Jump to content

Val, Morna and Jon of House Weirwood


Corvo the Crow
 Share

Recommended Posts

 

Besides shields and banners, helms and pins and cloaks are also used for displaying coat of arms of a house or personal arms of an individual. Some examples: Renly uses an antlered helm and Hound uses one that look like a dog head for symbols of their houses, Brynden and LF both use their personal arms instead of house arms in their pins, a black fish and a mockingbird.

 

Quote

Like so much else, heraldry ended at the Wall. The Thenns had no family arms as was customary amongst the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms, so Jon told the stewards to improvise. He thought they had done well. The bride's cloak Sigorn fastened about Lady Alys's shoulders showed a bronze disk on a field of white wool, surrounded by flames made with wisps of crimson silk. The echo of the Karstark sunburst was there for those who cared to look, but differenced to make the arms appropriate for House Thenn

We are told that heraldry ends at the Wall so a device is improvised for the newly formed house Thenn, but from Jon and Sam chapters, we see there are a few instances of wildlings using possibly heraldic devices: Harma Dogshead using dog heads on spears like a banner, Mance's raven winged helm, Val's weirwood face pin and perhaps also Morna's weirwood mask, which itself would be a weirwood face with a slit for mouth and openings for eyes. Morna's mask could be considered a helm of sorts. When Tormund's band of survivors pass through the Wall, there are also shields painted with many different things from animals to heads.

 

 

It doesn't end there, many people are seen dressing specifically in their house's color

 

Quote

 

"Did you follow me as well?" Jon reached to shoo the bird away but ended up stroking its feathers. The raven cocked its eye at him. "Snow," it muttered, bobbing its head knowingly. Then Ghost emerged from between two trees, with Val beside him.

They look as though they belong together. Val was clad all in white; white woolen breeches tucked into high boots of bleached white leather, white bearskin cloak pinned at the shoulder with a carved weirwood face, white tunic with bone fastenings. Her breath was white as well … but her eyes were blue, her long braid the color of dark honey, her cheeks flushed red from the cold. It had been a long while since Jon Snow had seen a sight so lovely.

"Have you been trying to steal my wolf?" he asked her.

"Why not? If every woman had a direwolf, men would be much sweeter. Even crows."

 

Val is wearing all white here, the white of a weirwood... and red too, considering her face, a red face just like a weirwood's. I wonder if it laughed while cracking that joke.

 

The only time we see a weirwood face as a heraldic device south of the wall is when Knight of the Laughing Tree, who is presumably Lyanna, uses a shield that has a weirwood with a laughing face painted on it.

 

While most Westerosi houses are Agnatic-Cognatic(male preferred over female) or perhaps even Agnatic(male only) in few cases with some Dornish practicing True Cognatic(eldest inherits regardless of sex), since in all three instances we see the Weirwood CoA it is borne by women, this lost house is most likely an enatic(female only succession), or enatic-cognatic(female preferred over male) one.

With Lyanna, Morna and Val all bearing the same arms, they are likely from that same, possibly lost, house making Lyanna's son Jon likely related to Morna as well as Val.

 

Edit: a small addition

Val's all in white here and Jon in all black, they are at the gateway of Castle Black, which reminds me of the several gates with ebony and weirwood doors, one white and one black. They are opposite in color yet in order to function they must work together. Could it be that Val belongs to the order of white sisters just like Jon belongs to the one of black brothers? An order, unlike the black brothers' one, that allowed taking husbands and mothering children? Original NW vow not prohibiting taking wives and children was an idea that's been brought forward several times with Sam's passage of the magical door as evidence.

Quote

The door opened its eyes.

They were white too, and blind. "Who are you?" the door asked, and the well whispered, "Who-who-who-who-who-who-who."

"I am the sword in the darkness," Samwell Tarly said. "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. I am the shield that guards the realms of men."

 

Edit 2:

Some not on page support towards the existence of a matrilineal house of Westeros.

 

Firstly, let's start with getting this off, Jon is "Azor Ahai reborn", or Red Rahloo is one tricksy god playing with devout followers

Quote

Yet now she could not even seem to find her king. I pray for a glimpse of Azor Ahai, and R'hllor shows me only Snow. "Devan," she called, "a drink." Her throat was raw and parched.

