Than you shall have it, ser

[Orion2]

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The Smiling Knight was a madman, cruelty and chivalry all jumbled up together, but he did not know the meaning of fear. And Dayne, with Dawn in hand . . . The outlaw's longsword had so many notches by the end that Ser Arthur had stopped to let him fetch a new one. "It's that white sword of yours I want," the robber knight told him as they resumed, though he was bleeding from a dozen wounds by then. "Then you shall have it, ser," the Sword of the Morning replied, and made an end of it.

 

Quote

 

Jaime was tired. Tired of her suspicions, tired of her insults, tired of her crooked teeth and her broad spotty face and that limp thin hair of hers. Ignoring her protests, he grasped the hilt of hiscousin’s longsword with both hands, held the corpse down with his foot, and pulled. As the blade slid from the scabbard, he was already pivoting, bringing the sword around and up in a swift deadly arc. Steel met steel with a ringing, bone-jarring clang. Somehow Brienne had gotten her own blade out in time. Jaime laughed. “Very good, wench.”

“Give me the sword, Kingslayer.”

“Oh, I will.” He sprang to his feet and drove at her, the longsword alive in his hands

 

 

just..... why, why does this parallel exist

and then there's this nice lil bit of irony:)

 

Quote

 

“Brienne of Tarth.” Jaime sighed. “I have a gift for you.” He reached down under the Lord Commander’s chair and brought it out, wrapped in folds of crimson velvet.

Brienne approached as if the bundle was like to bite her, reached out a huge freckled hand, and flipped back a fold of cloth. Rubies glimmered in the light. She picked the treasure up gingerly, curled her fingers around the leather grip, and slowly slid the sword free of its scabbard. Blood and black the ripples shone. A finger of reflected light ran red along the edge. “Is this V alyrian steel? I have never seen such colors.”

“Nor I. There was a time that I would have given my right hand to wield a sword like that. Now it appears I have, so the blade is wasted on me. Take it.” Before she could think to refuse, he went on. “A sword so fine must bear a name. It would please me if you would call this one Oathkeeper. One more thing. The blade comes with a price.”

Her face darkened. “I told you, I will never serve . . .”

“. . . such foul creatures as us. Yes, I recall. Hear me out, Brienne. Both of us swore oaths concerning Sansa Stark. Cersei means to see that the girl is found and killed, wherever she has gone to ground . . .”

Brienne’s homely face twisted in fury. “If you believe that I would harm my lady’s daughter for a sword, you—”

“Just listen,” he snapped, angered by her assumption. “I want you to find Sansa first, and get her somewhere safe. How else are the two of us going to make good our stupid vows to your precious dead Lady Catelyn?”

The wench blinked. “I . . . I thought . . .”

“I know what you thought.” Suddenly Jaime was sick of the sight of her.She bleats like a bloody sheep. “When Ned Stark died, his greatsword was given to the King’s Justice,” he told her. “But my father felt that such a fine blade was wasted on a mere headsman. He gave Ser Ilyn a new sword, and had Ice melted down and reforged. There was enough metal for two new blades. You’re holding one. So you’ll be defending Ned Stark’s daughter with Ned Stark’s own steel, if that makes any difference to you.”

“Ser, I . . . I owe you an apolo . . .”

He cut her off. “Take the bloody sword and go, before I change my mind. There’s a bay mare in the stables, as homely as you are but somewhat better trained. Chase after Steelshanks, search for Sansa, or ride home to your isle of sapphires, it’s naught to me. I don’t want to look at you anymore.”

“Jaime . . .”
“Kingslayer,” he reminded her. “Best use that sword to clean the wax out of your ears, wench. We’re done.”

Stubbornly, she persisted. “Joffrey was your . . .”

“My king. Leave it at that.”

“You say Sansa killed him. Why protect her?”

Because Joff was no more to me than a squirt of seed in Cersei’s cunt. And because he deserved to die. “I have made kings and unmade them. Sansa Stark is my last chance for honor.” Jaime smiled thinly. “Besides, kingslayers should band together. Are you ever going to go?”

Her big hand wrapped tight around Oathkeeper. “I will. And I will find the girl and keep her safe. For her lady mother’s sake. And for yours.” She bowed stiffly, whirled, and went.

 

 

[Lord Lannister]

My signature sums up why that parallel exists I think. Jaime idolized Arthur Dayne.

