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Barbrey's Busted Barrow and Brandon's Bloody Blade


hiemal

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2 minutes ago, hiemal said:

I wonder what the axes in the Dustin sigil signify?

And the long axes are crossed which means sacrifice and the crossing of the axes means barring someone entrance or in heraldry, a bar sinister. 

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10 hours ago, Seams said:

Ah, very interesting. I wonder whether the horse is a sort of alternate throne, used by a "rightful king" in the presence of a usurper? That adds a whole new complication. Ned rides while Jaime sits on the throne (Jaime later fights him and Ned's horse falls on him, breaking his leg); Tywin rides up to Joffrey seated on the throne; Bran rides into the feast in place of Robb who is off waging war.

Or the indoors-horse could be the seat of the King of the Underworld. There are a lot of details around Tywin that make me think he is undead, and Ned and Bran would be Kings of Winter. In the Celtic legends, though, I think it's a woman on a grey horse who leads souls to the Underworld. I can't think why the indoor horse would be ridden by a king figure.

They are Hands of the King. And two of those three examples are dead hands. And Ned and Tywin were both killed by AA symbolic people. Poor Ned had it the worse since it involved three AA people; Joffrey, Little Finger, and Ilyn Payne.

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22 minutes ago, Pain killer Jane said:

And ash and iron wife, a weirwood.

 

20 minutes ago, Pain killer Jane said:

And the long axes are crossed which means sacrifice and the crossing of the axes means barring someone entrance or in heraldry, a bar sinister. 

Like the doors to the House of Black and White?

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Just now, hiemal said:

 

Like the doors to the House of Black and White?

I definitely think so. 

And the axes are connected to greenseers. The Ironborn and their axes and the skingchanging. The naked woman hanging above the gates of the Mormont home holding a baby and an axe, and the Mormont women are said to be skinchangers of bears. And Areo Hotah comes from Norvos where they are known for ringing bells and dancing bears.  

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On 6/12/2017 at 8:22 PM, hiemal said:

"Common peasant girls bled like pigs upon their wedding nights, she had heard, but that was less true of highborn maids like Margaery Tyrell. A lord's daughter was more like to give her maidenhead to a horse than a husband, it was said, and Margaery had been riding since she was old enough to walk."... AFfC

If we're still listing significant "mounts" ridden by major characters, maybe this is the place to start figuring out Pretty Pig and Crunch.

This quote from the original post reminded me that pigs were the witnesses at Tyrion's wedding to Tysha. And Tysha would be the type of girl who would bleed like a pig, if the statement were true.

When Penny "knights" Tyrion, his horse is actually a pig.

(For what it's worth, the word "pretty" is often associated with Sansa, but I suspect that the odd spelling of Lord Baelish's first name, Petyr, is intended as wordplay on "pretty" I just don't know why.)

I've always assumed that Penny is a twisted mummer version of Cersei but maybe she is a mummer version of Sansa at the same time. There are a lot of allusions to Odysseus in Tyrion's voyage chapters, and the ancient Greek hero was a lover of both Circe and his wife, Penelope. If Tyrion is supposed to echo Jaime in some way, having a character who echoes both Tyrion's sister and his wife would make perfect sense. (In the Greek legend, Circe turns the crew of Odysseus into pigs, by the way.)

Riding a dog as a horse sounds like a reference to Sansa and her close relationship to The Hound and/or her direwolf. The name Crunch, in this context, implies biting down on something, I believe. There is an early breakfast scene where the visiting Lannisters are lamenting the injury that has befallen Bran Stark, and Tyrion crunches some bacon. So Crunch and Pretty Pig are both present, but the dog seems to get the better of the pig by "crunching" it.

If we're going to understand horses, I think we're also going to have to understand stableboys. Aegon the Unlikely is mistaken for a stableboy by Dunk on their first meeting, and Arya's first kill is a stableboy. A stableboy gives Sansa lewd looks when she has started outgrowing her dresses. Hodor is a stableboy and the catspaw who we believe tried to kill Bran was living in the stables.

Tyrion and Penny live with Pretty Pig and Crunch in the same cabin on the ship, and end up sliding around in the animal filth quite a bit. I don't know if they qualify as stableboys as a result.

Maybe this needs a whole separate thread. I just thought it might fit in the context of sorting out the "horses" of the major characters.

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1 hour ago, hiemal said:

 

Like the doors to the House of Black and White?

 

1 hour ago, Pain killer Jane said:

I definitely think so. 