Below are minor spoilers from Wheels of Time for some parallels

Spoiler

Having watched the Wheel of Time series, which seems to have also been an inspiration to a degree has the prophesied hero Dragon Reborn. Prophesied heroes are quite common in fantasy, of course, but this series start with several possible Dragon Reborns and even a false one, a powerful king. The boy who was revealed to be actually the Dragon Reborn was not who he thought he was. Like Jon Snow, his identity was secret, like him, his mother had died in birth, like him he was raised as a son by someone else. Having drawn the connection between the two, what is the supportive evidence? The said boys mother was the queen of a matriarchal monarchy. 

 

Edited by Corvo the Crow
Link to comment
Share on other sites

52 minutes ago, Corvo the Crow said:

With Lyanna, Morna and Val all bearing the same arms, they are likely from that same, possibly lost, house making Lyanna's son Jon likely related to Morna as well as Val.

At the very least it’s an interesting observation.  It may be why George has given us little information on Lyanna’s mother.  I do wonder if these ladies would all be related through House Flint of the Mountain clans.

It also makes me wonder if this is somehow analogous to the Westerling - Spicer women.  Perhaps a line of witches with the dark art being passed down from mother to daughter.

Edited by Frey family reunion
Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, Frey family reunion said:

At the very least it’s an interesting observation.  It may be why George has given us little information on Lyanna’s mother.  I do wonder if these ladies would all be related through House Flint of the Mountain clans.

It also makes me wonder if this is somehow analogous to the Westerling - Spicer women.  Perhaps a line of witches with the dark art being passed down from mother to daughter.

Arya Flint would be a link, yes, but only the link that's connecting Lyanna to the rest of them I guess.

Many people, from Tormund's bear story, think that he fathered Alysane's or perhaps Maege's children(can't recall which), indicating some mobility between the two sides of the Wall. Moreover, while this story is given much thought into it, another of his "tall talkings", the Giantsbabe story, isn't given the same attention. This story very likely has more than just a grain of truth in it. We're never given his exact age but eldest of his children, Toregg the Tall, is around Jon's age, making Tormund a candidate for being indeed  a giant's babe, a chain breaking giant, Mors' daughter. People living close to the wall likely aren't isolated from wildlings at all(discounting the stealings and raids) and have some degree of relation with wildlings, in the form of trade and even marriage, just like NW does. Flint and Norrey not being overly concerned could perhaps be a sign of it. Who's to say that some maternal ancestor of Arya Flint's wasn't a wildling that married into mountain clans? Or it could be the other way around and from south of the wall a sister is kidnapped and sprangs a line North of the wall.

 

Oh and one more thing, Val is all in white while Jon is all in black. Could it be that she is from an order of white sisters as opposed to Jon being from the order of black brothers. This order of white sisters could be a counterpart of black brothers on the other side of the wall and  unlike the black brother order, allowed taking husbands and mothering children.

Edited by Corvo the Crow
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This was Bran Vras' deduction and it may have something to it.  Jon kind of misreads situations (it's been observed that he knows nothing) so when he says something like 'heraldry ends at the wall' it's likely an indication that heraldry's different north of the wall but not necessarily  'ended'. The lack of information about the last few generations of Mrs. Starks makes it look like there's something there that Martin's hiding by not talking about.

I wonder if there isn't another possible explanation beneath a heart tree though.  If as some have supposed the Knight of the Laughing Tree was either Bran or someone skin changed by Bran maybe these others are also aligned with or controlled by either Bran or Bloodraven. Val seems to have intelligence that Jon is unaware of and she also seems to have undergone a bit of a transformation while she was out searching for Tormund.  I don't think we see enough of her to read clearly into that or not, but she may have had some sort of encounter with BR or with Bran that affected her opinion on the Wildling journey south.

Morna's kiss of Jon's hand and offer to be his 'man or his woman' seems to suggest that whatever conflict she feels about working with the watch has been mollified. Maybe this is just faith in Mance, maybe someone else she has reason to trust/ fear/ believe has set her mind at ease (and I'll also acknowledge that this may be a lie and a set up). I don't know what a Wildling warrior witch's function really is, but if she's a religious figure of some sort she may be open to words she hears from a heart tree regardless f what she knows of their source.

Why would Bran or Bloodraven or both need to label his people with heraldry?  I could only speculate so I won't bother here. Perhaps it's something that may be revealed in future volumes.