[Corvus Black]

It exists because GRRM is great at setting up parallels. This is one of the more easier ones though. If Jaime has a chance to emulate Arthur Dayne he will take it. 

[chrisdaw]

Arthur Dayne is mostly about Jaime, as Jaime keeps saying, better than men than me about these historic legends and particularly Dayne.

Is Jaime really a worse person for having stepped in and killed Aerys where Arthur wouldn't have? Was Arthur never compromised by Rhaegar/Aerys in ways we are yet to find out about? That's where this is all headed.

[Seams]

And the sword-giving goes on for at least another layer:

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At nightfall they would seek an inn. Crabb would share the common bed with other travelers, whilst Brienne took a room for her and Podrick. "Cheaper if we all shared the same bed, m'lady," Nimble Dick would say. "You could lay your sword between us. Old Dick's a harmless fellow. Chivalrous as a knight, and honest as the day is long."

"The days are growing shorter," Brienne pointed out.

"As you say, m'lady," said Crabb, "but up north where the road gives out, you'll need t' trust Dick then. If I wanted t' take your gold at swordpoint, who's to stop me?"

"You don't own a sword. I do."

She shut the door between them and stood there listening until she was certain he had moved away. However nimble he might be, Dick Crabb was no Jaime Lannister, no Mad Mouse, not even a Humfrey Wagstaff. He was scrawny and ill fed, his only armor a dinted halfhelm spotted with rust. In place of a sword, he carried an old, nicked dagger. So long as she was awake, he posed no danger to her. 

 

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"A sword?" Nimble Dick scratched behind his ear. "You got a sword in your hand. What do you need another for?"

"This one's for you." Brienne offered him the hilt.

"For true?" Crabb reached out hesitantly, as if the blade might bite him. "The mistrustful maid's giving old Dick a sword?"

"You do know how to use one?"

"I'm a Crabb." He snatched the longsword from her hand. "I got the same blood as old Ser Clarence." He slashed the air and grinned at her. "It's the sword that makes the lord, some say."

...

Shagwell dropped from the weirwood, braying laughter. He was garbed in motley, but so faded and stained that it showed more brown than grey or pink. In place of a jester's flail he had a triple morningstar, three spiked balls chained to a wooden haft. He swung it hard and low, and one of Crabb's knees exploded in a spray of blood and bone. "That's funny," Shagwell crowed as Dick fell. The sword she'd given him went flying from his hand and vanished in the weeds. He writhed on the ground, screaming and clutching at the ruins of his knee. "Oh, look," said Shagwell, "it's Smuggler Dick, the one who made the map for us. Did you come all this way to give us back our gold?"

There are some details around Nimble Dick that may connect him to Gared, from the prologue, who is newly interesting to me because Gared may be symbolically (or literally) connected to the obsidian cache that Jon Snow finds at The Fist.

• Gared's sword is described as old and nicked, and Gared himself is "nicked," having lost his ears, several toes and a finger to frostbite.
• The way that Brienne and Nimble Dick slip through the stone gate at the Whispers is very much like the way that Jon Snow slips out of the stone ring fort at the Fist to follow the direwolf Ghost out to the place where the cache is buried.
• When Jon Snow starts digging, he thinks he might be digging up a grave. After Brienne finds the fool, Shagwell, and slays his companions, she orders Shagwell to dig a grave for Nimble Dick. 
• Gared is executed for desertion from the Night's Watch (although the reader never hears why Gared was south of The Wall). Brienne suspects Nimble Dick is a deserter from some lord's army as the sigil emblem is torn from his dirty tunic. 
• Nimble Dick is not beheaded, but his ancestral home is associated with beheaded men whose severed heads become advisers to the legendary Lord Clarence Crabb. Gared is beheaded and his head is sent to Lord Commander Mormont. I believe the Lord Commander's raven holds the consciousness of past Lord Commanders but maybe the beheaded deserters also become a group of "Whispers" advisors to the Lord Commander, like those at Crackclaw Point. 
• Jon Snow is given a sword called Long Claw; Nimble Dick takes Brienne to a place called Crack Claw. 

