."^[8]

And so does Arya!

[Dark Heart]

ARYa_Nym and Manderly's Rat Cook I love the mythological connections you fond.

Very good posts!

Question for you all;

Would you be interested in reading about wolves, wolf god, god of death, moon, water and importance of oaks in old Slavic mythology?

I can't ofter you a lot of quotes (most sites about them are in Russian or other Slavic languages) but I can (attempt) to translate fro those sites and books I have.

Let me know and I get to translating.

More Gods with Water connections in ASoIaF:

The Father of Waters is a deity worshiped in the Free City of Braavos. His temple is rebuilt anew whenever the Father takes a new bride.^[1]

He is worshiped in Braavos and mentioned (for he first and last time) in Arya's chapter.

The great goddess of the Unsullied is called by many names, the Lady of Spears, the Bride of Battle, the Mother of Hosts, but according to Grey Worm her true name belongs only to the ones who have burned their manhoods upon her altar.

The Unsullied purify themselves according to the laws of their great goddess, one way is to bathe in the salt sea.

The Unsullied may not speak of the great goddess to others.

Goddess with "many names". And purification in the sea.

Interesting how often we come to "purification / rebirth" moments in those books.

From the top of my head we have Damphair, Eldest Brother, UnCat and Arya.

It's also interesting then all of them are, in some way, servants of gods.

The Moonsingers found the site for the city that would become Braavos, the most powerful of the Free Cities. For that they have the largest temple in the city.^[2] Mirri Maz Duur studied the birthing songs of the moonsingers of the Jogos Nhai.^[3]

We already talked about Moonsingers connection to moon and water but I still find bolded parts interesting.

They found a place for Braavos (hidden city in the sea) and they have birthing songs.

Birthing is also connected to water.

Mother Rhoyne is the chief goddess of the Rhoynar. She represent the river Rhoyne. Her waters nourished the Rhoynar since the dawn of days. ^[1]

The Old Man of the River is a lesser god of the Rhoynar. He is the son of Mother Rhoyne. His form is that of a giant turtle. He fights the Crab King for dominion of all life below the flowing water.^[1]

The Crab King is a lesser god of the Rhoynar. He fights the Old Man of the River for dominion of all life below the flowing water.^[1]

All Rhoynar gods are connected to Nymeria.

The Merling King is a god. There is a statue of it in the House of Black and White. The statue is most commonly visited by sailors.^[1] There is a rock formation in the narrow sea called the Spears of the Merling King, which is a reference to this god.

The Spears of the Merling King are a geological feature of Blackwater Bay. Barren sea monts rise from the floor of the bay and form spear-like rock formations that can rise above the surface of the water for up to a hundred feet. For every spear that breaks the surface a dozen more lie just beneath.

It is considered treacherous for any ship to sail into the Spears, as the hidden monts will rip the bottom out of any passing vessel.^[1]

The great city of King's Landing sits on Blackwater Bay where the Blackwater Rush pore into the bay.^[1] Blackwater Bay is an inlet of the Narrow Sea

Do you think, once she comes back to 7K, Arya might first sail to KL?

[evita mgfs]

Yes yes yessss and the Nile being the river of life and death, makes Cleopatra the queen of death and birth by being Queen of the NIle!!! I named my mom's cat Isis btw (we have so much on common!!)

snip

Wow! Something else we have in common. I've played in a youth theatre for 16 years, in musicals and (youth) opera's. Here's a picture of me as one of the three witches in Verdi's opera Macbeth :)

The three witches: https://fbcdn-sphoto...1_2341386_n.jpg

Me: https://fbcdn-sphoto...9_2449849_n.jpg

:bowdown: :bowdown: :agree: MANDERLY'S RAT COOK! WOW AND WOW!! I love the pictures! Awesome make up! I will be taking our publicity photos tonight: Marcus the Vultori, an evil vamp played by the movie theatre's long time employee, Renesmee, played by the daughter of the owner, and Jacob played by my enormous 150 pound golden retriever.

We spent all last night perfecting a porcelein make up, and seeing your pix gave me some great ideas. I am even printing the pix for my make-up girl to get some inspiration. I finally found a good make-up person to help me out. One person doing ALL the make up is too much, and the people who I cast are not always "theatre people" who can do their own makeup.

Many of the plays I do are based on mythologies from around the world. The youth play inanimate objects like wind, water, evil, goodness, and so on, as well as actual characters in myth.

I am sooo excited! What a connection! Your costuming is amazing!! Do you have a costumer? I usually make many of the costumes myself!!

Awesome insight as well in your posts, and the tie in with Cleopatra, one of my favorite historical personalities. She is sooo colorful.

[Manderly's Rat Cook]

Dark Heart: Great finds again! I'd love to see your wolf info!!

Evita: I'm replying to you in a PM about the make-up thingy :)

[James Arryn]

:cheers: Thank you most sincerely, JAMES ARRYN! You found me out! :blushing: I am a retired English teacher - I retired early due to a disability . . . and of course, to WRITE! I also still direct plays - even children's theatre.

It is important to me to encourage everyone, truly. I was hurt deeply once by being flamed - and I do not want anyone else to experience the hurt I felt. After all, most of us are here to learn, and we put ourselves out there - sometimes bear our souls by introducing a crackpot theory we have in mind. Why ruin someone's day? I refuse to do what was done to me. Life is too short to discourage anyone, yes? :dunno:

I hope you are feeling better, as well. Good to hear from you again. :cool4:

:) I certainly didn't want you to feel found out, just was expressing my appreciation. The world is better for people like you. It's a shame that you had to retire (in many senses I imagine) because imo teaching is one of the most important professions, and is often done by the wrong people...ie, either summers-off types, people still trying to rework their HS dynamic, or originally idealistic teachers who have been burnt out but stay in the game until retirement. I acknowledge there are great teachers, but not enough. I myself had to restrict my teaching to people a little further along-more subject oriented because I symply could not maintain my energy with regards to behavioural issues, etc. I feel people in teaching should be the ones really there for the students, and those types aren't the norm. Your energy and positivity are a loss, imo, and I'm not being patronizing I hope. Just sincere (come from a line of academics/teachers, to contextualize). I think rechanneling it into theater and writing is an awesome alternative, and I wish you well.

Re: your philosophy, while I agree in principle, in practice I find myself more engaged along dialectic lines, so am probably not a good example of what you feel should be true, even if I want to be. I know I often come off more confrontational or sarcastic than I mean to on the internet, although the latter is also often true by design. (Not here, at all, to be clear.) That said I definitely don't flame people and, more, never pile on. If anything I'll play DA/contrarian by nature, even if I'm only half commited intellectually.

And thanks for the concerns re: health. Am totally fine. Sports injury that I superficially ripped open when trying to move piles of (unfortunately already wet) building lumber in the wind and rain...a gust twisted some which cut me open along previous surgical lines, so needed more than usual tissue repair, and pain killers. Am totally fine, and have been since a few days after event, but your recollection is kind and, again, another reflection of why I'd have loved to have someone like you teach the kids I'll some day have. :)

And, re: the 'see you again', I'm detecting that I am remiss in some respect, probably the thread you invited me to, and although I will try to make amends, I should warn you that I am generally unreliable in terms of commitment and 'joining', and my motivations are almost always ephemeral. Also, I didn't know where re-read threads are found, and my inertia stopped me from trying to hard to find out. If you'll link me, I would appreciate it, but again, don't expect much return on the investment. :(

Cheers again, and keep up the awesomeness.

[ARYa_Nym]

Manderly, I've compared Arya to Hecate in the moon thread but you found a lot of info on her that I didn't. Thanks for posting.

As for Arya being protector. We know that Cat saw Arya as the Warrior and she prayed to the Warrior to make Robb strong and shield him in his battles. So the Warrior has a protective function.

Arya as a traveler. There is an Egyptian god too like this.

Khons/Khonsu

Nationality: Egyptian

Moon God

Amen's consort was Mut. Together they had a son, Khons or Khonsu the moon god. His name means "the wanderer." He may have been believed to be capable of flying.

http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/polytheisticreligions/tp/MoonGods.htm

We know the Wandering Wolf (Rodrik Stark) traveled to Essos and joined the Second Sons. Arya traveled to Essos as well and joined the FM.

Arya wished to see dragons and they are serpent like in nature. She also wished to fly away.

As the god of light in the night, Khonsu was invoked to protect against wild animals, increase male virility, and to aid with healing. It was said that when Khonsu caused the crescent moon to shine, women conceived, cattle became fertile, and all nostrils and every throat was filled with fresh air.

Khonsu can also be understood to mean king's placenta, and consequently in early times, he was considered to slay the king's (i.e. the pharaoh's) enemies, and extract their innards for the king's use, metaphorically creating something resembling a placenta for the king. This bloodthirsty aspect leads him to be referred to, in such as the Pyramid texts, as the (one who) lives on hearts. He also became associated with more literal placentas, becoming seen as a deification of the royal placenta, and so a god involved with childbirth. This god is the moon god.

Like Hecate he also has a bloodthirsty aspect to him except he ate hearts.

I mentioned Artemis/Hecate's other association Selene.

