Isobel Harper

There are a couple of Anya's in the book, as well as some Joannas and a Hanna in the books, with Ann is short for.

Could there be a connection to Abel or Bael?

ALaYNE + SANsa = ALYSANNE is the thought. Again, a combo of two name "classes." Other thoughts on the etymology of Alysanne is its resemblance to Eleanor/names in series similar to Eleanor. the Ali- stems from Latin (ref: "alium" in "et al.") It means "other" (Elinor of Aquitaine was named after her mother, whose name same the same, except the Eli- part. Spelling was not as set in stone then and dialectal spellings were more common long ago, hence Eli- and Ali- being the same prefix.) Any Eli-/Ali-/Aly- name could be considered an "other" name class. Alysanne, Alicent, Elia, any Alys... maybe Elaenas too? "Elaenas" would depend, I think. There's also a Helen name class - similar to the female "Dan" name class, women who are dis-empowered and repressed.

It's an old forum thought that Alysanne is sort of a reworking of Sansa + Alayne. Whether or not that's intentional on the author's part, GRRM certainly does work with certain name themes. For example, "Dan" names tend to be strong assertive women that push gender norms and boundaries: Danny Flint, Danelle Lothston, Daena "the Defiant" Targaryen, and of course Daenerys.

Welcome back! I'll offer up a more "meta" answer. With the geneologies such as this one, George is setting up a pattern of distant female lines within the Targaryen family. Baela Targaryen's line descends into House Velaryon, Rhaena Targaryen's line (all daughters) descends into House Hightower. Elaena's line descends into several other noble houses, one (House Longwaters) becoming it own new house. Even the Blackfyre's are descended via the maternal line; Daemon Blackfyre's mother was Daena the Defiant. One thing GRRM is setting up as well is the theme of dispossessed women. Many of these women were also heirs who were passed over in succession. Daena Targaryen, for example, was passed over with the reasons being both her sex and her behaving with "lack of propriety" according to her sex. That is, bearing a child out of wedlock, having a stubborn and outspoken disposition instead of a submissive and quiet one.

Wordsmith! Remember Septa Mordane's comments on Arya's hands? "Sansa has beautiful hands and can sew well, but Arya has the hands of a blacksmith." Truly, sewing and smithing are similar skills, just bifurcated into feminine and masculine in a gender binary society: Shaping the world, making art, improving things. Sewing also has the association with diplomacy, in a sense "smithing" with words. Forming alliances and trade, healing others, offering friendship. Also, one may regard the triple gods and triple goddess as parallel deities, just assigned (and limited to) the gender binary. Think of the Crone and the Smith as parallel. The Crone is the storyteller, the myth maker, shaping the society through legend. The Smith is similar, just more literal.

You can see other feminist archetypes under other name themes. These women will share a mix and match of some of these qualifiers. Helen : Laena Velaryon, Helaena Targaryen, Ellyn Tarbeck, Layna the innkeeper's daughter, Alayne Stone (ref: Sansa's right to Harrenhal/Sansa being accused of witchcraft). Dan/Daen : Daenerys, Daena the Defiant, Danny Flint, Danelle Lothston. Some women will also stand out on their own; Rohanne Webber, for instance. She's a strong minded woman who holds a seat of power. Like Lilith, she is accused of witchcraft and sacrificing of children. There's also the LITERAL accumulation of something associated with the feminine in alchemy: water. She dams all the water in the area for herself and her people.

This wordplay stems from "reine," the French word for queen. Feminist themes and symbolism pop up amongst characters involved in the wordplay: Women in power and in particular (this being a patriarchal society) them being dispossessed, especially in favor of a man. Sometimes their "overthrowing" is literal. Women falling from towers, out of the sky. Gold and silver image-play, gold and silver being traditionally associated with the sun and moon/the masculine and the feminine. (Gold and silver in the story also symbolize fire and ice/water as well, which are masculine and feminine dichotomies on the alchemical Star of David.) Lilith imagery, sometimes involving "barrenness" in some way, usually by their children being murdered; sometimes involving accusations of sacrifice of children and/or witchcraft. Examples: Rhaenyra Targaryen : Her struggle against her younger brother and patriarchal norms for the throne. Most of her children perish during the Dance. The stillbirth of her daughter caused some accusations of witchcraft. Rhaena Targaryen : Born first, but she and her daughters were passed over in favor of her younger brother, Jaehaerys. Given Harrenhal in her later years, where she suffered from loneliness and depression. (Notice the "barren" imagery in the latter with regard to Harrenhal/friendlessness/childlessness. Rhaenys Targaryen (Aegon I's wife) : Sometimes sat on the throne during court, as did her sister, in place of Aegon. She and Meraxes died over Hellholt; Meraxes was gold and silver. There's also symbolism to be gathered from WHERE they died - in Dorne, where men and women have equal rights. Rhaenys Targaryen (Rhaegar & Elia's daughter) : I think something can be gathered by the fact that her mother is from Dorne and that she was first born. It's something I have mentally bookmarked and hope to hear more about in Winds. (I think it might involve Rhaenys being named heir, but we'll see...) Reynes of Castamere: Essentially, a conflict between Ellyn Tarbeck and Tywin Lannister for power. Note the Lannister and Reyne sigils, where there is gold and silver image-play. The Lannister sigil is a gold lion on a red field, the Reyne sigil is a red lion on a silver field. That is, the sigils are inversions of one another and the gold and silver interchanged.

What is the origin of the term skin changer? Is it common in fantasy, or is it something GRRM created?

Raymund Frey is listed as the son of Amerei Crakehall in the wiki, but Lothar Frey (son of Alyssa Blackwood) mentions to Catelyn that they shared a mother. I don't have a book handy, so I can't look up the appendix. Which is correct? For your reference:

Per primogeniture that doesn't favor either sex, Sansa has the closest proximity to claim in Minisa Whent's line, Catelyn being her oldest child and Sansa being Catelyn's oldest surviving child.

House Whent had its rights to Harrenhal stripped for supporting Robb via House Lannister who in turn gave those rights to Littlefinger. Sansa's mother's mother was Minisa Whent, which (via matrilineage) makes Sansa a rival for LF's seat. Definitely gonna be a lot of Harrenhal in her future.

Given Stannis had no/little coin per Saan, why did Myrish sellswords fight for Stannis in Clash?

"Gold" and "silver" are commonly used, traditionally and in-story, to represent solar and lunar, masculine and feminine respectively. Jaime and Cersei, when thinking of the other, think of each other as "gold like the sun." Bronsterys (I don't know his forum name, otherwise I'd tag him!) recently came out with an essay covering white and black themes: https://redmiceatplay.wordpress.com/2020/04/12/white-and-black-the-archetypal-duel/ Archmaester Aemma (whose essays are also on that page) wrote an essay (or a few?) regarding red, green, and blue colors, but I'm not sure she's published it; I can't seem to find it on there.

*nods* I'd say Mystery Knight, The Sons of the Dragon, and Fire and Blood (as well as others I might be missing?), which all have been published after ADwD, have kept GRRM quite busy as well. In addition to having taken more of GRRM's time, they've potentially affected certain plots, subplots, and/or histories pertaining to the current series, which would affect the writing process.