A list of ASOIAF parallels in myths, legends and fairy tales

[Ygrain]

Aside from historical parallels, there are certainly motives and themes in ASOIAF that come from less exact background, so here are a couple to chew on:

Cersei's obsession with a younger, more beautiful queen - Snowhite's stepmother obsessed with being the No. 1 beauty in the world. The stepmother's scheming against her daughter eventually brought her own downfall, just as did Cersei's against Margaery.

Walder Frey's pride of his many sons - Niobe's pride of her seven sons and seven daughters. Just like Niobe lost all of her children, I expect Walder to witness his family's demise.

Stannis' expected sacrifice of Shireen - Agammemon's sacrifice of Iphigenia, Given Selyse's devotion to R'hllor, I don't see her playing the role of Clytaimnestra, but she does seem to be fond of her daughter, so

Lyanna's abduction - Helen of Troy (though there is an even more fitting historical parallel with the abduction of Isabella of Angouleme)

 

[Curled Finger]

Ah very good!   Not the usual Beauty & the Beast.  I don't see much historical, legendary or mythological influence on Arya's story.   Any ideas?  

[chrisdaw]

The whole theme of sacrificing children for power or survival is pulling from Abraham and Isaac (Binding of Isaac). I think it is the primary thematic influence in ASOIAF, and that ASOIAF is ultimately written to be a rejection of Abraham's kind of blind faith.

[Springwatch]

Dany/Quentyn appearing as the Princess and the Frog. She should have given him a kiss, just in case in worked....

[Ygrain]

1 hour ago, Curled Finger said:

 I don't see much historical, legendary or mythological influence on Arya's story.   Any ideas?  

The ugly duckling

[Frey family reunion]

1 hour ago, Curled Finger said:

Ah very good!   Not the usual Beauty & the Beast.  I don't see much historical, legendary or mythological influence on Arya's story.   Any ideas?  

From what I recall of past posts: the Odyssey and the Wizard of Oz were two pretty big influences on her story.

Here is one post on the Odyssey's influence on Arya's storyline:

 

[Frey family reunion]

1 hour ago, Ygrain said:

tannis' expected sacrifice of Shireen - Agammemon's sacrifice of Iphigenia, Given Selyse's devotion to R'hllor, I don't see her playing the role of Clytaimnestra, but she does seem to be fond of her daughter, so

Keep in mind that GRRM often twists or inverts the story around a bit.  So don't be surprised to see Selyse play the role of Agamemnon.  

[H Wadsworth Longfellow]

2 hours ago, Curled Finger said:

Ah very good!   Not the usual Beauty & the Beast.  I don't see much historical, legendary or mythological influence on Arya's story.   Any ideas?  

Not historical but you only have to look at the cinema to see examples of psychos like Norman Bates, Michael Myers, and Jason V.  Maybe the three wildass Starks and their direwolves being the three-headed Cerberus.  Jon, Arya, and Rickon are the three headed dog of hell.

 

 

[H Wadsworth Longfellow]

1 hour ago, Ygrain said:

The ugly duckling

That she is.  Jon and Arya take after Ned.  They have the horse face of the Stark line. 

Gregor is the un goth Frankenstein.  Jon is the biblical Judas Iscariot. 

Robert is Thor, complete with the warhammer.

Daenerys is Aphrodite with a little Ares and the biblical liberator, Moses.

 

[Loose Bolt]

Varys is Santa. His elves will see if you are naughty or nice and it seems that those even stab evil ones. Reason why he could move so easily around is his sledge and his ability to use chimneys for entrance and exit.

[Narsil4]

Weirwoods seem to be based on Dragon Trees. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracaena_cinnabari

Quote

Because of the belief that it is the blood of the dragon it is also used in ritual magic and alchemy.

Quote

Dragon's blood is also listed in a 16th-century text, Stahel und Eyssen, as an ingredient in a quenching bath for tempering steel.

[Gingin]

Robin Hood and his Merry Men = the Kingswood Brotherhood + Brotherhood Without Banners

[Megorova]

Bloodraven and Shiera Seastar - wizard Merlin and water fairy Nimue. Nimue lured Merlin into a trap, and binded him to a magic tree in a cave, and left him there.

Shiera/Quaithe seems to be a combination of Nimue, Morgana le Fay, and Crow Goddess/Queen of phantoms Morrigan. My guess is that the Three-Eyed Crow is Shiera, not Bloodraven.

Bloodraven also seems to be a parallel to Northern god Odin and wizard Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings.

Jon is a parallel to Jesus, King Arthur Pendragon and Aragorn from LOTR.

Dany is a parallel to Mother Mary (three wisemen from the east came to see Mary's child, following after magic star), and the Woman clothed with the sun, while Rhaego is a parallel to "second Jesus", the one who in the Book of Apocalypse was leading an army of horsemen, and was referred to as the King of kings and Lord of lords, like Rhaego is referred to as the Khal of khals.

fAegon and Golden Company are parallels to Antichrist, or the Beast out of the Sea, the one who had one mortally wounded head that healed itself.

