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Symbolism 101: An Introduction to Symbols in ASOIAF


Seams

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I took a look at the Search of Ice and Fire site to see how lace is used in the books. 

For the first two books, only Cersei wears Myrish lace, and only on one occasion:

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Cersei Lannister and her two younger children stood behind Ser Boros and Ser Meryn. The queen wore a gown of sea-green silk, trimmed with Myrish lace as pale as foam. On her finger was a golden ring with an emerald the size of a pigeon's egg, on her head a matching tiara. (AGoT, Eddard XIV)

That scene is where Ned arrives at the throne room, thinking he is about to expose and depose Cersei and Joffrey, and have them taken into custody. Instead, Ned's supporters are killed and he is betrayed by Littlefinger and the Gold Cloaks and taken into custody himself. 

But the first use of the word "lace" is in association with Catelyn:

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She bathed her hands in the basin and wrapped them in clean linen. Her fingers were thick and awkward as she struggled to lace up her bodice and knot a drab brown cloak about her neck. How could Littlefinger have known she was here? Ser Rodrik would never have told him. Old he might be, but he was stubborn, and loyal to a fault. Were they too late, had the Lannisters reached King's Landing before her? No, if that were true, Ned would be here too, and surely he would have come to her. How …?

Then she thought, Moreo. The Tyroshi knew who they were and where they were, damn him. (AGoT, Catelyn IV)

Many uses of the word come in conjunction with laces on boots, breeches and jerkins. Often a belly or an erection is straining against laces, or someone is lacing up or unlacing for sex or to urinate. 

The first use of a symbolic word is usually important, and I'm thinking that lacing is related to the sewing motif that I have interpreted as a special skill that women use to hold Westeros (or society) together. So Catelyn, whose hands were injured when she tried to grab the catspaw's dagger, is struggling to lace her bodice; it has become more difficult to hold together the garment that is Westeros. 

But is there also an element of the spider web and trapped prey in the symbolism? In both the Cersei and Catelyn scenes, Littlefinger is springing an unexpected surprise on one of the Starks. Interesting that it is Littlefinger associated with a "lace" trap, and not The Spider (Varys). 

In subsequent books, Brienne (in the fight with the bear), Sansa (in her surprise wedding dress) and Margaery (in both of her Lannister weddings) wear Myrish lace. (Brienne's awful pink lacy dress is in tatters by the time Jaime comes to her rescue, which is the only place where I see the possible lace / tatting pun used explicitly.) Arya wearing the Smallwood hand-me-downs is linked in the order of chapters to Sansa's dress-fitting for her surprise wedding to Tyrion. The acorn-embroidered dress is not described as featuring lace but when Arya removes the dress, lace is mentioned. (GRRM does not specify Myrish lace in that moment, however.)

In ASoS, interestingly, Daario shows up in an outfit with Myrish lace:

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 His pointed mustachios were painted gold. His clothes were all shades of yellow; a foam of Myrish lace the color of butter spilled from his collar and cuffs, his doublet was sewn with brass medallions in the shape of dandelions, and ornamental goldwork crawled up his high leather boots to his thighs. Gloves of soft yellow suede were tucked into a belt of gilded rings, and his fingernails were enameled blue.

There's that "foam" mentioned again, as when Cersei first wears Myrish lace. (Foam might represent the unity of air and water. Could this be another quality of lace?) In an earlier attempt to analyze skirts, I noticed that men in Essos are sometimes described as wearing skirts. In Westeros, skirts are associated with women (and a prince sometimes hides behind the skirt of a queen). 

Daario also gives Dany wildflowers to "help her learn the land." One of the flowers is called Lady's Lace, although all of the flower names seem to have symbolic meaning. 

Dany sees bolts of lace but does not wear lace until later in the books. This may be in keeping with the fine fabrics that are given to her by Illyrio in the same chest with the dragon eggs. We do not see Dany learning to sew, but she has the materials to do so when she is ready (or when she tells her handmaids to do it).

She is told that wearing Myrish lace gowns and other foreign clothing would alienate the people of Meereen:

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"In the wools of Westeros or a gown of Myrish lace, Your Radiance shall forever remain a stranger amongst us, a grotesque outlander, a barbarian conqueror. Meereen's queen must be a lady of Old Ghis." Brown Ben Plumm, the captain of the Second Sons, had put it more succinctly. "Man wants to be the king o' the rabbits, he best wear a pair o' floppy ears."  (ADwD, Daenerys I)

In ADwD, before her wedding, Dany asks to wear a tokar that features Myrish lace - perhaps a sign that she wants to bring the cultures together? Irri tells her that the lace was torn on that tokar so it is being repaired. She has to settle for wearing a different garment. After her last night of lovemaking with Daario, Dany notes that he does not lace up her boots for her, although he used to do that. Later, as part of the wedding ritual, Hizdahr unlaces her sandals, washes her feet and then laces up her sandals again. If laces are spiderweb traps, it seems that Hizdahr may have  trapped Dany at this point. 

One important use of the word lace is The Lace Serpent, the nickname for Lady Serala Darklyn, who supposedly talked her husband into kidnapping King Aerys during the Defiance of Duskendale. She is eventually torn to pieces. Her story is juxtaposed with our introduction to Tyene Sand, a daughter of Prince Oberyn, who is wearing Myrish lace and working on embroidery while talking with her uncle about the delivery of Gregor Clegane's head. It is interesting to speculate whether the Martell clan is effective in its strategy to trap its enemies, or whether they will be victims of a trap. 

I say this in part because I strongly suspect that the name "Myrcella" is part of the Myrish Lace motif. Tyrion first used Myrcella as bait to find out who was sharing his secret strategies with Cersei. (He trapped Pycelle with this bait.) Then he sent Myrcella to Dorne, where she played our favorite game of thrones - Cyvasse - and often beat Prince Trystane. Is Myrcella still bait in a trap? Or does the loss of her ear and her near death indicate that she is more trapped than trapper? 

When I get time, I may take a look at webs and spiders to see whether GRRM ever uses them directly in conjunction with lace. 

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On 8/19/2021 at 8:40 AM, Seams said:

But the first use of the word "lace" is in association with Catelyn:

 Tully-tulle. I always thought of veil-vale. Didn’t think of tulle as the fabric lace and not the headdress.

On 8/19/2021 at 8:40 AM, Seams said:

When I get time, I may take a look at webs and spiders to see whether GRRM ever uses them directly in conjunction with lace. 

:) Could you add veils, nets, and anything that catches? I can’t think of any other snares or trap’y things. There must be more but I don’t see it. 

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On 8/19/2021 at 4:40 PM, Seams said:

I say this in part because I strongly suspect that the name "Myrcella" is part of the Myrish Lace motif.

Because of the letters and sounds of 'cella' being found in lace? I'd be very happy with that, even although I'm still undecided about anagrams in general.

I've long thought that Myrcella reflects the cleverness and craft of Myr, just as Lysa reflects the love and poison of Lys.

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