SELENE was the Titan goddess of the moon. She was depicted as a woman either riding side saddle on a horse or in a chariot drawn by a pair of winged steeds. Her lunar sphere or crescent was represented as either a crown set upon her head or as the fold of a raised, shining cloak. Sometimes she was said to drive a team of oxen and her lunar crescent was likened to the horns of a bull. Selene's great love was the shepherd prince Endymion.

http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Selene.html

Gendry called himself The Bull and was called an ox while in the Peach.

More on the Titan connection but Arya also sailed to Braavos on the Titan's Daughter and initially wanted to stay aboard the ship.

When Roose was with Arya he did specifically ask her if she liked animals.

Dark Heart thank you for summing up the water deities/ones associated with it. I definitely would be interested in hearing more on Slavic mythology.

As for Arya going to KL again I guess it depends on what purpose she has in Essos. If she does get involved with Dany and the Greyjoys for an extended then it's possible. Some theories have her taking down Varys (asking how to kill a wizard) and she would need to be near him to do that.

[ARYa_Nym]

Moon facts:

• The moon rises and sets each day as it orbits the earth, even on the nights when there appears to be no moon

• The light of the moon is actually a reflection of the light from the sun. So on a full moonlit night, we're actually getting sunlight that's bouncing off the moon

Water is drawn towards it:

The Universal Attraction of the Beach

The moon is more than just a really cool night light for the sky. The gravitational pull of the moon actually bulges the water in the oceans out from the earth's surface toward the moon. The gravitational pull on the side of the earth opposite the moon is not as strong so the oceans unbulge on that side. This constant push and pull tug-of-war with the oceans by the moon is what causes the tides at the beach. So the next time you find yourself standing on a full, moonlight night on the beach, think about the moon trying to pull the water out of the ocean!

http://www.extremescience.com/moon.htm

There is a water cycle on the moon.

Moreover, the moon appears to be chemically active and has a full-fledged water cycle. Scientists also confirmed that 'moon water' was in the form of mostly pure ice crystals in some places.

"Seeing mostly pure water ice grains in the plume means water ice was somehow delivered to the moon in the past, or chemical processes have been causing ice to accumulate in large quantities," said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist and principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/21oct_lcross2/

I guess it could be said that water serves as a mirror for the moon in that the moon can see it's reflection in the water. We've discussed Arya and her Myrish mirror in the Black Swan section.

The sea has depth.

Arya has layers deep within herself that are not seen by others.

Perhaps as the moon she needs the water in order to have a better understanding of herself.

[evita mgfs]

:) I certainly didn't want you to feel found out, just was expressing my appreciation. The world is better for people like you. It's a shame that you had to retire (in many senses I imagine) because imo teaching is one of the most important professions, and is often done by the wrong people...ie, either summers-off types, people still trying to rework their HS dynamic, or originally idealistic teachers who have been burnt out but stay in the game until retirement. I acknowledge there are great teachers, but not enough. I myself had to restrict my teaching to people a little further along-more subject oriented because I symply could not maintain my energy with regards to behavioural issues, etc. I feel people in teaching should be the ones really there for the students, and those types aren't the norm. Your energy and positivity are a loss, imo, and I'm not being patronizing I hope. Just sincere (come from a line of academics/teachers, to contextualize). I think rechanneling it into theater and writing is an awesome alternative, and I wish you well.

Re: your philosophy, while I agree in principle, in practice I find myself more engaged along dialectic lines, so am probably not a good example of what you feel should be true, even if I want to be. I know I often come off more confrontational or sarcastic than I mean to on the internet, although the latter is also often true by design. (Not here, at all, to be clear.) That said I definitely don't flame people and, more, never pile on. If anything I'll play DA/contrarian by nature, even if I'm only half commited intellectually.

And thanks for the concerns re: health. Am totally fine. Sports injury that I superficially ripped open when trying to move piles of (unfortunately already wet) building lumber in the wind and rain...a gust twisted some which cut me open along previous surgical lines, so needed more than usual tissue repair, and pain killers. Am totally fine, and have been since a few days after event, but your recollection is kind and, again, another reflection of why I'd have loved to have someone like you teach the kids I'll some day have. :)

And, re: the 'see you again', I'm detecting that I am remiss in some respect, probably the thread you invited me to, and although I will try to make amends, I should warn you that I am generally unreliable in terms of commitment and 'joining', and my motivations are almost always ephemeral. Also, I didn't know where re-read threads are found, and my inertia stopped me from trying to hard to find out. If you'll link me, I would appreciate it, but again, don't expect much return on the investment. :(

Cheers again, and keep up the awesomeness.

:bowdown: :bowdown: JAMES ARRYN: This was sooo beautiful and on point, your philosophy of teaching - I had to print it and frame it. YOU must be a remarkable educator yourself; however, at first, I thought you were being sarcastic with me, that is true. But I realized your sincerity long before this post, mind you. When you shared your acting experience, I was truly impressed and amazed. Since then, Manderly's Rat Cook has shared her wonderful experiences in theatre, as well as remarkable photos that look like Cirque de Soleil -spelling?

You sound as if you know the teaching profession well. I hated leaving because those very type of teacher you spoke of remained!!! Although I had to retire for health reasons, I will always miss my students - and I helped create memories that will last them a life time - all our trips to NYC, abroad, performances, yearbook, and classroom experiences. The year I retired, the class valedictorian dedicated his speech to me!!! How often does that happen? I have sooo many memories to cherish - and friends that will last my lifetime. (as in former students! I was always closer to the students than other faculty members, with the exception of the librarians - they always loved my creativity and enthusiasm and special "out of the box" projects, in which they played an active part)

Thank you for making my day. I did invite you to our Re-read of GoT: Direwolves, Dragons [eggs], Mormont's Raven, and Cats! OH MY! Pets or Providence????

I thought you would contribute a great deal to the discussions, frankly. You have a different take on things, which is much appreciated. You are also capable of smart writing and analysis - and your writing ability is quite remarkable.

If you have time, you stop by. No pressure. And I happen to know that if you were involved in theatre, you must be extremely reliable - or you would have NEVER been cast in the lead!!! So, you stop saying things like that. I do not believe it for a moment.

I will share with you a picture of three of my players in my upcoming Breaking Dawn 2 event at our local theatre. Note that the golden retriever is my 150 pound Moses, who loves popcorn! He is a theatre dog :wub:- have you ever worked with a dog? (They say it is suicide for actors! Animals steal the show!) Not that any animal could steal YOUR spotlight. http://ladyevyta.tum...e-fred-brown-as

Thanks again for making my day, truly.

And for being so nice, you win a squirrel with a hat! http://ladyevyta.tum...ost/35071506245 (A wild life major at PSU makes little hats for these squirrels and takes their pictures for her facebook! I just love them. They make me smile. I hope they make you smile as well. You certainly put a big smile on my face today! ) :love:

[ARYa_Nym]

One of the instances I found where Arya moves like a cat she is also likened to an eel.

"She dropped and rolled. The red cloak went careening past her; stumbling Arya sprang back to her feet. She saw a window above her, high and narrow, scarcely more than an arrow slit. Arya leapt, caught the sill, pulled herself up. She held her breath as she wriggled through. Slippery as an eel."

Some origins of the word have them as snakes but also:

The word also appears in Old English igil "hedgehog" (named as the "snake eater"), and perhaps in the egi- of Old High German egidehsa "wall lizard". The name of Bellerophon (Βελλεροφόντης, attested in a variant Ἐλλεροφόντης in Eustathius of Thessalonica) according to this theory is also related, translating to "the slayer of the serpent" (ahihán),

The snake-like marine or freshwater fish (order Anguilliformes or Apodes) does not play as important a role in the Celtic imagination as it does elsewhere. Often the eel appears malevolent. The Irish goddess Mórrígan once came to Cúchulainn in the form of an eel, but he repulsed her. Lake monsters may conventionally be referred to as eels.

The Egyptians worshiped the eel, which their priests alone had the right to eat.

Eels embody many of the meanings of snakes or serpents, although their watery habitat links them more explicitly with the powers of the unconscious. As phallic symbols, they indicate unconscious sexual desires. They may also symbolize something in the unconscious of which we are afraid.

A common belief was that a long black horsehair thrown into a running stream instantly becomes a live eel or water snake. William Harrison, The Description of England (1587: 321) provides an early reference, although he reserved judgement on the truth of the matter, and in the early 19th century the author of the Denham Tracts (1895: ii. 29) admits to trying it himself as a boy in the north of England. Correspondence in N&Q (7s:2-4 (1886-7) under the heading ‘Animated Horsehairs’ indicates that this had been a very widely held notion in England, Scotland, and elsewhere, at all levels of society well into the late 19th century.

http://www.answers.com/topic/eel

Arya mentioned seeing a literal water snake in ACoK.

[Ice Turtle]

Arya's three dresses - or about oaks, water and death again

This was already addressed briefly by ARYa_Nym, but I think that there were some important points that weren't mentioned. I'm going to speak about chapter where Arya meets Lady Smallwood and is given three sets of clothing.

