evita mgfs

Regarding Thorne, if my speculations from 2012 have been right, Thorne's speech is akin to that of Brutus' speech after the death of Caesar. Thorne does not "inspire" with emotions - he merely gives the men his reasons for killing Snow. It will be Tormund Giantsbane who will give the speech of Marc Antony's ilk - the one that stirs men's blood to mutiny and rage - and Tormund will "Cry Havoc - and let slip the dogs [direwolves] of war!" I bet we hear that oration in Episode 2 or 3,

YOU ARE GOING TO DIE! RAVENOUS READER AND I JUST FIGURED THAT OUT ON BRAN'S GROWING POWERS THREAD!!! RAVENOUS READER SAID: If Will = Shakespeare = ('one with') the environment = natural order = the hierarchy of authors; and if Ser Waymar desires to disrupt the natural order; assuming my thesis that Martin surreptitiously desires to silence or subvert Shakespeare; Then the upstart lordling = GRRM! Considering his penchant of constructing things in threes, why would GRRM make playful allusions to two writers, without doing the same for the third ranger? Assuming this symmetry holds true, this suggests that 'Ser Waymar' is also 'way more' than we think he is! I've tried playing with various permutations of GRRM's full name, 'George Raymond Richard Martin' but this is the best I can come up with: Way-mar = Mar-tin Ray-mond = Way-mar...! (granted, maybe I am overreaching here!) Do any of you have some more convincing ideas about the meta-significance of this ('minor') character? THEN I SAID: MIND BLOWN! AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN!!! I LOVE THE MAR-TIN THING, AND IF I MAY ADD, Royce's cloak is made of fur from MARTEN ! HAR HAR HAR!!!! I THINK IT IS TRUE - MARTIN/MARTEN AND YOUR WORD PLAY - Martin aligns himself with the two writers he pays homage to, doesn't he? We must look out for a homage to William Golding! SO YOU BEST HIE TO SEAMS WITH YOUR AWESOME PUNNING!!! It must be true - great minds DO think alike! I wish I knew how to tag like RR does. I will have to ask her how she does that! I think it is hilarious how we all came up with it at the same time!

I posted this pun in your excellent Reread thread: Martin opens Cat’s POV in AGoT with Robb sitting in the front of the vessel: “Robb sat in the bow with Grey Wind, his hand resting on his direwolf’s head” [785]. Martin closes with the northmen “bowing” their knees to the King in the North: “He [the Greatjon] pointed at Robb with the blade. “There sits the only king I mean to bow my knee to m’lords,” he thundered. “The King in the North!” “And he knelt, and laid his longsword at her [Catelyn’s] feet” [796]. Martin deviates from “bend” the knee to “bow” in this instance, thereby framing the POV and punning the word “bow”. In each case, Robb is out front and elevated symbolically and literally.

I meant the character Bronn who is Tyrion's muscle or BRAWN at the Vale. I did not mean BROWN or another color, Sorry. Color symbology is too fast with a myriad of cultural distinctions. Those colors most pertinent to the series - such as red and white for the weirwoods/Ghost/blood/death are the clearest to articulate. Moreover, Martin employs colors ironically and not in the traditional senses of color symbology in literature at large. He likes to make things his OWN. But if you want a headache, discuss colors, by all means!

