hiemal Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Part 1: Lightbringer As I've mentioned before, and shall again, I think the Malady of the Seasons and the Problem of Prophecy can be usefully viewed mythically as an unnatural tension between Mystery and Monomyth. Mystery is defined here in mythic terms as referring to as the individual being a part of a cycle of nature- the Old Gods of Westeros, the Mystery religions of Persephone and Isis as well as the Corn and Bean Kings and various other sacrificial routines people have used to bring about the end of winter. Mystery is linked with a cyclical view of time and focuses on renewal of the earth through the process of death and birth. Monomyth, in mythic terms, is the Hero's Journey- it is linear in time and focuses on individual striving for the improvement of the world. Time is linear, the afterlife is eternal. The Faith of the Seven is the best Westerosi example. Mithras, I think, represents, a transition from one to another- from the female principle of cyclical nature to the male principle of eternal time. Sol Invictus is the cure the Long Night, after all. The state of the world shows that a transition from one to another has not happened smoothly- the seasons and time itself are broken. The synthesis of Mystery and Monomyth is, I think, what C.S. Lewis called True Myth (but expect no Aslan in Westeros!)- the answer to prophecy that will save the Fallen world. A messiah. But before we get to the solution let's examine the problem. It all starts- at least the parts that we have any kind of handle on, with Lightbringer- the Star of the Morning/Evening and Rebellious Angel bearing stolen fire. Almost all of the mythic imagery that GRRM uses is inverted, so the Lightbringer Incident is rebellion on earth, not in Heaven, even if it was perpetrated by someone more than or other than completely human. I do not know if this incident led to the Fall (which apparently takes place in the Heavens as it broke the seasons and time itself) or if that is a symptom from an earlier incident but it doesn't matter for this essay, The Lightbringer Incident is either THE event which must be put right or simply the latest botched attempt to do so. The rebellion took place, the Amethyst Empress was overthrown, the Evening Star and the Dawn star swap places. The Maiden dies. Venus becomes Lucifer. As Below, So Above. My best tinfoil on the breakdown of the Lightbringer Incident is that the Amethyst Empress, Valerys, died in childbirth delivering her brother Rhaellor's child in a magical operation at the Dawn Empire's version of Summerhall, Stygai. Rhaellor became R'hlorr and the baby Azor Ahai, the Son of Fire and the first dragonrider. The AE dies and is transformed in the process into Night's Queen, the Unholy Grail and Womb of Undeath. Azor Ahai becomes the first dragonrider- the bearer of the unholy Excalibur which is not a sword but a dragon- whose name I hereby tinfoil was Rubilaxes (a variant of sexcalibur spelled backwards- because of course if grails and cauldrons are wombs than swords are obviously cocks). Dargons are not only swords that flame when brought into battle, however- they are also the instruments of divine will. Unlike doves, dragons do not bring grace. They are vessels of wrath. In an interesting play on another Christian symbol (for transformation and new life) grapes and dragons are compared: "Grapes are real. A man can gorge himself on grapes. Their juice is sweet, and they make wine. What do dragons make?" "Woe."... AFfC Power vs. grace. The dove is the grace of god made manifest descending to the earth while dragons are the fires of the earth made flesh. I also find it curious that the kings and queens of Westeros favor the styling "your grace" over phrases which display strength or opulence. Grace seems to be a quality little valued in this world, save as something to be usurped and taken. The rulers of other nations use appelations such as "your radiance" or "Your majesty" but the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms is defined by: Definition of grace 1 a : unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification b : a virtue coming from God c : a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine assistance 2 a : approval, favor stayed in his good graces b archaic : mercy, pardon c : a special favor : privilege each in his place, by right, not grace, shall rule his heritage —Rudyard Kipling d : disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency e : a temporary exemption : reprieve 3 a : a charming or attractive trait or characteristic Among disagreeable qualities he possessed the saving grace of humor. b : a pleasing appearance or effect : charm all the grace of youth —John Buchan c : ease and suppleness (see 1supple 2b) of movement or bearing danced with such grace 4 —used as a title of address or reference for a duke, a duchess, or an archbishop 5 : a short prayer at a meal asking a blessing or giving thanks ... Merriam Webster Dictionary Even 4. is a demotion. Curious. I will be returning to the concept of grace in Part 2 shortly but I want to briefly examine the nature of redemption necessary for this world. Right off the bat, we see that instead of virgin birth (which bypasses the "fallen" feminine by divine grace) we have the trope of the mother who dies in childbirth- she is consumed (usurped) by her offspring like a mother spider or octopus (no lady-krakens have died in childbirth that I can think of- odd) and possibly the rape baby of a hundred fathers (see forthcoming part 3). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiemal Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 Part 2: . . . And Lightning I posit that the history of Westeros (and beyond) is moved by the world's attempts to create the needed messiah and littered with failed efforts almosts and not-at-alls and everything in between and that prophecy is a large part of this effort. The Targaryens are enslaved to the Dream that drove them from Valyria and many broken by it. There are also heroes and anti-heroes whose individual monomyths are like keys that don't quite fit the tumblers of fate that will unlock the future and allow history to begin lurching forward in earnest once more. The drama of the AE and the BSE and the LB Incident (whatever the truth- my tinfoil aside- may be) are either the primal wound or an earlier failed attempt to stitch it closed. R'hlorr doesn't dole out his miracles lightly- his priesthood consists of hierodules (one of my favorite 5$ words so pardon me if toss it about with wild abandon. And while we're at it... "callipygous") , or temple-slaves. As I've discussed in When Beric is killed by the Mountain, Thoros unknowingly brings him back to life acting as an conduit for such grace as R'hlorr sees fit to bestow- in this case a transfer of soul energy that comes at the cost of Berics soul being partially replaced with elemental fire, which consumes and transforms what it doesn't burn. It is a different kind of spin on the "virgin birth" theme- " I held a castle on the Marches once, and there was a woman I was pledged to marry, but I could not find that castle today, nor tell you the color of that woman's hair. Who knighted me, old friend? What were my favorite foods? It all fades. Sometimes I think I was born on the bloody grass in that grove of ash, with the taste of fire in my mouth and a hole in my chest. Are you my mother, Thoros?"... ASoS In Beric's case, this rebirth can be likened to the striking of lightning- The Storm God striking the oak, the burning brand of the Drowned God inverted to grace and in opposition to the mythically inverted dragon/doves/psychopomps of wrath. IIRC lightning strikes seven times. After that we come the really interesting part- when Beric passes that grace on to Catelyn's remains. He did not do so as a slave- hierodule, lol- or instrument of R'hlorr but of his own free will- and did so by passing along his own soul energy instead of borrowing it from someone else. This act of self-sacrifice really stands out in this series because, as I've mentioned, I don't think Aslan is the answer to this world's woes. And so we have Lady Stoneheart rising after her three days as a wild card, I think. She isn't an instrument of R'hlorr but Beric's fumes and fire on whatever is left of Catelyn's flesh, blood, and soul. At least, I think that Beric's serial resurrection diluting his native soul energy may have played a role along with the sorry state of her body in making LSH what she is, Mother Merciless and Night's Queen substitute to Beric's R'hlorr. A womb of death, but not undeath in the same way that Beric can pass along his own energy but not any miracles. So much for grace in Westeros. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiemal Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 Part 3: Lions and Lambs An intersting example of a failed messiah tossed out by fate is baby Tyrion, the purest representation of the irrelevant and ineffectual (for this world) Christ/Aslan figure. House Stokework's sigil includes a lamb and a chalice (grail) so he is a lamb by nature and a lion by name. He is a messiah candidate by virtue of his birth- even though Lollys survived his birth her impregnation at the hands of an anonymous mob is a close enough mythic mockery of the virgin birth that I feel it qualifies. So we have a lackwit Mary and a murderous Joseph and baby makes three. I have a bad feeling for little Tyrion, but I suspect that his blood will be an ineffective ameliorative for the world's ills- but an interesting one even if I'm not quite sure what to make of it. Dollars to donuts his blood winds up in that chalice on their sigil, though. So who is the REAL messiah? Is there only one or is this another example of everything coming threes? For fun here are my candidates who meet the dead mother criteria: Danaerys Targaryen= Azor Ahai Reborn Jon Snow= The Prince That Was Promised Tyrion Lannister= The Woman with the Monkey Tail/one of the Sphinxes (along with Sarella- who guards the Citadel-, Arya- who is a riddle that goes something like who is a cat and a bird and a mouse and no one at all-, and possibly Jaimie and Cersei as a matched set of valyrian sphinxes- male and female. Brienne of Tarth= Florian the Fool, the perfect knight and the perfect fool. I have on long shot besides baby Tyrion who may be a rape baby of 100 fathers, Podrick Payne if my theory on his parentage is correct. And I think Bran Stark may be the Last Hero, who may stand apart from the cycle of prophecy in the sense that he is bound to the weirnet directly. Who else belongs on this list? And any other bits of borrowed imagery that bear mentioning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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