0. Clothes she wears when she arrives.

In her cell, she stripped to the skin and dressed herself carefully, in two layers of smallclothes, warm stockings, and her cleanest tunic. It was Lord Bolton’s livery. On the breast was sewn his sigil, the flayed man of the Dreadfort. She tied her shoes, threw a wool cloak over her skinny shoulders, and knotted it under her throat.

1. Acorn dress.

"And afterward, they insisted she dress herself in girl’s things, brown woolen stockings and a light linen shift, and over that a light green gown with acorns embroidered all over the bodice in brown thread, and more acorns bordering the hem."

This dress is destroyed when she has a fight with Gendry. I wonder if this is repeating of stag (Baratheon) killing mother direwolf (old gods and childhood) theme.

2. Sort of lilac-colored dress with baby pearls

It was even worse than before; Lady Smallwood insisted that Arya take another bath, and cut and comb her hair besides; the dress she put her in this time was sort of lilac-colored, and decorated with little baby pearls. The only good thing about it was that it was so delicate that no one could expect her to ride in it.

Why sort-of lilac colored and not simply lilac colored? Could it be that we are dealing with an unreliable narrator here and the color isn't really lilac but something else, close enough, but Arya isn't able to describe it correctly? Though lilac itself can be describing few different color shades.

Lilac color and lilac associations doesn't seem to be all too positive in the books:

• “Illyrio is no fool,” Viserys said. He was a gaunt young man with nervous hands and a feverish look in his pale lilac eyes.
  

• His flesh was soft and moist, and his breath smelled of lilacs. - Cat describing Varys
  

• The denizens of Joffrey’s court had striven to outdo each other today. Jalabhar Xho was all in feathers, a plumage so fantastic and extravagant that he seemed like to take flight. The High Septon’s crystal crown fired rainbows through the air every time he moved his head. At the council table, Queen Cersei shimmered in a cloth-of-gold gown slashed in burgundy velvet, while beside her Varys fussed and simpered in a lilac brocade.
  

• Lady Nym looked graceful, dressed all in shimmering lilac robes and a great silk cape of cream and copper that lifted at every gust of wind, and made her look as if she might take flight.
  

• It made her angry to see Dareon sitting there so brazen, making eyes at Lanna as his fingers danced across the harp strings. The whores called him the black singer, but there was hardly any black about him now. With the coin his singing brought him, the crow had transformed himself into a peacock. Today he wore a plush purple cloak lined with vair, a striped white-and-lilac tunic, and the parti-colored breeches of a bravo, but he owned a silken cloak as well, and one made of burgundy velvet that was lined with cloth-of-gold.
  

I'm almost sure that this lilac colored dress is tied to Arya's time in Braavos. Interesting that cutting hair is only mentioned with the second dress. I always considered it weird. Why Lady Smallwood didn't cut her hair the first time? Well, maybe because it wouldn't fit with foreshadowing it was supposed to be.

Ah and of course that is another important detail about the dress - baby pearls. There is only one other case where baby pearls are mentioned:

• “Magnificence, you do not understand,” protested Reznak. “The washing of the feet is hallowed by tradition. It signifies that you shall be your husband’s handmaid. The wedding garb is fraught with meaning too. The bride is dressed in dark red veils above a tokar of white silk, fringed with baby pearls.” The queen of the rabbits must not be wed without her floppy ears. “All those pearls will make me rattle when I walk.”
  “The pearls symbolize fertility. The more pearls Your Worship wears, the more healthy children she will bear.”
  

• Afterward, as Jhiqui was patting Daenerys dry, Irri approached with her tokar. Dany envied the Dothraki maids their loose sandsilk trousers and painted vests. They would be much cooler than her in her tokar, with its heavy fringe of baby pearls. “Help me wind this round myself, please. I cannot manage all these pearls by myself.”
  

Arya's dress is too delicate, Daenerys' too heavy. Neither likes it. Maybe like in Daenerys case it will represent marriage, betrothal or role in life Arya will initially accept but later reject. Pearls may simply represent water motive, but maybe also association with the Black Pearl and Arya was supposed to be her apprentice, though this storyline might have been abandoned together with five years gap.Other types of pearls appear more often, so often I decided to put it to another post...eventually.

3. Dead boy's clothing

The only good thing about it was that it was so delicate that no one could expect her to ride in it. So the next morning as they broke their fast, Lady Smallwood gave her breeches, belt, and tunic to wear, and a brown doeskin jerkin dotted with iron studs. “They were my son’s things,” she said. “He died when he was seven."

The first two dresses belonged to Carellen who is in Oldtown. This clothing belongs to Lady Smallwood's dead son. We never learn his name. Iron also appears. Arya is most comfortable in this clothing, but we see that high price was paid for her to wear them. Maybe it's another foreshadow of Arya's death, but it can also mean that Arya will end up in position that was originally meant for her brothers and it will suit her fine, but price to be paid for it - her brothers' death.

4. and 5. sort of

Another two dresses are mentioned in this chapter in the song where the maid of tree refuses yellow silks and chooses dress of golden leaves.

[ARYa_Nym]

I had forgotten another animal that Arya was compared to.

Renly:

"Perchance later you'll tell me how a nine-year old girl the size of a wet rat managed to disarm you with a broom handle and throw your sword in the river."

"She looked more like a drowned rat than a lord's cupbearer these days. A drowned boy rat. The Hound had hacked handfuls of her hair off only two days past. He was an even worse barber than Yoren, and he'd left her half bald on one side."

Rats have been a problem on ships which is partially why cats have been liked aboard ships.

Before she gave the captain the iron coin an oarsman said:

“Take her on as cabin girl,” said a passing oarsman, a bolt of wool over one shoulder.“She can sleep with me.” “Mind your tongue,” the captain snapped."

Cabin girls/boys would often do menial work on ships especially pirate ships and in cases sexual favors which is what I think the oarsman wanted.

[ARYa_Nym]

Arya's three dresses - or about oaks, water and death again

This was already addressed briefly by ARYa_Nym, but I think that there were some important points that weren't mentioned. I'm going to speak about chapter where Arya meets Lady Smallwood and is given three sets of clothing.

0. Clothes she wears when she arrives.

In her cell, she stripped to the skin and dressed herself carefully, in two layers of smallclothes, warm stockings, and her cleanest tunic. It was Lord Bolton’s livery. On the breast was sewn his sigil, the flayed man of the Dreadfort. She tied her shoes, threw a wool cloak over her skinny shoulders, and knotted it under her throat.

1. Acorn dress.

"And afterward, they insisted she dress herself in girl’s things, brown woolen stockings and a light linen shift, and over that a light green gown with acorns embroidered all over the bodice in brown thread, and more acorns bordering the hem."

This dress is destroyed when she has a fight with Gendry. I wonder if this is repeating of stag (Baratheon) killing mother direwolf (old gods and childhood) theme.

I had to reply separately to you or else I would have gotten confused.

Thank you for finding details that I missed Ice Turtle. :)

It could be. Artemis once mentioned that the whole scene seemed to her like a fleeting love or a what could have been but was not meant to me.

2. Sort of lilac-colored dress with baby pearls

It was even worse than before; Lady Smallwood insisted that Arya take another bath, and cut and comb her hair besides; the dress she put her in this time was sort of lilac-colored, and decorated with little baby pearls. The only good thing about it was that it was so delicate that no one could expect her to ride in it.

Why sort-of lilac colored and not simply lilac colored? Could it be that we are dealing with an unreliable narrator here and the color isn't really lilac but something else, close enough, but Arya isn't able to describe it correctly? Though lilac itself can be describing few different color shades.

Lilac color and lilac associations doesn't seem to be all too positive in the books:

• “Illyrio is no fool,” Viserys said. He was a gaunt young man with nervous hands and a feverish look in his pale lilac eyes.
  

• His flesh was soft and moist, and his breath smelled of lilacs. - Cat describing Varys
  

• The denizens of Joffrey’s court had striven to outdo each other today. Jalabhar Xho was all in feathers, a plumage so fantastic and extravagant that he seemed like to take flight. The High Septon’s crystal crown fired rainbows through the air every time he moved his head. At the council table, Queen Cersei shimmered in a cloth-of-gold gown slashed in burgundy velvet, while beside her Varys fussed and simpered in a lilac brocade.
  

• Lady Nym looked graceful, dressed all in shimmering lilac robes and a great silk cape of cream and copper that lifted at every gust of wind, and made her look as if she might take flight.
  

• It made her angry to see Dareon sitting there so brazen, making eyes at Lanna as his fingers danced across the harp strings. The whores called him the black singer, but there was hardly any black about him now. With the coin his singing brought him, the crow had transformed himself into a peacock. Today he wore a plush purple cloak lined with vair, a striped white-and-lilac tunic, and the parti-colored breeches of a bravo, but he owned a silken cloak as well, and one made of burgundy velvet that was lined with cloth-of-gold.
  

I'm almost sure that this lilac colored dress is tied to Arya's time in Braavos. Interesting that cutting hair is only mentioned with the second dress. I always considered it weird. Why Lady Smallwood didn't cut her hair the first time? Well, maybe because it wouldn't fit with foreshadowing it was supposed to be.

