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Ungoliant-Like Entity: The Heart of Winter that Brandon Stark Witnessed


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I hope the patterns I have noted and described will be incredible for you guys; they were for me even though they are probably incomplete. I have a very important question at the end and it would be great if you guys help out.

The Heart of Winter was said to be beyond the veil/curtain of light. The "Northern Lights" alone can fit into the silky feelings you would often extrapolate from the definition of 'Veil'. However, there is a type of material often used in textiles that should also conjure these words to readers: Silk.

Now, do spiders only use their silk to produced flat webs? The answer is no: in fact most of you should have already witnessed cocoon and dome shaped webs in your life. Below are the pictures of dome shaped spider webs. Note how light is reflected in the second picture.

http://asergeev.com/pictures/k/dome_spider_web.htm

http://www.ozanimals.com/image/albums/australia/Spider/S00340-001.jpg

It was said that the White Walkers have spiders for their mounts. Now - while it is true that the White Walkers are capable of creating complex things out of ice - the ice spiders are probably sentient in some form and are thus too complicated to be created completely by the White Walkers. As far as we can tell, the White Walkers are only capable of enslaving the dead by restoring partial personalities, not creating life and sentience out of thin air. Perhaps their bipedalism is useful in helping to raise and guide the baby-spider spawn of G.R.R.M's 'Ungoliant', and that is why these bipedal White Walkers exist as separate species.

And witnessing the powerful, metaphysical 'Ungolian' would make the most sense when it comes to the reaction of Brandon Stark. I do not see what is so scary about witnessing more White Walkers. What would be most terrifying and most encouraging of despair would be witnessing a gigantic 'city' in the dark, ultimate VOID; VOID that is ever expanding along with the Unlight 'Cloak' of 'Ungoliant'. Within the Dome of Void are scary sacrifices, more White Walkers, and the army of spiders being spawned by said 'Ungoliant'. Brandon Stark's reaction also makes sense symbollically: the tears (from both of his eyes?) were burning. The burning represents the effects of poison and the tears represent liquid (and thus Water).

Spiders do deliver liquid poison through their two fangs.

http://media.education.nationalgeographic.com:8080/assets/photos/000/278/27810.jpg

Finally there is a Song that coincidentally start my thoughts in all of these things, which makes me suspect the Band itself and that it wasn't a coincidence at all.

There is one part in the lyric that is most unusual: 'in the darkest night, rising like a spire......'. The problem is, I used to thought that the word was 'Spider' and I wasn't the only one.

'In the darkest night, rising like a spider'-------> The temporary yet awe inspiring triumph of 'Ungoliant' before 'a hope of spring'.

'In the burning heart...'------->Passion of the people who needs to survive (the Survivors in GRRM's wold), but could also mean the poisonous effect of the Spider.

'the unmistakable fire'------> The darkness was not normal: the UNLIGHT that Ungoliant-in-the-Tolkien-Universe produced was a material of its own; in fact, it was probably a very corrupt form of light/fire. Both ice and fire need each other to express and participate themselves physically in ASOIAF: the effects of fire won't last unless it is 'frozen' in stones/etc.; the White Walkers cannot get anything done unless they are warlike-active (fiery). Heck, the White Walkers themselves are described as frozen shadow. The 'Unlight' of 'Ungoliant' is unmistakably (most corrupt) fire.

The freedom of all living things is against the ropes indeed. Although 'Ungoliant' may have icy cold underlings, it is her 'unquenchable thirst' towards the Long Night that humans must defeat.

 

The song 'Burning Heart' was released by the band - Survivor - during 1985, only a few years off from the first release of GRRM's ASOIAF (1991?). Were there any well documented connections between the two? If there were, that would be epic (SNEAKY EPIC).

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As someone who does not like spiders, especially giant ones, I must say I hope this is not the case. And I'd rather see The George come out with something more original.

However, I must agree that it would in fact be epic.

I've been saying that whatever Bran saw in the HoW must be pretty bad to frighten the kid whose favorite stories are the scary ones.