 

Edited by Aejohn the Conqueroo
elaboration
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Supporting evidence for Lyanna being the KotLT

 

Quote

Mystery knights would oft appear at tourneys, with helms concealing their faces, and shields that were either blank or bore some strange device. Sometimes they were famous champions in disguise. The Dragonknight once won a tourney as the Knight of Tears, so he could name his sister the queen of love and beauty in place of the king's mistress. 

Aemon the Dragonknight's mother was Larra Rogare of Lys. Valyrians don't have heraldry, Targaryen's didn't have any heraldry when they came to Westeros. Lys is associated with bedslaves and tears are what's tattoed on them to mark them. Rogare family also suffered greatly so, another reason for a tear. Aemon the Dragonknight, as a mystery knight, used a heraldic device that could be associated with her mother. would Lyanna use a heraldic device that's connected to her mother as well?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Corvo the Crow said:

Could it be that Val belongs to the order of white sisters just like Jon belongs to the one of black brothers? An order, unlike the black brothers' one, that allowed taking husbands and mothering children? 

 

Some really cool observations in that post!

Regarding the "white sister" idea, it was @bemused who suggested years ago that Val and Dalla - their joint names being reminiscent of Valhalla - could be sisters not by blood but by belonging to the same order of women practised in some kind of magic. Mance describes Dalla as wise, and she warns Jon about the use of sorcery. Val clearly has some special knowledge, and her white clothes were given to her by Dalla.

6 hours ago, Corvo the Crow said:

Many people, from Tormund's bear story, think that he fathered Alysane's or perhaps Maege's children(can't recall which), indicating some mobility between the two sides of the Wall. Moreover, while this story is given much thought into it, another of his "tall talkings", the Giantsbabe story, isn't given the same attention. This story very likely has more than just a grain of truth in it. We're never given his exact age but eldest of his children, Toregg the Tall, is around Jon's age, making Tormund a candidate for being indeed  a giant's babe, a chain breaking giant, Mors' daughter. People living close to the wall likely aren't isolated from wildlings at all(discounting the stealings and raids) and have some degree of relation with wildlings, in the form of trade and even marriage, just like NW does. Flint and Norrey not being overly concerned could perhaps be a sign of it. Who's to say that some maternal ancestor of Arya Flint's wasn't a wildling that married into mountain clans? Or it could be the other way around and from south of the wall a sister is kidnapped and sprangs a line North of the wall.

I agree that there must have been some sort of communication (other than raiding) between wildlings and Northerners living close to the Wall through all these years. Somehow some of the wildlings learned the Common Tongue, after all. Some sort of trade may exist, and also, when someone gets into trouble with the law or the local lord, and does not fancy ending up on the Wall, crossing the Wall nearby can easily be an option. Marriage probably also happens sometimes. 

Edited by Julia H.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Julia H. said:

Regarding the "white sister" idea, it was @bemused who suggested years ago that Val and Dalla - their joint names being reminiscent of Valhalla - could be sisters not by blood but by belonging to the same order of women practised in some kind of magic. Mance describes Dalla as wise, and she warns Jon about the use of sorcery. Val clearly has some special knowledge, and her white clothes were given to her by Dalla.

I had a post on this a couple of years back.

Val leads the wildlings to "Valhalla", or Wall hall: She leads them to the Wall and the warriors eventually end up in the Shield Hall. Unlike Valhalla, though, the Shield Hall is not a hall of the fallen, it's one for the living: knights and nobles, upon swearing their oaths and taking the black, hang their shields to the walls of the wall and the shields are taken down after they die, so only the living belong there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m really intrigued about the idea of Lyanna coming from a line of witches.  I’ve had a similar suspicion about Ashara Dayne as well.  It’s not much to go on, but another daughter of a Dayne, Aegon V’s sister, tried to slip Aegon a love potion to make him fall in love with her.  Now where would she have learned of such a thing…. My guess is perhaps from her Dayne mother.  We don’t know ultimately what happened to her, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that she may have been married back into House Dayne, perhaps to a first cousin, and perhaps she taught her daughter the same tricks she learned.

So if that trickled down to Ashara Dayne, and if Lyanna came from a similar “maternal” line, it would be interesting that both of these ladies ended up in the midst of Rhaegar’s secret plot concerning the Harrenhal tourney.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, Corvo the Crow said:

Arya Flint would be a link, yes, but only the link that's connecting Lyanna to the rest of them I guess.