And the axes are connected to greenseers. The Ironborn and their axes and the skingchanging. The naked woman hanging above the gates of the Mormont home holding a baby and an axe, and the Mormont women are said to be skinchangers of bears. And Areo Hotah comes from Norvos where they are known for ringing bells and dancing bears.  

One more thing to consider is that axes were one of the first symbols used by the Andals, second only to the seven pointed star. Northern Essos where Norvos, Braavos and even Pentos are were at one time all ruled by the Andals before they left to invade Westeros.

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26 minutes ago, Lord Wraith said:

 

One more thing to consider is that axes were one of the first symbols used by the Andals, second only to the seven pointed star. Northern Essos where Norvos, Braavos and even Pentos are were at one time all ruled by the Andals before they left to invade Westeros.

Hmm....that gives evidence that the Andels may have wielded magic at one point like Valyrians, First Men, and CotF. 

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10 hours ago, Seams said:

If we're still listing significant "mounts" ridden by major characters, maybe this is the place to start figuring out Pretty Pig and Crunch.

This quote from the original post reminded me that pigs were the witnesses at Tyrion's wedding to Tysha. And Tysha would be the type of girl who would bleed like a pig, if the statement were true.

When Penny "knights" Tyrion, his horse is actually a pig.

(For what it's worth, the word "pretty" is often associated with Sansa, but I suspect that the odd spelling of Lord Baelish's first name, Petyr, is intended as wordplay on "pretty" I just don't know why.)

I've always assumed that Penny is a twisted mummer version of Cersei but maybe she is a mummer version of Sansa at the same time. There are a lot of allusions to Odysseus in Tyrion's voyage chapters, and the ancient Greek hero was a lover of both Circe and his wife, Penelope. If Tyrion is supposed to echo Jaime in some way, having a character who echoes both Tyrion's sister and his wife would make perfect sense. (In the Greek legend, Circe turns the crew of Odysseus into pigs, by the way.)

Riding a dog as a horse sounds like a reference to Sansa and her close relationship to The Hound and/or her direwolf. The name Crunch, in this context, implies biting down on something, I believe. There is an early breakfast scene where the visiting Lannisters are lamenting the injury that has befallen Bran Stark, and Tyrion crunches some bacon. So Crunch and Pretty Pig are both present, but the dog seems to get the better of the pig by "crunching" it.

If we're going to understand horses, I think we're also going to have to understand stableboys. Aegon the Unlikely is mistaken for a stableboy by Dunk on their first meeting, and Arya's first kill is a stableboy. A stableboy gives Sansa lewd looks when she has started outgrowing her dresses. Hodor is a stableboy and the catspaw who we believe tried to kill Bran was living in the stables.

Tyrion and Penny live with Pretty Pig and Crunch in the same cabin on the ship, and end up sliding around in the animal filth quite a bit. I don't know if they qualify as stableboys as a result.

Tyrion rides a pig, and it's easy to believe his spirit is consumed by the idea of rebellion. Penny rides a dog, therefore might qualify for the Hound's assessment: 1) a dog will die for you but never lie to you, and 2) a dog can smell out a lie. We'll see.

Dany has three mounts to ride. ??

Doran and Cersei choose to ride on wheels, at times (the chair, the wheelhouse). Lord Manderley is widely believed to be 'too-fat-to-sit-a-horse'. I guess their spirit cannot be seen as an external manifestation.

10 hours ago, Seams said:

Maybe this needs a whole separate thread. I just thought it might fit in the context of sorting out the "horses" of the major characters.

A whole heap of threads, I should think! :D

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12 hours ago, Pain killer Jane said:

And the axes are connected to greenseers

Agreed.  The crossed axes and crown of the Dustin sigil is also strikingly reminiscent of the crossed keys and crown in the coat of arms of the Holy Roman See, conferring on the Pope the 'binding and loosing' power of heaven on earth.  Once again, a pun on green 'see' with 'sea'!  Bran compares the sensation of having his third eye opened to an axe-splitting headache.  Therefore, the axe is symbolically a key to open the third eye; analogously, the 'ash and iron wife' = the weirwood to which the greenseer is wedded which allows him to unlock and unleash godly powers.  Another example of the symbolism is Arya throwing the axe into the burning wooden carriage (symbolic of a weirwood), facilitating the escape of the prisoners, representing the theft of the 'fire of the gods', the lives of which she cheated 'the many-faced god.'

