Garth Greenhand: A Truly Seminal Figure

[Phylum of Alexandria]

Who was this Garth Greenhand guy, really? Just a colorful side character for in-story lore, an amusing tall tale, like Johnny Appleseed? Or someone more important for the ASOIAF narrative? Let’s see what Maester Yandel has to say about him.

“Garth was the High King of the First Men, it is written; it was he who led them out of the east and across the land bridge to Westeros. Yet other tales would have us believe that he preceded the arrival of the First Men by thousands of years, making him not only the First Man in Westeros, but the only man, wandering the length and breadth of the land alone and treating with the giants and the children of the forest. Some even say he was a god.” — The Reach, TWOIAF

Further on, Yandel dismisses the fantastical elements of the Garth story as embellishments and outright fictions pasted on some small seeds of truth.

“These legends, though cherished by the smallfolk, are largely discounted by both the maesters of the Citadel and the septons of the Faith, who share the view that Garth Greenhand was a man, not a god. A hunter or war chief, most like, or perhaps a petty king, he might well have been the first lord of the First Men to lead his followers across the Arm of Dorne (as yet unbroken) and into the wilderness of Westeros, where only the elder races had previously trod.” — The Reach, TWOIAF

I am of the mind that this reasonable and skeptical stance should be rejected by readers as utter BS. Everything that maesters like Yandel or Lewin poo-poo turns out to be mostly or fully true, and the same applies to the poo-pooing of Garth. Counter to the “just a story” stance, I think Garth was indeed older than humanity, and would be regarded by humans as a god.

“There is disagreement even on his name. Garth Greenhand, we call him, but in the oldest tales he is named Garth Greenhair, or simply Garth the Green. Some stories say he had green hands, green hair, or green skin overall. (A few even give him antlers, like a stag.)” — The Reach, TWOIAF

It’s been noted many times that Garth follows the archetype of the “green man” in real world mythology. Mythical characters such as Cernunnos and the Green Knight are some examples of antlered or stag-linked nature men.

I happen to think that, whether it’s Garth or the Green Men on the Ise of Faces, all this talk about “antlered men” in GRRM’s world is really about walking tree men. Given that some real world depictions of green men and wood nymphs include horns of wooden branches on their heads, it’s not that strange an idea. In doing so, GRRM is tying him to the magic of the planet, and possibly setting him up as the source of it all.

Note that the mention of antlers in the Garth passage above comes after a passage conflating Garth’s hair with his hands. Reminiscent of the weirwoods, whose leaves are shaped like hands. I don’t think Garth was just a horny human or even a stag man. I think Garth was a weirwood walker, the male, the original sower of their seeds. The oldest of the Old Gods, at least on this planet.

“A few of the very oldest tales of Garth Greenhand present us with a considerably darker deity, one who demanded blood sacrifice from his worshippers to ensure a bountiful harvest. In some stories the green god dies every autumn when the trees lose their leaves, only to be reborn with the coming of spring. This version of Garth is largely forgotten.” — The Reach, TWOIAF

This mention of blood sacrifice certainly fits with what we know about weirwood magic. However, we also know that some humans eventually acquired magical blood, such as the blood of skinchangers and greenseers. How did that happen? It’s not clear, but I think this section about Garth may provide some clues:

“Garth Greenhand brought the gift of fertility with him. Nor was it only the earth that he made fecund, for the legends tell us that he could make barren women fruitful with a touch—even crones whose moon blood no longer flowed. Maidens ripened in his presence, mothers brought forth twins or even triplets when he blessed them, young girls flowered at his smile. Lords and common men alike offered up their virgin daughters to him wherever he went, that their crops might ripen and their trees grow heavy with fruit. There was never a maid that he deflowered who did not deliver a strong son or fair daughter nine moons later, or so the stories say.” — The Reach, TWOIAF

We know from Stannis and Melisandre that human semen can be used for magical births, and the Night’s King apparently gave his seed and soul to a lady of the ice. Maybe the same is true for magical plant-man seed in human wombs; maybe that was the start of a magical bloodline in humans.