I think these points become relevant to your observations about the Arthur Dayne - Jaime Lannister - Brienne of Tarth connection because the swords used by these characters all seem to take on characteristics of Lightbringer. Dawn brings light to a new day; Morne is a ruined town on Tarth (and Brienne seems to be fulfilling the Ser Galladon of Morne legend); Jaime is compared to the sun; the obsidian dagger found by Jon Snow comes alive with reflected torch light:

Quote

Jon picked up a dagger blade, featherlight and shiny black, hiltless. Torchlight ran along its edge, a thin orange line that spoke of razor sharpness. Dragonglass. What the maesters call obsidian. Had Ghost uncovered some ancient cache of the children of the forest, buried here for thousands of years? The Fist of the First Men was an old place, only . . .

 

[LynnS]

31 minutes ago, Seams said:

Dawn brings light to a new day; Morne is a ruined town on Tarth (and Brienne seems to be fulfilling the Ser Galladon of Morne legend);

I agree.  I think this is one story that we will see play out over the next two books.  Brienne is certainly being set upas the Just Maid while Jaime is beginning his conversion from the Smiling Knight to the Perfect Knight.  Starting with Jaime gifting Brienne with Oathkeeper and Brienne's understanding that she must find his honor and keep Jaime's oaths.  .

I can see the Dawn sword changing hands a few times from Edric Dayne to Brienne to Jaime at some point.  Also, I think Bran's vision of Jaime is setting him up as the Warrior of Light. 

[Frey family reunion]

5 minutes ago, LynnS said:

I agree.  I think this is one story that we will see play out over the next two books.  Brienne is certainly being set upas the Just Maid while Jaime is beginning his conversion from the Smiling Knight to the Perfect Knight.  Starting with Jaime gifting Brienne with Oathkeeper and Brienne's understanding that she must find his honor and keep Jaime's oaths.  .

I can see the Dawn sword changing hands a few times from Edric Dayne to Brienne to Jaime at some point.  Also, I think Bran's vision of Jaime is setting him up as the Warrior of Light. 

I'm starting to doubt that we're ever going to actually see the Dawn sword.  If we are, I assume it's going to be in whatever POV we'll learn about Obarra and Balon's journey to find Gerold Dayne.  

My guess is the symbol of "Dawn" is going to be more important than the actual sword itself.  Specifically I think we're going to see Brienne as a symbolic representation of the sword.

[LynnS]

1 hour ago, Frey family reunion said:

I'm starting to doubt that we're ever going to actually see the Dawn sword.  If we are, I assume it's going to be in whatever POV we'll learn about Obarra and Balon's journey to find Gerold Dayne.  

My guess is the symbol of "Dawn" is going to be more important than the actual sword itself.  Specifically I think we're going to see Brienne as a symbolic representation of the sword.

I hope not.  That would be a huge disappointment for fans not to get that pay-off.  So much has been made of the Dawn Sword that I think it must be shown to us.  We are starting to catch on to the notion that the sword changes hands -- when the morning star falls, the sword is taken up by the Evenstar.  Dany sees the sword in the hands of her ancestors with gemstone eyes.  The sword has made its way from Evenfall (Galladon of Morn/Morning) to Starfall and it's associated with the Andals and the religious branch:  the swords and the stars.  The same iconography as House Dayne.

If only someone worthy can wield it; then it won't remain in the hands of someone unworthy for long.  I'm guessing that the sword shines with light in the hands, or in the presence of someone who is worthy;  whose soul and heart are equal to the sword.  So yes, Brienne will be the sword. but she will also wield the sword.

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Arthur Dayne fell on his own sword.    

[Frey family reunion]

5 minutes ago, LynnS said:

I hope not.  That would be a huge disappointment for fans not to get that pay-off.  So much has been made of the Dawn Sword that I think it must be shown to us.  We are starting to catch on to the notion that the sword changes hands -- when the morning star falls, the sword is taken up by the Evenstar.  Dany sees the sword in the hands of her ancestors with gemstone eyes.  The sword has made its way from Evenfall (Galladon of Morn/Morning) to Starfall and it's associated with the Andals and the religious branch:  the swords and the stars.  The same iconography as House Dayne.

If only someone worthy can wield it; then it won't remain in the hands of someone unworthy for long.  I'm guessing that the sword shines with light in the hands, or in the presence of someone who is worthy;  whose soul and heart are equal to the sword.  So yes, Brienne will be the sword. but she will also wield the sword.

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Arthur Dayne fell on his own sword.    