hippocras / hypocrite Bronn / brawn

Abel / Brother of Cain and Able to do the job. Waymar Royce / “Way More” arrogant, knowing, and dressed Will / Will to succeed / Short for William Shakespeare Gared – GAR / ED = EDGAR Allan Poe MARTIN and NOMENCLATURE WILL and GARED in the “PROLOGUE” from A GAME of THRONES Will and Gared may be dispensable, “generic” rangers on a fatal mission whose lives are forfeit because of their inexperienced commander Ser Waymar Royce, but Martin names them with purpose as a way to honor and thank two authors who inspire his prose fiction in A Song of Ice and Fire Series. The appearance of the names Will and Gared in the first “Prologue” of a voluminous series of novels speaks to the degree of gratitude Martin owes his sources. First, Will is short for “William”, or for “William Shakespeare”, the celebrated English writer whose works still have universal appeal hundreds of years after his death. It is no secret that Martin borrows from “the bard”, and among Shakespeare’s many poetic plays that Martin alludes to in conflicts, plot elements, and language, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar ranks high as the source material Martin prefers, putting his own “spin” on ideas and themes throughout his fantasy novels. To convey Will’s association with Shakespeare, Martin includes details pertaining to Will’s crime of poaching a deer that parallels similar events Shakespeare biographers debate happened to young Will Shakespeare before his arrival in London. Martin says of Will’s crime: “Will had been a hunter before he joined the Night’s Watch. Well, a poacher in truth. Mallister freeriders had caught him red-handed in the Mallisters’ own woods, skinning one of the Mallisters’ own bucks, and it had been a choice of putting on the black or losing a hand” (AGoT). Likewise, William Shakespeare trespasses on Sir Thomas Lucy’s property to kill a deer. In the article “In Search of Shakespeare: The Poaching Myth 1598”, a PBS.org author writes: “Though the tale is widely discredited today, three seventeenth-century accounts claim that Shakespeare was once beaten and imprisoned for poaching [a deer]. The alleged crime took place on land belonging to Sir Thomas Lucy - one of Walsingham's and Elizabeth's chief enforcers”. [http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/events/event83.html]]. Although Will and Will share like crimes, their punishments are quite different. Ranger Will chooses an option that will take him a lifetime to repay, but he prefers becoming a Sworn Brother of the Night’s Watch over losing his hand, which is an early allusion to the stigma associated with disfigurement in Martin’s world of ice and fire. Second, the name “Gared” has an unusual spelling, one not Americanized with a “J”. However, Martin aspires to create memorable characters, and he alters spellings of familiar names to give them a medieval flare. Analyzing the spelling of “Gared” requires some mental creativity: when readers divide “Gared” into two syllables, GAR / ED, and transpose them, one with the other, the “revised” appellation is EDGAR, the first name of American author and poet Edgar Allan Poe. Of course, the obvious inspiration Martin takes from Poe is Lord Commander Mormont’s talking raven, a character that owes a debt of gratitude to Poe’s poem “The Raven”. The title bird flies in a window and perches on a bust of Athena, and he punctuates any question the narrator poses by saying hauntingly “Nevermore!” The narrator asks the raven if he will ever see his dead lover Lenore: quothe the raven, “Nevermore!” Furthermore, Poe’s favorite thematic inclusion in several of his short stories is the death of a beautiful woman. In Martin’s I & F Series, the death of Lyanna Stark haunts Ned and figures in many other character arcs throughout the novels.

Martin describes the Undying as burning like corn husks, the dragon’s flames eating away at their fragile encasements. The Undying burn up very much like the parchment of ancient scrolls. The Undying may represent a collective knowledge of the warlocks - and other magical forces - which Drogon sets ablaze and ultimately destroys. Similarly, several irreplaceable scrolls are destroyed in the library fire at Winterfell – knowledge lost forever in the flames. The forces that are the old gods of the north preserve their collective knowledge within elements of nature that are, in most cases, indestructible.

This is such a clever, fun topic idea, and you did an excellent job detailing those unfortunate souls who have gone missing. Since I cannot meaningfully contribute as you and everyone else has mentioned those folk I would have put on a milk carton, I thought I would add my support to another excellent OP by Dark Sister. Good Job!

Thanks! Thanks! I look forward to reading your link. Nothing sounds crackpot from you - you are well-informed. Share my Star/Stark with LML. His theories lead me to a connection of "star" in the name "Stark" and that Bran is the Fallen Star - K. I think I have listened to your podcasts - although I may have the wrong name. Sorry if I do!

Got it. I won't be back.

