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Born under a Fiery Star


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I happened upon a children's book called Stories from King Arthur from the 50s or 60s, and there is a passage about King Arthur being born under a Fiery Star in the shape of a dragon, it is a pretty short chapter so I will just post the whole thing:

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The Fiery Star

One dark and stormy night Merlin stood at one of his seventy windows, and kept looking, and looking up at the wild sky.  He was expecting to see something there: something very unusual and wonderful, which one of his fairy books had told him to expect. For a long time, however, nothing happened. The watching magician only saw the clouds racing like inky shadows over the clear high spaces that were sprinkled with stars. Then, all at once, he caught sight of a little pearly glimmer in the north. This little pearly glimmer grew brighter and brighter; it turned from silver to gold, and from gold to a deep shining red, like the red of rubies. Merlin gazed still more eagerly, and presently, in the heart of the red glow he saw a great star brighten, as you might see a crimson fire suddenly break into a shining flame. From the great star one ray shot out suddenly, brilliant as a diamond and slender as a knight's spear. At the end of the ray appeared a globe of fire, which, as Merlin still watched, uncoiled itself slowly and took the shape of a beautiful and terrible dragon.  This fiery dragon opened its mouth and sent out two more rays, one to the east, the other to the west.  The eastern ray seemed to have no end to it, but disappeared in brightness, so that you might almost have thought the sun was just going to rise.  The ray to the west went into the night-shadows, and then broke up into seven smaller rays, which spread themselves in a golden fan above the shadowy peaks of the distant hills.

When Merlin had seen all this happen, he laughed gladly, and, flying down the long stair-case of his fairy home, as lightly as a bird or a butterfly, he set off on invisible wings through the night. Always the fiery dragon shone in the sky overhead; and Merlin knew that its bright form was hanging just over the castle of Uther, the King.  As the wizard drew near to the castle he dropped on to his feet on the grass, and took on the form of an old man, wrapped in a cloak.  With his white beard blowing about him in the wind, and the hood of the cloak drawn down over his eyes and forehead, Merlin walked up to the castle gates and knocked loudly with his staff.

 

Now, all this time the great flaming dragon was lying, stretched out in the sky, steeping the towers and turrets of the castle in a crimson light, fiery and terrible. The guards and servants, the porters, the cooks, and the pages had seen it, and were frightened out of their wits. Nobody dared to answer the door at first, so Merlin knocked again, much more loudly.

Then, when a terrified porter appeared, the magician, in a voice of authority, demanded to be taken to the presence of the King.

There was something in Merlin's voice that the porter dared not disobey. He hurriedly opened the great gate and let the old man in. Then he led Merlin through the courtyard-all lit up by the dragon-down the great stone corridor, across the hall, hung with gorgeous tapestry, where terrified pages waited, dressed in satins and silks. Then the porter paused and pointed ; and Merlin went on alone right into the royal apartment of the King.

King Uther sat on his throne, pale and grave, and quite alone. Through a great window, curtainless and arched, came the fiery glow from the dragon in the sky. It stained the fresh green rushes on the floor with crimson, and shone all about the solitary figure of the King.  Uther looked up at the sound of footsteps, and saw an old man coming slowly up the room, wrapped in a long cloak, with a snow-white beard that streamed, in long thick strands, far be low his waist.

"Who are you ? Why do you come here unbidden and unannounced?" demanded the King Sternly. But, before he finished speaking, the old man threw back his cloak, and Uther saw who he was.

"Merlin-my friend Merlin !” he cried in an altered voice. "I am indeed glad you have come!  What means this blazing and terrible dragon in the sky?  Is it a sign of some cruel disaster, some great trouble, that is about to fall upon my house?"

Then Merlin answered. His voice sounded glad and triumphant that King Uther knew the news was good even before the magician gave it. 

The dragon is the most wonderful sign that has ever shone in the sky above the castle of a King,” cried Merlin.  "I have been watching for it night after night, hoping and longing to see it come!  It means that to you, and to the beautiful lady you love, a little Prince will be born.  This little Prince will be the greatest King the world ever saw. He will reign over many subjects, and will conquer all his enemies.  He is the ray from the mouth of the dragon that goes to the east, and he will be as bright and beautiful as the rising sun.  The ray that goes to the west, and breaks up into seven rays, is your daughter. She will be, not only a Princess, but a fairy, and have seven fairy children, who will teach the men-children of the West the songs that fairies sing.  See how the seven rays end in a shining mist! That is the meaning of the fiery dragon, King Uther--the meaning that I have hurried into your presence to explain!"