Just like we’ve learned that there are multiple offshoot of paternal Flint lines (three in fact) it wouldn’t surprise me if there were multiple maternal lines, one of which crossed through the Mountain Flints and then made their way into House Stark.  Others perhaps made their way north of the Wall.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What do you all think of this quote?

Quote

 

Rowan pulled Theon away from the northmen praying before the tree, to a secluded spot back by the barracks wall, beside a pool of warm mud that stank of rotten eggs. Even the mud was icing up about the edges, Theon saw. "Winter is coming …"

Rowan gave him a hard look. "You have no right to mouth Lord Eddard's words. Not you. Not ever. After what you did—"

 

Rowan is a spearwife from beyond the Wall, a wildling. Yet, she does not only know the Stark words, but she also feels such respect for "Lord Eddard's words" that she doesn't think Theon, after what he did, has the right to even say those words. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Not directly related to them of being the same house, but some on Val's clothing:


Below are three weddings Sansa, Margaery and fArya

Quote

Cersei herself arrived with the seamstress, and watched as they dressed Sansa in her new clothes. The smallclothes were all silk, but the gown itself was ivory samite and cloth-of-silver, and lined with silvery satin. The points of the long dagged sleeves almost touched the ground when she lowered her arms. And it was a woman's gown, not a little girl's, there was no doubt of that. The bodice was slashed in front almost to her belly, the deep vee covered over with a panel of ornate Myrish lace in dove-grey. The skirts were long and full, the waist so tight that Sansa had to hold her breath as they laced her into it. They brought her new shoes as well, slippers of soft grey doeskin that hugged her feet like lovers. "You are very beautiful, my lady," the seamstress said when she was dressed. -ASOS Sansa III

 

The bride was lovely in ivory silk and Myrish lace, her skirts decorated with floral patterns picked out in seed pearls. As Renly's widow, she might have worn the Baratheon colors, gold and black, yet she came to them a Tyrell, in a maiden's cloak made of a hundred cloth-of-gold roses sewn to green velvet. He wondered if she really was a maiden. Not that Joffrey is like to know the difference. - ASOS Tyrion VIII

 

The bride was fair and gay and beautiful, the groom still baby-faced and plump. He recited his vows in a high, childish voice, promising his love and devotion to Mace Tyrell's twice-widowed daughter. Margaery wore the same gown she had worn to marry Joffrey, an airy confection of sheer ivory silk, Myrish lace, and seed pearls. Cersei herself was still in black, as a sign of mourning for her murdered firstborn. His widow might be pleased to laugh and drink and dance and put all memory of Joff aside, but his mother would not forget him so easily. -AFFC Cersei III

 

The hearth was caked with cold black ash, the room unheated but for candles. Every time a door opened their flames would sway and shiver. The bride was shivering too. They had dressed her in white lambswool trimmed with lace. Her sleeves and bodice were sewn with freshwater pearls, and on her feet were white doeskin slippers—pretty, but not warm. Her face was pale, bloodless. - ADWD The Prince of Winterfell

 

Compare to Val's "dress" 

Quote

They look as though they belong together. Val was clad all in white; white woolen breeches tucked into high boots of bleached white leather, white bearskin cloak pinned at the shoulder with a carved weirwood face, white tunic with bone fastenings. Her breath was white as well … but her eyes were blue, her long braid the color of dark honey, her cheeks flushed red from the cold. It had been a long while since Jon Snow had seen a sight so lovely.

Val is all in white, as if for her wedding and Jon is all in black, perhaps as a more modern take of a bridesgroom's attire in our world?

There's more, who gives a bride? Her father or brother or a male relative but if there's none to be found, like in fArya's case, closest person to a relative would give her. Let's look at the rest of that scene

Quote

 

"Have you been trying to steal my wolf?" he asked her.

"Why not? If every woman had a direwolf, men would be much sweeter. Even crows."

"Har!" laughed Tormund Giantsbane. "Don't bandy words with this one, Lord Snow, she's too clever for the likes o' you and me. Best steal her quick, before Toregg wakes up and takes her first."

What had that oaf Axell Florent said of Val? "A nubile girl, not hard to look upon. Good hips, good breasts, well made for whelping children." All true enough, but the wildling woman was so much more. She had proved that by finding Tormund where seasoned rangers of the Watch had failed. She may not be a princess, but she would make a worthy wife for any lord.