Near the center of the novel A Dance with Dragons, Martin presents a Jon POV that is rich in figurative language that speaks to the oneness of Jon the warg and his direwolf Ghost. At the same time, Martin foreshadows Jon sharing his direwolf’s skin in the near future. Martin plays with his cloaking/coating motif by suggesting that Jon Snow metaphorically is the “snow”, as in Jon’s observation that Ghost “seemed to love fresh snow” [462]. Ghost loves Jon Snow so much that he even covers himself with “snow”! So much so that “At the base of the Wall he [Jon] found Ghost rolling in a snowbank . . . When he saw Jon he bounded back onto his feet and shook himself off” [462]. Because Martin repeats this and more figurative language pertaining to cloak/coat wearing and removing, Martin may indeed suggest that Jon Snow will wear his direwolf’s skin as warg – and direwolf will be in disguise as Jon Snow, wearing his snowy coat, yet cognizant and aware as his master – the warg within the direwolf. Eventually, Ghost will “shake” off or shake out Jon Snow’s warg, returning warg and wolf to the body of Jon Snow. Furthermore, Martin makes clear to readers to pay heed to language when Jon Snow says, “The words matter . . .”[462]. In context, Jon refers to the NW oath that his new recruits will speak beyond the Wall in the grove of nine weirwoods. Yet, at the same time, Jon’s words “cloak” deeper meanings – Jon is Martin’s voice attesting to the importance of the author’s words as well as the sacred oath of the SB of the NW. A great deal of Jon’s dialogue has deeper meanings: the NW words “bind us all together” and “They make us brothers” [462-463]. Jon and Ghost are thus bonded, closer than even Jon and his half siblings. When Jon calls Ghost “To me”, the direwolf “shook the snow from his back and trotted to Jon’s side” [463[. This is the second reference to Ghost wearing the skin of “Jon Snow”. Then Jon and Ghost travel beneath the ice, “the trees stood tall and silent, huddled in thick white cloaks” [463]. Martin dresses the trees to emphasize the idea of “transformation/rebirth/skinchanging”. The men who march with Jon will return transformed – and they will wear the black as SBs. Likewise, Jon Snow will also be transformed/reborn/skinchanged not long after his return to the Wall. Mayhap he will shed his black cloak – Martin hints at this, yes? Ghost stalks beside Jon’s mount, sniffing the air. When Jon asks “What is it?”, Jon admits to himself, the reader, and Ghost that Jon Snow has limited vision: “The woods were empty as far as he could see, but that was not very far” [463]. Perhaps Jon’s vision will be clearer when he looks through the red eyes of Ghost. Jon watches as “Ghost bounded toward the trees, slipped between two-white-cloaked pines, and vanished in a cloud of snow” [463]. Martin employs the past participle of “slip” - “slipped”, a word BR speaks to Bran, telling him to slip his skin and fly. “Vanished” is an important word as Martin employs it consistently from the first novel AGoT throughout the novels that follow, when the author describes any of the Stark direwolves as they enter the forest or elsewhere. “A vanishing act” is a trick, an illusion that magicians perform – it is a fitting word for Martin to repeat because his world of ice and fire is filled with magic. Martin poignantly depicts Jon and Ghost’s bond – their oneness: “Jon smelled Tom Barleycorn before he saw him. Or was it Ghost who smelled him? Of late, Jon Snow sometimes felt as he and his direwolf were one, even awake” [466]. “The shield that guards the realms of men. Ghost nuzzled up against his shoulder, and Jon draped his arm around him. He could smell Horse’s unwashed breeches, the sweet scent Satin combed into his beard, the sharp smell of fear, the giant’s overpowering musk. He could hear the beating of his own heart” [469]. Martin emphasizes that Jon and Ghost are connected in language that is obvious and in metaphoric/symbolic language as well. The third time Martin refers to Ghost and his snow coat is here: “The great wolf appeared first, shaking off the snow” [466]. However, Ghost is also a “white shadow at Jon’s side” with red eyes like the weirwood’s. Martin makes many other references to cloaks, all of which play into the theme of changing/transforming through wearing an outer garment that is superfluous when held up against what rests inside the heart of he who wears another’s likeness. “The evening sky had turned the faded grey of an old cloak that had been washed too many times . . .” [466]. “Their hoods were raised against the biting wind, and some had scarves wrapped about their faces, hiding their features” [464]. “With their black hoods and thick black cowls, the six might have been carved from shadow” [468]. “The wind . . , made their coats snap and swirl . . .” [469]. Finally, Jon Snow removes his cloak upon returning, “hanging his cloak on the peg beside the door” [470]. After taking off his cloak, Jon reads the words of a king, after which he reflects upon Winterfell, “the castle is a shell . . . not WF, but the ghost of WF” [470]. Jon without his NW identity and cloak is an empty shell as is WF without a visible Stark on location. Ghost will house Jon Snow’s warg, and wolf and warg will make their presence known as a Ghost in Winterfell, literally and symbolically.