Uther listened breathlessly, and, all the time, the light from the dragon shone crimson upon the faces, and hands, and robes, of the old wizard and the young King. Then Uther leant forward and pressed his fingers on Merlin's arm.

"My beautiful lady?" he said eagerly. "Do you mean Ygierne?"

He could hardly wait for Merlin's reply, because he had loved Ygierne for months, but she was shut up in a castle, quite out of his reach.

"Yes, I mean Ygierne,"answered Merlin. "I promise that you shall have her for your bride. I promise, too, that you and she shall have this bright and beautiful Prince and this fairy-like Princess for your children. But, if you are to marry Ygierne through my help, you must make me a promise in return."

"What is that?" asked Uther.  "Tell me!  There is no promise that I would not make for the sake of beautiful Ygierne!"

"You must promise that, as soon as your little son is born, you will give him into my care. He has a great work to do in the world, and can only learn to do it if I have the charge of him. Give me your promise, Uther, and I will set about the performance of mine!”

Then King Uther, for a moment, felt uncertain and sad.  Where would be the gladness in a little princely son, if the child was to be taken away from him as soon as he was born?  But he loved Ygierne so passionately that, after only hesitating for one second, he consented.

"Very well, Merlin!” he cried. "Very well!  You shall have my little son to bring up as your own child, if you will only make it possible for me to marry my beautiful lady, Ygierne!" 

The red shining through the window, which fell from the fiery dragon in the sky, grew stronger and fiercer as Uther spoke. When he had given the promise the light blazed crimson and terrible about the throne on which he sat, and showed up all the diamonds and sapphires in his sceptre and crown.  A peal of thunder rolled above the palace; a flash of lightning darted about the grey stone towers, The blazing dragon seemed to close its jaws. As it closed them the rays drew slowly back into its great mouth-the one ray from the east, and the seven rays from the west.  It stretched out its long fiery claws, and two great golden wings rose, waving, over its great golden head. Then, all at once, it spread out these wings and hung, poised, above the castle, so that all the pages, and cooks, and scullions, and porters, hid themselves in the darkest corners and cupboards and cellars they could find!  But, in stead of swooping down upon the castle, as they expected, the blazing dragon struck its wings together once-twice-thrice.  Once, twice, thrice, the thunder pealed out again; and, before its echoes had died away, the fiery creature had shot, swift as an arrow, far through the night-sky, leaving a long tail of starry light, like the tail of a comet, behind it.

Even King Uther had crouched for a moment, and covered his face. When he took his jewelled satin cloak from his eyes, the royal throne-room was empty, dark, and still. Merlin had vanished with the dragon, and had gone back to the fairy house of seventy windows and sixty doors. The King was left alone, with the promise of a beautiful bride and wonderful little son.

The King stepped down from his throne and went to the window. He looked up to the sky, and saw it dark and clear, silvered over with little quiet stars. Then he summoned a herald (who came, trembling still) and told him to take his trumpet and go through the castle, crying aloud these words:

King Uther has been told the meaning of the blazing dragon in the sky. It is a sign of great gladness, and victory, and well-being for himself and for his kingdom. From now the King will be known as King Uther Pendragon, and he lays commands on his royal sculptors that two golden dragons immediately be made. One of these dragons will be set up in the capital of his kingdom. The other will be carried by his royal standard-bearer into every battle. These are the orders of Uther Pendragon, King of the lordly and ancient country of Britain!"

 

There are two children born under bleeding star, a boy and a girl.  The boy will be King Arthur and be as the rising sun (Dawn), and who will unify the kingdoms,  and the girl will bear seven fairy/children who will carry on the line of kings.

 

The children's book version comes from The History of the Kings of Britain, by Geoffrey Monmouth:

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there appeared a star of wonderful magnitude and brightness, darting forth a ray, at the end of which was a globe of fire in form of a dragon, out of whose mouth issued forth two rays; one of which seemed to stretch out itself beyond the extent of Gaul, the other towards the Irish Sea, and ended in seven lesser rays.  

CHAP. XV.--A comet presignifies the reign of Uther.


At the appearance of this star, a general fear and amazement seized the people; and even Uther, the king's brother, who was then upon his march with his army into Cambria, being not a little terrified at it, was very curious to know of the learned men, what it portended. Among others, he ordered Merlin to be called, who also attended in this expedition to give his advice in the management of the war; and who, now being presented before him, was commanded to discover to him the significance of the star. At this he burst out into tears, and with a loud voice cried out, "O irreparable loss! O distressed people of Britain! Alas! the illustrious prince is departed! The renowned king of the Britons, Aurelius Ambrosius, is dead! whose death will prove fatal to us all, unless God be our helper. Make haste, therefore, most noble Uther, make haste to engage the enemy: the victory will be yours, and you shall be king of all Britain. For the star, and the fiery dragon under it, signifies yourself, and the ray extending towards the Gallic coast, portends that you shall have a most potent son, to whose power all those kingdoms shall be subject over which the ray reaches. But the other ray signifies a daughter, whose sons and grandsons shall successively enjoy the kingdom of Britain."  

