Jon Snow and Arthurian Legend

[Arthur Dayne's Honor]

Many times on this forum, Jon has been connected to the Legend of King Arthur in many ways. Jon himself has been connected King Arthur. A hidden king with his parentage unknown to him, and a rare sword( Longclaw=Excalibur). But something I've noticed and haven't seen mentioned here ever, is Bran. A long time ago I sent a PM to Fire Eater on something similar. The question I asked was, " Who do you think Jon's Mordred is?" He replied to me, Bran. In case you don't know, Mordred was the one who betrayed and fatally wounded Arthur at the Battle of Camlann. I thought that Bran betraying and killing Jon was crazy an impossible. And I still do. But I've now noticed some things being foreshadowed about Bran, about him helping Jon out of his predicament(dead/coma) and helping him find out about his parentage. And that he is very similar to Merlin in Arthurian legend. Merlin supposedly helped Arthur with his magic, like bran would be doing in this case.

So in short Bran=Merlin.

[Buckthorn]

I like the comparison, but you cannot compare Longclaw to Excalibur, if anything the closest sword to Excalibur is the one your avatar is holding: Dawn.

[yolkboy]

You might like this thread about Arthurian parallels.

and this post in particular.

[Arthur Dayne's Honor]

I like the comparison, but you cannot compare Longclaw to Excalibur, if anything the closest sword to Excalibur is the one your avatar is holding: Dawn.

if Jon is AAR the. He will eventually get Lightbringer, which I think is a more appropriate comparison. I was just saying a Valyrian Steel sword is very rare and is exceptionally better than regular steel.

[Queen‍‍‍‍‍‍ Alysanne‍‍™]

I think Sam is more of a merlin parallel, he is Jon's source of knowledge.

[Buckthorn]

if Jon is AAR the. He will eventually get Lightbringer, which I think is a more appropriate comparison. I was just saying a Valyrian Steel sword is very rare and is exceptionally better than regular steel.

Fair enough, yeah if he is AAR then of course Lightbringer beats them all, including Dawn. Just that I always pictured Dawn as a beautifully crafted sword because it is "pale as milkglass" and Excalibur is a majestic sword.

[Buckthorn]

I think Sam is more of a merlin parallel, he is Jon's source of knowledge.

Yeah, he wants to be a wizard, which is why Jon wants Sam as the NW's Maester.

[The guy from the Vale]

if Jon is AAR the. He will eventually get Lightbringer, which I think is a more appropriate comparison. I was just saying a Valyrian Steel sword is very rare and is exceptionally better than regular steel.

I think Jon already has Lightbringer. Since the end of ASoS, specifically.

[complexphoenix]

GRRM doesn't do one-to-one correlations, so just because one aspect or several of another story (whether fictional or not) fits with an ASOIAF character doesn't mean that character will follow the other story in all or even most respects. Saying something like "Margaery is a lot like Anne Boleyn and the accusations against her are like the ones against Anne, therefore she'll be executed like Anne" or "Jon is like King Arthur so he must have a Mordred and a Merlin somewhere" is just not valid reasoning. For discussing the works of most authors it might be more defensible, but GRRM is not most authors.

[Buckthorn]

GRRM doesn't do one-to-one correlations, so just because one aspect or several of another story (whether fictional or not) fits with an ASOIAF character doesn't mean that character will follow the other story in all or even most respects. Saying something like "Margaery is a lot like Anne Boleyn and the accusations against her are like the ones against Anne, therefore she'll be executed like Anne" or "Jon is like King Arthur so he must have a Mordred and a Merlin somewhere" is just not valid reasoning. For discussing the works of most authors it might be more defensible, but GRRM is not most authors.

Whoa, back up a bit. You're saying GRRM is this super amazing writer who invented all these themes and scenarios that happen to be featured in works older than his. Get off your high horse.

[complexphoenix]

Whoa, back up a bit. You're saying GRRM is this super amazing writer who invented all these themes and scenarios that happen to be featured in works older than his. Get off your high horse.

No, I'm saying that he mixes and matches themes and plot twists from various stories in each character arc, instead of recycling old stories in their entirety one-for-one like a lesser author would. Learn to read what was actually said, instead of making a straw man out of something that was never said.

[Valandui]

In terms of betrayal, the men of the Night's Watch that stabbed him could represent his Mordred. They are a sworn brotherhood and were his advisors, although none were especially trusted.

[Arthur Dayne's Honor]

In terms of betrayal, the men of the Night's Watch that stabbed him could represent his Mordred. They are a sworn brotherhood and were his advisors, although none were especially trusted.

possibly

[Lady Gwynhyfvar]

I agree with complexphoenix that GRRM doesn't do one to one correlations. Instead, we find multiple ASoIaF characters with parallels to the same Arthurian character, or different characteristics of an Arthurian character shared by multiple ASoIaF characters. It comes of the topos of Arthurian legend being the underpinning of much Western literature.

That said, I think we have seen two Merlin characters so far:

Maester Aemon, the wise man, teacher and mentor to Jon Snow

Bloodraven, the sorcerer in the tree who may be the puppet master of the story (an interesting avenue of exploration is that Merlin engineered Arthur's conception, while Bloodraven is believed by many to have been *somehow* involved in RLJ)

Bran, as Bloodraven's apprentice, has yet to fulfill any of the real hallmarks of Merlin, although in time I suppose he may. I see him more as having echoes of Bran the Blessed or the Fisher King to be honest.