The first two sentences of Ned’s POV I from AGoT follow: “The visitors poured though the castle gates in a river of gold and silver and polished steel, three hundred strong, a pride of bannermen and knights, of sworn swords and freeriders. Over their heads a dozen golden banners whipped back and forth in the northern wind, emblazoned with the crowned stag of Baratheon” (AGoT 39). First sentences in a POV are often significant, and in these opening sentences Martin captures the pomp and circumstance of a royal arrival featuring colors uncharacteristic of the cold grey north splashed against the sky, Martin’s “nautical motif” is evident in words such as “poured”, “river”, “gate”, “whipped back and forth”, and “in the northern wind”, all of which conjure images of movement as well as of the sails of a craft upon a body of water. The “river” speaks to an analogy Lord Brynden makes in his lessons to Bran, comparing time to a river. Moreover, the water imagery brings to mind Homer’s Odyssey, the story of Odysseus’ ill-fated voyage home to the island of Ithaca. Like Odysseus, each Stark embarks on a symbolic “odyssey” of his/her own, a long arduous journey during which he/she will encounter perils that he/she must overcome. Some will survive, others will fail. Ultimately, all will return to their home in some fashion or another. LION MOTIF: Martin uses the word “pride” – aka a family of lions – here “a pride of bannermen and knights, of sworn swords and freeriders ”. When Robert vaults off his warhorse, he greets Ned with a “familiar roar”. Martin intimates that this Baratheon is more a LION than a STAG, for King Robert confides in Ned that he plans to name Jaime Lannister “Warden of the East” and send little Robert Arryn to foster with Tywin Lannister. Two pages later, once the King is with Ned for a while, he behaves more like a STAG when he “snorts” a remark that Ned’s people in the north are hiding underneath the snow.

Dolorous Eddison Tollet, OR Toilet: he seems to be around urine, feces, and vomit.

Dawn was forged on the heart of a fallen star. Bran is the fallen Stark who is in the heart of the weirwood.