 

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If there is any connection to this story at all, it may have served as somewhat of an inspiration to George.  We already know who was reborn under a star.  A bleeding star in this story.  Daenerys Targaryen and the dragons were all reborn when the red star was close to the planet.  She is the King Artur, the person who awakened dragons from stone.  It was not a sword but a dragons pulled from stone in this story.

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8 hours ago, Wolf's Bane said:

 It was not a sword but a dragons pulled from stone in this story.

 Swords and dragons.  The Red Comet is the Red Sword of Heroes, and it is also a Red Dragon. 

Ran has said on here before that Dawn is Lightbringer, don't know if he said it ironically--but thematically, a magic meteor [falling star / dragon] sword named Dawn should bring the Dawn.  And a sword made from a meteorite would be a sword made out of a stone.  And it was wielded by Arthur, who I think is Mance, and who was King Beyond the Wall, and united the people--just like King Arthur.  And Mance is associated with glamors and costumes and false identities.  In Latin, mane means "dawn" and manes means "ghost" and "the deified souls of the departed"

The Last Heroes Sword was Dragonsteel. 

Dany's dragons are a flaming sword hanging above the world:

"When your dragons were small they were a wonder. Grown, they are death and devastation, a flaming sword above the world."

But also, if Lightbringer is the Red Comet, there were 3 forgings--there will be 3 appearances of the Red Comet--just like in Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn--with the final one at the climax of the story.  That gives three chances for the Last Hero to be (re)born under it. 

 

And just to muddy the waters, there are some passages that indicate that the Long Night is ended by a coalition of people, not a single individual. 

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I wrote an essay about this that can be found here

The broad strokes of the essay is that ACoK has all this connective tissue between different POVs, where the comet is identified to either dragons (and this begins in Dany's last chapter in AGoT right before she hatches her dragons), and with swords. And it all bleeds into each other. GRRM arranged his chapters in a way that tells a story.

  • Dany calls the comet the "Dragon's Tail" (Daenerys X, AGoT 72)
  • Melisandre calls the comet "Dragonsbreath" (Prologue, ACoK)
  • Gendry calls the comet the Red Sword (Arya I, ACoK 1)
  • Arya can see the sword, and thinks about what Ice would have looked like with her father's blood on it (Arya I, ACoK 1) 

So this is literally at the end of Dany X, in AGoT and the start of ACoK. Gendry calls the comet the Red Sword before we ever hear about the Red Sword of Heroes and Arya identifies the comet as a bloody sword and thinks of her father. And yes, Ned was sacrificed. And when we know the story of Lightbringer, then Arya's thoughts 100% fit.

  • Servants call the comet the Dragon's Tail (Sansa I, ACoK 2)
  • Old Nan says the comet has to do with dragons (Bran I, ACoK 4)
  • We get the story of the forging of Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes (Davos I, ACoK 10)
  • And out of nowhere, right after Bran listens to a song about The Night That Ended, he thinks about his father telling him about Dawn being forged from the heart of a fallen star and Bran goes to bed hoping to dream of knights wielding swords that shine like starfire (Bran III, ACoK 21)

This is all in the very early chapters of ACoK. 

If the comet is connected to both dragons and swords, what would people 8,000 years ago call a sword that was forged from the heart of a fallen star? 

I think they might call it dragonsteel. 

All of this connects back to Waymar Royce's stand against the Other who was examining his sword attentively. And it connects that massacre at the Fist of the First Men with that Azor Ahai / Lightbringer imagery we get with Thoren Smallwood right before his head gets taken off by the undead bear. 

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1 hour ago, Alexis-something-Rose said:

If the comet is connected to both dragons and swords, what would people 8,000 years ago call a sword that was forged from the heart of a fallen star? 

I think they might call it dragonsteel.

Really good summary, and I agree with all your points.  I would just like the add the extra layer of confusion of the Red Sword of Heroes referring to both the Red Comet itself and the actual physical sword Dawn when held by the Last Hero/Sword of the Morning. 