Regarding 'the inside horse,' I also see that as a psychopomp, specifically a weirwood throne -- an iteration of the Sleipnir-Yggdrasil myth.  At one point when Bran is despairing at being crippled, Robb reassures him that they will find the right horse for him, by which GRRM does not mean an actual horse, but all the skinchanging 'mounts' Bran is destined to 'ride' -- including Summer, Hodor, the weirwood...and you know my further (admittedly 'tinfoilish') speculations by now!  Similarly, @Seams mentioned someone may have returned to the north on the Dustin red horse, using magic perhaps.  Given that Lyanna was described as a centaur, hinting she may have been a horse skinchanger, perhaps at her death her spirit entered the horse!  Alternatively, and more prosaically, perhaps that horse was the one who carried Lyanna's bones back home, further linking the horse to the weirwood.  The fiery red mane of the horse is analogous to the fiery red canopy of leaves, the red color undoubtedly evoking the 'kissed by fire' and blood sacrifice symbolism we've encountered consistently throughout.  Lyanna 'spattered with gore' in Theon's vision -- same thing.

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18 hours ago, Seams said:

If we're still listing significant "mounts" ridden by major characters, maybe this is the place to start figuring out Pretty Pig and Crunch.

This quote from the original post reminded me that pigs were the witnesses at Tyrion's wedding to Tysha. And Tysha would be the type of girl who would bleed like a pig, if the statement were true.

When Penny "knights" Tyrion, his horse is actually a pig.

(For what it's worth, the word "pretty" is often associated with Sansa, but I suspect that the odd spelling of Lord Baelish's first name, Petyr, is intended as wordplay on "pretty" I just don't know why.)

I've always assumed that Penny is a twisted mummer version of Cersei but maybe she is a mummer version of Sansa at the same time. There are a lot of allusions to Odysseus in Tyrion's voyage chapters, and the ancient Greek hero was a lover of both Circe and his wife, Penelope. If Tyrion is supposed to echo Jaime in some way, having a character who echoes both Tyrion's sister and his wife would make perfect sense. (In the Greek legend, Circe turns the crew of Odysseus into pigs, by the way.)

Riding a dog as a horse sounds like a reference to Sansa and her close relationship to The Hound and/or her direwolf. The name Crunch, in this context, implies biting down on something, I believe. There is an early breakfast scene where the visiting Lannisters are lamenting the injury that has befallen Bran Stark, and Tyrion crunches some bacon. So Crunch and Pretty Pig are both present, but the dog seems to get the better of the pig by "crunching" it.

If we're going to understand horses, I think we're also going to have to understand stableboys. Aegon the Unlikely is mistaken for a stableboy by Dunk on their first meeting, and Arya's first kill is a stableboy. A stableboy gives Sansa lewd looks when she has started outgrowing her dresses. Hodor is a stableboy and the catspaw who we believe tried to kill Bran was living in the stables.

Tyrion and Penny live with Pretty Pig and Crunch in the same cabin on the ship, and end up sliding around in the animal filth quite a bit. I don't know if they qualify as stableboys as a result.

Maybe this needs a whole separate thread. I just thought it might fit in the context of sorting out the "horses" of the major characters.

Tyrion and Pretty Pig! As you point out, with a sister like Cesei/Circe I suppose its inevitable.

Varamyr's bear was a more perilous seat even than the Iron Throne.

I wish we knew what Lord Dustin's stallion's name was.

 

 

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On 6/15/2017 at 7:29 AM, ravenous reader said:

The crossed axes and crown of the Dustin sigil is also strikingly reminiscent of the crossed keys and crown in the coat of arms of the Holy Roman See, conferring on the Pope the 'binding and loosing' power of heaven on earth.  Once again, a pun on green 'see' with 'sea'!  Bran compares the sensation of having his third eye opened to an axe-splitting headache.  Therefore, the axe is symbolically a key to open the third eye; analogously, the 'ash and iron wife' = the weirwood to which the greenseer is wedded which allows him to unlock and unleash godly powers.  Another example of the symbolism is Arya throwing the axe into the burning wooden carriage (symbolic of a weirwood), facilitating the escape of the prisoners, representing the theft of the 'fire of the gods', the lives of which she cheated 'the many-faced god.'

I never thought of it like that but yes you are right. Take a look at this. 

Quote

The dragons, Prince Quentyn thought. Yes. We came for the dragons. He felt as though he might be sick. What am I doing here? Father, why? Four men dead in as many heartbeats, and for what? "Fire and blood," he whispered, "blood and fire." The blood was pooling at his feet, soaking into the brick floor. The fire was beyond those doors. "The chains … we have no key …"

Arch said, "I have the key." He swung his warhammer hard and fast. Sparks flew when the hammmerhead struck the lock. And then again, again, again. On his fifth swing the lock shattered, and the chains fell away in a rattling clatter so loud Quentyn was certain half the pyramid must have heard them. "Bring the cart." The dragons would be more docile once fed. Let them gorge themselves on charred mutton.