George RR Martin’s Nod to Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in Jon Snow’s Seventh POV from A Dance with Dragons American satirist and novelist Samuel Clemens assumes the pen name Mark Twain, which he takes from his experiences as a young man when he became a “cub” steamboat pilot. “Mark Twain”, or “mark number two”, is “a Mississippi River term” that refers to “the second mark on the line” that measured a depth signified by two fathoms, or twelve feet, or a “safe depth for the steamboat” [https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=mark+twain+meaning]. Twain incorporates his pseudo-identity in thematic elements that feature twos, halves, middles, and dualities, all of which are evident in his classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In a similar fashion, George RR Martin pays homage to Twain’s whimsical incorporation of “twain”, or elements of “twos”, most notably in Jon Snow’s seventh POV, the middle of thirteen such POV narratives, in A Dance with Dragons. In Huck, Twain strategically halves his novel, placing its technical climax, or turning point, at its center and marking it with Huck’s pivotal words: “All right then, I’ll go to hell”. Huck’s moral decision has grave consequences, or so he believes, because he must weigh the value of his friendship with Jim against what society has taught him about slavery. [Apparently, Twain scholars have counted the words from the beginning and from the end of the novel to ascertain an equal divide before and after Huck’s memorable words – I, however, never counted words myself to confirm these claims.] Twain writes: “I [Huck] was a-trembling, because I’d got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it”. Huck opts to help Jim escape slavery even if it means eternal damnation rather than going to what others view as heaven. Moreover, Huck’s experiences on the Mississippi River with Jim teaches him that Jim is a man no matter the color of his skin and that the “sivilized” world from which they come is cruel and hypocritical. So Huck chooses “freedom” for him and his pal. In a similar fashion, Jon decides to permit two wildlings, Leathers and Jax, to wear a black cloak after saying their vows, thus becoming SBs of the Night’s Watch. Moreover, Jon’s choice is a prelude to his later resolve of allowing the wildlings to pass the Wall to save them from the supernatural forces threatening them. Neither of Jon’s decrees is popular with a majority of his black brothers whose hatred for the free folk is “bone deep” [ADwD 465]. After the men say their vows and rise, Jon Snow does not see the “wildlings” – “all he saw was men” [469]. This is like Huck seeing Jim’s humanity despite the color of his skin. Martin manipulates his language in Jon’s POV to convey twos, halves, middles, divisions, disguises, and dualities, all with a cleverness that rivals Twain’s. The first sentence of the POV begins the pattern: “The sun had broken through near midday, after seven days of dark skies and snow flurries” [461]. Even Martin’s repetition of “seven” marks the chronological placement of this POV. The men “cross” beneath the Wall to embark on their journey and upon their return. “Bowen Marsh stomped across the yard to confront Jon” [462]. “Ghost slipped between two white-coated pines” [463]. “Half a mile from the grove, long red shafts of autumn sunlight were slanting between the branches of leafless trees . . . “ and “The riders crossed a frozen stream, between two jagged rocks armored in ice . . .” [465]. “He looked right and left”; “They rushed the grove together . . . “; “no two faces were alike” ; “Ghost , . . a white shadow at Jon’s side” [466]. “The fire in the center of the grove . . .” [467]. Despite the many, many examples, the most important couple in this “middle” narrative is Jon Snow and his direwolf Ghost. Martin foreshadows Jon sharing his direwolf’s skin in the near future. Martin plays with his cloaking/coating motif by suggesting that Jon Snow metaphorically is the “snow”, as in Jon’s observation that Ghost “seemed to love fresh snow” [ADwD 462]. Ghost loves Jon Snow so much that he even covers himself with “snow”! So much so that “At the base of the Wall he [Jon] found Ghost rolling in a snowbank . . . When he saw Jon he bounded back onto his feet and shook himself off” [462]. Because Martin repeats this and more figurative language pertaining to cloak/coat wearing and removing, Martin may indeed suggest that Jon Snow will wear his direwolf’s skin as warg – and direwolf will be in disguise as Jon Snow, wearing his snowy coat, yet cognizant and aware as his master – the warg within the direwolf. Furthermore, Martin makes clear to readers to pay heed to language when Jon Snow says, “The words matter . . .” [ ADwD 462]. In context, Jon refers to the NW oath that his new recruits will speak beyond the Wall in the grove of nine weirwoods. Yet, at the same time, Jon’s words “cloak” deeper meanings – Jon is Martin’s voice attesting to the importance of the author’s words as well as the sacred oath of the SB of the NW. A great deal of Jon’s dialogue has deeper meanings: the