I am a firm believer that the entire myth about Lightbringer, Nissa Nissa, Azor Ahai, and the ending of the Long Night are mythologized accounts of celestial occurrences: namely that the Second Moon caused a generation long eclipse and the Red Comet/Lightbringer/Red Dragon knocked it out of eclipse and brought the Dawn.  And that the 3 forgings refer to three appearances of the Red Comet, the final one hitting the Second Moon,   So, I don't know what role an actual physical sword would play in such a scenario--it could be entirely mythologized.

(sorry if you have heard this before)  In Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, the magic greatsword Thorn was made from a piece of the Red Comet that fell to Earth, and I think the same is true of Dawn.  And I think the Red Comet is made of weirwood, and Dawn was made out of the Heart(tree) of a Falling Star--which is what makes it special.  The name Thorn implies that it is part plant, and Thorn was a sword that was "somehow alive" with its own volition.  Thorn was wielded by a Camaris (and camaoir means "dawn" in gaelic), who was the greatest most chivalrous knight of his age, who gave up his sword and disappeared 40 years ago, and is presumed dead.  He had a head injury and lost his memory, which returns to him in the 3rd act when he is reunited with his sword Thorn, and he unites the people just in time to lead the armies of men against the Storm King.  Obvious parallels to Arthur being separated from Dawn, and losing his identity and living as Mance, and Mance uniting the Wildlings. ("mance rayder" is an anagram of "dayne camerr")

 

Here is something to think about, Arthur Dayne was born in Starfall, whose sigil is a falling star--which is a fiery star.  Arthur was born under the sigil of a fiery star, which I think depicts a piece of the Red Comet falling to Earth.  So that works, he was born under a bleeding star--although just a depiction of it.  This could apply to anyone born under the Dayne banner.  And it really makes sense that a Dayne who is the Sword of the Morning should bring the dawn with Dawn.  And that it should be King Arthur that does it, since Arthur wields Excalibur.  And I think the Palestone Sword Tower is a metaphor for a weirwood which will become the Red Sword of Heroes--it is where Dawn is kept.  Pulling the sword from the (pale)stone sword tower.

"He had no crown nor scepter, no robes of silk and velvet, but it was plain to Jon that Mance Rayder was a king in more than name. "

And it seems more like George that the True King did not get the title by conquest or threat of Dragonfire or heredity but earned it by uniting a people peacefully, which is Mance.  And the entire power structure of Westeros is going to crumble during the Long Night, and I think Arthur will hold it together as long as possible, but ultimately fail as everyone dies around him.

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6 hours ago, By Odin's Beard said:

I am a firm believer that the entire myth about Lightbringer, Nissa Nissa, Azor Ahai, and the ending of the Long Night are mythologized accounts of celestial occurrences:

I'm of the mind that comets have a periodic cycle and previous appearances have been recorded in the religion and mythology of those who see it.  I think the last visit was 5 or 6,000 years ago and this coincides with the first Andal invasion.  The appearance of the comet is marked by carving the bleeding star into rocks at the Fingers, where they landed and into the flesh of the warriors.  So a previous appearance of the comet would have been 5 or 6,000 years before the first Andal invasion, perhaps during the first long night giving rise to all the legends about heroes of different cultures engaged in the same war.  So the current appearance of the red comet would make it the third appearance. 

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7 hours ago, By Odin's Beard said:

And that the 3 forgings refer to three appearances of the Red Comet, the final one hitting the Second Moon,

I don't think there was ever a second moon.  I think the first appearance of the comet generated the second moon stories in early cultures and it was mistaken for a moon:

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A Clash of Kings - Bran I

"They want to hunt," agreed Gage the cook as he tossed cubes of suet in a great kettle of stew. "A wolf smells better'n any man. Like as not, they've caught the scent o' prey."

Maester Luwin did not think so. "Wolves often howl at the moon. These are howling at the comet. See how bright it is, Bran? Perchance they think it is the moon."

The story that the moon flew too close to the sun drinking it's fire; is more likely a descirption of the comet eclipsing the sun on it's orbit, appearing to fly too close and 'drink it's fire' with the darkening of the sun.  The moon/comet cracking open would be consistent with the comet flying too close to the planet rather than the sun.  There would be no way for primitive cultures to know the difference. This is just how they interpret what they see happening in the sky.

The falling debris could be the cause of the long night but it wasn't an extinction level event.  The entire comet didn't impact the planet.  However, large enough chunks may have fallen to cause a mini-nuclear winter.  But where is the impact crater?  Perhaps in the sea, like the comet that impacted the Yucatan and Gulf of Mexico.  So I'm going to say the Smoking Sea is the smoking gun.

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19 hours ago, By Odin's Beard said:

And just to muddy the waters, there are some passages that indicate that the Long Night is ended by a coalition of people, not a single individual. 

