Lorath, Norvos and Qohor worship 3 aspects of the same god.

[Sandy Clegg]

 

If we take a look at three of the northern free cities, I think I have found a thematic connection between the deities they worship.

In Lorath, the god Boash is a central figure of their religion.

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These new Lorathi were worshippers of Boash, the Blind God. Rejecting all other deities, the followers of Boash ate no flesh, drank no wine, and walked barefoot through the world, clad only in hair shirts and hides. Their eunuch priests wore eyeless hoods in honor of their god; only in darkness, they believed, would their third eye open, allowing them to see the "higher truths" of creation that lay concealed behind the world's illusions. The worshippers of Boash believed that all life was sacred and eternal; that men and women were equal; that lords and peasants, rich and poor, slave and master, man and beast were all alike, all equally worthy, all creatures of god.

- TWOIAF

There is actually some connection with Boash and skinchanger symbolism: men and beasts being equal; opening the third eye (as a greenseer might); the barefoot imagery, tying back to Bran comparing slipping inside a wolf's skin to slipping a 'bare foot' into a 'boot' (or indeed Hodor). But for now, most relevant is the "blindness" motif, which we will return to.

In Norvos their god has no name:

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But the sect that settled Norvos is as strange, or stranger, than either of these, and far more secretive. Even the very name of their god is revealed only to initiates. That he is a stern deity cannot be doubted, for his priests wear hair shirts and untanned hides and practice ritual flagellation as part of their worship. Once initiated, they are forbidden to shave or cut their hair.

- TWOIAF

Hair shirts are also a feature of this religion. But so, too, is the emblem of the AXE (which Areo Hotah even had branded into his chest):

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To enforce obedience and keep the peace, the bearded priests keep a holy guard of slave soldiers, fierce fighters who bear the brand of a double-bladed axe upon their breasts and ritually marry the longaxes they fight with.

- TWOIAF

Branded axes, marrying axes. Its symbolic power looms large in Norvos:

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Archmaester Perestan notes the importance the Norvoshi give to the axe as a symbol of power and might and proposes that this is proof that the Andals were the first to settle Norvos, suggesting the bearded priests took the emblem from ruins they found as they established Great Norvos. As he argues, next to the carvings of sevenpointed stars, carvings of a doublebladed axe appeared to have been the next most favored symbol of the holy warriors who conquered the old Seven Kingdoms.

- TWOIAF

So, the early Norvoshi - the early Andals - may have taken this ancient symbol found in ruins and drawn inspiration from it, using these 'axes' as a religious motif. But interestingly it's the carvings that are mentioned as being the origin, not actual axes. We'll come back to this.

In Qohor, of course, we have the Black Goat:

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The dark god of Qohor, the deity known as the Black Goat, demands daily blood sacrifice. Calves, bullocks, and horses are the animals most often brought before the Black Goat's altars, but on holy days condemned criminals go beneath the knives of his cowled priests, and in times of danger and crisis it is written that the high nobles of the city offer up their own children to placate the god, that he might defend the city.

- TWOIAF

So, the key feature of the Qohorik god would seem to be that he demands blood.

Now, if we take the main features of these three deities we can perhaps ask whether they are each aspects of a single deity / entity:

• blindness
• hairiness
• shaped like a two-headed axe
• drinks blood

Put together, these surely conjure up the image of a bat - specifically one that drinks blood. If in doubt about the two-headed axe symbol, just think about the traditional Batman logo. Early Andals may have found rudimentary carvings of this 'bat demon' deity and over time this became known simply as the more familiar 'axe' marking. Hence, the axe worshipping. The maesters who write George's world and history books are notorious for 'misinterpreting' information, but there is generally a grain of truth in there somewhere.

So, where else do we find hints of a 'bat-like' deity or demon? I'm going to try and continue this with a part 2 if I have time, but for now all comments happily received

Edited June 19, 2023 by Sandy Clegg

[SaffronLady]

13 hours ago, Sandy Clegg said:

So, where else do we find hints of a 'bat-like' deity or demon?