NW words “bind us all together” and “They make us brothers” [462-463]. Jon and Ghost are thus bonded, closer than even Jon and his half siblings. When Jon calls Ghost “To me”, the direwolf “shook the snow from his back and trotted to Jon’s side” [463[. This is the second reference to Ghost wearing the skin of “Jon Snow”. Then Jon and Ghost travel beneath the ice, “the trees stood tall and silent, huddled in thick white cloaks” [463]. Martin dresses the trees to emphasize the idea of “transformation/rebirth/skinchanging”. The men who march with Jon will return transformed – and they will wear the black as SBs. Likewise, Jon Snow will also be transformed/reborn/skinchanged not long after his return to the Wall. Mayhap he will shed his black cloak – Martin hints at this, yes? Ghost stalks beside Jon’s mount, sniffing the air. When Jon asks “What is it?”, Jon admits to himself, the reader, and Ghost that Jon Snow has limited vision: “The woods were empty as far as he could see, but that was not very far” [463]. Perhaps Jon’s vision will be clearer when he looks through the red eyes of Ghost. Jon watches as “Ghost bounded toward the trees, slipped between two-white-cloaked pines, and vanished in a cloud of snow” [463]. Martin employs the past participle of “slip” - “slipped”, a word Lord Brynden speaks to Bran, telling him to slip his skin and fly. “Vanished” is a word Martin employs consistently, beginning with AGoT and throughout the novels that follow. The author describes the Stark direwolves as vanishing on those occasions when they enter the forest or elsewhere. “A vanishing act” is a trick, an illusion that magicians perform – it is a fitting word for Martin to repeat because his world of ice and fire is filled with magic. Mark Twain famously inserts himself into the action of Huck, appearing as a performer in a circus, standing upon the back of a horse, attempting a balancing act. The author disguising himself as a player amid many likely goes unnoticed by casual readers. The art of disguise that fools even the readers is like a magic trick. As is balancing the literary elements that are integral to the composition of truly brilliant fiction. Martin poignantly depicts Jon and Ghost’s bond – their oneness: “Jon smelled Tom Barleycorn before he saw him. Or was it Ghost who smelled him? Of late, Jon Snow sometimes felt as he and his direwolf were one, even awake” [466]. “The shield that guards the realms of men. Ghost nuzzled up against his shoulder, and Jon draped his arm around him. He could smell Horse’s unwashed breeches, the sweet scent Satin combed into his beard, the sharp smell of fear, the giant’s overpowering musk. He could hear the beating of his own heart” [469]. Martin emphasizes Jon and Ghost’s connection through shared sensory perceptions. The third time Martin refers to Ghost and his snow coat is here: “The great wolf appeared first, shaking off the snow” [466]. However, Ghost is also a “white shadow at Jon’s side, with red eyes like the weirwood’s”. Martin references coats and cloaks, all of which develop the theme of a covering that outwardly changes or transforms an individual’s appearance. Yet wearing an outer garment does not conceal what dwells in the heart of he who wears it. Similarly, in Huck, Twain presents his lead character as wearing many disguises – Huck pretends to be a girl, wearing a dress and bonnet and claiming to know about sewing. Likewise, Jim becomes Huck’s surrogate father figure, a man with black skin symbolically adopting a white boy. Jim even spares Huck from discovering the bloated corpse of his pap when they come upon their house floating upon the river. Following are a few references from Jon’s POV7 that suggest the wearing of cloaks and coats: “The evening sky had turned the faded grey of an old cloak that had been washed too many times . . .” [466]. “Their hoods were raised against the biting wind, and some had scarves wrapped about their faces, hiding their features” [464]. “With their black hoods and thick black cowls, the six might have been carved from shadow” [468]. “The wind . . , made their coats snap and swirl . . .” [469]. Finally, Jon Snow removes his cloak upon returning, “hanging his cloak on the peg beside the door” [470]. After taking off his cloak, Jon reads the words of a king, after which he reflects upon Winterfell, “the castle is a shell . . . not WF, but the ghost of WF” [470]. Jon removing his cloak is “like” the empty shell of WF without a visible Stark on location. Instead of his blacks, Jon will replace them with Ghost’s white fur when he accepts his warg nature. Perhaps the direwolf and the warg within will take up residence in the shell that is Winterfell. Great Jon Snow’s Ghost will occupy Winterfell, literally and symbolically. I have skimped on direct references to Huck and further evidences from Martin’s Jon POV. But the duality theme that both authors masterfully convey is worthy of further analysis. I have presented only a few evidences taken from my much longer and more in depth study of shared patterns and developments between the fiction works of two celebrated American authors.