Ah and of course that is another important detail about the dress - baby pearls. There is only one other case where baby pearls are mentioned:

• “Magnificence, you do not understand,” protested Reznak. “The washing of the feet is hallowed by tradition. It signifies that you shall be your husband’s handmaid. The wedding garb is fraught with meaning too. The bride is dressed in dark red veils above a tokar of white silk, fringed with baby pearls.” The queen of the rabbits must not be wed without her floppy ears. “All those pearls will make me rattle when I walk.”
  “The pearls symbolize fertility. The more pearls Your Worship wears, the more healthy children she will bear.”
  

• Afterward, as Jhiqui was patting Daenerys dry, Irri approached with her tokar. Dany envied the Dothraki maids their loose sandsilk trousers and painted vests. They would be much cooler than her in her tokar, with its heavy fringe of baby pearls. “Help me wind this round myself, please. I cannot manage all these pearls by myself.”
  

Arya's dress is too delicate, Daenerys' too heavy. Neither likes it. Maybe like in Daenerys case it will represent marriage, betrothal or role in life Arya will initially accept but later reject. Pearls may simply represent water motive, but maybe also association with the Black Pearl and Arya was supposed to be her apprentice, though this storyline might have been abandoned together with five years gap.Other types of pearls appear more often, so often I decided to put it to another post...eventually.

Interesting because similarities between Arya and Varys have been discussed before.

I also mentioned how Lady Nym keeping blades in her clothes is something that Arya did as Blind Beth.

"The clothes she wore were rags…Under them she hid three knives…there were always a few bad ones who might see her as someone they could safely rob or rape. The blades were for them, though so far the blind girl had not been forced to use them.”

“Lady Nym. She wore a gown of yellow silk so sheer and fine…So immodest was her garb that the white knight seemed uncomfortable looking at her, but Hotah approved. Nymeria was least dangerous when nearly naked. Elsewise she was sure to have a dozen blades concealed about her person. ”

Kevan described her as no lady.

”The Lady Nym. But no lady, if even half of what Qyburn reports is true. A bastard of the Red Viper, near as notorious as her father…”

"Septa Mordane wouldn't even know me, I bet. Sansa might, but she'd pretend not to. "My mother's a lady, and my sister, but I never was."

Well you know the Black Pearl is descended from a pirate queen.

“She said ‘ I’ll take three cockles,’ and ‘ Do you

have some hot sauce, little one?’” the girl had answered.

“And what did you say?”

“I said, ‘ No, my lady,’ and, ‘ Don’t call me little one.

My name is Cat.’ I should have hot sauce. Beqqo does,

and he sells three times as many oysters as Brusco.”

I thought Arya liked her and have wondered before if she was going to the Black Pearl next but you're right that is probably scrapped. I think evita's idea that she would learn the arts of glamor sorcery and learn to act is more likely.

I like the interpretation of the pearls although I'm not sure what future situation it could be referring to unless maybe Stannis still tries to marry her off.

ETA: The Dany part says that pearls symbolize fertility which ties into my Venus comparisons earlier.

Maybe Arya's rejection means that she will never have children.

The KM told her:

“It may be that the Many-Faced God has led you here to be His instrument, but when I look at you I see a child . . . and worse, a girl child. Many have served Him of Many Faces through the centuries, but only a few of His servants have been women. Women bring life into the world. We bring the gift of death. No one can do both.”

Diana/Artemis also vowed to never marry and remained virgins as was mentioned before.

3. Dead boy's clothing

The only good thing about it was that it was so delicate that no one could expect her to ride in it. So the next morning as they broke their fast, Lady Smallwood gave her breeches, belt, and tunic to wear, and a brown doeskin jerkin dotted with iron studs. “They were my son’s things,” she said. “He died when he was seven."

The first two dresses belonged to Carellen who is in Oldtown. This clothing belongs to Lady Smallwood's dead son. We never learn his name. Iron also appears. Arya is most comfortable in this clothing, but we see that high price was paid for her to wear them. Maybe it's another foreshadow of Arya's death, but it can also mean that Arya will end up in position that was originally meant for her brothers and it will suit her fine, but price to be paid for it - her brothers' death.

Also doeskin. The deer is associated with Artemis.

In Greek mythology, the deer is particularly associated with Artemis in her role as virginal huntress. Actaeon, after witnessing the nude figure of Artemis bathing in a pool, was transformed by Artemis into a stag that his own hounds tore to pieces. Callimachus, in his archly knowledgeable "Hymn III to Artemis", mentions the deer that drew the chariot of Artemis: in golden armor and belt, you yoked a golden chariot, bridled deer in gold.

One of the Labors of Heracles was to capture the Cerynian Hind sacred to Artemis and deliver it briefly to his patron, then rededicate it to Artemis. As a hind bearing antlers was unknown in Greece, the story suggests a reindeer, which, unlike other deer, can be harnessed and whose females bear antlers. The myth relates to Hyperborea, a northern land that would be a natural habitat for reindeer. Heracles' son Telephus was exposed as an infant on the slopes of Tegea but nurtured by a doe.

Nice interpretation.

Another option is that she rejects the life of being Lady Arya to be associated with her current role of angel of death.

4. and 5. sort of

Another two dresses are mentioned in this chapter in the song where the maid of tree refuses yellow silks and chooses dress of golden leaves.

Yes. I've interpretated it to be that she was rejecting a conventional relationship but was not altogether opposed to having one.

It was mentioned in a Gendry/Arya thread that Gendry spoke about dressing a girl in silk prior to that but I can't find it.

[evita mgfs]

I just remembered something I thought I had forgotten?

As I was rereading GoT, I actually came across my first read marginal notes. Then BAM! One of my original reactions to Arya piqued my interest again, and I recalled the nature of my idea. So I decided to develop it further into a post. The name ARYA sounded very much like the name ARIEL, who is a much-loved character from Shakespeare’s comedy The Tempest. ARIEL “is a spirit bound to serve magician Prospero, who rescued him [her] from the tree in which he [her] was imprisoned by Sycorax, the witch who previously inhabited the island” [My quick-source summary is the Wiki “Ariel (Tempest)”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_(The_Tempest) ].

Fortunately, we have the convenience of pushing a button and initializing a search, where I found an entire Wiki page devoted to my favorite “sprite” Ariel.

Now my notion seemed far-fetched until I scanned the information summarizing Ariel’s role in Shakespeare’s The Tempest: guess what I found? What I forgot I knew I started to remember!

The play title the “tempest” refers directly to “a severe storm with very high winds and often rain, hail, or snow” [Encarta Dictionary: English (North America)]. So, Ariel is the entity who stirs up this tempest at the behest of exiled magician Prospero. The relationship between Prospero and Ariel seems oddly familiar, and reminds me in many regards of Arya’s relationship with the kindly man, who, like Prospero, is a magician. However, the priest in the HoB&W “changes his own face” from a skull with a grave worm in one eye to the face of the kindliest man Arya had ever seen.

With the “tempest” in mind, and with the much discussed water motif that links Arya with an element that she may learn to control, this event that magician Prospero and Ariel manage to bring about together may actually suggest a similar event to come where the joint efforts of the kindly man and his “no one” Arya will combine the forces of nature and magic to cause a natural disaster much like a tempest, or another such catastrophe. As Ariel is in service to Prospero, Arya is a servant mentored by a kindly priest.

Moreover, the HoB&W is situated on one of many islets or isles that comprise the city of “masks and whispers” that are Braavos. Similarly, Prospero has isolated himself on a virtually deserted island where he raises his extremely over-protected and sheltered daughter Miranda; Ariel serves him well, as does Caliban.

Lastly, the kindly man does RESCUE Arya, although not from a tree; yet the tree may represent the weirwood, or the heart tree central to Arya’s home, Winterfell. Since Arya dreams often of home, the “tree” is a symbol of WF, where Arya’s identity as Arya of House Stark is safely locked away, in a symbolic sense. However, the kindly man indeed saves Arya from continuing on a journey to “nowhere” by providing her safe harbor, food, knowledge, comfort, companionship, tradition, history, obedience, service, magic, and much more. Finally, Arya has found a place where she can heal from the horrors she has suffered – a nightmare that prepares Arya for her vocation as a minder of the dead in the HoB&W.

“Prospero greets disobedience with a reminder that he saved Ariel from Sycorax's spell and with promises to grant Ariel [her] his freedom”.

The kindly man greets disobedience with a reminder that Arya is a liar, and that she is really Arya of House Stark masquerading as “no one” who wants to be part of the order of Faceless Men in order to learn, then master, their secret knowledge of powerful magic; after Arya sees Jaqen H’ghar change his face with one quick sweep of his hand, Arya as well seeks a deeper understanding of this power, possibly for a very selfish reason. She has a daily prayer of names, a “whispered” catalogue of personages who deserve a bloody vengeance brought against them after they abused, ill-used, or killed friends or family of Arya Stark.

Like Prospero, who reminds Ariel that he freed him from imprisonment in a tree, the kindly man reminds Arya that only Him of Many Faces has the authority to grant the gift of death. He advises Arya that she is a “servant” of this deity, and that it is not her job to make an independent decision on who should live and who should die.