I will go with a coalition.  I'm also questioning whether the AA story is about forging one sword or three swords, possibly even four swords.

- tempered in water

- tempered in the heart of a lion

- tempered in the heart of Nissa Nissa

- forged from the heart of a fallen star 

The AA story of one sword might be symbolic of the forging of more than more than one sword and warrior/hero.

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8 hours ago, By Odin's Beard said:

Here is something to think about, Arthur Dayne was born in Starfall, whose sigil is a falling star--which is a fiery star.  Arthur was born under the sigil of a fiery star, which I think depicts a piece of the Red Comet falling to Earth.  So that works, he was born under a bleeding star--although just a depiction of it.  This could apply to anyone born under the Dayne banner.  And it really makes sense that a Dayne who is the Sword of the Morning should bring the dawn with Dawn.  And that it should be King Arthur that does it, since Arthur wields Excalibur.  And I think the Palestone Sword Tower is a metaphor for a weirwood which will become the Red Sword of Heroes--it is where Dawn is kept.  Pulling the sword from the (pale)stone sword tower.

I think that the bolded part is especially true. I don't know about the weirwood metaphors, though. I've always had it in mind that one of the criteria of becoming Sword of the Morning was to be born under a white star. 

What I'm getting from the story is that the Long Night lasted a generation, so the sword might have changed hands during that time. What I'm also getting is that the tale of Galladon of Morne isn't just some story and that it is most likely tied to Dawn. Moving his story from Tarth to Essos gives us something super fascinating. 

I would also like to point out that dawn isn't just the daybreak. It's also a woman's name. 

Different continents/regions/cultures breed different names that do mean the same thing.

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2 hours ago, Alexis-something-Rose said:

I think that the bolded part is especially true. I don't know about the weirwood metaphors, though. I've always had it in mind that one of the criteria of becoming Sword of the Morning was to be born under a white star. 

Martin is tricky about such things.  Brienne also has a falling star painted on her shield.  And the Faith use a bleeding star in their religious iconography.  I'm put in mind of Martin's story of a lord who was told he would die at a certain castle, but instead died at a pub under a sign of that castle.  So while the star and sword of house Dayne implies that only a Dayne can claim the sword, I'm not sure it will play out that way.    

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40 minutes ago, LynnS said:

Martin is tricky about such things.  Brienne also has a falling star painted on her shield.  And the Faith use a bleeding star in their religious iconography.  I'm put inn mind of Martin's story of a lord who was told he would die at a certain castle but instead did at a pub under a sign of that castle.  So while the star and sword of house Dayne implies that only a Dayne can claim the sword, I'm not sure it will play out that way.    

I think the Dayne are the custodians of the sword. I think the sword itself belongs to the NW and that they are supposed to return it and that it will still have to be wielded by someone who is worthy of the sword.

So I've been writing a follow-up essay to the one on the sword. This one is on the horn and I noticed a couple of things.

The first thing is that there are three objects mentioned in the NW vows. 

I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men

The non italicized lines are straight up about the Long Night. But the sword, the horn and the shield are the objects mentioned. And yes, we are supposed to take them as metaphors, however, we know there is a sword and we know there is a horn, so I'm guessing that there must be a shield as well. 

If Dawn is the sword, then the sword is at Starfall. And if the horn mentioned in the vows is the one that Jon found at the Fist of the First Men, then the horn is also in the south, with Sam, at Oldtown. 

Geographically, this is the closest the horn and the sword have been to one another in 8,000 years. And I think that's pretty damn important.

If there's a shield, then it hasn't been introduced yet and we don't know where it is. But given the number three shenanigans throughout the story, it makes sense that there should be a third object.

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18 minutes ago, Alexis-something-Rose said:

If there's a shield, then it hasn't been introduced yet and we don't know where it is. But given the number three shenanigans throughout the story, it makes sense that there should be a third object.

Oh - I like where this is going!  I'll be very interested in your next OP.  Here's my guess about the who represents the Shield:

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A Storm of Swords - Jaime VIII

The table itself was old weirwood, pale as bone, carved in the shape of a huge shield supported by three white stallions. By tradition the Lord Commander sat at the top of the shield, and the brothers three to a side, on the rare occasions when all seven were assembled. The book that rested by his elbow was massive; two feet tall and a foot and a half wide, a thousand pages thick, fine white vellum bound between covers of bleached white leather with gold hinges and fastenings. The Book of the Brothers was its formal name, but more often it was simply called the White Book.

 I think Jaime has a part to play at the Wall.