No idea about this, but looking forward to the possibility this ties back into Harrenhal and House Lothston.

[Evolett]

On 6/19/2023 at 1:52 PM, Sandy Clegg said:

Put together, these surely conjure up the image of a bat - specifically one that drinks blood. If in doubt about the two-headed axe symbol, just think about the traditional Batman logo. Early Andals may have found rudimentary carvings of this 'bat demon' deity and over time this became known simply as the more familiar 'axe' marking. Hence, the axe worshipping. The maesters who write George's world and history books are notorious for 'misinterpreting' information, but there is generally a grain of truth in there somewhere.

So, where else do we find hints of a 'bat-like' deity or demon?

I'm not really sure where you're going with this. The only "bat-like" "deity" I can think of is the Harpy. She has bat-like wings, but she is described as an emblem and not as a deity or goddess. The Harpy of Old Ghis is the oldest version we know of. It's possible she was once a goddess retained by some of those absorbed into the Valyrian Empire after the fall of Old Ghis.

There are tales of Mad Danelle who sent giant bats to steal naughty children for her cook pots. This actually harks back to mythological harpies. The name "harpy" comes from the Greek word "harpyia," meaning "snatcher" or "robber." The name reflects their tendency to seize and carry off their victims, often related to food or punishment. The Ghiscari Harpies as an emblem of slavery also suits this image since people are literally carried off into slavery. 

I think my problem with the OP is I don't really understand why the Andals mistaking a bat for an axe is significant and I'm not convinced this was the case. 

What I have considered for a long time is a possible connection between the Harpy of Old Ghis that carried a thunderbolt in her talons (suggesting an association with storms) and the Storm God of Ironborn belief, perhaps also with the Westersoi Storm Lords. Since Robert's famous hammer is double headed, the latter could also tie into the bat/axe idea.

Edited June 21, 2023 by Evolett

[Sandy Clegg]

8 hours ago, Evolett said:

I think my problem with the OP is I don't really understand why the Andals mistaking a bat for an axe is significant and I'm not convinced this was the case. 

Fair point. My approach is a bit different in that I'm not looking at 'top-down' evidence - seeing what's presented as accepted truth in the books then extrapolating from that. Instead, I'm trying to do more "bottom-up" thinking - finding bits of information that might point to a conclusion that has largely been ignored 'in-world' of ASOIAF. In other words, trying to find areas where the 'accepted general knowledge' of ASOIAF conflicts with evidence that is scattered throughout the books. Because we know that the world has a real fog of history problem, with maesters unsure of specific dates, etc. Especially once you go back more than a few thousand years. And I think George likes to play in that sandbox, leaving behind clues for readers that eventually may lead us to conclusions not recognised in 'maester-led' knowledge. 

House Lothston and House Whent are definitely good places to look for bat symbolism. But for what it's worth, there are odd bat-related clues/symoblism sprinkled throughout the books, not just at Harrenhall.

• A species called hoary bats could lead us to House Hoar, for example.
• Marwyn 'the Mastiff' with his stained red teeth who looks "as if he's about to bite you" could be a reference to the species known as the mastiff bat, rather than a dog.
• Persephone, the goddess off the underworld, is closely associated with both pomegranates and bats
• Pyp, the ranger at the Wall, is clearly a bat symbol character (Pyp  - pipistrelle species) with his large ears and ability to whistle extremely loudly and shrilly.
• Old Nan's tale of the Thing that Came in the Night
• A huge double-headed axe is found by Will in the prologue, which then disappears ...

That's off the top of my head, but I'd probably also add a lot of the references to bell-towers and bells to this imagery, as we all know - bats can often be found in a belfry   And maybe most significantly - bat wings are the closest 'real-world' parallel to what dragon wings might look like, so they have a thematic connection there. From a distance, a giant bat could therefore be mistaken for a dragon.