Thematically I would be disappointed if anyone other than Brienne (or possibly Jaime) would end up wielding the sword.  The problem is, neither of them technically would have any right to the sword.  It’s reserved for a worthy knight of House Dayne.  Now maybe if House Dayne is destroyed … 

[LynnS]

Just now, Frey family reunion said:

Thematically I would be disappointed if anyone other than Brienne (or possibly Jaime) would end up wielding the sword.  The problem is, neither of them technically would have any right to the sword.  It’s reserved for a worthy knight of House Dayne.  Now maybe if House Dayne is destroyed … 

George has said that traditionally the sword is handed down in House Daye; (because as far as readers know, they have always had the sword).  But to claim the sword, you have to be worthy of it. Or something close to that.  That doesn't exclude anyone who is not House Dayne.  I think he's just fudging the matter because he doesn't want anyone to catch on too soon.

I think it's Jaime's destiny to receive the sword from the Just Maid.  With the dawn comes the sun and everything is pointing in Jaime's direction.  This is end game stuff.  

 

[Orion2]

2 hours ago, LynnS said:

I hope not.  That would be a huge disappointment for fans not to get that pay-off.  So much has been made of the Dawn Sword that I think it must be shown to us.  We are starting to catch on to the notion that the sword changes hands -- when the morning star falls, the sword is taken up by the Evenstar.  Dany sees the sword in the hands of her ancestors with gemstone eyes.  The sword has made its way from Evenfall (Galladon of Morn/Morning) to Starfall and it's associated with the Andals and the religious branch:  the swords and the stars.  The same iconography as House Dayne.

If only someone worthy can wield it; then it won't remain in the hands of someone unworthy for long.  I'm guessing that the sword shines with light in the hands, or in the presence of someone who is worthy;  whose soul and heart are equal to the sword.  So yes, Brienne will be the sword. but she will also wield the sword.

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Arthur Dayne fell on his own sword.    

I think the implication is that Starfall is where the fallen star that Dawn is made of fell.

Also thanks for the replies y'all, this got way more interesting than I thought it would:)

4 hours ago, Seams said:

And the sword-giving goes on for at least another layer:

There are some details around Nimble Dick that may connect him to Gared, from the prologue, who is newly interesting to me because Gared may be symbolically (or literally) connected to the obsidian cache that Jon Snow finds at The Fist.

• Gared's sword is described as old and nicked, and Gared himself is "nicked," having lost his ears, several toes and a finger to frostbite.
• The way that Brienne and Nimble Dick slip through the stone gate at the Whispers is very much like the way that Jon Snow slips out of the stone ring fort at the Fist to follow the direwolf Ghost out to the place where the cache is buried.
• When Jon Snow starts digging, he thinks he might be digging up a grave. After Brienne finds the fool, Shagwell, and slays his companions, she orders Shagwell to dig a grave for Nimble Dick. 
• Gared is executed for desertion from the Night's Watch (although the reader never hears why Gared was south of The Wall). Brienne suspects Nimble Dick is a deserter from some lord's army as the sigil emblem is torn from his dirty tunic. 
• Nimble Dick is not beheaded, but his ancestral home is associated with beheaded men whose severed heads become advisers to the legendary Lord Clarence Crabb. Gared is beheaded and his head is sent to Lord Commander Mormont. I believe the Lord Commander's raven holds the consciousness of past Lord Commanders but maybe the beheaded deserters also become a group of "Whispers" advisors to the Lord Commander, like those at Crackclaw Point. 
• Jon Snow is given a sword called Long Claw; Nimble Dick takes Brienne to a place called Crack Claw. 

I think these points become relevant to your observations about the Arthur Dayne - Jaime Lannister - Brienne of Tarth connection because the swords used by these characters all seem to take on characteristics of Lightbringer. Dawn brings light to a new day; Morne is a ruined town on Tarth (and Brienne seems to be fulfilling the Ser Galladon of Morne legend); Jaime is compared to the sun; the obsidian dagger found by Jon Snow comes alive with reflected torch light:

 

I think there's a chance that this is just George playing a joke on us and saying hahahahah look jaime said he'd give her the sword and then he does. but there might also be something there thats deeper. Also its sorta a romantic trope that these characters are fighting and then they literally end up doing what theyre saying but in a different, nice way. idk. 

