The Curious Axe

[Sandy Clegg]

1 hour ago, Springwatch said:

And what theory of symbolism can be proved anyway?

Exactly. You can’t prove with anything with symbolism - but you can use it tell a good story. I feel that @LmL had a good thing going with all the comet and astronomy symbolism but mostly he would focus on how the majority of imagery echoes the same events, usually the ‘world-shaking’ flashy stuff. I think George uses it a little more flexibly than that, and for smaller-scale things too. To use an astronomy analogy, you can’t go stargazing when the sun is shining.

I have really enjoyed his Dunk & Egg read-through, though, as it gets into some of the less epic symbolism.

[Springwatch]

49 minutes ago, Sandy Clegg said:

I have really enjoyed his Dunk & Egg read-through, though, as it gets into some of the less epic symbolism.

Thanks for the tip - I could never get into LmL's way of thinking; maybe it's time to try again.

[Seams]

On 7/20/2023 at 2:32 PM, Sandy Clegg said:

"What choice do I have, my lord? Come with you, or remain with Garth and Lady Lu?"

"Who is Lady Lu? One of the washerwomen?" Glover was growing impatient. "All will be explained if you will come."

Lady Lu is mistaken for a washerwoman. Lu / loo. We are repeatedly being toyed with when it comes to wordplay on Jon's name.

I wonder whether the name "Lady Lu" also hints at the word "dull." We know that "sharp" is an important attribute - Qhorin asks Jon Snow more than once whether his sword is sharp; Bran observes that his Stark ancestors in the crypt were either shaggy or sharp; Dunk explains that his familiarity with the sword of Ser Arlan is based on his duties as a squire to maintain the sharp blade. There is razor / azor wordplay around Azor Ahai. 

I strongly suspect that Davos is one of our Azor Ahai figures. This moment when he chooses to follow Glover may be the moment that he turns away from dull and toward sharp - taking the path toward [r]Azor Ahai.

On 7/29/2023 at 10:38 AM, Evolett said:

There are just too many mentions of this weapon in varying contexts to assign it as pertaining to dragons or bats. The association does not explain why the Andals adopted the axe as a symbol nor why one is prominently placed in the prologue to the whole series. I ask myself how this fits in with Mormont's "Answered Prayer," Hotah's ash-and-iron wife, Lady Lu, Shagga, Mad Axe, Lady Dustin, Tyrion, Victarion and other prominent mentions of axes and axe holders. An overriding theme of punishment, retribution, justice or vengeance is noticable in most of these cases and good arguments can be brought forth as evidence. Dragons are not excluded. They may or may not be involved.

One of the lovely things about symbols is layers. (And don't get me started on "slayer" and "layer".) An axe seems to be a dragon in ASOIAF but it is also still an axe. This is essential to the conflict between the First Men and the Andals because the Andals cut down weirwoods. The Targaryens soon came over (on ships with masts that were made into images of the gods of the seven) and with dragons. 

Pennytree has loomed large in my thinking about key symbols, and I think it may represent the unification of the tree (symbol of the First Men) and the dragon (associated with the Andals): it is a tree with scales. But the scales are made of coins (bearing the faces of kings) and the coins become armor, making it difficult to cut down the tree. So it is not a minor point that Aegon IV made it a royal fief, to be controlled by, and loyal to, the king. As long as the king controls Pennytree, the monarchy has united dragons and trees and the kingdom is stable.

The uniting of tree and dragon may go back to the notion I proposed earlier, that Tyrion has a magical power to make hybrid beasts. But I think it also goes to the idea that babies are monsters that unite the odd characteristics associated with their parents. Aegon IV had sons with both House Bracken and House Blackwood. He didn't exactly unite the two houses, but he captured attributes of both houses and incorporated them into House Targaryen.

Here's another idea that might explain the endless cycle of retribution associated with axes, as Evolett points out, but also with the overall game of thrones: rock, paper, scissors. We don't see a lot of scissors in the medieval-ish setting of ASOIAF but now Sandy Clegg has pointed out that two-bladed axes are particularly meaningful as symbols of two-winged creatures such as dragons and bats. So maybe two-bladed axes stand in for two-bladed scissors in the endless game of rock-paper-scissors that is part of GRRM's game motif. I suspect ice counts as a form of rocks and skins may count as paper. This might explain why the introduction of the Lamb Men disrupts the Dothraki march to power - sheepskin is used to make durable paper. But wood pulp (from trees) also becomes paper. House Paege, mentioned earlier, and Rodrik the Reader's delight at receiving a random page from a lost book are also part of the motif.