Archibald Yronwood grasped the iron doors and pulled them apart. Their rusted hinges let out a pair of screams, for all those who might have slept through the breaking of the lock. A wash of sudden heat assaulted them, heavy with the odors of ash, brimstone, and burnt meat.

-The Dragontamer, aDwD

Here we have another couple of symbols of greenseers. The hammer used as the key, rusty hinges, Archibald Yronwood (whose full name is used because Martin wants us to pay attention.)

And something else, since we are talking about keys and burrow. We have the 23 keyholders of the Iron Bank and their underground vaults. And I believe that their dressing in brown and grey associates them with begging brothers and the beggar king and maesters being people holding keys to the fire of the gods. 

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6 hours ago, Pain killer Jane said:

I never thought of it like that but yes you are right. Take a look at this. 

Quote

The dragons, Prince Quentyn thought. Yes. We came for the dragons. He felt as though he might be sick. What am I doing here? Father, why? Four men dead in as many heartbeats, and for what? "Fire and blood," he whispered, "blood and fire." The blood was pooling at his feet, soaking into the brick floor. The fire was beyond those doors. "The chains … we have no key …"

Arch said, "I have the key." He swung his warhammer hard and fast. Sparks flew when the hammmerhead struck the lock. And then again, again, again. On his fifth swing the lock shattered, and the chains fell away in a rattling clatter so loud Quentyn was certain half the pyramid must have heard them. "Bring the cart." The dragons would be more docile once fed. Let them gorge themselves on charred mutton.

Archibald Yronwood grasped the iron doors and pulled them apart. Their rusted hinges let out a pair of screams, for all those who might have slept through the breaking of the lock. A wash of sudden heat assaulted them, heavy with the odors of ash, brimstone, and burnt meat.

-The Dragontamer, aDwD

Here we have another couple of symbols of greenseers. The hammer used as the key, rusty hinges, Archibald Yronwood (whose full name is used because Martin wants us to pay attention.)

And something else, since we are talking about keys and burrow. We have the 23 keyholders of the Iron Bank and their underground vaults. And I believe that their dressing in brown and grey associates them with begging brothers and the beggar king and maesters being people holding keys to the fire of the gods

That's a great example and I agree with the greenseer associations.  @The Fattest Leech just mentioned on our new Bran's growing powers reread thread that the pyramids in Meereen might have some correlations to Bloodraven's cave  (hope you will tell us more over there soon, Leech!)  

Given the greenseer associations, the fact that the dragons are housed in a pyramid seems significant symbolically, considering that a pyramid -- besides following @Wizz-The-Smith's 'hollow hills' paradigm --may be associated with the 'Eye of Providence,' or the 'All-seeing Eye of God,' as on the US dollar bill, among others.  This eye mounted like a telescope on the pinnacle of the otherwise windowless tower of the pyramid functions like a keyhole, according to my 'third-eye' analogy.  

Quentyn the would-be dragontamer, by breaking his way into the pyramid with a hammer is showing us someone 'breaking into the weirnet' by force -- 'the hammer' alluding to 'the hammer of the waters', perhaps -- and forfeiting his life in the process.  If the pyramid represents 'Nissa Nissa,' then the keyhole would additionally represent what I've termed rather indecorously 'the front door', i.e. vagina, so forcing ones way in, to the protest of the 'screaming hinges' (reminiscent of Euron's similar violations) is akin to a rape.  In summary, both the Azor Ahai figure and Nissa Nissa are sacrificed in the process, catalyzed with much 'fire and blood'!  

Given that the dragons lie 'coiled in the stygian darkness', or rather in themselves represent a 'coiled stygian darkness' (It was black beyond the doors, a sullen stygian darkness that seemed alive and threatening, hungry. Quentyn could sense that there was something in that darkness, coiled and waiting); perhaps they represent the weirwoods (their roots similarly described as 'coiling' in Bloodraven's cavern); the curious adjective 'stygian' evoking the river Styx of the underworld, which is a mirror for the cold, black underground 'sunless sea' in Bloodraven's cavern.  Barging through the forbidden iron doors of the pyramid thus constitutes crossing the boundary between life and death.  Alternatively, perhaps the two dragons represent the two greenseers, Bloodraven (the elder white dragon) and Bran (the green dragon no one sees coming), making the others forcing their way in competing greenseers perhaps, or someone who hopes to steal greenseer powers = 'steal the fire of the [old] gods'.