Varys is a parallel to the Dragon/Satan who was pursuing the Woman clothed in the sun and her baby.

Littlefinger seems to be the False Prophet, the Beast out the Earth, the one that had lamb's horns and dragon's voice. I think that Littlefinger is bloodrelated to Catelyn and Lysa (their third cousin) thru their mother Minisa Whent. My guess is that grandfather of Lady Shella Whent, the first Lord Whent of Harrenhal, the one who caused the fall of House Lothston, was the Bastard of Harrenhal. And this Bastard in my opinion was a secret son of Jeyne Lothston and Aegon IV, while Jeyne herself was also Aegon's child. Thus, if my convoluted theory about Littlefinger's ancestry is correct, then he is partially Targaryen/dragon, thru Aegon IV Targaryen, and partially Stokeworth/lamb, thru Jeyne's mother, Falena Stokewoth. The symbol of House Stokeworth is a lamb that holds chalise in its paw (like Agnus Dei/the Lamb of God is depicted on some icons, with chalise).

Littlefinger was gathering Targaryen banners, possibly to welcome fAegon into 7K (that scene that Dany saw in a vision with the mummer's dragon being welcomed by people), and the Beast out of the Earth/the False Prophet ordered people to make the image of the Beast out of the Sea/Antichrist and to worship that image. fAegon will be known as Aegon VI; if he is actually a Blackfyre, then his coming to Westeros will be the Sixth Rebellion of Blackfyres, so there's only one more 6 missing to make a Biblical number of the Beast/Antichrist.

There's a LOT of parallels between ASOIAF and the Bible. Like burning heart of Azor Ahai is symbol of Jesus. Griffins and unicorns on the door to The House of Black and White, the Temple of Manyfaced God, are symbols of immortality/Jesus. Three heads of the dragon - Dany, the Mother; Rhaego, the Son; Jon, the Holy Ghost - GRRM's version of the Holy Trinity. Etc.

[sweetsunray]

On 12/19/2019 at 9:34 PM, Curled Finger said:

Ah very good!   Not the usual Beauty & the Beast.  I don't see much historical, legendary or mythological influence on Arya's story.   Any ideas?  

Ugly Duckling... George has particular references to it in several of Arya's chapters during her travels, matching the Ugly Duckling's adventures and the people and animals they encounter along the way.

Swann princess , the ballet, in aGoT and aCoK. Her waterdancing is basically "ballet". She even learns to stand on her toes.

Arya's written to be like a Valkyrie: deciding who dies and who loses a battle, and otherwise serves drinks. 

 

 

 

 

[sweetsunray]

On 12/20/2019 at 12:07 AM, President Andrew Yang said:

That she is.

Ah, you don't know the tale it seems. The ugly duckling isn't ugly or even a duck, but a swann.

[Pontius Pilate]

On 12/19/2019 at 3:34 PM, Curled Finger said:

Ah very good!   Not the usual Beauty & the Beast.  I don't see much historical, legendary or mythological influence on Arya's story.   Any ideas?  

Hers is the parallel to Greek revenge.  She's a psycho version of Electra.  There is a quote credited to Confucius that goes like this, when you set out for revenge, first dig two graves.  So yeah, Arya will kill some of the people on her list but she will die in the process.  

[Pontius Pilate]

On 12/19/2019 at 6:07 PM, President Andrew Yang said:

That she is.  Jon and Arya take after Ned.  They have the horse face of the Stark line. 

Gregor is the un goth Frankenstein.  Jon is the biblical Judas Iscariot. 

Robert is Thor, complete with the warhammer.

Daenerys is Aphrodite with a little Ares and the biblical liberator, Moses.

 

Jon Snow is Ephialtes, the man who betrayed the Spartans.  

[Curled Finger]

9 hours ago, sweetsunray said:

Ugly Duckling... George has particular references to it in several of Arya's chapters during her travels, matching the Ugly Duckling's adventures and the people and animals they encounter along the way.

Swann princess , the ballet, in aGoT and aCoK. Her waterdancing is basically "ballet". She even learns to stand on her toes.

Arya's written to be like a Valkyrie: deciding who dies and who loses a battle, and otherwise serves drinks. 

Thanks sweetsunray.   Your Valkyrie essay is among this forum's very best.  Still trying to piece Ugly Duckling together with regard to Arya.   Appreciate your insight.  

[Elegant Woes]

A lot of fairytales pop up in Sansa's arc, but the most prominent ones in her story are Rapunzel, Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. I also see a lot of Penelope and Persephone from Greek Mythology in Sansa.  

[The Lord of the Crossing]

On 12/19/2019 at 4:38 PM, Ygrain said:

The ugly duckling

More like a Medusa for Arya.  One look at her can turn people to stone.