The interesting thing about the game of rock-paper-scissors is that a player can change "weapons" for each round of the game. I'm wondering whether this explains why the dragon has to have three heads - one each for rock, paper, scissors - in order to win at this game that has no beginning, end or purpose. 

The other interesting thing about the game is that it is played entirely with hands. Given the importance of hand symbolism in ASOIAF, I suspect that GRRM wants us to look for this game presented in subtle ways among the many games he introduces into the plot. 

On 7/29/2023 at 10:38 AM, Evolett said:

I ask myself how this fits in with Mormont's "Answered Prayer,"

The most famous prayer in ASOIAF is Arya's repeated list of people she wants to kill - a prayer that is all about retribution. It seems as if her prayer is slowly being answered, in various ways and through various agents. Her list also grows, however, acquiring new enemies along the way. 

And yet Arya gave an axe to Rorge, which he used to "hatch" himself, Biter and Jaqen out of a wooden cage - Arya may have hatched her dragons long before Dany ever did. I suspect that Rorge is part of the name group with House Rogare, Roger of Pennytree and possibly Rhaegar and Gared. Perhaps also related to "forge." Biter is part of the name group with Bittersteel and with other things that bite. Jaqen seems to be part of the Q group of names including Qhorin, Moqorro and Qyburn who seem to be magical mentors, for lack of a better term. So Arya liberates these three dragons and Brienne and Gendry later have to team up to slay them - although we don't yet know the fate of Jaqen. 

Mormont even explains that his suggestion for the name comes from his assumption that Craster's wives would want to kill him with the axe.

There is also fascinating potential wordplay in the name: A Drapery Renews. Jon Snow defeated the white walker in Mormont's chambers by burning it with a flaming drapery. This might be part of the paper symbolism. Dolorous Edd hinted that giving the axe to Craster would eventually lead to the return of the axe - buried in Mormont's skull. We see a lot of rebirth in ASOIAF so maybe the point is that the ritual causes the axe to be renewed but also to renew the drapery that burned in the previous conflict between Jon Snow and the wite. Order and balance are achieved only when the three elements of rock-paper-scissors are in rough balance. 

This brings us back to dragons. GRRM served up a major clue for us in the Blood and Fire book when Queen Alysanne's dragon was unable to fly across the Wall. I think that wall may represent the unification of paper and rock. Paper would ordinarily succumb to scissors (dragons) but the marriage of ice and rock allows it to serve as a barrier against dragons/scissors. This might explain why Mad Axe is mad: in his case, the Wall is a dam (mad/dam - Ohh. Now I'm going to have to search for the word madame in the books) and he can't get beyond the Wall to use his axe (on the weirwoods?). 

I suspect it is no coincidence that Winterfell is described as having a curtain wall. In the Blood and Fire chapter with Queen Alysanne, the Stark lord says that no dragon will be allowed within the walls of Winterfell. Later, the catspaw (we believe) sets fire to the Winterfell library and Ramsay Snow burns down Winterfell. So the damage is achieved in a different way in a different era. 

I gotta go, but I also want to comment on Mormont giving Craster an axe and then suggesting a name for that axe. Named weapons are important in ASOIAF and they are usually given from father to son. We know that Craster's father is a man of the Night's Watch, but we don't know specifically which black brother contributed his seed. It may not matter - the symbolism works whether Mormont specifically is Craster's father or whether he just represents "Night's Watch" lineage without being the exact sperm donor. (Vague paternity is deliberate in a lot of GRRM's characters in ASOIAF.)

My point here is that Mormont gives a sword to Jon Snow and an axe to Craster. As he is dying, he also tells Sam that he wants his son, Jorah, to have his sword. (Which sword? The one he already gave to Jon?) Three weapons, three literal or symbolic "son" figures. I think each weapon may represent a dragon or a chimera or a monster of some kind. 

Is it possible that House Mormont has the power that we see in Tyrion to create or hatch monsters? We know (or strongly suspect) that House Hightower is ambitious and power-hungry. And yet they allowed their beautiful daughter to marry Ser Jorah. Was she sent to try to get a dragon to hatch? Instead, Ser Jorah leaves his ancestral sword behind when he leaves Bear Island, and his wife soon leaves him, too. Ser Jorah later may be the magic ingredient that allows Dany's dragon eggs to hatch. 

I suspect that Jeor Mormont conferred powers on Jon Snow, Craster and Ser Jorah (although maybe Sam Tarly is proxy, since Jorah is not present) and he did so by giving them named weapons. 

I see a number of loose threads coming together with this good insight about the axes as dragons. So fun.