But that bridge had been burned a long time ago, and Jon himself had thrown the torch. "Toregg is welcome to her," he announced. "I took a vow."

"She won't mind. Will you, girl?"

Val patted the long bone knife on her hip. "Lord Crow is welcome to steal into my bed any night he dares. Once he's been gelded, keeping those vows will come much easier for him."

"Har!" Tormund snorted again. "You hear that, Toregg? Stay away from this one. I have one daughter, don't need another." Shaking his head, the wildling chief ducked back inside his tent.

 

Tormund insistently tries to "give" her to Jon. Of course since she is a wildling it's not as simple so he has to steal her and Val, jokingly, reminds this. Her cloak is also worth noting, a white bearskin cloak. She leaves with a bearskin cloak but no color was mentioned, only that it was large enough for Sam to wear, perhaps as is tradition in Westeros, she wears her fathers, or in this case Tormund's, who is a replacement for the father, cloak? Remember his titles? Father to bears is one title and he's left with a she-bear's pelt.

Quote

"The woman had a terrible temper, and she put up quite the fight when I laid hands on her. It was all I could do to carry her home and get her out o' them furs, but when I did, oh, she was hotter even than I remembered, and we had a fine old time, and then I went to sleep. Next morning when I woke the snow had stopped and the sun was shining, but I was in no fit state to enjoy it. All ripped and torn I was, and half me member bit right off, and there on me floor was a she-bear's pelt. And soon enough the free folk were telling tales o' this bald bear seen in the woods, with the queerest pair o' cubs behind her. Har!" He slapped a meaty thigh. "Would that I could find her again. She was fine to lay with, that bear. Never was a woman gave me such a fight, nor such strong sons neither."

Since this new cloak is not mentioned to be a misfit, perhaps it was a she-bear's cloak?

I know you're going to love this so I'm giving you a mention @The Fattest Leech

 

Edited by Corvo the Crow
Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, BalerionTheCat said:
Val in white/Ice, Melisandre in red/Fire. They certainly serve or follow different, opposite gods. Val looks like a priestess of some sort. I don't think weirwood is heraldry. But some religious symbol or link to her gods.

She may be a priestess but pins are used for heraldry throughot the books.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Corvo the Crow said:

She may be a priestess but pins are used for heraldry throughot the books.

Pins are used first for holding clothing. They are seen throughout the books because that is a common need, and why not have form follow function - if the nobles were to wear plain wood or bone pins then they would not look so different from peasants. And if they are going to be wearing highly worked items to display their wealth then why not have them be in heraldic patterns - that is the understood language in the 7K to show who the wealth being to.

 

Wildlings also display their wealth on their bodies, Jon noted this when he collected all those gold torcs and other goods as toll for passing the Wall. Val's fine outfits are a sign that she is thriving not surviving, and without noble houses then a symbol of the gods is a good pattern to include.

 

Val's story isn't some hidden background, but is a tale about how a mythos can be constructed. She's a beautiful woman who had a personal connection to important people through her sister, giving her advantage and (relative) riches, which further set her apart from the appearance of her peers, Then she started interacting with southerners who see the world through a rank-based lens, and Val's connection to the court of the King Beyond the Wall placed her near the top of the perceived (by the southerners) Wildling hierarchy. And her uncommon beauty kept her there - if she was as ugly as Brienne or merely pretty in a common sort of way like Ygritte she would have been deemed to have less value.

 

And the perception she has rank has circled back to reality because she is one of the few Free Folk with access to the upper levels of Stannis' court, so she is learning to play the Kneelers' game of petitions on behalf of her people. Which increases her actual political relevance, so that the (once false) view of her as a fairytale Princess in a tower is at this point a self-fulfilling prophecy and the Knights are only pages away from drawing swords to vanquish giants and carry her off to be married.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, Buried Treasure said:

Pins are used first for holding clothing. They are seen throughout the books because that is a common need, and why not have form follow function - if the nobles were to wear plain wood or bone pins then they would not look so different from peasants. And if they are going to be wearing highly worked items to display their wealth then why not have them be in heraldic patterns - that is the understood language in the 7K to show who the wealth being to.

