Ice and Fire animal project II: Lions

[bbstark]

Hey Mladen, great work again, I just bookmarked it ;)

(have a few deadlines coming up, but after the air clears, hopefully I'll be able to contribute more to this excellent project!)

[Mladen]

Beautiful stuff as always Mladen .. :) ... THe way you pen the essay without going over-board & even-handed throughout from a very rational point of view is genuinely worth admiring . A rare trait indeed !! :)

Thank you very much for these kind words... I am really humbled.

1. The origins of Lannisters ... with the trickery involved ... It's like the present era is subconsciously suffering from some deep-rooted inferiority complex about their origins that they want to see themselves as the House of all houses .

2. The Tywin - Aerys conversation that clear depicted the Dragon considering the Lions to be servants always ...

3. The attitudes of the Lannisters - Tywin ( being ruthless to the point of domination ) ; Cersei ( her ambition to be the over-lord of things despite the handicap of being a woman in those days ) .... Jaime ( Wants to be adored as the fearless & magnificent Lion ) .. and Tyrion ( as a side-lined Lion prince who feels @ home when he outsmarts, out-manueveurs & out-think others )

4. The hard born pride ( 'By what right does a Wolf judge a lion ?!' )

I think that Martin wanted to overemphasize traditional values of lion and by doing that transform them into characteristic flaws. Lion pride in Lannister takes another form in vanity. The mighty roar in terms of Rains of Castamere never had such sinister tone. Everything that is positive about ymbolic lions Martin preserved, but he also gave it another dimension. Pride and courage doesn`t have to be noble virtues, that can also describe a villain too.

Great essays, Mladen. The Ass in the Lion skin reference in the earlier essay got me thinking about Lann the Clever. Like the donkey in the fable, Lann uses trickery to accomplish his goal. Does anyone wonder what the Casterly’s sigil was and whether Lann took that along with the castle? Even if Lann just took the castle, I think that alone still suggests that the Lannisters are not true lions but just dress up in lion skin. While they have a lot of lion characteristics, as fantastically noted, I think that comes more from pretending to be lions for so long. Because they try so hard to be lions, it comes across as overcompensation. IMO, Leaf’s comment about lions being extinct in Westeros seems to support the idea that Lannisters are not lions. Illyrio’s comment about Tyrion not being the Lannister sigil becomes even more apt. And it’s another interesting way the Starks are different from the Lannisters because unlike the Lannisters, the Starks can become direwolves.

Wonderful POV, Harlaw`s Book. My view is that they are only humans with all their virtues and flaws, dressed in lion skin. That lion skin gave then noble appearence, but what`s in their core is something far different. Remember how Jon thought of Jaime as being royal, of Cersei`s beauty and Tyrion`s shadow. And how that first imagery collapsed soon like house of cards when we start knowing them better.

Amazing! the kind of work that makes this forum so special...

The religious symbolism essay reminded me of this painting - beautiful contrast between the coloring of the lions and the Lannister crimson cloth, don't you think?

The painting is called "Daniel in the lion's den" and it depicts the salvation of prophet Daniel. He was punished by being thrown in a pit with hungry lions, but he prayed to his god and the god saved him. Several days later, he was found unharmed.

Two ways to link it to the Lannisters; first -and not so relevant- is Tyrion jousting with Penny in the arena of Meereen. Ironically, the little lion was going to be fed to real lions and was saved by Daenerys (who appears to be the contractor of salvations :)).

The second is the story of little Aegon, Varys' version. The Lannisters here, represented by Tywin's pet monsters, are portrayed as human-eating beasts, ready to devour the innocent little baby - who may not be a prophet, but he's supposed to be the prophesized one. Varys in the role of god adds an extra layer of hilarious effect...

Anyway, in this story the lion is depicted in a different way than a symbol of courage and nobility; it highlights the facet of the savage beast. I think that our lions display both facets, Tyrion and Jaime having them distributed more evenly.

ShadowCat, you made me :blushing: . This thread is just my small contribution to the forum

I saw the painting, but I cut it out from final version, due not to go into too many details, I wanted just to give three important views on lions I found interesting. Butterbumps! was kind enough to direct me and she gave me many examples of lions in art, but I think it would be wisest to leave that for, if and when the time comes for Lions in art essay.

You made wonderful parallel. I especially like the fact Varys played God. And in a wicked way, he does. When he said to Ned, that someone had to serve Kingdom it`s like idea that God serves us by maintaing the harmony in the world, like Varys does playing between so many power players.

Oh, there is savagery in Lannisters, but something more than lion ever had. That`s how Martin gave virtues to wolf by humanizing it, I think he did the same only in opposit direction, he gave lion human characteristics to make him viler, more sinister ant to emphasize beastly nature

The thing is, that lions aren't the king of beasts.

They don't even live in the damn jungle, they're plains animals.

They don't even go in the water when crocs are visible.

Tigers are more dangerous, powerful and they actually live in jungles!

Swim without fear in deep water and hunt anything.

Don't know why i made this point, but lions exaltation and crickets for the true king bothers me.

True, biologically everything you said is completely truth, but still doesn`t change the fact of what role lion played in civilization. The world is not fair, so I imagine that symbols are neither.

[Manderlay]

Excellent work Mladen, enjoyed reading all the essays; thumbs up (the emoticons are not working presently).

The lion capital of Ashoka is mounted on a small cylindrical abacus with 24-spoked Dharma wheels. These are sculptures of elephant, a bull, a galloping horse and a lion. It is believed that these animals symbolize the different steps of Lord Buddha's life. Buddha's idea in context to the dream of Queen Maya of a white elephant entering her womb has been depicted by the elephant. The desires of Buddha as a prince have been depicted by the bull. Buddha's departure from sumptuous life is represented by the galloping horse, while the accomplishment of Buddha is reflected by the lion.

Other interpretations that can be gathered from the lion capital, four lions represent the Ashoka's rule in four directions, his enlightened rule is represented by the wheels and the four animals depict the four adjoining territories in India.

In a way, westeros is also the same, where once Dragons ruled over all the territories which are depicted by different animals.

[Mladen]

Excellent work Mladen, enjoyed reading all the essays; thumbs up (the emoticons are not working presently).

The lion capital of Ashoka is mounted on a small cylindrical abacus with 24-spoked Dharma wheels. These are sculptures of elephant, a bull, a galloping horse and a lion. It is believed that these animals symbolize the different steps of Lord Buddha's life. Buddha's idea in context to the dream of Queen Maya of a white elephant entering her womb has been depicted by the elephant. The desires of Buddha as a prince have been depicted by the bull. Buddha's departure from sumptuous life is represented by the galloping horse, while the accomplishment of Buddha is reflected by the lion.

Other interpretations that can be gathered from the lion capital, four lions represent the Ashoka's rule in four directions, his enlightened rule is represented by the wheels and the four animals depict the four adjoining territories in India.

In a way, westeros is also the same, where once Dragons ruled over all the territories which are depicted by different animals.

Thank you for this insight. The literature I found about Lion capitol is full of various interpretations, and I had to choose one of the most common meaning, but there are so many different directions. Also, I was intruiged by Lion capitol and 4 directions especially since the HBO`s amblem of Game of thrones has amblem with 4 animals positioned back to back - wolf, lion, stag, and dragon.

I hope once when we are done with Lion OP project, you`ll give us the full range of Lion symbolism in Hindu art and mythology...

[Sigurður Ingi]

AS Said in the wolf forum this is just great work what you have done.

I'm looking forward what you say about them being pack animals since they are very interesting pack animals and their pack are called pride and what is also interesting is that lion's pride have mostly one to two male lions while females lions are majority.

Another thing that I find lion interesting is that female lions better known as lionesses are the ones who do the hunting while the male lions are guarding their young ones and also they are not afraid of hunting big animals like elephants.

While it is male lions job to defend the pride which something Tywin does best is to defend his family.

And again great forum look forward to your next essay.

