Dreamsongs Revisited: Shades of Grey in "Sandkings"

[Phylum of Alexandria]

14 minutes ago, sweetsunray said:

The mazemakers are pre-Dawn age and disappeared already before the hairy men arrived on the islands for thousands of years.

I guess I am linking the Ibbenese to the line that the mazemakers were "destroyed by an enemy from the sea: merlings in some versions of the tale; selkies and walrus-men in others." The Ibbenese are a sea-folk known for murdering the Ifequevron forest people, and generally have a "We Do Not Sow" reaper kind of vibe to them. Even if they themselves did not murder the mazemakers, perhaps they served the same maw that is enemy to the mazemaker maw? 

At the same time, because of their pale skin with dark blue veins, and their living in rather cold climates, they seem to be Other-coded as well. Maybe GRRM just uses those similarities for symbolic convenience sometimes, like with Varys. 

[sweetsunray]

7 minutes ago, Phylum of Alexandria said:

I guess I am linking the Ibbenese to the line that the mazemakers were "destroyed by an enemy from the sea: merlings in some versions of the tale; selkies and walrus-men in others." The Ibbenese are a sea-folk known for murdering the Ifequevron forest people, and generally have a "We Do Not Sow" reaper kind of vibe to them. Even if they themselves did not murder the mazemakers, perhaps they served the same maw that is enemy to the mazemaker maw? 

At the same time, because of their pale skin with dark blue veins, and their living in rather cold climates, they seem to be Other-coded as well. Maybe GRRM just uses those similarities for symbolic convenience sometimes, like with Varys. 

Yeah, but while the hairy men and Ibbenese may be "cousins" to one another, the hairy men are small in stature. The Ibbenese are not.

I think the mazes housed maws, and that there was one per island, and one on the mainland. It's quite telling that once the scouring of Lorath happened by 100 dragons, suddenly religious people can live in those mazes without dreams of kingdoms and conquering. Quite the contrary - the Boash deny ego and self. The scouring of Lorath killed whatever lived underground there.

ETA: And those mazemakers do sound like something else than normal humans

Quote

The mazemakers left no written records, so we shall never know. Their bones tell us that they were massively built and larger than men, though not so large as giants. Some have suggested that mayhaps the mazemakers were born of interbreeding between human men and giant women. 

Like giant ice spider women?

[Phylum of Alexandria]

On 1/10/2023 at 10:34 AM, Phylum of Alexandria said:

mayhaps the mazemakers were born of interbreeding between human men and giant women.

I didn't speak to this line in my earlier comment, but this yet another reference to smaller males mating with female giants.

This one above relates pretty directly to greenseer adjacent lore, but sometimes it's in completely unrelated contexts. Here's one such example, between Shadrach and Brienne:

As they resumed their journey, the hired knight dropped back and looked her up and down as if she were a side of good salt pork. "You're a strapping healthy wench, I'd say.”

Ser Jaime's mockery had cut her deep; the little man's words hardly touched her. "A giant, compared to some." --Brienne I, AFFC