Petyr Baelish the Bard(ish) and Other Character Parallels

[Reek Da Villain]

According to legend, Bael the Bard deceived the Lord of Winterfell for the most beautiful flower blooming in his garden; his maiden daughter. Bael was apparently motivated by the Northerners' underestimation of him. His story is so legendary it inspires Mance Rayder to infiltrate Winterfell, much like Bael did, in order to rescue Arya. Did it also inspire another character?

Petyr Baelish is certainly a mysterious character. Five books have been published to date and his endgame/motivation is as unclear to the reader as it was in A Game of Thrones. It seems he has a master plan...but maybe his plan isn't as complex and masterful as we think.

Other than the fact that his last name sounds like a play on words, there are obvious parallels between Petyr and Bael the Bard.

1. Like Bael, Petry's quarrel with House Stark began with a dispute between he and (a) Brandon Stark. Ironically.

2. Like Bael, Petyr has been grievously underestimated.

3. Bael desired Brandon Stark's maiden daughter more than anything/anyone else. Petry's initial obsession was with Catelyn, whom was to marry Brandon, but is now directed toward Sansa; a maiden daughter of House Stark.

4. Both Sansa and the daughter of Lord Brandon were spirited away at a time when House Stark was near extinction, making them the key to their House's restoration.

5. Also in her grief caused by the death of her love(Bael) Lord Brandon's daughter threw herself from the top of a tower---somewhat similar to Ashara Dayne(allegedly). In her grief caused by her misguided love Lysa Arryn was thrown from the Moon Door.

All that is left is for Petyr to impregnate Sansa, rise to power and then be defeated by his own son on the battlefield!

*There are other character parallels in the series, some strong and some weak. Like Daemon Blackfyre and Rhaegar Targaryen, Dunk and Brienne & Robert Baratheon and Harrold Hardyng. What do you guys think? Can you think of others?

[Mikkel]

Petyr Baelish is a petty little man with a creepy obsession with an underage girl. Of course, I make no secret of the fact that I loathe the slimy bugger, so...

But no, I see no reason to think Baelish was inspired by Bael the Bard. He makes no allusions to it that I remember - and I also don't think it's a particularly well-known story south of the Wall, let alone outside the North (Jon doesn't seem to have heard it before, at least not all of it).

[Blutraven]

Petyr Baelish is a petty little man with a creepy obsession with an underage girl. Of course, I make no secret of the fact that I loathe the slimy bugger, so...

But no, I see no reason to think Baelish was inspired by Bael the Bard. He makes no allusions to it that I remember - and I also don't think it's a particularly well-known story south of the Wall, let alone outside the North (Jon doesn't seem to have heard it before, at least not all of it).

I don't think the OP is saying LF is inspired by Bael, he's saying they're story lines will be linked.

I like this theory but I will flip tables if LF gets freaky with Sansa, maybe he'll be defeated by Sweetrobin. In one of Sansa's AFFc chapters he ask's her is she's his mother and she says she probably is and he's LF's step son.

[ladytiger]

Petyr Baelish has always been one of the more mysterious characters of the series; it's really annoying to not know his end game, or at least what some of his plans are since we haven't had a Sansa POV since AFFC.

And yes, I definitely think there is more to the Bael the Bard and Petyr Bael(ish) story and that we'll see it play out in TWoW. I've read on other boards where they think Petyr will eventually go to Winterfell and be killed in a Bael the Bard-fashion.

Now, the more interesting point here is his obsession with Sansa. I definitely think Sansa is going to be his demise, and there's been multiple topics on here about how there's a controversial Sansa chapter early on in TWoW; most fans think it'll either be about killing Sweetrobin or somehow being raped/lured/seduced/ or even consensually having sex with Littlefinger. But we'll see what happens. The wait for TWoW has been agonizing and it think it's because I'm thinking it'll be ASoS on steroids.

[Mikkel]

I don't think the OP is saying LF is inspired by Bael, he's saying they're story lines will be linked.

I like this theory but I will flip tables if LF gets freaky with Sansa, maybe he'll be defeated by Sweetrobin. In one of Sansa's AFFc chapters he ask's her is she's his mother and she says she probably is and he's LF's step son.

Right, I got confused by talk of in-story inspiration (Mance) and the fact that the story itself is from ASoIaF. Which if Bael's story is the inspiration for Petyr's would be GRRM inspiring himself (not a bad thing I suppose).

[Fire Eater]

If we look at it more Bael took a Stark girl and left a rose in her place while Baelish took a Stark girl, Sansa, and left a rose, Margaery Tyrell, in her place. The story ends with Bael being killed by his natural son, and Sansa is posing as LF's natural daughter, so I think she will be the one to kill him.