[three-eyed monkey]

I tip my hat to you Mladen. A brilliant, brilliant post. Enjoyed it so much I'm going to go straight back and read it again. Look forward to your next essay and reading the wolf essays too.

[Suzanna Stormborn]

Wow! Where do you find the time?!? love this post, love the modern literature post the best! What I like about it is how you can see the difference between how C.S.Lwwis and Rowling used the Lion symbolism and how Martin uses it. IMO Martin's depiction of Lannisters and the house of Lions is far more realistic in terms of how lions actually live. Lions are crazy, the way of life they have developed is totally vicious and nuts. Completely different from the other big cats that have taken up residence in the same parts of Africa. The leopard and the Cheetahs live solitary lives they are smooth, quiet stalkers and tree- climbers that use their fur and speed to keep a low profile and out of the way for the most part. lions are completely different, they are so funny, they don't try to hide they are not scared of practically anything, especially when they are out hunting in a pack. Anyway my point is that a lot of fairytale lions are shown as very noble kings who rule with a steady non-discriminate hand over all the other animals, and this is simply not true. Lions are vicious and not very smart and what they have going for them, that the other cats don't, is their pack lifestyle. The females share the chores of babysitting, hunting, mating with the pride male and they all form a very serious bond with each other that hardly exists anywhere else in the animal kingdom. Their pack mentality makes them strong, but they will turn on each other in a heartbeat. For instance, this is one of my favorite things about lions, when they make a kill and are all feasting together on a giant yak, they do not eat calmly, they growl and devour and constantly get in brawls with each other. The other cats don't do this, if a family of cheetahs are all eating a thompsons gazelle, they are all polite and quiet and just quickly eat, if you were 20 yards away you wouldn't even hear it happening. But a lion pack devouring a kill is a loud, messy, bloody ordeal. They just immediately turn on each other the second there are spoils in front of them. Same thing happens in several aspects of their lifestyles, a pack of lionesses will turn on a pride male if another stronger male comes along and challenges him. They could have been with the guy for 5 years, but the second someone stronger comes along they drop the original guy that day and collectively chase him off.

I think the Lannisters are not a fairytale family, they are a pack of real lions. Sure they are strong and rich and have power, but if it comes down to it they will rip each other to shreds over something small like a joke that someone took the wrong way. they follow power and respect power, power is all that matters to them despite years of loyal service. Look how Cersei and Tywin quickly dismissed Jaime after his injury. Tywin wanted to kill his dwarf son for just being a dwarf and embarrassing him with his disfigurement. look what Tywin did to his father's widow, other peoples perception of the family Lannister is more important than the actual family. Something that was pointed out several times on this last season of GOT (which made me happy). The problem with a family dynamic like this is that it is an eternal struggle, just like the pride male, he has to be ready to fight off others everyday, and if he can't he is immediately dismissed. Tywin has set up his family in a way that they constantly have to fight to hold on to their power, the day they decide to take a vacation and relax they are over, finished, ruined. And this more than anything is what has made Cersei such a psycho lady. She feels she has to constantly battle anyone that approaches her position or her station. So much so that it made her a paranoid loon, who was over-thinking everything and seeing enemies everywhere she looked. But it's not her fault her father raised her that way, she just never developed the part of her brain that tells her some people might not be after her. In her mind it is kill everyone and leave me here alone on my throne and I'll be happy, which makes her such a funny character, the Tywin in her makes her not know when to quit, and turned her into a shaved and naked Aslan lying on the stone table alone.

[Mladen]

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I tip my hat to you Mladen. A brilliant, brilliant post. Enjoyed it so much I'm going to go straight back and read it again. Look forward to your next essay and reading the wolf essays too.

snip

Thank you all three. It is always a pleasure to hear people respect your work. Three-eyed monkey, I told you we`ll agree upon something :)

Suzanna, you`ll have to wait for another 2 pieces about anatomy and behavior of lions so we could talk about wonderful points you made in your post. I am also especially glad you mentioned shaved Aslan, because I think it mirrors Jaime without hand, Tyrion overall, Tywin dying at toilet, Cersei`s walk of shame.