This next passage is more puzzling, and perhaps holds some important seeds for the deep story:

“It was Garth who first taught men to farm, it is said. Before him, all men were hunters and gatherers, rootless wanderers forever in search of sustenance, until Garth gave them the gift of seed and showed them how to plant and sow, how to raise crops and reap the harvest. (In some tales, he tried to teach the elder races as well, but the giants roared at him and pelted him with boulders, whilst the children laughed and told him that the gods of the wood provided for all their needs).” — The Reach, TWOIAF

The basic idea that Garth taught humans how to master the plants around them makes sense, and dovetails with Yandel’s understanding of magic as technology/human power made mysterious. But let’s not forget that the “seed” Garth offered humans wasn’t just for planting in the ground, as we established in the previous passage about young maidens and crones. The advent of agriculture seemed to come in tandem with blood sacrifice and some form of cross-breeding—or at very least, some process that allowed for “Garth particles” to enter the human blood stream. In other words, the rise of technology and civilization stemmed from the use of magic among humans.

 

“With a Trebuchet”

Given this magical mixing of humans with Garth, what to make of this strange quote above about the elder races, about giants roaring and pelting Garth with boulders? About the CotF laughing and insisting the gods of the wood provided for their needs? The children one is especially strange given that Garth was likely a god of the woods, if not The God. I think this points to the symbolic nature of the passage, if giants pelting him with boulders didn’t sound symbolic enough.

I think the passage in its entirety can be interpreted in terms of sexual reproduction. The Children breed as the Old Gods deem necessary. Intermixing with humans came later, and perhaps as part of the Pact, in order to restore some sense of balance across the warring parties. As such, the CotF had no need to mix with the trees; the humans did.

As for those giants and their boulders, I think the word “giant” is being used very loosely. While it does seem that Garth mixed with the hairy humanoid giants we see in the story (at least for his son Jon the Oak), those giants are not the same beings described in the legend of the Horn of Joramun, which is said to wake giants from the earth. The “giants”of the horn legend are more likely to be gigantic weirwoods deep in the earth than something like Wun-Wun. Same goes for the giants who “awoke in the earth” to break the arm of Dorne. And I think the use of giants roaring and pelting with boulders is also slyly referring to weirwoods.

Recall that Garth is said to have planted the first weirwood trees. He is specifically said to have planted three ancient weirwoods in Highgarden, called the Three Singers, which are confused for one large tree. I happen to think that these three trees represent the three closely-related magical bloodlines (blue, red, and green) and their respective magical creatures.

So the Three Singers were in fact three sisters. This notion calls to mind “the Six Sisters,” the giant trebuchets tossing bodies in Mereen. And also “the Three Whores” at the Battle of the Blackwater. Those trebuchets were used to launch bodies as well. What sort of people were they used toss? Antler Men. Female giants tossing boulders and antlered men.

I have stated before that I think that weirwoods populated the planet through something like panspermia, and the meteors that ravage the lands come from the weirwoods either launching gigantic seeds, or pulling astral bodies from that heavens that may host their seeds. I don’t think Garth was pelted by a boulder. I think, like the Antler Men at the Black Water, Garth was pelted to the earth via a boulder.

So when Jaime threatened to send Edmure’s baby to him with a trebuchet, maybe he’s just trying to honor the Old Gods rather than project cruelty.

 

Westeros, or the World?

If Garth Greenhand preceded humankind, and later gave the gift of magical blood to humans, shouldn’t his story be known around the world, not just in Westeros? Yes, it should, although the details of the story need not match those we hear from the Reach.

We do hear an origin tale that has many broad similarities to the Garth tale, despite its many differences of detail:

“In the beginning, the priestly scribes of Yin declare, all the land between the Bones and the freezing desert called the Grey Waste, from the Shivering Sea to the Jade Sea (including even the great and holy isle of Leng), formed a single realm ruled by the God-on-Earth, the only begotten son of the Lion of Night and Maiden-Made-of-Light, who traveled about his domains in a palanquin carved from a single pearl and carried by a hundred queens, his wives. For ten thousand years the Great Empire of the Dawn flourished in peace and plenty under the God-on-Earth, until at last he ascended to the stars to join his forebears.” — The Bones and Beyond: Yi Ti, TWOIAF

The God-on-Earth, like Garth, was a god of the beginning of civilization, a god of peace and plenty, and one who traveled the earth through the efforts of his wives. Now, the Yi Tish legends all focus on gems and other precious stones rather than plants and fertility, but this pearl palanquin could simply be a hard white seed pod launched from afar and planted deep into the earth.