[Castellan]

Re the original parallel pointed out in the OP. Jaime really wants to kill outlaws like he did with Arthur, as it seems like an honourable thing. He remembers those days, culminating with being knighted in the field by Arthur, with nostalgia. But when he hangs some outlaws/broken men on the way to Riverun we have already heard Elder Brother's story about broken men and see it differently than Jaime who feels honourable for hanging an outlaw even thoughhe wore the remains of a Lannister cloak.)

Perhaps Jaime has a different role to play in 'giving a sword' than Arthur. Perhaps giving that 'magic' sword to Brienne is the best thing he will ever do.

[Orion2]

@Castellan

Yeah its possible, why do you think the parallel exists then?

I feel like Brienne is sort of the opposite of Cersi, she's ugly but honorable and so on. 

I mean Ice/Oathkeeper is a really strange place for a good thing to come out of a bad thing. Like I would not have thought that Ice being returned or going back to doing something good for the Starks would come in the form of it first being melted down by the Lannisters, and then given back by one, so that he could do the right thing. But I think it might illuminate a theme in Asoiaf which is that things don't go back to how they where, and the bad things change the good ones irreparably. I mean this also happens with resurrection, which reminds me of the sorcery is a sword without a hilt thing. In the sense that everything has a price and nothing is ideal? I'm not quite sure thats the right word. Like everything is mixed up. So Brienne being the ugly honorable sword wench that she is, why the hell is Jaime giving her a sword. what with the Cersi Brienne contrast and all. I mean Brienne is definitely a path to redemption for jaime, or at least she's helping I think. Honestly I think it might just be something badass to say at the beginning of a fight, or in a fight I guess. 

[Castellan]

"Honestly I think it might just be something badass to say at the beginning of a fight, or in a fight I guess."

well that's exactly what it is for both Arthur and Jaime. Its just a quip. But Jaime doesn't win! BTW I like the way in that fight, Jaime goes through the exact mistakes that Brienne's master at arms (the man who trained her, can't remember exactly who he was) told her male opponents would - underestimating her, going in strong, getting tired, trying desperately fo a quick victory because its so humiliating being beaten by a woman (that's going from memory).

But I like the way you pointed out he ended up giving her a sword in a different way. Its a nice little thing, whether or not GRRM deliberately put that there.

Re Brienne and ugliness and being the opposite of Cersei - she is ironically called Brienne the Beauty, but also she comes from Evenfall and the Lord (in her case Lady) or Evenfall is called The Evenstar. The "Evenstar' is one of the terms for Venus, more commonly known as the Morning Star. So I think she does represent love and beauty a sort of opposite to Cersei and someone who is having a good influence on Jaime.

I have always thought Ice/Oathkeeperwas the most important sword in the book. Its names in the title of the book, its gone on a journey north to south like some fo the Starks, now its melted down and reforged coming out red and charcoal black. Oathkeeper is currently headed to the BWB where there is a Fire priest with the gift of resurrection, a Baratheon smith, a resurrected Catelyn... It seems to me that jJaime will be the next to be killed and resurrected, and perhaps Brienne after that. When Brienne was at the Whispers there was constant chatter from Nimble DIck about magic swords etc ... symbols and references piling up.

 

[Orion2]

@Castellan

yeah I really like that

18 hours ago, Castellan said:

have always thought Ice/Oathkeeperwas the most important sword in the book. Its names in the title of the book, its gone on a journey north to south like some fo the Starks, now its melted down and reforged coming out red and charcoal black. Oathkeeper is currently headed to the BWB where there is a Fire priest with the gift of resurrection, a Baratheon smith, a resurrected Catelyn... It seems to me that jJaime will be the next to be killed and resurrected, and perhaps Brienne after that. When Brienne was at the Whispers there was constant chatter from Nimble DIck about magic swords etc ... symbols and references piling up.

I think the Ice/Oathkeeper thing might be another example of the kind of multiple parallels way of things coming true that happens in asoiaf. Well at least in asoiaf mythology. The Last Hero, Azor Ahai, I think there's some other examples of that one. I suppose prophesy is actually pretty direct, what with Dany's visions and the ghost of high heart. But there are less reliable kinds too. Like seeing in the fire. Although that is sort of taking visions, like the person has a kind of voalition, and in the case of shade of the evening its not up to the person as much. Although I don't know that. Maybe the warlocks can control it. And I don't know how the wierwood seeing works either for the ghost of highheart. But it does feel like there are more than one important sword, Ice, Longclaw, Dawn, Needle, but they all have different characters. 