I've also suggested that whatever is in the HoW might only be stopped by flying a dragon into it. The ultimate icy spidery thing vs the fire-made-flesh dragon would certainly be an interesting fight. 

You should look into maybe finding a tie to the blood betrayal by the Bloodstone Emperor. I don't know, his dethroned sister having been tied up fly-style for dinner but somehow charming the monster and becoming the spider queen/Night's Queen.

Also, how does Varys fit in with his nickname?

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@ Isobel Harper:  Ungoliant is a giant spider from JRR Tolkien's mythology. If you saw the Lord of the Rings (Return of the King), then you saw one of the descendants of Ungoliant, named Shelob. Shelob is the giant spider that attacks Frodo and is in turn attacked by Sam.  The giant spiders were evil and greedy, sucking not just life from victims, but the very light out the the world around themselves.

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40 minutes ago, HighAndMightyBrightness said:

You must not blame me USD! I just want to know what it feels like to wear a tinfoil like a ninja. :ph34r:

I understand why you are making a connection to Ungoliant of Tolkien fame given the references to 'spiders' and their web (i.e. Varys) and ice spiders of legend.   What Bran saw in the heart of winter is a question that  runs through everyone's mind and I haven't read anything that gives a picture of what he might have seen other than some terrifying vision of the future (Black Crow) and a frozen khalasar (Voice).

I would wager that anyone familiar with LotR would have conjured up images of Ungoliant and ice spiders at some point as well.  Personally, I don't translate Ungoliant of one tale into the other; but perhaps something of what Ungoliant represents is more germane to the topic.

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Ungoliant is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, described as an evil spirit in the form of a spider. She is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings, and plays a supporting role in The Silmarillion. Her origins are unclear, as Tolkien's writings do not explicitly reveal her nature, other than that she is from "before the world". She is one of a few instances, along with Tom Bombadil and the Cats of Queen Berúthiel, where Tolkien does not provide a clear background for an element of his fiction

Ungoliant means "dark spider" in Tolkien's invented language of Sindarin. It is a loan word from Quenya: Ungwë liantë. She is also known as Gloomweaver (Sindarin: Gwerlum, Quenya: Wirilomë).

Tolkien's original writings say that Ungoliant was a primeval spirit of night, named Móru,[1] who aided Melkor in his attack upon the Two Trees of Valinor, draining them of their sap after Melkor had injured them. She also consumed the reserves of light from the wells of Varda. Afterward the light of the trees persisted only within the Silmarils of Fëanor. Ungoliant helped Melkor evade the Valar by shrouding them both in the impenetrable darkness produced by herself.[2]

Melkor had promised Ungoliant to yield anything she wished in return for her aid, but betrayed this promise by withholding the Silmarils, and summoned the Balrogs to repel her.[3] Ungoliant fled to the Ered Gorgoroth in Beleriand. At some point she gave birth to Giant Spiders, including the character Shelob in The Lord of the Rings. In The Silmarillion, it is stated that when she went into hiding her hunger was such that she would mate with other spiders only to devour them later, with her offspring used as food once fully grown. According to The Silmarillion, Ungoliant's unremitting hunger drove her to devour herself, although an alternative sketch of Eärendil's voyage suggests that he slew her in the south.

Ungoliant (Ungoliath), a primeval spirit of the night, producing impenetrable darkness; weaving gloom, consuming light, her offspring and then herself.    So perhaps inspiration in part for Martin's heart of darkness.

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her hunger was such that she would mate with other spiders only to devour them later, with her offspring used as food once fully grown.

This description reminds me so much of the weirwood itself; with the greenseers (and non-greenseers alike?) wed to the tree; essentially encased and pierced by it's root system; slowly feeding off the living.  Not unlike a giant underground web system.

As for the Others riding ice spiders as big as hounds; I imagine the Others literally riding the undead wights scrabbling on all fours like grotesque beasts of burden and eventually scrambling up the Wall like spiders.

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