I'll add to this: AGoT Reread: Direwolves, Dragons [eggs], Momont’s Raven, and Cats, Oh My! Pets or Providence? http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/76320-agot-reread-direwolves-dragons-eggs-momonts-raven-and-cats-oh-my-pets-or-providence/page-1 http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/79188-vol-2-agot-reread-direwolves-dragons-eggs-momonts-raven-and-cats-oh-my-pets-or-providence/page-1

You'd know, little mouse! Wasn't Algernon running a maze? Thank you for the advice about the spacing. For some reason, it does that - and then it is impossible for me to go in and backspace to level text. Here's the thread - not one response: http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/132369-phenomenon-on-the-eve-of-the-ides-of-march-and-before-the-ides-of-marsh/ and here http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/95566-shakespeares-julius-caesar-in-martins-asoiaf/#entry7176650

The beast without a heart could be the horse sacrificed so that Dany could eat his heart?

AWESOME! I have more for your oh so brilliant mind: The Priests also perform a sacrifice, and the beast is without a heart! A lioness hath whelped in the streets; An owl hoots noon day in the Capital CASCA A common slave--you know him well by sight-- Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn Like twenty torches join'd, and yet his hand, Not sensible of fire, remain'd unscorch'd. Besides--I ha' not since put up my sword-- Against the Capitol I met a lion, Who glared upon me, and went surly by, Without annoying me: and there were drawn Upon a heap a hundred ghastly women, Transformed with their fear; who swore they saw Men all in fire walk up and down the streets. And yesterday the bird of night did sit Even at noon-day upon the market-place, Hooting and shrieking. I apologize I posted in color. I was slammed in another thread for doing so. I sincerely meant no offense by using color.

Har! Help me with these from Caesar, more nastiness before Julius' pals butchered him! Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds, Fire Eater said the Trial by Combat at the Eyrie. In ranks and squadrons and right form of war, Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol; ? The noise of battle hurtled in the air, ? Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan, - When Ned is attacked by Jaime in King's Landing And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets. ?? Ghost howls in Jon's wolf dream. Ghost are all about WF, according to Theon.

I'll try, and I know Plutarch is more fiction than fact, but here goes: From Julius Caesar, on the eve of the Ides of March, based on Plutarch’s Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, Shakespeare’s source: And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead; Sounds like wights to me.

Oh darn! My history is poor! I know Shakespeare's histories?

“A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!” In Shakespeare’s Richard III, he loves his horse “Barbary”, a name that is reminiscent of Lady Barbery Dustin, whose sigil is a horse. Her husband’s horse was returned by Ned Stark after the Tower of Joy. From the play: When Bolingbroke rode on roan Barbary, That horse that thou so often hast bestrid, That horse that I so carefully have dress'd! KING RICHARD II Rode he on Barbary? Tell me, gentle friend, How went he under him? Groom So proudly as if he disdain'd the ground. KING RICHARD II So proud that Bolingbroke was on his back! That jade hath eat bread from my royal hand; This hand hath made him proud with clapping him. Would he not stumble? would he not fall down, Since pride must have a fall, and break the neck Of that proud man that did usurp his back? Forgiveness, horse! why do I rail on thee, Since thou, created to be awed by man, Wast born to bear? I was not made a horse; And yet I bear a burthen like an ass, Spurr'd, gall'd and tired by jouncing Bolingbroke.