ETA:  Ironically, the door in question shows signs of something trying to get out rather than in, yet another sign of the 'fell presence imprisoned in the weirwood' (or 'minotaur in the labyrinth') motif we've noted elsewhere (P.S. Do the errant dragons eventually leave via the 'front' or 'back' doors...do you recall?!):

Quote

A Dance with Dragons - The Dragontamer

Beyond the stables, the ground level of the Great Pyramid became a labyrinth, but Quentyn Martell had been through here with the queen, and he remembered the way. Under three huge brick arches they went, then down a steep stone ramp into the depths, through the dungeons and torture chambers and past a pair of deep stone cisterns. Their footsteps echoed hollowly off the walls, the butcher's cart rumbling behind them. The big man snatched a torch down from a wall sconce to lead the way.

At last a pair of heavy iron doors rose before them, rust-eaten and forbidding, closed with a length of chain whose every link was as thick around as a man's arm. The size and thickness of those doors was enough to make Quentyn Martell question the wisdom of this course. Even worse, both doors were plainly dinted by something inside trying to get out. The thick iron was cracked and splitting in three places, and the upper corner of the left-hand door looked partly melted.

Regarding the '23 keyholders' of the Iron Bank, do you think the number '23' might be symbolically significant?  I found this list of quirky references to the number 23, of which you might find #12 and #16 particularly interesting.

Talking of 'keys and burrows,' I have another example for you, involving our underworld gatekeeper, Barbrey Dustin herself!  Actually, I can't decide whether she's more of a legitimate gatekeeper or unwelcome intruder into the 'stygian darkness' of the Stark domain, analogous to Quentyn.  Fittingly, in her black sable coat, she resembles one of the Mustelidae, including a number of furtive predator weasel-like creatures who are known to frequent both burrows and trees, with obvious greenseer associations.  She is one of the few characters who wears a full- rather than merely trimmed- sable coat (she's even described as 'feral' with sharp features, almost licking her lips)...IIRC, the other characters are Waymar Royce, Euron Greyjoy who stripped it off Blacktyde, Joffrey, and Ramsay Bolton -- strangely enough, all usurpers of one kind or another.  

So perhaps we can interpret Lady Dustin seeking to enter the Winterfell crypt in terms of an attempt to usurp Stark power, which is suggested by her discussion with Theon in which they both confess rather jealously to wanting to be Starks.  She uses Theon to open the secret entrance to the crypt, so perhaps Theon is the 'axe', 'hammer,' or 'key' equivalent here -- ironically, considering he has barely any 'sharp' appendages left...  

Besides Theon as figurative axe, predictably there is also a literal axe in play employed to deliver the final blow -- and would you know it, some 'screaming hinges', and specially for you my friend, some serpentine steps (associated with number 23...) too!  ;)

Quote

ADWD -- The Turncloak

Lady Dustin wore black, as ever, though her sleeves were lined with vair. Her gown had a high stiff collar that framed her face. "You know this castle."

"Once."

"Somewhere beneath us are the crypts where the old Stark kings sit in darkness. My men have not been able to find the way down into them. They have been through all the undercrofts and cellars, even the dungeons, but ..."

"The crypts cannot be accessed from the dungeons, my lady."

"Can you show me the way down?"

"There's nothing down there but - "

" - dead Starks? Aye. And all my favorite Starks are dead, as it happens. Do you know the way or not?"

"I do." He did not like the crypts, had never liked the crypts, but he was no stranger to them.

"Show me. Serjeant, fetch a lantern."

"My lady will want a warm cloak," cautioned Theon. "We will need to go outside."

The snow was coming down heavier than ever when they left the hall, with Lady Dustin wrapped in sable. Huddled in their hooded cloaks, the guards outside were almost indistinguishable from the snowmen. Only their breath fogging the air gave proof that they still lived. Fires burned along the battlements, a vain attempt to drive the gloom away. Their small party found themselves slogging through a smooth, unbroken expanse of white that came halfway up their calves. The tents in the yard were half-buried, sagging under the weight of the accumulation.