[Fun Guy from Yuggoth]

On 6/21/2023 at 6:46 PM, Evolett said:

The only "bat-like" "deity" I can think of is the Harpy. She has bat-like wings,

In George's story the Men of Greywater Station, he has giant swamp bats called Hellions that are telepathically controlled by the Greywater Fungus/weirwood trees.

He got the name Hellion from Robert E Howard's' story Wings in the Night, where Hellion are another name for the Harpy of Greek myth.  Giant winged devils that prey on humans.

And Lovecraft in the Call of Cthulhu  says bat-winged devils come out of caverns at midnight to worship Cthulhu.  And the Fungi from Yuggoth are bat-winged devils that live in caves and abduct people and carry them into caverns.

The Fungi from Yuggoth are modeled on the bat-winged Baphomet, with a five-pointed head pentagram head, like the black goat.  And as we just figured out there is a wordplay on Aex ("goat") and Axe.  And Cthulhu himself is a reference to the Black Goat, cwth / cuth means "goat" and cythreul  means "devil, satan" and he has bat-wings.

And in Bloodraven's cave there is a giant bat-winged skeleton, which I think is a Harpy.  Harpies serve the weirwood.

 

[Fun Guy from Yuggoth]

I just realized that Qartheen moon legend is about bat-winged devils coming down from a second moon that eclipsed the sun. 

Carthan  means "crab" in Gaelic, the Fungi from Yuggoth are bat-winged fungous crabs that come from a black planet that becomes Earth's second moon and eclipses the sun. 

Carthan moon = Qartheen moon = crab moon, Yuggoth.  Qartheen moon = Yuggoth, confirmed.

(cartan also means "sour-tempered, crabbed person" and in HG Wells' the Time Machine, the Morlocks devolved into giant crabs in the far future when a mystery planet very close to Earth eclipses the sun, and ysgod means "to shadow" which is where Lovecraft got the idea of Yuggoth) 

And in Jack Vance's Dying Earth series he mentions bat-winged Harpies that came from an invisible second moon of Earth's.

[SaffronLady]

13 hours ago, Fun Guy from Yuggoth said:

Jack Vance

Who just so happens to be referenced by Martin, too.

[Fun Guy from Yuggoth]

I just read Dracula  recently for the first time since childhood, and there were many parallels between the Others and Dracula.

Dracula can turn into a mist, the White Walkers are mist.  Dracula can't live in light, nor can the Others.  Dracula can turn into a wolf/controls wolves telepathically , and can turn into a bat, and can turn into a thousand rats.  Dracula can telepathically control humans, and see through their eyes, and read their minds--I think the White Walkers are beings of mist that are telepathically controlled by a greenseer though the weirwood network, and greenseers see through the eyes of the Others and the Wights.  Dracula has to be invited in, I think the Others have to be invited to pass the Wall, and Jon did that when he escorted the wights through the Wall. 

@Frey family reunion pointed out to me that Dracula has three sisters in his castle, and the Three Sisters are in the Bite, next to the Neck.

I noticed that many of the characters' names are devil related, Lucy Westenra ~ Lucifer and westan  means "to ravage, to lay waste to" in Anglo Saxon.  The devil ravages Lucy and turns her into the Corpse Queen.  They mention the port of Varna about 100 times because in cyrillic Varna is spelled Bapha as in Baphomet.  One of Dracula's identities is Count De Ville ~Devil.  Dracula is a warg and wearg  means "accursed" and varg  means "destroyer".  Mina  means "little" in Gaelic and is spelled menu  in French which is directly about Mephisto in French, and Mina was on the menu for Mephisto.  And there is probably more.

Not devil related but Renfield is locked up in an asylum and renfermer means "locked up" and "mouldy" in French.