The story continues with his magical offspring, which resembles the section of TWOIAF that goes into Garth’s magical children, the main difference being that the Gemstone Emperors constitute a continuous line of succession, whereas it’s unclear if the Greenhand line does so before House Gardener is established.

It does say that the God-on-Earth ascended to the stars, so does that mean that he was launched to some other planet? I do think that some male walker pod was launched in that way.

The fact is that “Garth Greenhand” could in fact refer to any such green walker figure. Recall that he is described as dying and rising with the seasons. Perhaps the coming of the winter really does correspond with the death of a green walker. But the weirwoods can nevertheless still presumably launch new pods, and new Garths can rise.

And the resulting geological cataclysms from these mighty impacts can embed themselves into the songs and stories of the humans who survive them.

 

That’s all for now, but hopefully I’ve seeded enough ideas that some take root and grow a larger discussion!

[Seams]

59 minutes ago, Phylum of Alexandria said:

Recall that Garth is said to have planted the first weirwood trees. He is specifically said to have planted three ancient weirwoods in Highgarden, called the Three Singers, which are confused for one large tree. I happen to think that these three trees represent the three closely-related magical bloodlines (blue, red, and green) and their respective magical creatures.

So the Three Singers were in fact three sisters. This notion calls to mind “the Six Sisters,” the giant trebuchets tossing bodies in Mereen. And also “the Three Whores” at the Battle of the Blackwater. Those trebuchets were used to launch bodies as well. What sort of people were they used toss? Antler Men. Female giants tossing boulders and antlered men.

Very nice catch! I knew there had to be more to the trebuchet symbolism. This would explain it.

Also, the Starks and Arryns battled for a thousand years for control of the Sister Isles. I bet this is part of the same motif. The Starks finally "woke up" one day and decided to stop fighting, conceding the territory to the Arryns. When Ned left the Eyrie to return to the North, he passed through the Sister Isles - I bet this represents his launching (or "hatching," if he were from the egg group of characters) as a giant seed. Interesting the Davos also passed through these islands before traveling to the North.

Arya's friend, Lommy Greenhands, seems like a clue for us about the cyclical dying (dye - ing) of the antler man. He is a dyer's apprentice and has green hands from working with dye. After sustaining a leg injury, he is killed by Gregor Clegane's men.

Spoiler

But the released Mercy chapter includes references to dyers sitting in the audience at the theater where Arya is working with a performing troupe. So maybe "green hands" are rising again.

I've been thinking recently about Theon's uncle accusing him of being a prince of the green lands before conducting the ritual drowning ceremony with seawater to ensure that Theon is sufficiently loyal to the drowned god. Similarly, uncle Benjen tells Jon Snow that he is a green boy and not ready to go out as a ranger beyond the Wall. Analysis of these green characters may tell us some things about the larger Garth Green Hands motif.

Of course, Garth is also part of the major symbolism relating to hands - the Hand of the King, hand maids, Jaime's maimed hand/arm, Catelyn's hand injury from grabbing the catspaw's dagger, Jon Snow's burned hand, The Fist, Littlefinger, Qhorin half hand, etc. I suspect Houses like Gardner and Glover are descendants of Garth and may represent his legacy in some unique way.

[Phylum of Alexandria]

12 minutes ago, Seams said:

I've been thinking recently about Theon's uncle accusing him of being a prince of the green lands before conducting the ritual drowning ceremony with seawater to ensure that Theon is sufficiently loyal to the drowned god.

Yes, there is a whole lot of Green Man content in the Iron Islands. Crowfood's Daughter's videos on YouTube ("The Disputed Lands") mostly talk about those, and it was re-watching this particular video that got me thinking about the content for this post: