Theory: Brienne, Tyrion and The Song of the Nibelungs

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This is some tinfoil about why Brienne will fight Tyrion, which I'd like to get feedback on.

I assume Tyrion turns out to be a Targaryen (hair & eye colours, dragon dreams, Aerys desiring Joanna), claims Viserion to proof it and joins Dany's conquest. As a dragon person Tyrion has parallels to the mythical character Fafnir, who appears in various stories, including the Nibelungenlied (translated as The Song of the Nibelungs). They are both greedy dwarfs and kill their fathers, because the father took some treasure the son wanted for himself, creating a conflict with their brothers. After that they leave and turn into dragons. Tyrion's object of desire and conflict are woman rather than cursed gold. Shae is literally called his treasure in the “Hands Of Gold” song.

In some (German) sources Fafnir gets called a griffin. It would fit Tyrion being half a lion. In ASOIAF the griffin is the symbol of house Connington (including Brienne's ex-fiancé Ronnet; she dreams of his griffins turning into lions in AFFC Brienne VIII), the cover identity of fAegon -another dragon person- and the Vale was ruled by a griffin king before he got slain by Artys Arryn. Tyrion has an open debt with the Arryns too and already offered to attack them before. (Tyrion III ASOS) Through their sigil House Arryn resembles Fafnir's opponent Siegfried, who was symbolized by a falcon in his wife Kriemhild's prophetic dream. The Vale is next to the crownlands, officially supports the Lannisters and has the most food supplies. It was one of the first regions to be conquered by the Andals and Aegon I, so it makes sense for Tyrion to attack it early. He could use the mountain tribes as local support reconnecting through the stonecrows that remain in the kingswood and take the Eyrie on dragon mirroring Visenya during Aegon's conquest. This is an opportunity to show Robin his ability to fly and conveniently find his wife Sansa.

She probably still isn't into him and ends in a hostage situation again. Now Jamie and Brienne finally have the opportunity to save her. Brienne rescuing Sansa is not just the hero protecting a maiden from a dragon but the end of Fafnir's story. Fafnir (Tyrion) gets defeated by the hero Siegfried (Brienne) who was sent by Fafnir's brother Reginn (Jamie) motivated by the treasure (Sansa) and revenge for their father's murder. Through the dragon's blood Siegfried gains the power to speak to birds that warn him about Reginn's plan to betray him. Talking birds with insight in sinister plans (Littlefinger) sound like Sansa as well.

Admittedly the character that connects Brienne to the Nibelungenlied most clearly is the shieldmaiden Brynhild rather than Siegfried. There are many contradicting tells about Brynhild/Brunhilda/Brünhild of Iceland and the references are all over the place with Brienne of Tarth. She is a famous beauty, warrior and men want to wed her for political gain. To test her suitors Bynhild competes with them. (Brienne challenged Sir Humfrey + melee at Bitterbridge) Siegfried wins against Brynhild for King Gunnar. (Here is a roll reversal as Brienne fights to proves herself for King Renly instead.) Siegfried disguises himself as Gunnar and wrongs Brynhild to get Gunnar's consent to marry his sister Kriemhild. (Quentyn wants to marry Dany, disguises himself and betrays Pretty Meris - a Brienne stand-in) In some versions of the story she rejects intercourse on her wedding night with Gunnar and binds him with a belt (Brienne fastens a lot of belts and buckles on Renly in the night of his death) so that Siegfried has to first take her with force to get her approval (like in the Bear And The Maiden Fair) and in other versions Siegfried doesn't sleep with her and lays his sword between them in the bed. (suggested by Nimble Dick in AFFC Brienne IV) Once married the fraud is revealed when she has a disagreement with Siegfried's wife about their men's hierarchy. (In ACOK Catelyn II Brienne starts a discussion about the kingship of Rob/Renly – Catelyn parallels Kriemhild nicely as a “traditional” woman going crazy for revenge later on.)

Siegfried likewise has a lot of themes that bring other heroic characters to mind such as Azor Ahai. They both learn to work as a smith and forge their own magical sword. Siegfried uses it to stab a dragon in the belly and according to the Jade Compendium Azor Ahai also stabbed a monster in the belly with his. I suspect the monster to be a dragon as well because of the following quote:

Quote

The eyes were where a dragon was most vulnerable. The eyes, and the brain behind them. Not the underbelly, as certain old tales would have it. (ADWD, Tyrion XI)

You could even try to connect Siegfried and Tyrion as both kinda bathed in blood after stabbing an animal in the belly (Fafnir/horse at the Green Fork), rode through fire (Brynhild's wall of fire/Blackwater) and serve as the right hand man for weaker kings (Gunter/Joffrey) they don't really submit to. Appropriately Brynhild causes Siegfried's death because he trapped her in an ill fitted marriage with another man, calling back Sansa getting forced to wed by the Lannisters. Merging Siegfried and Fafnir like this would frame the original hero as a monster in his own story. Giving Sansa a part in Tyrion's downfall might also fulfil the prophecy about her “slaying a savage giant”.

There is also the Mavel heroine Brunnhilde/Valkyrie, who may have influenced George RR Martin. Brunnhilde and Brienne share more than the connection with Brynhild. They wield magic swords, are blondes often wearing blue and act as protectors rather than foes to the respective Kriemhild analogy (Catelyn/Sieglinde). In the Comic "The End of All Songs" The Defenders #152 (February 1986) she kills characters called Moondragon and Gargoyle. Tyrion is compared to a gargoyle multiple times. Moondragon is similar to the Valyrians as a telepathic geneticist who shaves her head and gets possessed by an entity called the Dragon of the Moon. For a while she even wears a controlling headband like Sun Wukong who might have inspired Tyrion's monkey demon aspect.

Thanks for reading!