Another piece of the puzzle, in the story of the Just Maid and the Perfect Knight. ;)

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18 minutes ago, LynnS said:

Oh - I like where this is going!  I'll be very interested in your next OP.  Here's my guess about the who represents the Shield:

Jaime is interesting and I am certain he has a huge role to play in the Long Night. Him and Brienne both. Brienne with her House's sigil and the Tarth lords being called "Evenstar" makes her even more interesting than Jaime. In Jaime's weirwood dream, IIRC, I think his sword gutters out while hers is still burning.

But I think the objects are connected to the three heads of the dragon. One is the sword, one is the shield and one is the horn. That's why the dragon must have three heads.

I'll PM you the link to the essay once I post it to my blog. 

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2 minutes ago, Alexis-something-Rose said:
 

Jaime is interesting and I am certain he has a huge role to play in the Long Night. 

But I think the objects are connected to the three heads of the dragon. One is the sword, one is the shield and one is the horn.

I'll PM you the link to the essay once I post it to my blog. 

OK. I look forward to it.   I'll save my comments for your OP.  

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5 hours ago, LynnS said:

I'm of the mind that comets have a periodic cycle and previous appearances have been recorded in the religion and mythology of those who see it.  I think the last visit was 5 or 6,000 years ago and this coincides with the first Andal invasion.  The appearance of the comet is marked by carving the bleeding star into rocks at the Fingers, where they landed and into the flesh of the warriors.  So a previous appearance of the comet would have been 5 or 6,000 years before the first Andal invasion, perhaps during the first long night giving rise to all the legends about heroes of different cultures engaged in the same war.  So the current appearance of the red comet would make it the third appearance. 

 

4 hours ago, LynnS said:

I will go with a coalition.  I'm also questioning whether the AA story is about forging one sword or three swords, possibly even four swords.

- tempered in water

- tempered in the heart of a lion

- tempered in the heart of Nissa Nissa

- forged from the heart of a fallen star 

The AA story of one sword might be symbolic of the forging of more than more than one sword and warrior/hero.

In Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, the three appearances of the Red Comet happen within a couple years of each other.  And the Red Comet is not a natural phenomenon, whatever it was, was magical and somehow alive.  In ASOIAF, the Red Comet is not a periodic comet but can come randomly and several times in relatively quick succession, because it is weirwood trees being launched into space to colonize new planets.  The Red Comet caused a surge in magic, a surge in Wildfire production, and coincided with "waking dragons from stone"  because the Red Comet is a weirwood, going off into space like the Volcryn--the Volcryn also caused magic happenings wherever it went.

The comet was horn-shaped, and it woke up the sleeping Weirwoods, was it the Horn the Wakes the Sleepers?  It could also be the Sword in the Darkness.

Azor Ahai was a smith (in hindi aheri means "anvil" and auzar means "tool, implement, arms"), he created three swords, the last one was the Red Sword of Heroes.  In the faith of the Seven,  the Smith is Mars, the red planet, what if the Red Comets are coming from Mars and it is called the smith because it creates "swords."  The Red Comet doesn't orbit the sun, they are just shot out of the solar system to populate other planets with weirwood. 

The sword Dawn is a literal shooting star. 

There is a theme of smiths being underneath metaphorical weirwoods, the Storm Lord whose weapon is a huge hammer, and who wears an Antler Crown (weirwood crown) and whose castle is round with a stone fist punching the sky (and barathrum means "abyss or maw" in Latin, and Renly was a green man) and with Tobho Mots shop being cave-like with weirwood doors (Mot is the got of death, and tobar means "well, fountain, source"), and Gendry in Beric's weirwood cave (geannaire means "hammer")  And Gendry is the Bull / Bole.

In Hindi, mar means "death" and marz means "disease" and "iron"

What if Mars is completely covered in weirwoods?  The story Vulthoom by Clark Ashton Smith, is about an satanic alien white tree that lives underground on Mars, and landed there as a falling star, and wants to launch itself off of Mars to come to Earth.  And the book Lucifer Comet (and Lucifer means Lightbringer) is about a Promethean god that lived on Mars that launched itself off the planet as a comet to come to Earth.

And Azimov's book Nemesis is about a Red Planet that has a long orbit around the solar system and it is completely covered in red telepathic fungus. 

Mars watches Jon "through the trees"

Mars passes through the 12 houses of the zodiac, "the sword plunged into water" was when Mars was in Aquarius or Pisces it launched a comet, "the sword plunged into a Lion's heart" is when Mars was in Leo it launched a comet--the star Cor Leonis is the Lion's Heart, and "the sword plunged into Nissa Nissa's heart" was when Mars was in Virgo it launched the comet that came to Earth and hit the dark object that was causing the Long Night eclipse.