The entrance to the crypts was in the oldest section of the castle, near the foot of the First Keep, which had sat unused for hundreds of years. Ramsay had put it to the torch when he sacked Winterfell, and much of what had not burned had collapsed. Only a shell remained, one side open to the elements and filling up with snow. Rubble was strewn all about it: great chunks of shattered masonry, burned beams, broken gargoyles. The falling snow had covered almost all of it, but part of one gargoyle still poked above the drift, its grotesque face snarling sightless at the sky. This is where they found Bran when he fell. Theon had been out hunting that day, riding with Lord Eddard and King Robert, with no hint of the dire news that awaited them back at the castle. He remembered Robb's face when they told him. No one had expected the broken boy to live. The gods could not kill Bran, no more than I could. It was a strange thought, and stranger still to remember that Bran might still be alive.

"There." Theon pointed to where a snowbank had crept up the wall of the keep. "Under there. Watch for broken stones."

It took Lady Dustin's men the better part of half an hour to uncover the entrance, shoveling through the snow and shifting rubble. When they did, the door was frozen shut. Her serjeant had to go find an axe before he could pull it open, hinges screaming, to reveal stone steps spiraling down into darkness.

"It is a long way down, my lady," Theon cautioned.

Lady Dustin was undeterred. "Beron, the light."

The way was narrow and steep, the steps worn in the center by centuries of feet. They went single file - the serjeant with the lantern, then Theon and Lady Dustin, her other man behind them. He had always thought of the crypts as cold, and so they seemed in summer, but now as they descended the air grew warmer. Not warm, never warm, but warmer than above. Down there below the earth, it would seem, the chill was constant, unchanging.

"The bride weeps," Lady Dustin said, as they made their way down, step by careful step. "Our little Lady Arya."

Take care now. Take care, take care. He put one hand on the wall. The shifting torchlight made the steps seem to move beneath his feet.

"As ... as you say, m'lady."

"Roose is not pleased. Tell your bastard that."

He is not my bastard, he wanted to say, but another voice inside him said, He is, he is. Reek belongs to Ramsay, and Ramsay belongs to Reek. You must not forget your name.

"Dressing her in grey and white serves no good if the girl is left to sob. The Freys may not care, but the northmen ... they fear the Dreadfort, but they love the Starks."

"Not you," said Theon. "Not me," the Lady of Barrowton confessed, "but the rest, yes. Old Whoresbane is only here because the Freys hold the Greatjon captive. And do you imagine the Hornwood men have forgotten the Bastard's last marriage, and how his lady wife was left to starve, chewing her own fingers? What do you think passes through their heads when they hear the new bride weeping? Valiant Ned's precious little girl."

No, he thought. She is not of Lord Eddard' s blood, her name is Jeyne, she is only a steward' s daughter. He did not doubt that Lady Dustin suspected, but even so ...

"Lady Arya's sobs do us more harm than all of Lord Stannis's swords and spears. If the Bastard means to remain Lord of Winterfell, he had best teach his wife to laugh."

"My lady," Theon broke in. "Here we are."

"The steps go farther down," observed Lady Dustin. "There are lower levels. Older. The lowest level is partly collapsed, I hear. I have never been down there." He pushed the door open and led them out into a long vaulted tunnel, where mighty granite pillars marched two by two into blackness.

Lady Dustin's serjeant raised the lantern. Shadows slid and shifted. A small light in a great darkness. Theon had never felt comfortable in the crypts. He could feel the stone kings staring down at him with their stone eyes, stone fingers curled around the hilts of rusted longswords. None had any love for ironborn. A familiar sense of dread filled him.

"So many," Lady Dustin said. "Do you know their names?"

"Once ... but that was a long time ago." Theon pointed. "The ones on this side were Kings in the North. Torrhen was the last."

"The King Who Knelt."

"Aye, my lady. After him they were only lords."

"Until the Young Wolf. Where is Ned Stark's tomb?"

"At the end. This way, my lady."

Their footsteps echoed through the vault as they made their way between the rows of pillars. The stone eyes of the dead men seemed to follow them, and the eyes of their stone direwolves as well. The faces stirred faint memories. A few names came back to him, unbidden, whispered in the ghostly voice of Maester Luwin. King Edrick Snowbeard, who had ruled the north for a hundred years. Brandon the Shipwright, who had sailed beyond the sunset. Theon Stark, the Hungry Wolf. My namesake. Lord Beron Stark, who made common cause with Casterly Rock to war against Dagon Greyjoy, Lord of Pyke, in the days when the Seven Kingdoms were ruled in all but name by the bastard sorcerer men called Bloodraven.

"That king is missing his sword," Lady Dustin observed.

It was true. Theon did not recall which king it was, but the longsword he should have held was gone. Streaks of rust remained to show where it had been. The sight disquieted him. He had always heard that the iron in the sword kept the spirits of the dead locked within their tombs. If a sword was missing ...