I definitely think Gendry is important. I, yeah..its such a tragedy that jaime and Brienne need to be involved with catelyn. Honestly idk what will happen. I am worried about them. 

18 hours ago, Castellan said:

When Brienne was at the Whispers there was constant chatter from Nimble DIck about magic swords etc ... symbols and references piling up.

I feel like maybe this has more to do with Briennes character development and GRRMs views on honor

Its funny that Brienne is the Just Maid. Theres all these weird half parallels here. Like I feel like its the same with Oathkeeper. 

[Saer]

8 hours ago, Orion2 said:

I think the Ice/Oathkeeper thing might be another example of the kind of multiple parallels way of things coming true that happens in asoiaf. Well at least in asoiaf mythology. The Last Hero, Azor Ahai, I think there's some other examples of that one.

Yeah, like how TWOIAF has all those stories about heroes bringing people together to save the world.

Quote

I suppose prophesy is actually pretty direct, what with Dany's visions and the ghost of high heart.

The Ghost of High Heart does have the one about Sansa slaying a giant in a castle made of snow, which seems like it's going to be fulfilled twice. (With Sweetrobin's doll and then, like, for real.)

[Orion2]

8 hours ago, Saer said:

The Ghost of High Heart does have the one about Sansa slaying a giant in a castle made of snow, which seems like it's going to be fulfilled twice. (With Sweetrobin's doll and then, like, for real.)

yes;) I have an agenda about this

[Aebram]

On 5/20/2021 at 3:20 PM, Orion2 said:

just..... why, why does this parallel exist

I wouldn't consider this a parallel. Sir Arthur Dayne paused in the middle of a fight to the death, so that his enemy could get a new sword. What happened between Brienne and Jaime is much different, no matter how you slice it. (Pardon the expression.)

[Seams]

 

On 5/22/2021 at 8:29 AM, Castellan said:

Re the original parallel pointed out in the OP. . . .

Perhaps Jaime has a different role to play in 'giving a sword' than Arthur.

 

On 5/22/2021 at 11:25 PM, Orion2 said:

Yeah its possible, why do you think the parallel exists then?

There is more than one way to make an heir in ASOIAF. Taking on a ward (often a sort of hostage), a squire, a milk brother, an apprentice, recognizing a bastard or a child of a relative, etc.

In the case of Arthur Dayne, Jaime becomes his "heir" in a way, because Ser Arthur uses the sword Dawn to dub Jaime into knighthood after Jaime's all-night vigil in the sept. When his sword touches Jaime's shoulders, the sharp edge draws a little bit of blood. The blood is a sign of the magical bond between Dayne and Jaime. 

(One thing that fascinates me about dubbing as a way of creating or recognizing an heir is that Rhaegar dubbed Gregor Clegane into knighthood. So many questions about this relationship.)

Reading the symbolism that accompanies Jaime and Ser Arthur, what we're seeing is, I believe, the cycle of the sun over the course of a day. Dayne and his sword are associated with sunrise: dawn. Jaime wears gold armor and he appears to symbolize the sun. Lannister colors are crimson and gold - the colors of the setting sun. As the sun sinks below the horizon, it chooses a successor to carry the sword for the next generation (the next "day"). 

It doesn't take a close reading of the text to understand the symbolism of The Smiling Knight. Jaime says, "And me, that boy I was ... when did he die, I wonder? When I donned the white cloak? When I opened Aerys's throat? That boy had wanted to be Ser Arthur Dayne, but someplace along the way he had become the Smiling Knight instead" (ASoS, Jaime VIII). 

The symbolism of smiling could benefit from a deeper analysis: Theon is known as a smiler and his horse is called Smiler. That horse is set on fire when Ramsay burns Winterfell and takes Theon hostage, turning him into Reek. When Stannis is at The Wall, presuming to act as king in the presence of the Night's Watch, he asks Jon Snow whether he would like to have a smiler or a slayer as the new lord to take over Winterfell. (So we are given a hint that smilers and slayers are opposites but possibly complimentary qualities. Very intriguing given that Jaime is known as the Kingslayer and Sam Tarly is nicknamed Slayer.) When Arya hides the sword Needle under the stone steps by the canal, she notes that it reminds her of Jon Snow's smile. 