In Hindi, Nisa means "night" and nisa nisa means "continually" so Nissa Nissa means "continually night" she is a metaphor for the Long Night, and Ahi means "snake or dragon" and asura means "demon" (and Azhi Dahak was a three-headed dragon)

All astronomical occurrences turned into myth.  The flaming sword plunged into the heart of Nissa Nissa was a Red Comet that hit the Second Moon which was causing the Long Night. 

 

The Red Dragon that lived under the White Tower in Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn was called Shurakai (asura + ahi) I think this is where George got Azor Ahai from.  And at the climax of the story the White Tower appears to leave the surface of the Earth.  There is a smithy under the White Tower, and that is where the Sithe Storm King Ineluki (Loki) made one of the magic swords--magic swords and red dragons under the White Tower.

 

In Norse mythology the beginning of Ragnarok is signaled by three roosters crowing, one of them is red.

 

For all the evidence I have collected about the Second Moon, check out this thread.

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3 hours ago, Alexis-something-Rose said:

What I'm also getting is that the tale of Galladon of Morne isn't just some story and that it is most likely tied to Dawn.

It is another retelling of the Long Night:

Recall that in irish mythology Bran's Cauldron brings the dead back to life.

Galladon and the Just Maid

gaileadan means "kettle, boiler, and voracious eater" in gaelic,

gall means "Stranger, stone vase, boiler, rock" in gaelic, and guala means "large vessel", and gual means "coal", guil means "weep, cry, lament"

The Stranger is a huge, hollow, metal celestial object, that allows the dead to come back to life.

The Story of Galladon of Morne describes him as the Perfect Knight--what if it was really a perfect night--as in the Long Night.

sgaladh means "kettle, cauldron" and sgala means "ill-shaped hood, or tunic"

In Arthurian myth, Galahad finds the Holy Grail, and gailiughad means "steaming, boiling"

 

Galladon was the Stranger/cauldron/Shadow Moon and the Just Maid was the red comet that struck it.

"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."

In gaelic Maighdean refers to the zodiac constellation Virgo (and it means "beheading instrument"), and Meidh refers to Libra, the scales (and it means "trunk of a tree").  So a beheading instrument / trunk of a tree is associated with maiden/maid zodiac constellations.

If the enchanted sword Just Maid is the Red Comet being fired from Mars when Mars in the Moonmaid. or Virgo / Libra (Moonmaid + Scales of Justice) towards Earth, this account makes sense.  Brienne refers to the Just Maid as a "bloody sword" and it makes three appearances.  The Maiden "lost her heart to him"--her chest was a cannon and she shot her Heart Tree upon him, and she "gave him the sword."  Maidin means "dawn" in gaelic (and "little stick"), so that supports the Dawn = Lightbringer Comet hypothesis.

In the conversation between Brienne and Nimble Dick, they mention the possibility of a fight between Galladon and Clarence Crabb whose weapon is an uprooted tree that he can throw through the air--and they suggest the bloody comet/sword would have come into play, and Dick says Crabb would have decapitated Galladon, and maighdean means decapitation and meidh means the trunk of a tree. 

Oh, and craobh means "tree" in gaelic.

The three appearances of the sword match the Azor Ahai myth. 

The Whispers have talking decapitated heads, like Bloodraven's cave.  The Whispers have a beacon tower sinking into the sea, and a ruined castle that the godswood has taken over and poisonous red vines are growing through it.  Beacon means "mushroom" in gaelic, and the Hightower is a huge beacon tower that is red and white.

 

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36 minutes ago, By Odin's Beard said:

All astronomical occurrences turned into myth. 

OK, well I do think that legends and stories are a way for primitive cultures to explain celestial phenomena they don't understand.  I also think that Martin is playing with the notion of extremophiles; animals that live in extreme conditions.  Fire and ice, perhaps caves and the notion that comets are responsible for seeding planets with life.  In this case, magical forms of life.

Thank you for the interesting OP, audio links and all the fascinating etymology.   

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Nagga and Dawn

In Hindi, the word nagadaun means "wormwood" 

In gaelic mormonta means "wormwood" and the Red Comet is called Mormont's Torch,

Wormwood is the name of a comet from the bible that is prophesied to land on Earth and kill a bunch of people during the apocalypse. 

Wormwood sounds like weirwood,  And I have been arguing in my thread about the White Worm, that weirwoods are the white worm of death, so worm = wood.