ALSO, I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE FOR DELAY IN THE PAST 2 WEEKS. I HAD PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT WEEK BEHIND ME AT WORK, AND I HOPE YOU`LL UNDERSTAND. THE ESSAY ABOUT LION ANATOMY WILL BE COMPLETED WITHIN COUPLE OF DAYS.

YOURS SINCERELY, OP.

[King of Winters]

ALSO, I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE FOR DELAY IN THE PAST 2 WEEKS. I HAD PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT WEEK BEHIND ME AT WORK, AND I HOPE YOU`LL UNDERSTAND. THE ESSAY ABOUT LION ANATOMY WILL BE COMPLETED WITHIN COUPLE OF DAYS.

YOURS SINCERELY, OP.

Don't worry Mladen, take your time. :)

[Suzanna Stormborn]

Don't worry Mladen, take your time. :)

Agreed! No one is faulting you for anything :)

[Mladen]

Don't worry Mladen, take your time. :)

Agreed! No one is faulting you for anything :)

That`s why it`s so great to have friends on the forum... :crying: :)

[WinterKing]

Don't worry Mladen, take your time. :)

Agreed.

[Mladen]

LION ANATOMY

In the vicious world of predators, lion has very special place. As a member of the exclusive `big cat` company, lion is among the deadliest hunters in the world. Throughout thousands of years of evolution, lion developed powerful mechanisms that made him truly admirable beast.

From jaws to claws, with muscular body and impeccable sight, lion is one of the greatest beasts of the wilderness. Surpassed only by his cousin tiger, lion rules the savannas of Africa and Asia. Due to habitat loss, human interference and variety of other reasons, the population of lions has dropped extremely in the past century. It is estimated that there are no more than 20 000 lions left in the world. Just like wolf, lion has been beaten by the ultimate predator on Earth – human.

Lion`s body is one of his deadliest weapons. Lion is averagely 120cm high, and weights around 200 kg. Its body length is 2, 6-3, 3 m, with additional 0, 6-1m for the tail. Lion is the highest of the big cats, but not the biggest. Although smaller for couple of centimeters, tigers have stronger body. Due to height, impressive mane and muscular body, lion has always been regarded as `King of the beasts`. As a species, lions display striking sexual dimorphism. These phenotypic differences between male and female we see in lions, aren`t something we usually see in other big cats. Even amateur would tell a difference between male and female lion. The two main differences are in size and mane. Lionesses are shorter for 10 cm than lions and weight around 60 kg less than male lions.

Mane is the secondary sexual characteristic of male adult lions. Mane has many purposes. First, and mainly it`s the sign of fertility. Bigger and darker mane suggests high level testosterone. Mane is a sign of masculinity, intimidation and strength. It`s a sign of dominance over pride. Mane growth is directly connected to the level of testosterone in the body. Castrated lions don`t grow the mane, so it`s believed that mane has a huge use in mating season and battles over pride. Other and relatively unexplored use is in battle. Lion`s mane is some sort of protection in battles. It provides powerful shield and cloaks lion`s neck. Therefore, animal that attacks lion doesn`t know how much to open the jaw to reach for the neck. Whatever are the reasons, mane is proud symbol of lion`s prowess.

The appearance is also important when we discuss Lannister lions. The twins, Jaime and Cersei, show exceptionally striking appearance from the very first moment we meet them. Cersei is described as `most beautiful woman in 7 Kingdoms` and Jaime looked royally and their father, Tywin exuded a great aura of dominance. Contrary to them, Tyrion`s looks isn`t his best side, but many people noticed how great man he is. Sexual dimorphism is interestingly in Martin`s world translated more to society norms than to appearance. Jaime and Cersei couldn`t be more alike, they are basically mirroring each other, but society divided them, which is wonderfully depicted in this quote:

“When we were little, Jaime and I were so much alike that even our lord father could not tell us apart. Sometimes as a lark we would dress in each other’s clothes and spend a whole day each as the other. Yet even so, when Jaime was given his first sword, there was none for me. ‘What do I get?’ I remember asking. We were so much alike, I could never understand why they treated us so differently. Jaime learned to fight with sword and lance and mace, while I was taught to smile and sing and please. He was heir to Casterly Rock, while I was to be sold to some stranger like a horse, to be ridden whenever my new owner liked, beaten whenever he liked, and cast aside in time for a younger filly. Jaime’s lot was to be glory and power, while mine was birth and moonblood.”

Although the same, the twins are regarded differently by the world they live in. It`s the norms that separated them, as they separated every girl from every boy. Both sexes in closeted, dogmatic world of Westeros have their roles, and from early age are thought what their positions are. Sexual dimorphism that in nature is a difference in morphologic characteristics between male and female bodies of certain species, in social relationships is given a new dimension. And just like mane separates male and female lions, the gender separated twins in the eyes of society.

A powerful beast like lion has to have more than one weapon. And beside the body, lion`s anatomy is entire arsenal of weapons that makes it one of deadliest animals in the world. Dense bones are able to support strong leg muscles, but despite the strength and density of some parts, lion`s bones and therefore the body exerts great deal of flexibility. Like all big cats, they are able to move in all directions, and swiftly change it in the time of need. This ability comes from collar bone which is small and free floating. Lion`s spine can twist which gives them acrobatic talent. Their joints also show great deal of flexibility in movements. Because of this, lions can run up to 65 km/h and can jump 6 meters in length. Lion`s skull, as previously said is designed for hunting. Lion`s jaw is impressive set of joints and bones, that can open up to 28 cm, and can exert pressure of 690lbs. With up to 7cm long canines, lion`s mouth is intimidating sight, and is one of the main weapons in the hunt. Strong jaw and long teeth allow lion to kill with a single bite. This huge jaw isn`t proportional to lion`s skull, which indicates that somewhere in evolutionary road, the jaw became bigger and brain smaller. Therefore, what lions and other big cats have in massive jaw, they lack in brain.

Flexibility is of course other name for Lannisters. Whether we talk about suspicious talents of Lan the Clever, or political maneuvers of Tywin Lannister and his children, one thing is certain – their flexibility is what makes them true survivors in Game of thrones. Tywin demonstrated many times how flexible he can be when the stakes are high. During Robert`s rebellion, he stayed put until it became clear who`ll win the war, and then sacked King`s Landing, and presented Robert the bodies of Elia Martell and her children. In the War of 5 Kings, Tywin continued to show great deal of flexibility, in negotiating with Tyrells, Boltons and Freys. This deadly characteristic made of Tywin a formidable enemy. Jaime and Cersei showed different kind of flexibility, by showing Robert pretended loyalty while horning him like the last fool. Tyrion`s negotiation skills and political smartness in dealing with situation in King`s Landing also showed amazing flexibility and ability to create some strange friendships. But Lannisters are not truly flexible, and just like lions they use this only to attack. They can bend, but at the end, they sneak, stalk and ambush. And when they attack, all flexibility is gone, and their viciousness and merciless is demonstrated.

Lion`s vision is superior to ours. They see 6 times better than we do, and as nocturnal hunters, have specialized night vision. The need to see in the dark resulted in big eyes, and lions have proportionally larger eyes than same-size animals. Their binocular vision helps them spot the prey from great distances, but their vision also has one flaw. Due to the lack of some extraocular muscles, lions have limited ability to move eyes from side to side.

Spectacular, but not the perfect vision is the best way to describe Lannister policy. Tywin see everything from far, but is unable to fight multiple enemies at the same time. He showed he`s able to focus on only one enemy, and in War of 5 Kings, it was Robb Stark. Cersei`s stupidity is also connected with her sight. When Joffrey gasped for last breath, Cersei saw Tyrion as a killer, not even thinking to see from side to side, and notice other possible killers. Tyrion`s focus on King`s Landing made him quite oblivious to what`s happening in Essos. Strangely enough, Lannisters showed the same talent lions have. Their eyes can spot the prey from great distances, they sneak and ambush, but all of them seem unable to see much wider picture. Tywin`s killing of Elia and her children will cost House Lannister a lot, and Cersei`s inability to see pass Tyrion had the consequences. The conclusion is that no matter how good they see, and good they are in it, Lannisters are completely blind to some things. And that is what`ll be their utter ruin.