 

While I am on the subject, while reading Dracula it was very clear where elements Lovecraft's stories came from.  There is a part were Mina is talking to a crazy 100 year old man as they look out over the sea and a black reef as the devil approaches on a ship, which parallels the best part of Shadow over Innsmouth where he talks to Zadok Allen about how Captain Marsh brought the sea devils back with him from the south Pacific as they look out over Black Reef.  The Rats in the Walls, comes from Dracula turning into rats and scurrying away in Carfax Abbey.  Whisperer in Darkness is very much like the beginning of the story were Jonathon is lured to a remote location under false pretenses by the devil/Black Goat/Baphomet so that he can be killed, and that story is a series of letters back and forth, and Dracula is in the format all journal entries and letters.  The Hound is pretty clearly a Dracula-inspired short story (in Swedish vampire is synonymous with "flying dog" and Dracula has a wolf leap through a window to get to Lucy)

[Sandy Clegg]

2 hours ago, Fun Guy from Yuggoth said:

I just read Dracula  recently for the first time since childhood, and there were many parallels between the Others and Dracula.

There’s a lot of thematic crossover. Also from Wikipedia:

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Dracula can also manipulate the weather and, within his range, is able to direct the elements, such as storms, fog and mist.

and

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He is aided by powers of necromancy and divination of the dead, that all who die by his hand may reanimate and do his bidding.

So vampirism may be a  feature of the lore of the Others, yes. George has obviously put his own fantasy twist on this and made it his own. But once you start looking at the parallels they do start to appear in odd places.

For me, it’s the story of Dareon, the Nights Watch brother killed by Arya. In the first book Jon recalls the crime for which he was sent to the Wall:

Quote

"How did he come here?" Sam asked.

"Lord Rowan of Goldengrove found him in bed with his daughter. The girl was two years older, and Dareon swears she helped him through her window, but under her father's eye she named it rape, so here he is. When Maester Aemon heard him sing, he said his voice was honey poured over thunder." Jon smiled. 

The reference to being invited in through the window is evocative of vampirism, as is the seductive - yet menacing - way his voice is described. Honey and thunder. And of course he is eventually killed by Arya, all of which could be symbolic of her ‘Other-killing’ deeds to come. He may even be a symbolic ‘Great (or Greater) Other’ if we read his vampiric symbolism in this way.

Edited July 6, 2023 by Sandy Clegg

[Fun Guy from Yuggoth]

7 hours ago, Sandy Clegg said:

Dracula can also manipulate the weather and, within his range, is able to direct the elements, such as storms, fog and mist.

Ah, I forgot about the Storm Lord stuff, I should have taken notes.  Dracula comes in on a ship called the Demeter ~ Demon

And George wrote a whole book about vampires coming in on boats.  (Fevre Dream, in Cassell's French Dictionary fevre means "boiler-tender" and the Fevre Dream is a steam ship.)  And their version of the Prince that was Promised is a vampire that would lead them to the Dark City where the sun would never shine, implies that the PtWP prophecy is about the Night King.

 

Also I remembered the name Van Helsing implies ~ "from Hell".  hels  means "devilish, hellish" in Dutch.  And Lovecraft's the Hound is Dutch, and they find him in a Holland (helland?) churchyard. 

The sigil of the corpse-eating cult of Leng is a Winged Wolf, and llyng / llong / llwng means "to swallow, to devour"  and "ship" and lleng means "legion"   Bran is a werewolf, and he is the Winged Wolf, and he is a corpse-eater.  And Fenrir is a Winged Wolf that swallows the sun.  And lengcyn  means "young lad" which is Bran.

Edited July 6, 2023 by Fun Guy from Yuggoth

[Fun Guy from Yuggoth]

I was just looking through the Welsh dictionary and saw that gwrth (Garth) and gwth  (goat) mean the same thing "to push, to impel" and they are right next to each other.  Garth Greenhand is a version of Baphomet.  And he is a fertility god that demands virgins and blood sacrifice. 

garth means "garden"

gwarth means "shame, disgrace" and "to cover" and "hill"

gwrth means "goat"

Weirwood hill = Black Goat

 

AAHH, more Qartheen moon stuff.  carthan means "crab" in Gaelic, and gwarthan  means "to cover" in Welsh, the Qartheen moon is Yuggoth that eclipses the sun.  and caoirth  means "meteor, red blaze"  in Gaelic, and Dany was lead to Qarth by the Red Comet, and the Qartheen moon gave birth to meteors.