There are ghosts in Winterfell. And I am one of them.

They walked on. Barbrey Dustin's face seemed to harden with every step. She likes this place no more than I do. Theon heard himself say, "My lady, why do you hate the Starks?"

She studied him. "For the same reason you love them."

Theon stumbled. "Love them? I never ... I took this castle from them, my lady. I had ... had Bran and Rickon put to death, mounted their heads on spikes, I ..."

"... rode south with Robb Stark, fought beside him at the Whispering Wood and Riverrun, returned to the Iron Islands as his envoy to treat with your own father. Barrowton sent men with the Young Wolf as well. I gave him as few men as I dared, but I knew that I must needs give him some or risk the wroth of Winterfell. So I had my own eyes and ears in that host. They kept me well informed. I know who you are. I know what you are. Now answer my question. Why do you love the Starks?"

"I ..." Theon put a gloved hand against a pillar. "... I wanted to be one of them ..."

"And never could. We have more in common than you know, my lord. But come."

Only a little farther on, three tombs were closely grouped together. That was where they halted. "Lord Rickard," Lady Dustin observed, studying the central figure. The statue loomed above them -  long-faced, bearded, solemn. He had the same stone eyes as the rest, but his looked sad.

"He lacks a sword as well."

It was true. "Someone has been down here stealing swords. Brandon's is gone as well."

"He would hate that." She pulled off her glove and touched his knee, pale flesh against dark stone. "Brandon loved his sword. He loved to hone it.

'I want it sharp enough to shave the hair from a woman's cunt,' he used to say. And how he loved to use it. 'A bloody sword is a beautiful thing,'he told me once."

"You knew him," Theon said.

The lantern light in her eyes made them seem as if they were afire.

"Brandon was fostered at Barrowton with old Lord Dustin, the father of the one I'd later wed, but he spent most of his time riding the Rills. He loved to ride. His little sister took after him in that. A pair of centaurs, those two. And my lord father was always pleased to play host to the heir to Winterfell. My father had great ambitions for House Ryswell. He would have served up my maidenhead to any Stark who happened by, but there was no need. Brandon was never shy about taking what he wanted. I am old now, a dried-up thing, too long a widow, but I still remember the look of my maiden's blood on his c**k the night he claimed me. I think Brandon liked the sight as well. A bloody sword is a beautiful thing, yes. It hurt, but it was a sweet pain.

"The day I learned that Brandon was to marry Catelyn Tully, though ... there was nothing sweet about that pain. He never wanted her, I promise you that. He told me so, on our last night together ... but Rickard Stark had great ambitions too. Southron ambitions that would not be served by having his heir marry the daughter of one of his own vassals. Afterward my father nursed some hope of wedding me to Brandon's brother Eddard, but Catelyn Tully got that one as well. I was left with young Lord Dustin, until Ned Stark took him from me."

"Robert's Rebellion ..."

"Lord Dustin and I had not been married half a year when Robert rose and Ned Stark called his banners. I begged my husband not to go. He had kin he might have sent in his stead. An uncle famed for his prowess with an axe, a great-uncle who had fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings. But he was a man and full of pride, nothing would serve but that he lead the Barrowton levies himself. I gave him a horse the day he set out, a red stallion with a fiery mane, the pride of my lord father's herds. My lord swore that he would ride him home when the war was done.

"Ned Stark returned the horse to me on his way back home to Winterfell. He told me that my lord had died an honorable death, that his body had been laid to rest beneath the red mountains of Dorne. He brought his sister's bones back north, though, and there she rests ... but I promise you, Lord Eddard's bones will never rest beside hers. I mean to feed them to my dogs."

Theon did not understand. "His ... his bones ... ?"

Her lips twisted. It was an ugly smile, a smile that reminded him of Ramsay's. "Catelyn Tully dispatched Lord Eddard's bones north before the Red Wedding, but your iron uncle seized Moat Cailin and closed the way. I have been watching ever since. Should those bones ever emerge from the swamps, they will get no farther than Barrowton." She threw one last lingering look at the likeness of Eddard Stark. "We are done here."

The snowstorm was still raging when they emerged from the crypts. Lady Dustin was silent during their ascent, but when they stood beneath the ruins of the First Keep again she shivered and said, "You would do well not to repeat anything I might have said down there. Is that understood?"

It was. "Hold my tongue or lose it."

"Roose has trained you well." She left him there.

