Alexis-something-Rose Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 This is a shorter version of a post that I put up on my blog which can be found here. It's a lot longer and has quotes and all. I was basically looking at one of the maps in The Lands of Ice and Fire when I spotted the Mountains of the Morn, which reminded me of Galladon of Morne. Then I looked more closely to the map and realized that the Mountains of the Morn are actually located in what used to be the Great Empire of the Dawn and is close to the Five Forts. So I squinted at the map and went, huh? then decided to go back to the story of Galladon of Morne that Brienne told Nimble Dick. "Ser Galladon was a champion of such valor that the Maiden herself lost her heart to him. She gave him an enchanted sword as a token of her love. The Just Maid, it was called. No common sword could check her, nor any shield withstand her kiss. Ser Galladon bore the Just Maid proudly, but only thrice did he unsheathe her. He would not use the Maid against a mortal man, for she was so potent as to make any fight unfair." (Brienne IV, AFfC) So first, we have the enchanted sword that is very reminiscent of another sword that exists in-universe, and that is Dawn. Jaime, in ASoS, described the fight between Arthur Dayne and the Smiling Knight, telling us that the Smiling Knight's sword was notched all over, and that Arthur stopped the fight to allow him to get another sword. The second thing of note is that the Maiden is said to have lost her heart to Galladon and given him the sword. If we take this tale out of Westeros and put it in the far east, more precisely in the GEotD, then we end up with a different Maiden, the Maiden-Made-of-Light, which brings us to the Long Night. When the Blood Betrayal happened, the Maiden-Made-of-Light turned her back on the world and the Lion of Night came down on mankind. The tale of Azor Ahai contains a lion. Instead of being an actual lion that AA captured and used to temper his sword with, what if he actually confronted the Lion of Night? We are told that the M-M-o-L and the Lion of Night (just noticed that they are the same initials as the Long Night) are gods. People with potent magic can also be seen as gods and we know that in this universe people can live well beyond their natural lifespan. Azor Ahai confronts the big bad, fails, goes back to the drawing board to try and forge himself a weapon that's potent enough to take out the Lion of Night. What if Galladon's tale is actually the tale of Azor Ahai but disguised. Furthermore, when I started looking at Galladon in terms of an Essosi man from the Empire of the Dawn, from the Mountains of the Morn, the one thing that I kept thinking about was the sword Dawn. Dawn's one and only description we have is that it is pale as milkglass and alive with light. The sword is alive with light and we so happen to have a character who is named the Maiden-Made-of-Light. If Galladon hailed from the Mountains of the Morn, then he would be essentially from the Mountains of the Morning since morn is a term for morning, which would effectively make Galladon's sword the Sword of the Morning. It should be noted that Morne on Tarth is on its east coast, an easy landing spot for someone arriving from Essos. There are a couple more things that I've been thinking about. What if the Nissa Nissa story of the Azor Ahai tale is actually the Maiden-Made-of-Light? We are told that Nissa Nissa's blood, strength, soul, courage all went into the sword. I'm assuming that if a Maiden-Made-of-Light was to sacrifice herself to give someone a sword to check the darkness, then her light and everything that she was would also go into that blade. Dawn we know is not like any other sword that we have in-universe and the tradition that surrounds it is also different from what we have seen. The sword is not passed down from father to son. Instead it lays dormant until someone worthy comes along to wield her, so the perfect knight (or a would-be perfect knight at least). All we have to do is look at Arthur Dayne and this sort of legend that surrounds his character even though he was a Kingsguard during the Mad King's time. I think a case can be made that Galladon is actually from Essos and may even be Azor Ahai, and that his story was appropriated by the Andals or the Seven in the same way the tale of Azor Ahai and Nissa Nissa has been appropriated by the followers of R'hllor. I know that this leans a little toward tinfoil, but I don't think that Morne and Morn are a coincidence. This feels like a breadcrumb, imo. ETA - I forgot to add that if some of this pans out that the origins of House Dayne would be found in the Mountains of the Morn. House (Day)ne --> Mountains of the Morn(ing) --> Sword of the Morn(ing) --> Dawn. It just looks like one big world play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reekazoid Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 3 hours ago, Alexis-something-Rose said: I think a case can be made that Galladon is actually from Essos and may even be Azor Ahai, and that his story was appropriated by the Andals or the Seven in the same way the tale of Azor Ahai and Nissa Nissa has been appropriated by the followers of R'hllor. I think you have a strong case for that, because the parallels are compelling. I would even go one step further and suggest that the Galladon/Maiden/Just Maid story and the Azor Ahai/Nissa Nissa/Lightbringer story are both echoes of earlier stories such as the Blood Betrayal - Maiden Made of Light - Lion of Night stories. In my opinion all of these point to some cataclysmic event or series of events that left such a profound impact on its survivors that it became written into the cultural DNA of multiple civilizations all across Planetos- like the pervasive Flood myths in our own world. Nice writeup, when I am home from work I will take another look and maybe provide a response more worthy of the effort you put into your theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Springwatch Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Nice post! 3 hours ago, Alexis-something-Rose said: I know that this leans a little toward tinfoil, but I don't think that Morne and Morn are a coincidence. This feels like a breadcrumb, imo. Don't even mention tinfoil, sounds-like as wordplay is as solid as anything can be. It goes far beyond straightforward stuff like Morne/morn (or Dorne/dawn) - we are asked to believe that Urron Greyiron sounds like Euron Grejoy. Or the Reek identity is composed of weak, meek, leak etc (just looked it up - it's repeated 23 times - we are really supposed to notice this). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis-something-Rose Posted February 18, 2021 Author Share Posted February 18, 2021 57 minutes ago, Reekazoid said: I think you have a strong case for that, because the parallels are compelling. I would even go one step further and suggest that the Galladon/Maiden/Just Maid story and the Azor Ahai/Nissa Nissa/Lightbringer story are both echoes of earlier stories such as the Blood Betrayal - Maiden Made of Light - Lion of Night stories. Yes, Galladon's tale has echoes of AA/NN/Lightbringer, and I know there were posts about that because I went looking for them after I spotted the Mountains of the Morn. But I didn't find anything about Morne or the Mountains of the Morn because 1. there is nothing in ASoIaF about the Mountains of the Morn and 2. We're told that he is Galladon of Morne, Brienne calls him a local hero, this is happening during that exchange of stories between Brienne and Nimble Dick. But the story becomes something else entirely when we put Galladon in the Mountains of the Morn instead of Morne on Tarth. The Mountains of the Morn(ing) located in an empire called the Great Empire of the Dawn. A goddess called the Maiden-Made-of-Light, a sword called Dawn, alive with light, carried by someone knows as the Sword of the Morning. 41 minutes ago, Springwatch said: Nice post! Thanks! This is honestly the sort of stuff that blows my mind. Once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis-something-Rose Posted February 19, 2021 Author Share Posted February 19, 2021 One thing I forgot to add to the OP, is that if the speculation is somewhat correct, that this would place the origin of House Dayne in the Great Empire of the Dawn, but more than that, it would place them in a mountain range called the Mountains of the Morn. Mountains of the Morn(ing) --> House (Day)ne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reekazoid Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 10 minutes ago, Alexis-something-Rose said: One thing I forgot to add to the OP, is that if the speculation is somewhat correct, that this would place the origin of House Dayne in the Great Empire of the Dawn, but more than that, it would place them in a mountain range called the Mountains of the Morn. Mountains of the Morn(ing) --> House (Day)ne I'm sold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis-something-Rose Posted February 19, 2021 Author Share Posted February 19, 2021 44 minutes ago, Reekazoid said: I'm sold. I guess I made a compelling case! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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