[Sandy Clegg]

On 7/6/2023 at 3:55 PM, Fun Guy from Yuggoth said:

garth means "garden"

gwarth means "shame, disgrace" and "to cover" and "hill"

gwrth means "goat"

I just bought a Welsh dictionary, inspired by your deep dives. There's a lot of 'w' action going on ... 

[Frey family reunion]

Very interesting.  The double bladed axe as a symbol was known as the “labrys” in Greek.  It was a Minoan symbol on Crete.  There is a theory that the name Labyrinth, was derived from labrys.  Literally the House of the double bladed axe.

Personally, I‘ve long thought that there is a lot of imagery regarding the Minotaur at the tower of joy.  This would add to that.  

We have the image of Gerold Hightower, the White Bull.  The White Bull was the father of the Minotaur, and if Gerold wore a bull headed helm then we get that image as well.  

ETA: in addition, there are at least two times when Oldtown is referred to as a Labyrinth.  

Then we have Oswell Whent who wore the black bat on his helm.  If we can think of the bat as a double bladed axe, then the “labrys” is present also.

When Eddard Stark traveled to Starfall after the tower of joy, Ashara Dayne reportedly threw herself into the sea from a tower.  When Theseus returned from Crete after slaying the Minotaur, he forgot to change his sails from black to white.  White sails were meant to tell Theseus’ father that Theseus had survived the encounter.  When Theseus’ father saw the black sails he threw himself into the sea from his tower. 

Finally we have Arthur Dayne the Sword of the Morning, or the Morningstar.  In Crete, the Minotaur was known by the name Asterion, meaning “starry”.  

Edited July 17, 2023 by Frey family reunion

[Sandy Clegg]

1 hour ago, Frey family reunion said:

Very interesting.  The double bladed axe as a symbol was known as the “labrys” in Greek.  It was a Minoan symbol on Crete.  There is a theory that the name Labyrinth, was derived from labrys.  Literally the House of the double bladed axe.

 

Wow, I can't believe I missed that thanks. This is my entire evening's reading now but one quick rabbit hole search later I have found this fascinating link to Storm Gods:

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In the Near East and other parts of the region, eventually, axes of this sort often are wielded by male divinities and appear to become symbols of the thunderbolt, a symbol often found associated with the axe symbol.[15] In Labraunda of Caria the double-axe accompanies the storm-god Zeus Labraundos. Similar symbols have been found on plates of Linear pottery culture in Romania.[10](p 162) The double-axe is associated with the Hurrian god of sky and storm Teshub. His Hittite and Luwian name was Tarhun.[16] Both are depicted holding a triple thunderbolt in one hand and a double axe in the other hand. Similarly, Zeus throws his thunderbolt to bring storm. The labrys, or pelekys, is the double axe Zeus uses to invoke storm and, the relatively modern Greek word for lightning is "star-axe" (ἀστροπελέκι astropeleki)[17] The worship of the double axe was kept up in the Greek island of Tenedos and in several cities in the south-west of Asia Minor, and it appears in later historical times in the cult of the thunder god of Asia Minor (Zeus Labrayndeus).

 - WIKIPEDIA

 I'm certainly not making any connection between star-axe and Starks. But many would 

[Sandy Clegg]

2 hours ago, Frey family reunion said:

Very interesting.  The double bladed axe as a symbol was known as the “labrys” in Greek.  It was a Minoan symbol on Crete.  There is a theory that the name Labyrinth, was derived from labrys.  Literally the House of the double bladed axe.

This also brings into focus a link between the Axe symbol and Lorath, which was the home of the mazemakers:

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Though the Lorathi isles themselves are bleak and stony, the surrounding waters teem with shoals of cod, whales, and grey leviathans that gather and breed in the bay, and the outlying rocks and sea stacks are home to great colonies of walrus and seal. Salt cod, walrus tusks, sealskins, and whale oil form the greater part of the city's trade.

In ancient days, the isles were home to the mysterious race of men known as the mazemakers, who vanished long before the dawn of true history, leaving no trace of themselves save for their bones and the mazes they built.

 - TWOIAF

 

[Evolett]

3 hours ago, Sandy Clegg said:

In the Near East and other parts of the region, eventually, axes of this sort often are wielded by male divinities and appear to become symbols of the thunderbolt, a symbol often found associated with the axe symbol.[15] In Labraunda of Caria the double-axe accompanies the storm-god Zeus Labraundos. Similar symbols have been found on plates of Linear pottery culture in Romania.[10](p 162) The double-axe is associated with the Hurrian god of sky and storm Teshub. His Hittite and Luwian name was Tarhun.[16] Both are depicted holding a triple thunderbolt in one hand and a double axe in the other hand. Similarly, Zeus throws his thunderbolt to bring storm. The labrys, or pelekys, is the double axe Zeus uses to invoke storm and, the relatively modern Greek word for lightning is "star-axe" (ἀστροπελέκι astropeleki)[17] The worship of the double axe was kept up in the Greek island of Tenedos and in several cities in the south-west of Asia Minor, and it appears in later historical times in the cult of the thunder god of Asia Minor (Zeus Labrayndeus).

This lore may explain the connection between the double axe and the seven pointed star of the Seven. Additionally, in the World Book, maester Harmune suggests that some axe carvings represent hammers:

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It should be said, however, that not all agree that these carvings represent axes. In his refutation, Maester Evlyn argues that what Harmune calls axes are in fact hammers, the sign of the Smith.

 

In our mythology, both the double-bladed axe and the hammer are strongly associated with thunderbolts/lightning and with storms. I'm thinking of Thor's hammer, Mjölnir, here.  Robert Baratheon is our hammer-wielding Storm Lord and sworn to him is House Dondarrion, their coat of arms a forked purple lightning bolt, on a black field speckled with four-pointed stars. I feel all these are connected, including the labyrinths and mazes.

 

6 hours ago, Frey family reunion said:

The double bladed axe as a symbol was known as the “labrys” in Greek.  It was a Minoan symbol on Crete.  There is a theory that the name Labyrinth, was derived from labrys.  Literally the House of the double bladed axe.

Personally, I‘ve long thought that there is a lot of imagery regarding the Minotaur at the tower of joy.  This would add to that.  

The axe also being associated with lightning brings me back to the the Harpy of Old Ghis, a female emblem, possibly an ancient goddes, who is said to have held a thunderbolt.  In Crete the double axe only accompanied goddesses, never gods. According to Daenerys, the Harpy has the wings of a bat (or dragon). If the OP is correct about carvings of bats being mistaken for axes, that would link the Harpy to the rest of the axe / thunderbolt and star symbolism as well. Bats are nocturnal, spending the day in caves, dungeons and other dark places where available. I've visited a few dungeons populated by vast colonies of bats hanging from ceilings (shudder!). We had to keep quiet to avoid setting them off. Anyway, underground labyrinths or mazes provide perfect homes for bats and coming to think of it, the Great Pyramid of Meereen which has extremely thick walls, hidden stairways and next to no windows, strikes me as an above-ground labyrinth. 

 

[Sandy Clegg]

7 hours ago, Evolett said:

The axe also being associated with lightning brings me back to the the Harpy of Old Ghis, a female emblem, possibly an ancient goddes, who is said to have held a thunderbolt. 