Usually the gift of a named weapon goes from father to son and signifies the recognition of an heir: Aegon IV giving Blackfyre to Daemon Rivers was the cause of the succession crisis that launched numerous rebellions. I think that Kraznys mo Nakloz is a symbolic King Aerys when he hands over to Dany the whip known as The Harpy's Fingers, recognizing her as the heir of House Targaryen. There are other transfers of weapons that are more complicated: Shea and Penny help to outfit Tyrion with armor that is scrounged from piles of mismatched armor belonging to a company - I think this can be compared to the baby of Lollys Stokeworth being fathered by half a hundred small folk when she is raped during the bread riots. Brienne takes a sword that belongs to Renly when she witnesses the shadow killing him in his tent. She loses that sword along the way somewhere but gains a couple of other swords, including Oathkeeper. She finally gives a sword to Nimble Dick, who has been nagging her about getting a sword for himself. As soon as he has the sword, however, a morningstar smashes his knee and the sword flies out of his hands, vanishing in the grass. (Lots of symbolism in the arming, disarming and death of Nimble Dick.) 

It's ironic, of course, that the Smiling Knight says he wants Ser Arthur Dayne's sword and that Ser Arthur then gives it to him by stabbing him to death. But the symbolic "giving" of the sword has taken place and the heir that is recognized is symbolic Jaime.

The recognition of an heir with Ice / Oathkeeper / Widow's Wail is kind of complicated. Tywin gave Ice to Ser Illyn Payne but he then takes the sword back. It appears that Tywin Lannister is favoring Jaime and Joffrey with the Valyrian steel swords he has commissioned from Tobho Mott. When Tyrion notes that Tywin has not given him a blade, Tywin tells him to take a blade from the collection of King Robert, suggesting that his uncle Gerion had given Robert a dagger with an ivory and sapphire handle that might be a good choice for Tyrion. It seems like an insult, of course, that Tywin is giving the splendid new blades to Jaime and Joffrey but snubbing Tyrion. But we know that uncle Gerion went missing when he went in search of Bright Roar, the ancestral sword of House Lannister - Gerion is (symbolically) the holder of Bright Roar. Reading the subtext, Tywin telling Tyrion that he should have a dagger associated with Gerion is actually an honorable way of recognizing Tyrion as an heir of House Lannister, worthy of possessing a king's blade (since it went to King Robert after leaving Gerion's hands). 

(A slight digression: I think the dagger with the ivory handle may be symbolic of the boar that killed King Robert as boar's tusks are a kind of ivory. Through wordplay, the name "Bright Roar" can also become something like "right boar," tying House Lannister as a whole to this kingslaying that was attributed in large part to Cersei providing fortified wine to Robert before he foolishly, drunkenly hunted the wild boar.) 

But my point is that Jaime giving the new sword to Brienne is part of the next, new cycle of sunrise and sunset. The sigil of House Tarth is suns and moons. Brienne's father is called the Evenstar, which sounds like evening star and suggests sunset. My guess is that we will never see The Evenstar "on stage" in the books and that he is symbolic, again, of Jaime. (Setting sun = Lannister. Also, the town on the east end of Tarth is called Morne. The Eyrie, home of the warden of the East, is made of marble from Tarth. Lannisters are the wardens of the West.) Like a father, Jaime gives Brienne a named sword. The OP cites the excerpt of Jaime and Brienne's conversation when Jaime gives Oathkeeper to Brienne. She starts to raise the topic of Joffrey and Jaime immediately thinks that Joffrey was never his son. In other words, he never felt the need to give Joffrey a sword, recognizing him as his heir. Instead, he gives the sword to Brienne, recognizing a different kind of heir. 

Aside from Oathkeeper and Renly's sword, what is the first weapon associated with Brienne? A morningstar. She uses it to defeat Ser Loras in the melee at Bitterbridge, securing her place in Renly's Rainbow Guard. It's not Dawn, but the meaning is the same. 

(Another tangent: Ser Dontos is also associated with the morningstar. He uses a morningstar made of a ripe melon to try to protect Sansa from Joffrey's violence after Rob Stark's victory at the Whispering Wood. There is a lot of symbolism around Dontos and Sansa as Florian / Jonquil and the Maiden and Ser Galladon of Morne and the gift of a sword.)