 

Wildlings also display their wealth on their bodies, Jon noted this when he collected all those gold torcs and other goods as toll for passing the Wall. Val's fine outfits are a sign that she is thriving not surviving, and without noble houses then a symbol of the gods is a good pattern to include.

 

Val's story isn't some hidden background, but is a tale about how a mythos can be constructed. She's a beautiful woman who had a personal connection to important people through her sister, giving her advantage and (relative) riches, which further set her apart from the appearance of her peers, Then she started interacting with southerners who see the world through a rank-based lens, and Val's connection to the court of the King Beyond the Wall placed her near the top of the perceived (by the southerners) Wildling hierarchy. And her uncommon beauty kept her there - if she was as ugly as Brienne or merely pretty in a common sort of way like Ygritte she would have been deemed to have less value.

 

And the perception she has rank has circled back to reality because she is one of the few Free Folk with access to the upper levels of Stannis' court, so she is learning to play the Kneelers' game of petitions on behalf of her people. Which increases her actual political relevance, so that the (once false) view of her as a fairytale Princess in a tower is at this point a self-fulfilling prophecy and the Knights are only pages away from drawing swords to vanquish giants and carry her off to be married.

 

 

How many times have we've been shown peasants' pins? This isn't a movie or tv series that you can just pin a pin on someone's cloak and without any effort, the watchers would see them without any extra work on your part, this is a written material and therefore if you want someone to see it, you have to put in the effort and write it on the page. Details aren't given for nothing, sure, many details are just there to portray more vividly etc. but many are given because they are important and without the writer writing it down, there is no way the readers will get access to those important things. We aren't given a description of how Dalla looks, let alone what she wears but we are given what Val wears down to the material and shape of the pin she wears. Why? For nothing? Dalla's story is a "hidden" background, hidden in the sense we don't get to learn it. We've seen her in just a couple or so chapters and only given several lines and yet in those she is shown to be a wisewoman. Since Dalla is dead, her story would continue through her sister Val.

Edited by Corvo the Crow
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 10 months later...
On 1/27/2022 at 6:24 PM, Julia H. said:

Some really cool observations in that post!

Regarding the "white sister" idea, it was @bemused who suggested years ago that Val and Dalla - their joint names being reminiscent of Valhalla - could be sisters not by blood but by belonging to the same order of women practised in some kind of magic. Mance describes Dalla as wise, and she warns Jon about the use of sorcery. Val clearly has some special knowledge, and her white clothes were given to her by Dalla.

I agree that there must have been some sort of communication (other than raiding) between wildlings and Northerners living close to the Wall through all these years. Somehow some of the wildlings learned the Common Tongue, after all. Some sort of trade may exist, and also, when someone gets into trouble with the law or the local lord, and does not fancy ending up on the Wall, crossing the Wall nearby can easily be an option. Marriage probably also happens sometimes. 

Something else that struck me a while back is Dalla's name is possibly derived from the Swedish Dala horse, and we know GRRM as said he studied Sweden's history, especially it's wars.

 

GRRM has his running theme of fire-elementals burning the green/horse-elementals (Ramsay w/ Theon, Rhaegar w/Lyanna, etc) and Dalla being "burned/consumed" while giving birth at the wall while Stannis & Mel invaded is interesting, especially since GRRM said what Mel was doing there when the birthing was happening meant something else was "going on".

 

"According to the legend, soldiers loyal to King Charles XII were quartered in the Dalecarlian region and carved the toys as gifts for their hosts."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow! How could I not remember this which is of so much importance to this thread?

Quote

This time it was warriors who came forward. And not just one hundred of them. Five hundred, Jon Snow judged, as they moved out from beneath the trees, perhaps as many as a thousand. One in every ten of them came mounted but all of them came armed. Across their backs they bore round wicker shields covered with hides and boiled leather, displaying painted images of snakes and spiders, severed heads, bloody hammers, broken skulls, and demons. A few were clad in stolen steel, dinted oddments of armor looted from the corpses of fallen rangers. Others had armored themselves in bones, like Rattleshirt. All wore fur and leather.

There were spearwives with them, long hair streaming. Jon could not look at them without remembering Ygritte: the gleam of fire in her hair, the look on her face when she'd disrobed for him in the grotto, the sound of her voice. "You know nothing, Jon Snow," she'd told him a hundred times.

Heraldry indeed exist beyond the wall. Dammit Jon, you truly now nothing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...