Thanks Evolett. We're getting a broader picture, it seems, of the winged storm god. It's a popular theme, in real world and in ASOIAF. The Native American 'thunderbird' myth also refers to a great winged animal which has weather-controlling powers: 

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n Algonquian mythology, the thunderbird controls the upper world while the underworld is governed by the underwater panther or Great Horned Serpent. The thunderbird creates not just thunder (with its wing-flapping) but lightning bolts, which it casts at the underworld creatures.[1]

Thunderbirds in this tradition may be depicted as a spreadeagled bird (wings horizontal head in profile), but also quite common with the head facing forward, thus presenting an X-shaped appearance overall[4] (see under §Iconography below).

 -  Wikipedia

Naturally, winged creatures would be associated with the sky/weather in some cultures, and interestingly the Harpy of Ghis is another take on the theme, with a more 'Ancient Greece' inspired mythological creature being used, which makes sense for the flavour and tone of Esso's in general. But the lightning/bat wings connection at the core is the same. 

Going back to thunderbirds - eagles (or falcons) are also a feature of the Vale, which has certain 'Mount Olympus' connotations. It's also where we find the primitive axe/hammer carvings. The Vale and the Stormlands also both border the Narrow Sea, famous for its storms, on the other side of which we find a Greek God-inspired figure: the Titan of Braavos (Colossus of Rhodes). Then a little further east we come across the Axe (origin of the Andals) and the Lorath/Norvos/Qohor triumvirate of 'similar-God' worshippers.

This area of the world is a mish-mash of references and homages to lightning gods and winged deities

Edited July 18, 2023 by Sandy Clegg

[Sandy Clegg]

7 hours ago, Evolett said:

Bats are nocturnal, spending the day in caves, dungeons and other dark places where available. I've visited a few dungeons populated by vast colonies of bats hanging from ceilings (shudder!). We had to keep quiet to avoid setting them off. Anyway, underground labyrinths or mazes provide perfect homes for bats and coming to think of it, the Great Pyramid of Meereen which has extremely thick walls, hidden stairways and next to no windows, strikes me as an above-ground labyrinth. 

When caves are lacking, a giant structure like a pyramid would be perfect habitat for bats (or dragons, as we see in ADWD). The most significant giant structures of similar size in Westeros would be the Wall, Storm's End and notably Harrenhall, which has famous connections to the symbol of the bat.

[Sandy Clegg]

12 hours ago, Evolett said:

In our mythology, both the double-bladed axe and the hammer are strongly associated with thunderbolts/lightning and with storms.

This symbol is going to get its own separate post from me I think. Anything that has been lurking around the story ever since the first prologue deserves some scrutiny, in my opinion:

Quote

Will's voice abandoned him. He groped for words that did not come. It was not possible. His eyes swept back and forth over the abandoned campsite, stopped on the axe. A huge double-bladed battle-axe, still lying where he had seen it last, untouched. A valuable weapon …

 

[Fun Guy from Yuggoth]

With the aex/axe = "goat" wordplay, I will add that one of the usages of goat  in the Oxford English Dictionary is "a fiery meteor"  so all the crossover between hammers, and axes, and lightning, and falling stars are all jumbled up Black Goat references about a devil that fell to Earth as a meteor.  And recall that the Faith of the Seven comes from the Axe/aex, and in Welsh the word for seven is very close to the word for satan, (sath, seith)--it is all death worship in various guises.

 

7 hours ago, Sandy Clegg said:

the Titan of Braavos (Colossus of Rhodes).

A giant mechanical bronze man named Talos guarded the Labyrinth of the Minotaur. (and Braavos is has an underground maze in the House of Black and White).  And giving blood sacrifice to a Horned Lord sounds like sacrifice to Baphomet.   In Greek Daedalus means "labyrinth" and his name is synonymous with "builder" which calls up Bran the Builder, who is currently stuck in the center of an underground labyrinth.

And in Gaelic the word for "crow" sounds like "baph" as in Baphomet.  (and bran means "black")

And in Welsh the word for "cross" [~aex] is croes, cro, craw, crux, and  croesbren means "cross"

So I think Bran really is the Great Other.

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Fun Guy from Yuggoth