The kindly man tells Arya of the doom of Valyria, and even says that Braavos is the bastard city of Valyria, which means that those fleeing Valyria sought sanctuary on this secret place, hiding its location for 300 years. Likewise, Prospero is exiled from his country, and he must be content by living on an isolated island, suffering a fate that separates him from his family and friends back home. Prospero keeps a watchful eye out across the sea in order to spy any sailing vessels in the vicinity to shipwreck them, which allows Prospero to have the rare opportunity of “visitors,” albeit they are intentionally marooned on Prospero’s island paradise.

In The Tempest, Ariel is actually so significant that the tempest he [she] stirs up becomes the title of Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. Not only does Ariel provoke a storm to bring about a sailing accident at Prospero’s request, he [she] allies with his [her] master to cause “emotional upheaval: a severe commotion or disturbance, especially an emotional upheaval” ([Encarta Dictionary: English (North America)].

Like Ariel allying with Prospero and sharing in his magic force, so Arya allies herself with the kindly man and Him-of-Many-Faces, doing her duty to cause subversively the death of another, which implies “an emotional upheaval” for the family bereaved by the death of Arya’s first hit.

Likewise, Arya deliberately sets out to cause a “commotion or disturbance” when she picks the pocket of an unsuspecting agent of her choosing, where she deliberately plants a poisoned coin among those that spill from her hand as her victim gives pursuit. The unsuspecting man decides to retrieve his money rather than continue to give chase after a little sprite who can move faster than he can anyhow.

Arya’s chosen method of delivering the gift of death to the shady insurance salesman comes via the insurance salesman’s client who carries the poisoned coin, which he exchanges with Arya’s designated “hit” as payment for an insurance policy. Arya’s hit then bites the coin, as Arya knew he would, and in this way the poison from the coin enters his mouth, then his bloodstream, eventually bringing about the gift of death.

Executing an assassination requires a certain magic in that Arya’s own face is concealed with that of another’s, thereby protecting Arya from possible detection.

The Wiki says, “Ariel is Prospero's eyes and ears throughout the play, using his magical abilities to cause the tempest in Act One which gives the play its name, and to foil other characters' plots to bring down his master”.

Ariel is Prospero's eyes and ears:

Similarly, the kindly man takes Arya’s “eyes” after she disobeys his teachings about the role of a Faceless assassin.

“We are but death’s instruments, not death himself. When you slew the singer, you took god’s powers on yourself. We kill men, but we do not presume to judge them” (DwD 600).

Arya takes it upon herself to kill Dareon, a deserter of the Night’s Watch, whom Arya feels deserves death as justice for his betrayal of his black brothers, especially her own bastard brother Jon Snow, Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. In order to convey to Arya the importance of “seeing the truth”, the kindly man induces Arya’s blindness a whole half a year early. The kindly man hopes Arya will SEE in OTHER WAYS, using her other four senses: auditory, olfactory, tactile, and taste. ONLY THEN can the kindly man “set Arya free” by returning her eyes and releasing her on Braavos to demonstrate that she has learned to kill with impunity.

Arya wargs a tomcat in Pynto’s in order to use his eyes to spy on the clientele as well as to learn the identity of who is beating her at the HoB&W. The cat follows her home and hides in the rafters, allowing her to identify the kindly man as the one who hits and taunts her as Blind Beth. The priest asks, “And how could a blind girl know that?”

“I saw you . . . Maybe on the morrow she would tell him about the cat that had followed her home last night from Pynto’s, the cat that was hiding in the rafters, looking down on them” (604).

using his magical abilities

Prospero is exiled from his native land due to his dabbling in magic. While banished on the near-deserted island, Prospero continues to use magic to control those native to the land, such as Ariel and his/her counterpoint Caliban, the monster who Shakespeare describes as half beast / half fish.

Additionally, Ariel practices magic as an agent of Prospero, who uses him/her as an instrument in conjuring the spell to inspire a tempest, which, in turn, causes a ship wreck that allows for long-awaited “visitors” to find Prospero and his daughter and their limited retainers, long unwilling absentees from their home country.

Arya is not trapped in a tree, needing to be freed; ironically, it seems that the spirits of those dead Starks in the WF crypt are part of the godhood that is nature, represented by earth and tree, stone and roots. So their spirits may be symbolically “trapped” in their afterlife, waiting patiently to be magically released from the heart tree that is sacred to WF’s godswood. Perhaps Arya may assist Bran in releasing these spirits to allow them to reanimate their remains, thus raising an army of dead Starks, especially those cold, hard men who were Kings of the North. This “zombie” army will seek bloody vengeance against those who abused, misused, or killed a Stark, whether directly or indirectly. The agents of the old gods will avenge with a cruel, blind justice at first, as represented by the still “not fully cooked” Bran child who sits a weirwood throne, making godly decisions as he continues to advance his powers and grow stronger and stronger.

The kindly man employs Arya as an assassin who acts on behalf of the many-faced god but she is not “trapped” in the HoB&W, as Ariel is “trapped in a tree”. Now Arya seemed to be trapped in a vicious cycle while still in Westeros, attempting to get here, or there, or anywhere, but ending up turned around, backtracking, moving forward inch by inch, only to finally arrive at a destination when it is too late to make a difference.

Arya is also trapped when she is captured by the Lannisters while on her way to the Wall with Yoren. She ends up in servitude at the cursed Harrenhal, where she finally breaks free through her own initiative, although I am confident that the FM and Jaqen, or the agents of the old gods, assist Arya in finally finding her way too Braavos, which very well can be described as a heroine achieving victory after enduring an incredible challenge wrought with heartache and bloodshed.

Also, excluding the most obvious magic the kindly priest engages to assist Arya in becoming another face, I wish to infer that the drink Waif serves Arya on the night before she awakens blind may have had the potential to stir Arya’s “gift” of warging, a talent associated with the blood of the Starks, who have the blood of the First Men flowing in their veins. This aspect of her heritage lay dormant in Arya until she drinks from the cold cup that brings darkness, yet in that darkness a light gleams true as Arya’s wolf blood rouses, thereby allowing her to discover her own special gift from the old gods, or the children of the forest or the roots of the weirwood trees.

It may be speculative, but I suggest that the drink not only takes away Arya’s eyes, but it leads her to the discovery of her gift- or strengthens her gift, just as the children serve Bran a concoction of weirwood paste to help him travel through the weirnet to begin his study as a geenseer. Likewise, Arya’s “skin-changing” skill grows more formidable after drinking, OR after becoming blind, OR after both drinking and becoming blind.

Bran is told that the gift of greensight is in his “blood”. Likewise, Arya’s gift of warging is in her Stark blood, and I suspect that the kindly man and Waif and no doubt Him-of-Many-Faces determine Arya’s potential as a warg, and then they concur that she will be an asset to their organization of Faceless Men. The priest nudges Arya along in her lessons so that she will be tested, and this “magic” potion may be far more than what it seems.

It makes sense that somehow Arya has been escorted strategically to Braavos by designated “spiritual” guides sent to her via the old gods, and / or Him-of-Many-Faces, who may very well be an aspect of the old gods.

Ariel is Prospero's eyes and ears

Arya is the “eyes and ears” as represented by the Faceless Men, for the kindly man orders her to go forth on Braavos as both Cat of the Canals and Blind Beth, during which time she is to acquire knowledge through “watching and hearing”, then reporting back to the HoB&W when the moon is dark to reveal to her instructor “three new things” she has discovered while out working in disguise and essentially acquiring further skills on how to “spy” without arising suspicion in others.

**plots to bring down his [her] master”.

Arya attempts to “bring down” Waif by winning the lying game. Competitive Arya rises to the challenges delivered to her by the kindly man. By proving that she is not / or that she is a competent LIAR, a liar so very skilled that she can weave believable deceptions about her own identity as “no one”; moreover, she can successfully spot dissembling in others, as when she exposes the kindly man as the one who torments her when she is blind. Arya “brings him down” by enlisting a cat to be her eyes, for the kindly man took them away.

Ariel in The Tempest: Male or Female

Now let us consider the “sex” of Ariel, who is assigned the male sex if one is to believe the author Shakespeare, who does use the male pronoun in two scenes of The Tempest.

“Over the years, Ariel has been played by both male and female actors and the character’s sex is open to artistic interpretation.

In Shakespeare’s time, women did not perform on stage; rather, young boy actors would play the female roles - a convention that was perfectly acceptable to the Elizabethan audience. It is therefore likely that one of the same boy actors would have played Ariel – it is this convention that has perhaps blurred the sex of Ariel in the theater traditions that followed.

During the restoration period, it became conventional for female performers to play Ariel, and directors have never since established a firm sex for the character. This is perhaps fitting: the sexlessness of this spirit helps perpetuate the airy magical quality for which Ariel is famous” [From Ariel in 'The Tempest' by Lee Jamieson, About.com Guide http://shakespeare.about.com/od/thetempest/a/Ariel-tempest.htm ].

Arya once again falls into Martin’s “contradiction”, falling into the “male element” versus “female element”, as Arya slips in and out of identities, playing the role of a boy named “Arry”, feigning to be a boy, sneaking into the woods to make water in a “mummer’s farce” in which Arya of House Stark denies her feminine nature for the purpose of obeying Yoren’s demands AND as a means of “self-preservation”. As a female as yet unflowered, and as a female as yet a “virgin”, Arya represents a “seemingly” vulnerable target for “some of the supposed rapers and criminals Yoren gathers as recruits for the “brotherhood” [not the “sisterhood”] of the Night’s Watch.