The mysterious and frightening sound – roar, only four cats can produce. The ability to roar divided 4 members from others. Therefore, in exclusive big cats company are welcomed only those that can roar – tigers, jaguars, leopards, and the subjects of our interest – lions. Lion`s roar is the sign of dominance, leadership and power. By roaring, lions mark their territory and send a clear message to other predators that they are not welcome. This impressive sound can be heard up to 5 miles in distance, and is the most powerful sound in nature. The meaning of the roar and lion inner-behavior will be explained in details in Lion behavior essay.

Lannister words `Hear me roar`, are not just vain symbol of power and glory. Positioning themselves as the wealthiest and one of the most powerful families in Westeros, they certainly are force to reckon with. Lannister`s roar are their actions. And if anything, they send a message. From gang-raping Tysha, Elia Martell`s murder and Battle at Blackwater bay to Red wedding, the message is the same - `You do not mess with us`. Lion`s roar in Lannisters became terrifying symbol of power and sinister reputation. This symbolic transformation led to other and for Lannisters far more appropriate line about paying the debts.

There are all sorts of beasts in our world. But, among them, lion has a very peculiar place. This predator doesn`t care for size, he can tackle and kill far bigger prey. The story about fast, vicious, flexible hunters is the story about Lannisters. What lions truly are is wonderfully depicted in Lannisters. From anatomy to behavior, and striking transformation of idealized symbol with exploration of human psychopathology, Lannister lion has been painted masterfully by GRRM.

[WinterKing]

Excellent essay as always. I know that this is from the comportment essay, but I always found interesting that the lioness is the one to hunt and how that relates to Cercei's thinking of herself.

[Strongest Of All Belwas]

Great as always, Mladen!

[Fire Eater]

Excellent job, Mladen. Another thing I would like to add:

restless as the caged lions that had lived in the bowels of Casterly Rock when she was a girl, a legacy of her grandfather's time

The lions were remnants of Lord Tytos's time before Tywin became head of House Lannister, and established their current modus operandi. Animals in ASOIAF have come to represent the honor of the houses who display the animal as their sigil. Aerys II is utterly without honor, 100 years after the last dragon died. When Sansa lies in her testimony at Darry, she loses her direwolf, Lady, and lost her honor. Ghost separated from Jon when he feigned defection, and a rift opens between Grey Wind and Robb after Robb breaks his pact with the Freys.

By saying that the lions were a legacy of her grandfather's time, it is being said that lions are the legacy of a time when the Lannisters had honor.

[King of Winters]

Great post again Mladen. I had no idea that you'd done the Lion Anatomy!

I recently went to the Natural History Museum in London, when some of my relatives went to London to visit something else, and I saw a stuffed male Lion, and it's only then you get to see how big they actually are. I thought to myself "now that's an animal worthy of Tywin Lannister".

[Mladen]

OP NOTIFICATION: Lion psychology essay will be done around August 1st. Also, OP project has been expanded a lot, so I hope in the next week I'll have a clear idea about how things will work out. Also, soon I will present you entire outline for Animal project. I hope you all understand delays... Kind regards...

Mladen

[King of Winters]

OP NOTIFICATION: Lion psychology essay will be done around August 1st. Also, OP project has been expanded a lot, so I hope in the next week I'll have a clear idea about how things will work out. Also, soon I will present you entire outline for Animal project. I hope you all understand delays... Kind regards...

Mladen

As always Mladen, don't worry, take your time and I look forward to reading the Lion psychology essay when it's ready.

Also, nice to see you back :)

[Mladen]

As always Mladen, don't worry, take your time and I look forward to reading the Lion psychology essay when it's ready.

Also, nice to see you back :)

Thanks... I have written a lot, but editing is bitch... It's hard when you have around 20 pages of essay... Also, I have been working on outline for entire Animal project, and that took me time... Keep in touch, my friend :)