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I'm only here for the thread title :smoking:

1 hour ago, ravenous reader said:

That's a great example and I agree with the greenseer associations.  @The Fattest Leech just mentioned on our new Bran's growing powers reread thread that the pyramids in Meereen might have some correlations to Bloodraven's cave  (hope you will tell us more over there soon, Leech!)  

I'm getting there. So close. So close.

 

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On 6/12/2017 at 8:22 PM, hiemal said:

"I gave him a horse the day he set out, a red stallion with a fiery mane, the pride of my lord father's herds."... ADwD

I wonder if this like Blood and Fire, the Death of Dragons? The whole thing seems like a Horse Sacrifice gone horribly wrong. Did Ramsay's horse Blood also come from the Rills? Lady Dustin gave the Frey boys grey steeds presumably from the dead-Stark warm fuzzies she gets thinking about the Red Wedding. If we take her performance with Reek at face value, anyways. Such secrets and plots as she has nurtured in her womb/barrow remain her own. I wonder if the mastery of undeath is something native to the Others or if it may have been taken from someone else? But then House Dustin is a House of a different color...

Just a few thoughts I had nowhere else to pin.

Hmmm. Maybe a little Darry, Cart King, "Crown for king" in there as well?

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On Invalid Date at 8:22 PM, hiemal said:

. . . secrets and plots as she has nurtured in her womb/barrow remain her own. I wonder if the mastery of undeath is something native to the Others or if it may have been taken from someone else? But then House Dustin is a House of a different color...

I had a long drive yesterday and a thought popped into my head: barrow and Robar.

Ser Robar Royce seems like a pivotal character, even though he's a bit player. He's the brother of our first "on screen" death, a Royce (first men, runes on armor), participates in the Hand's tournament, is almost present for Renly's death, allows Brienne to live at Catelyn's request, dies by the sword of Ser Loras (who defeated him in the Hand's tourney).

If he is part of the boar wordplay - boars or wordplay boars are often present when a king is killed - then maybe Barbry Dustin's barrows are also part of the boar wordplay. She wasn't yet the lady of Barrowtown when uncle Brandon died, right? But soon after. Has her barrow-self played the boar role at the death of any other "king" character?

Role out the barrow.

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On 6/14/2017 at 11:26 PM, Pain killer Jane said:

Hmm....that gives evidence that the Andels may have wielded magic at one point like Valyrians, First Men, and CotF. 

Certainly possible. Also the Rhoynar were supposed to have water mages of some kind.

5 hours ago, The Fattest Leech said:

 

Hmmm. Maybe a little Darry, Cart King, "Crown for king" in there as well?

I do have a only somewhat crackpot theory on House Darry not being destroyed but going underground to help the BWB and other fun things.

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Quote

I do have a only somewhat crackpot theory on House Darry not being destroyed but going underground to help the BWB and other fun things.

LW, you know I love your crackpot's! :wub: Underground as in literally into some of the hollow hills? Hmmm.....

 

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4 hours ago, Seams said:

I had a long drive yesterday and a thought popped into my head: barrow and Robar.

Ser Robar Royce seems like a pivotal character, even though he's a bit player. He's the brother of our first "on screen" death, a Royce (first men, runes on armor), participates in the Hand's tournament, is almost present for Renly's death, allows Brienne to live at Catelyn's request, dies by the sword of Ser Loras (who defeated him in the Hand's tourney).

That fits. Barrows and runes;  preservation and remembrance.

4 hours ago, Seams said:

If he is part of the boar wordplay - boars or wordplay boars are often present when a king is killed - then maybe Barbry Dustin's barrows are also part of the boar wordplay. She wasn't yet the lady of Barrowtown when uncle Brandon died, right? But soon after. Has her barrow-self played the boar role at the death of any other "king" character?

Role out the barrow.

And we'll have a barrow of fun!

She did gift those freylings with horses so...

Tangent on boars: I wonder why the Crakehall boar is brindled?

 

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6 hours ago, hiemal said:

That fits. Barrows and runes;  preservation and remembrance.

And we'll have a barrow of fun!

She did gift those freylings with horses so...

Tangent on boars: I wonder why the Crakehall boar is brindled?

Alliteration? Actually, it is brindled black and white, and there does seem to be a motif around things that are black and white, so maybe the boar is a symbol like the doors of Arya's assassination cult, the white Wall with Castle Black, cyvasse pieces, Moqorro, the Night's Watch vs. the King's Guard, etc.

It is intriguing that Lady Dustin gave colts to the nasty young Freys. I wonder if there is a code in the colors of her horses? Grey might mean, "marked for death." Grey is such a Stark color.

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