Arya “assumes” a “male counterpart”, OR a figure in opposition to her true self and what she represents, prior to taking the derivative of A-R-Y-A, becoming A-R-R-Y, or “AIR” – Y. The elements of “Water” [Arya/Arry] combines with “Air” [“AERIAL” / + “Sansa”, “the little bird” caged in the Vale, way, way on high in the EYRIE ***AIRY / ARRY. Have I lost you yet?

Arya’s name, as well as the name Arry, sounds like AIR in the first syllable. This is ironic for Arya is definitely associated with water whereas her sister Sansa is definitely associated with AIR. Arya and Sansa will need to combine their forces, air + water, to bring about a natural disaster that demands both elements working together simultaneously. AIR and WATER need to join together to bring about rain, violent storms, hurricanes, and many more natural disasters that involve WATER and AIR working together to meet a common cause.

“ARIEL’S Name Derivation” and Its Relativity to Arya

“The source of Ariel's name and character is unknown, although several critics have pointed out his similarities to the Ariel mentioned in Isaiah chapter 29 in the Bible. The name means "Lion of the Lord", in this sense. Ariel may also be a simple play on the word "aerial". Scholars have compared him to sprites depicted in other Elizabethan plays, and have managed to find several similarities between them, but one thing which makes Ariel unique is the human edge and personality given him by Shakespeare.” [My quick-source summary is the Wiki “Ariel (Tempest)”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_(The_Tempest) ].

**This is a stretch, but Syrio sends Arya on a mission to capture CATS, felines somewhat smaller and mayhap quicker than real LIONS, which otherwise represents the sigil of House Lannister, the enemies of the Stark House.

** The LION OF THE LORD is not unlike the implication expressed by the oft used phrase THE HAND OF THE KING; in other words, the LION of the LORD serves his/her LORD, just as the HAND serves his KING [Ned served King Robert; Jon Arryn served King Robert, Tyrion served King Joffrey, Tywin replaced Tyrion, etc.]

If this is the case, then Arya is like a Lion, or a servant of the LORD, and in her case, her LORD is HIM OF MY FACES, whom she serves through her affiliation with the Faceless Men of Braavos. Moreover, if Him-of- Many-Faces is somehow connected to the old gods of the north, then Arya serves more than one form of a deity that may simply be “ungods”, and more related to “forces of nature”, as we see through BR, Bran, and the CotF.

In an Arya POV in DwD (593-604), Martin employs “verbs” specifically that suggest that Arya is cat-like: for example, Arya rolls onto her side, springs to her feet, and stretches, all verbs associated with cats. Martin describes her legs as strong and springy. Arya sniffs out the kitchen and eats fish for breakfast. Moreover, the Waif gives her “milk” daily with a queer taste, no doubt the milk contains a potion that may maintain Arya’s blind state as well as assist in awakening her warg capabilities. Arya is also still as a stone, she darts, spins, jumps, whirls, and even hisses . Note the cat-verbs in this sentence: The girl crawled on all fours until she found her stick, then sprang back to her feet . . .” (DwD 599).

AERIAL [ˈɛərɪəl]

Adj

1. Of, relating to, or resembling air: Arya’s name resembles “air” in that it sounds like AIR –ee – ah. Arya’s association with water requires “air” to create natural disasters such as hurricanes, blizzards, rain storms, typhoons, floods, and the like.

2. Existing, occurring, moving, or operating in the air aerial cable car aerial roots of a plant: Arya has no fear when she climbs a tree to spy. She is comfortable high up in the sky with only air as her companion. Moreover, Water and Air must work together.

3. Ethereal; light and delicate :Arya as a “water dancer” learns to be light on her feet.

4. Imaginary; visionary

• Imaginary: Arya’s strength of imagination allows her to determine the best way to take the life of the insurance salesman. She needs to think up a clever plan so that her target never sees the “gift” of death coming. By studying the man in advance and observing his habits, she uses poison, for it is the least intrusive manner to take his life.
  
• Arya’s imagination also prompts her to return to the kindly man with Dareon’s boots. I really like Arya Nym’s assertion that Arya is cat-like when she presents her “gift” to the kindly man, maybe hoping to impress him with her recent kill, much as a cat returns to his owner with a gift of a mouse, bird, baby rabbit, or other small game easily caught by stalking cats who silently approach their prey, pouncing when they least expect it.
  
• Visionary: According to the Encarta Dictionary, “visionary” means full of foresight: characterized by unusually acute foresight and imagination. “Foresight” means the ability to think ahead: the ability to envision possible future problems or obstacles. Arya demonstrates her foresight when she decides NOT to tell the kindly man her secret of being able to warg a cat for she feels that he has his secrets, so she can have her own.
  
• Arya also proves that she has a gift of foresight when she determines that her morning prayer of her catalogue of names does not belong to no one. She assigns the list to the night wolf: “I am no one. That is the night wolf’s prayer. Someday she will find them, hunt them, smell their fear, taste their blood. Someday” (DwD 593). Arya seemingly has an instinct that Arya as “the night wolf”, or Nymeria, will be the one to find them, hunt them, smell them, and taste them.
  
• Arya also does not tell the kindly man about the snow in the riverlands, in Westeros. “But he would have asked her how she knew that, and she did not think that he would like her answer” (595). Arya strategically avoids a sticky situation by withholding information that might arouse the kindly man’s suspicions.
  

5. Extending high into the air; lofty This seems more to define Sansa’s situation.

6. (Engineering / Aeronautics) of or relating to aircraft aerial combat The only situation in TSoIaF that suggests “aircraft” and possible “aerial combat” is one involving the participation of dragons.

N

(Electronics) Also called antenna the part of a radio or television system having any of various shapes, such as a dipole, Yagi, long-wire, or vertical aerial, by means of which radio waves are transmitted or received

• I included the “antenna” aspect of the definition of ‘aerial’ for it reminded me of an allusion to how communication takes place, or even MAY take place, between wolf and warg, and later “among” wolves and wargs, where “thoughts , emotions, and even dreams” are “transmitted” or “received” from, say, Arya and Nymeria
  

[Via Latin from Greek aērios, from aēr air]

Source material for AERIAL from Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003 (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/aerial)

Ariel in The Tempest is an airy spirit who is able to perform magical tasks. For example, later in the play, he [she] makes himself [or herself] invisible to others.

[source material for above statement: Ariel in 'The Tempest' By Lee Jamieson, About.com Guide http://shakespeare.about.com/od/thetempest/a/Ariel-tempest.htm]

• At Harrenhal, Arya has yet another alias, for others call her “Weasel”. Moreover, Arya feels as if she is a ‘mouse’, small and insignificant, blending into the background as if she is invisible.
  
• That is, until Jaqen H’ghar gives Arya yet another identity that only she acknowledges, “The Ghost of Harrenhal”, yet another INVISIBLE identity, one in which she claims the gifts of three + lives that Jaqen helps to deliver to her. Jaqen gifts these lives to Arya, who achieves yet another challenge when she risks her own life to save Jaqen, Biter, and Rorge from the flames of the Red God, as Jaqen says.
  
• Another example of Arya making herself invisible occurs when she begins her training as a servant of Him-of-Many-Faces, under the tutelage of the kindly man and Waif. The kindly man commands that Arya call herself “no one”, or a nothing, an invisible entity, as opposed to her true self, which is Arya of House Stark.
  
• Arya attempts to fool the kindly man by ridding herself of all her possessions related to her former identities while living in and traveling through Westeros, as well as those souvenirs she collects while sailing across the Narrow Sea as Salty or Squab.
  
• Arya makes a pivotal decision to retain one possession that she cherishes, the very Needle that she associates with all her favorite memories of Winterfell, her family, Jon Snow mussing her hair, even the heart tree itself. By hiding that Needle, Arya makes her statement that she will “never” forget her true identity as Arya of House Stark. In this act, Arya defies the request of the kindly man and literally and symbolically hides her “true self” just as she hides her “true face” behind the hooded masks that make her yet another identity.
  
• I am sure that Him-of-Many-Faces is not unlike the faces on the weirwoods that are likely actual faces of former living people long dead and likely forgotten, now invisible in the bark of the trees, the roots of the heart trees, the stones and earth and humus and water, etc. And if the greenseers peer through these faces, they are rooted on their own weirwood thrones, watching with their 1000 eyes and one. So the kindly man is quite aware of Arya’s deception when she tosses all her belongings into the canal, a water source, that swallows what is left of Arry, Weasel, Arya Horseface, Nym, Arya Underfoot, Salty, and all her other temporarily assumed identities meant to disguise her Stark aspect and to allow her safe passage through Westeros and across the Narrow Sea to Braavos.
  
• Arya’s identity that is a part of her direwolf Nymeria is also invisible, for she harbors her secret of the dreams in which she becomes the night-wolf and prowls the riverlands as one inside her direwolf Nymeria across the Narrow Sea.
  