In hindi naga means "snake" and refers a "mythological demon having the face of a man and the body of a serpent"

Greyking means "Dawn" in old english. 

Nagadaun / Nagga+Dawn / Nagga + the Grey King / Dawn is the weirwood comet

The Grey King lived inside Nagga, whose ribs are weirwood, and his throne was her jaws--a weirwood eating a greenseer.  The myth mentions islands being drowned, and trees being struck by lightning, and ships being made out of weirwood, and an entire civilization being swept away when the Grey King departed.

And the Iron Islands look broken apart like they were shattered like Valyria was (also Great Wyk,  wyke means "to depart" and the name Great Wyk implies a giant candle).

Nagga's ribs look like the burst open rib cage of a huge sea creature.

The Grey King is Dawn, the nagadaun wormwood weirwood comet brings the Dawn.

 

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And this talk about nagadaun and Dawn being inside the weirwood called Nagga fits with Dawn currently being kept inside the Palestone Sword Tower.  A White Tower named after a falling star, which is a sword in the sky and became a real sword.  A White Tower on an island that was raised up where a meteor landed on Earth, sounds like the God's Eye impact crater where the weirwood landed.

The God's Eye is Avalon, and Avalon is where King Arthur went to die, and also Excalibur was forged at Avalon.

Caliburn is another name for Excalibur, and in Lord of the Rings, Celeborn lived in the White Tree with Galadriel.

And in Lord of the Rings, Avallone and its Great White Tower get launched into space.  And of course, Earendil (eorendil means "Dawn" in Anglo-Saxon) got launched into space in a magic ship made of white wood with one of the Silmarils and became the Flammifer star and defeated the huge black dragon Ancalagon and ended the darkness and brought the dawn.

 

Also, in Lord of the Rings, Narsil is a sword that was broken and is reforged.  Narsil means “red and white flame” in Quenya (and weirwoods are red and white, Dawn is a White Sword, and lit ablaze is a red and white sword)

When Narsil is remade it is named Anduril, the Flame of the West, and it is regularly described as a flaming sword.--which is very close the Flammifer of Westernesse, which is Earendil's Star.

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“Very bright was that sword when it was made whole again; the light of the sun shone redly in it, and the light of the moon shone cold, its edge was hard and keen.”

“the bright blade of Anduril shone like a sudden flame as he swept it out”

“the light of Anduril must be uncovered” 

“Anduril rose and fell, gleaming with white fire. . . The Blade that was broken shines again!”

“Anduril came down upon his helm.  There was a flash like flame and the helm burst asunder.”

“But before all went Aragorn with the Flame of the West, Anduril like a new fire kindled, Narsil re-forged as deadly as of old, and upon his brow was the Star of Elendil.”

 

King Arthur's Excalibur is described as a flaming bright sword, and in gaelic gorn means “firebrand, fire, torch” and I think Mance used Gorne's way to pass the Wall. 

Hey, what if Mormont's raven was trying to say "gorn" every time it said "corn"? 

 

The raven saying "Gorn" and "King" = Aragorn, was he saying Jon is Aragorn?

In gaelic aire /airig = “nobleman” and gorn means “firebrand, fire, torch” 

Sindarin ara  means "noble, kingly"  aryan means “noble, kingly” in Hindi

And Jon does have a dream with the red flaming sword.

 

I just looked up "corn king" and the first result is "a god who would come to earth, die, and then return to the realm of the gods"--which sounds an awful lot like a weirwood landing on earth, then later flying back into space.

And if it was a gorn king, it would be a flaming sword that came to earth and then flew back into space.

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I totally forgot about the White Sword Tower where the Kingsguard stay, circular and white inside and is filled with weirwood furniture, and Arthur Dayne was Lord Commander with Dawn inside of it.

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White wool hangings decorate its whitewashed stone walls, and a white shield and two crossed longswords are mounted over the hearth. The room contains a large weirwood table carved in the shape of a shield supported by three white stallions, and three knights sit on each side. The chair of the Lord Commander, old black oak with blanched cowhide cushions, sits at the top of the shield. The common room also contains the White Book.

And it is part of a Red Castle, and weirwoods are Red and White castles.  So that puts Arthur Dayne inside another weirwood White Tower (which is a sword) with Dawn.

It has never occurred to me that there is a black Lord Commander and an White Lord Commander, black and white, north and south, ice and fire.  And I think the Lord Commanders' names are important: Mormont (a comet), Hightower (red and white tower, he is a white bull / white bole), Arthur Dayne (Dawn), Duncan the Tall (duncan means "castle" and his sigil is a falling star and a tree). Lannister (lannista means gladiator, and lann means sword)

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