This is the definition of SPRITE (noun) according to the Encarta Dictionary: English (North America):

1. Supernatural elfin creature in folklore, a small supernatural being like an elf or a fairy, especially one associated with water****[Arya and the water motif]
   
2. Somebody like an elf: a small or delicately built person who is likened to an elf or a fairy
   

[Arya is not yet a woman grown, even though she despises being called “small” or “child”. She is like her aunt Lyanna, a “feisty” little girl, loyal to her pack, determined, driven, with the wolf blood and the blood of the First Men flowing in her veins]

1. Ghost in folklore, a ghost or spirit (the Ghost of Highheart? Jon Snow’s white direwolf Ghost? Theon’s “ghosts” that haunt Winterfell? Other?) Arya is literally and figuratively the Ghost of Harrenhal incarnate, for through Jaqen gifting her three lives for saving three lives, she becomes the “invisible” force that is / or that is behind the force that the people call the Ghost of Harrenhal: [that Jaqen makes sure that he “pays his debts”].
   
2. Independent graphic object COMPUT an independent graphic object that moves freely across a computer screen [i included the computer related definition of sprite, for the independent graphic can be elements on a video game, and perhaps there is some connection here to Arya and the Game of Thrones video game, which I have encountered “used” as source evidence for some posters who play the game. [Maybe I will even learn to play a video game just to experience Martin in yet another way.]
   

The definition of WATER SPRITE, according to the Free Dictionary.com–

A fairy that inhabits water

Water spirit, water nymph

Faerie, faery, fairy, fay, sprite - a small being, human in form, playful and having magical powers

Undine - any of various female water spirits: [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/water+sprite]

I know that ARYA NYM has already covered the nymphs and LITTLE WING with fairies and the wee folk, so I will not intrude upon their brilliance. I will just add that this “Undine” is the title of a movie called “ONDINE”, phonetically pronounced the same. This movie is set in Ireland, and I immediately fell in love because the basic story involves a fisherman who captures a beautiful woman in his nets. He comes to believe that she is a SILKIE? or a woman who when she slips on her seaweed cloak turns into a SEAL. LITTLE WING – I need your help here with the “silkies”. I am relying on my memory of the movie to relay this information, and I sometimes misremember information!!

So my recollection of this sweet, romantic movie connects to Arya yet again, who may also wear a seaweed cloak to warg a “seal” – specifically Casso, King of Seals.

Next, I will attempt to find like connections to “Caliban”, the half beast / half fish character who serves as a foil to “Aerial” in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. [And I still have to post the next installment on Arya as fish, Part II].

[Dark Heart]

Arya's three dresses - or about oaks, water and death again

1. Acorn dress.

"And afterward, they insisted she dress herself in girl’s things, brown woolen stockings and a light linen shift, and over that a light green gown with acorns embroidered all over the bodice in brown thread, and more acorns bordering the hem."

Acorn dress can be a symbol of:

- "Maiden of the Tree" song and Arya's possible destiny,

- Death. In many mythologies Oaks are gateway to underworld, and from Arya's chapter we have this :

A boy called Tarber tossed a handful of acorns on top of Praed’s body, so an oak might grow to mark his place.

- Old Gods :

This place belongs to the old gods still . . . they linger here as I do, shrunken and feeble but not yet dead. Nor do they love the flames. For the oak recalls the acorn, the acorn dreams the oak, the stump lives in them both. And they remember when the First Men came with fire in their fists.

-And it may be important in combination with boy clothing.

More about that bellow.

2. Sort of lilac-colored dress with baby pearls

It was even worse than before; Lady Smallwood insisted that Arya take another bath, and cut and comb her hair besides; the dress she put her in this time was sort of lilac-colored, and decorated with little baby pearls. The only good thing about it was that it was so delicate that no one could expect her to ride in it.

• The denizens of Joffrey’s court had striven to outdo each other today. Jalabhar Xho was all in feathers, a plumage so fantastic and extravagant that he seemed like to take flight. The High Septon’s crystal crown fired rainbows through the air every time he moved his head. At the council table, Queen Cersei shimmered in a cloth-of-gold gown slashed in burgundy velvet, while beside her Varys fussed and simpered in a lilac brocade.
  

• Lady Nym looked graceful, dressed all in shimmering lilac robes and a great silk cape of cream and copper that lifted at every gust of wind, and made her look as if she might take flight.
  

• It made her angry to see Dareon sitting there so brazen, making eyes at Lanna as his fingers danced across the harp strings. The whores called him the black singer, but there was hardly any black about him now. With the coin his singing brought him, the crow had transformed himself into a peacock. Today he wore a plush purple cloak lined with vair, a striped white-and-lilac tunic, and the parti-colored breeches of a bravo, but he owned a silken cloak as well, and one made of burgundy velvet that was lined with cloth-of-gold.
  

It's interesting that lilac is so often connected to taking flight and birds.

Descriptino of Jalabhar Xho and Lady Nym "looking as if they would take flight" is almost the same.

Ah and of course that is another important detail about the dress - baby pearls. There is only one other case where baby pearls are mentioned:

• “Magnificence, you do not understand,” protested Reznak. “The washing of the feet is hallowed by tradition. It signifies that you shall be your husband’s handmaid. The wedding garb is fraught with meaning too. The bride is dressed in dark red veils above a tokar of white silk, fringed with baby pearls.” The queen of the rabbits must not be wed without her floppy ears. “All those pearls will make me rattle when I walk.”
  “The pearls symbolize fertility. The more pearls Your Worship wears, the more healthy children she will bear.”
  

• Afterward, as Jhiqui was patting Daenerys dry, Irri approached with her tokar. Dany envied the Dothraki maids their loose sandsilk trousers and painted vests. They would be much cooler than her in her tokar, with its heavy fringe of baby pearls. “Help me wind this round myself, please. I cannot manage all these pearls by myself.”
  

Arya's dress is too delicate, Daenerys' too heavy. Neither likes it. Maybe like in Daenerys case it will represent marriage, betrothal or role in life Arya will initially accept but later reject. Pearls may simply represent water motive, but maybe also association with the Black Pearl and Arya was supposed to be her apprentice, though this storyline might have been abandoned together with five years gap.Other types of pearls appear more often, so often I decided to put it to another post...eventually.

Yes, ironic that "pearls of fertility" are on Dany (who can't have children) and Arya (who migh not want them).

3. Dead boy's clothing

The only good thing about it was that it was so delicate that no one could expect her to ride in it. So the next morning as they broke their fast, Lady Smallwood gave her breeches, belt, and tunic to wear, and a brown doeskin jerkin dotted with iron studs. “They were my son’s things,” she said. “He died when he was seven."

Iron suds and dress with acrons could be Oak and iron. As in:

Oak and iron, guard me well. Or else I'm dead and doomed to Hell

Or becuse wights and others hate Iron it migh be that Arya will be a part of the fight for the Dawn.

[evita mgfs]

Diving deeper into Hekate:

Arya has already been succesfully compared to Artemis/Diana, so the fact that they fit, can be related to the fact that Hecate fits as well. Very interesting is that she's a Titan, the Only Titan who aided Zeus in the battle of gods and Titans. The Titan is associated with Braavos. You could see her as the only Braavosi who will assist Westeros in the fight against the Others.

We all know that Winter is Coming, if Arya is related to Hekate, it could be that she will be the who brings back spring, for at the moment she's making a journey through the underworld.

snip

Earth, sea and sky, especially the first two are definitely covered in this thread, and I can imagine her as a protector of sailors.

MANDERLY'S RAT COOK: I know I already responded to this post, but as I was rereading the thread, I noticed points I either missed or forgot to address. [i was off the board for two days because I became very ill. So I likely did not comprehend what I was reading totally - that is why I am rereading the thread - to help refresh my memory and to reread posts I looked at when my migraine was flaming. Stupid idea. I should have just gone to bed!]

Anyways, you mentioned the Titan of Braavos, and I like the way you linked it to Hekate the Titaness. I just wanted to share with you Martin's likely allusion to the Colossus of Rhodes.

Martin seems to have read, even studied, the Shakespeare tragedy of Julius Caesar, for he has even quoted multiple passages from the play, substituting Shakespeare’s words with those of his own. In the case of the Titan of Braavos, in the tragedy, Caius Cassius tries to convince the honorable Brutus to join the conspiracy to murder Caesar, and he artfully manipulates Brutus by appealing to known aspects of his character: his honor, his patriotism, and his stoicism.

Cassius also paints a picture for Brutus of Caesar’s growing power by making an allusion to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Colossus of Rhodes, an enormous statue of the Titan Helios who straddles of Harbor of Rhodes, one foot planted on each side to form a bridge of sorts, and the ships entered the harbor by passing between and beneath the legs of the statue. [There are probably drawings on-line of the Colossus – an artist’s rendering for the real Colussus was destroyed in an earthquake, I believe].

Anyway, and I’ m paraphrasing from memory, Cassius tells Brutus of Caesar: “Why man, he [Caesar] does bestride the narrow world like a Colossus, and we petty men peep out beneath his legs like dishonorable graves.” Brutus suggests that Caesar has grown in power and now he looms over Rome like the statue of the Titan. The Romans are the dishonorable graves who are tiny figures standing at the feet of Caesar – so small and ineffective, Caesar may stomp on them and extinguish them in one devastating move.

Now, I believe Martin’s Titan of Braavos is based on the Colossus of Rhodes, which really did stand at one time. Martin probably knows the history of the seven wonders of the ancient world as well – so he may have been inspired by either the history aspect, or he may have been inspired by Shakespeare’s mention of the statue. I tend to think the latter, for as I said, Martin makes numerous references or allusions to the play throughout the novels that are part of TSoI&F.

I thought you might like to know the background of the possible allusion Martin makes to the Colossus. Personally, the Titan of Braavos is one of my favorite monuments in the novels. I love the description of Arya passing beneath the legs of the statue – and Martin probably had a great time writing that scene, for he puts his character in a ship that passes between and beneath the legs that also straddle an entranceway. It would have been like re-imagining history through Arya’s eyes – conveying the frightening yet exciting experience it might have been for sailors arriving at Rhodes, directing their ships between the legs to guide them safely into the harbor.

I guess I will have to check out Hekate and her relationship with the other Titans. My favorite Titan was always Prometheus, the Titan who loved mankind so much that he dared to steal fire from Zeus to give to man, and as a result, he was severely punished. [Prometheus parallels, to some degree, the Christ-like goodness of the Christian mythology.]

I have enjoyed your posts. They are filled with lots of neat information and allusions to mythology. I also love the tragic tale of Persephone, kidnapped by Hades, who rides his chariot through the earth, intent on getting himself a wife. He has to steal her for no girl wanted to wed the god of the underworld. Poor Hades. My favorite part of the myth is that Hades treats Persephone very well, showering her with jewels, anything her heart desires, trying to win her love through his extensive wealth. Hades reminds me a bit of the Phantom of the Opera who has to steal Christine because no girl would ever love him because of his disfigured face.

[ARYa_Nym]

Nice finds Dark Heart. Arya was also dressed up like a doll in linen and lace but the dress wasn't given further details.

Evita, I have to bow. :bowdown: Your posts are so informative and full of detail. I will have to reply tomorrow when I can sit down more and think about it.

Just little points I wanted to add. The KM called Arya a goddess. He was sarcastically joking though.

“You know the words, but you are too proud to serve. A servant must be humble and obedient.” “I obey. I can be humbler than anyone.” That made him chuckle “You will be the very goddess of humility, I’m sure. But can you pay the price?”

I mentioned in the a thread about Bran calling Queen Nymeria some old witch queen that Arya is in some ways a witch.

Her lessons:

“Poisons and potions were for the afternoon. She had smell and touch and taste to help her, but touch and taste could be perilous when grinding poisons, and with some of the waif’s more toxic concoctions even smell was less than safe.”

The KM told her:

"Mummers change their faces with artifice,” the kindly man was saying, “and sorcerers use glamors, weaving light and shadow and desire to make illusions that trick the eye. These arts you shall learn,but what we do here goes deeper. Wise men can see through artifice, and glamors dissolve before sharp eyes, but the face you are about to don will be as true and solid as that face you were born with. Keep your eyes closed.”

We've already discussed the Diana/Bastet cat link to witchcraft. Arya's favorite cat is a black one, Balerion.

She also uses magic with warging.

For magic I looked up tv tropes and there are druids:

The historical Judeo-Christian view of a "witch" was a person who literally makes a Deal with the Devil in exchange for magic powers, often defined as becoming Satan's concubine.

Originally druids were one sect of the celtic priesthood. Because they practiced their rites in the wilderness in great secrecy, and wrote nothing about what they did, little is known about them. Most historical accounts are from the writings of their enemies, who rarely qualify as reliable sources.

In modern fiction, "druid" is typically used for a nature-themed magic-user that usually has flavour of priesthood, especially if they hail from pre-Christian Europe (or fantastical equivalent). Commonly associated powers include:

• animal empathy
  
• speaking with animals and plants
  
• speaking with nature spirits (feyfolk, place spirits and so on)
  
• Herbology (including making of poisons and augmenting potions)
  

·  healing (opposite - disease creation - is well known as well, but usually reserved for 'corrupted' cult members)

·  weather manipulation (lightning, winds, rains and so on)

·  Voluntary Shapeshifting

·  body modification magic

·  sometimes overpowered druids can call earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamies and other innatural natural hazards.

Unlike classical priests and mages, druids have nothing to deal with dead and undead, demons and angels: their power holds sway only over living things, including humans, and possibly also the non-living order of nature, such as the weather. Druids are usually associated with forests, but other versions are known.

They don't deal with the dead though so that would be a huge difference.

In medieval European superstition, it was thought that one way to identify if someone was a witch was if they owned a cat. This cat was believed to be some form of demon or evil spirit in disguise, acting as the witch's Familiar and aiding her in her spells.

More on ships and cats:

"Ship's cats (especially black ones) were said to be lucky by sailors, although pirates often believed that a ship which had a black cat walk on then off was doomed to sink. The ascribed good luck, at least, is probably more attributable to the fact that ships traditionally have rat problems than any magic, however."

But anyways an important point could be the belief that witches make a deal with the devil in order to get powers. We've already discussed Arya asking Jaqen if he summoned up demons from hell. Maybe the KM/Jaqen are taking the role of the devil here in order to get her powers.

I'm behind on your reread evita and I need to catch up. I've been finding quite a few things on cats though in order to prepare.

[evita mgfs]

snip

I'm behind on your reread evita and I need to catch up. I've been finding quite a few things on cats though in order to prepare.

:bowdown: ARYA NYM: Thanks! Your praise means a lot. I wanted to share what I found - and I only mentioned it briefly above for I feared you had found the same evidence - but in the POV where Arya wargs the Tomcat - then the cat follows her home - well, and I LOVE when Martin does this - he uses verbs to describe Arya that are "cat verbs" - Arya stretches, she jumps, she hisses, she even eats fish - and those are only a few. I added a few others to my post, but left the rest for you, my dear. :love:

I also thought there has to be a "reason" for Martin doing this in that chapter. It occurs AFTER Dareon's death and Arya's blindness, which Arya says, "Cat is dead. I killed her." Something like that - for she sees it as her fault for killing Dareon - she almost seems more concerned about killing her former disguise's entity that she ever does about killing Dareon.

[ARYa_Nym]

:bowdown: ARYA NYM: Thanks! Your praise means a lot. I wanted to share what I found - and I only mentioned it briefly above for I feared you had found the same evidence - but in the POV where Arya wargs the Tomcat - then the cat follows her home - well, and I LOVE when Martin does this - he uses verbs to describe Arya that are "cat verbs" - Arya stretches, she jumps, she hisses, she even eats fish - and those are only a few. I added a few others to my post, but left the rest for you, my dear. :love:

I also thought there has to be a "reason" for Martin doing this in that chapter. It occurs AFTER Dareon's death and Arya's blindness, which Arya says, "Cat is dead. I killed her." Something like that - for she sees it as her fault for killing Dareon - she almost seems more concerned about killing her former disguise's entity that she ever does about killing Dareon.

Yes. She also shows more shame over her kills in self defense than she does of Dareon. She said that she does not care and that Dareon deserved to die.

I also found some things on cats and killing.

I did collect some instances where I felt that Arya moved like a cat but making the connection b/w it and Dareon is something I didn't do.

“She climbed to the roof and peeked down…Arya slithered through the window and leapt down to the floor beside him…He did not seem surprised to see her. “You should be abed, girl.” The breastplate hissed like a cat as he dipped it in the cold water. ”

She climbed to the roof and peeked down. That's what the cat who followed her from Pynto's did during her meeting with the KM. The window and leaping part seems cat like to me too.

In AGoT she was already assuming the role of a cat.

“…she slid from shadow to shadow. She pretended she was chasing cats…except she was the cat now, and if they caught her, they would kill her.”

When the KM hits her she hisses and springs to her feet.

"Her stick fell clattering to the stone. She hissed in fury…The girl crawled on all fours until she found her stick, then sprang back to her feet…."

Similar instance.

"The blind girl rolled onto her side, sat up, sprang to her feet, stretched."

"She dropped and rolled. The red cloak went careening past her; stumbling Arya sprang back to her feet. She saw a window above her, high and narrow, scarcely more than an arrow slit. Arya leapt, caught the sill, pulled herself up. She held her breath as she wriggled through. Slippery as an eel."

Again with leaping, springing, and coming in through the windows.

More:

"Arya thrust her wooden sword through her belt and began to climb, leaping from cask to cask until she could reach the window. Grasping the stone with both hands, she pulled herself up."

When Jaqen tries to get her wet she leaps away like a cat would from water.

"His hand moved suddenly, splashing hot water at her, and Arya had to leap back to keep from getting drenched."

Hissing:

“I…I beg your pardon m’lady.” Stop that! Arya hissed. ””

ETA: I also noticed that Jon wished that he could move like a cat.

"Once he had watched a shadowcat stalk a ram, flowing down the mountainside like liquid smoke until it was ready to pounce. Now it is our turn to pounce. He wished he could move sure and silent as that shadowcat, and kill as quickly."