A Thread for Small Questions V

[Ser Greguh]

Look for a copy of Legends II: Dragon, Sword, and King edited by Robert Silverberg in order to get The Sworn Sword novella - the second of the Dunk and Egg adventures. For the third story, The Mystery Knight, look for the new anthology Warriors edited by Martin and Gardner Dozois. Martin's story is the last in the book.

Alternatively, or in addition, The Sworn Sword is available via iTunes. As far as I know Warriors and The Mystery Knight are not yet available in audiobook format. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Both The Hedge Knight and The Sworn Sword were also adapted into graphic novels, and can be found with a quick search on Amazon. Presumably The Mystery Knight will eventually get the same treatment.

[Solitae]

Is there ever a reason given why Mormont joined the Night Watch? (Or Benjen Stark for that matter)

[JaimeLannister]

Is there ever a reason given why Mormont joined the Night Watch? (Or Benjen Stark for that matter)

I'd say Benjen because he wasn't heir and the Stark's have always been a friend to the watch therefore it was probably an honour

I'm intrigued about mormont aswell

[Robert B._ Alcoholic]

Has there been any discussion on whether Euron Crow's-Eye is in fact warg-born? (Like Bran and at least a couple of his siblings?)

There's a passing suggestion of this by Euron himself in AFFC, when Euron summons Victarion to his chamber after the victory feast on Greyshield (page 629 of the paperback version.) Euron mentions that when he was young, he dreamt that he could fly, but his maester told him that was impossible. He goes on to ask Victarion if anyone can ever really know whether they have the power to fly without taking a leap, etc.

Then of course, there's the name. Why Crow's-Eye? Euron's visible ("smiling") eye does not look like a crow's at all... it's blue. Also, crows are not maritime birds, and "Crow" is not a likely epithet for someone who spends most of his time ranging on the open seas. Unless, of course, it has something to do with the three-eyed crow (as being a sort of symbolic "spirit guide" who initiates the warg-born into the use of their talents.) I wonder if Euron, too, received a visit from the three-eyed crow during his childhood. Do the books narrate any alternative story for how the name "Crow's-Eye" came about?

Euron has an unique interest in the supernatural, quite evidently. He has traveled to the East and sips shade-of-the-evening, the Qartheen warlocks' elixir. He alone, among all the Ironmen, considers Dany's dragons a treasure worth seeking out. And then there's the strange manner in which he manipulates the chiefs gathered at Kingsmoot, entrancing them by having one of his mutes blow that dragon horn. It isn't openly stated that he uses magic to entrance them into voting for him, but the implication is there. Notably, the mute who blew the horn is said to have died later... which fits in neatly with the ASOIAF universe where magic always carries a substantial price or sacrifice to use successfully.

Then again, we have Euron's sudden reappearance at the very moment Balon is accidentally killed, leaving the throne vacant. Smacks of magic, perhaps warg-vision, that Euron should time his return so perfectly.

I wonder if Euron's warg-birth (if true at all) will feed into a plot-point of any importance in the series. I think we are subtly being set up for that. I'm also curious to see how it will be explained. The Stark kids (and the Reed kids) have the blood of the First Men, presumably commingled with that of the Children of the Forest, who were said to have been gifted with greensight or warg-seeing or whatever. Euron, if I'm not wrong, is the only instance of someone who isn't a member of a Northern noble house displaying this sort of supernatural gift (well, maybe Coldhands too, but he's probably just Benjen anyway.)

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "warg-born," and I think the idea that he used magic to entrance the ironborn captains (rather than showmanship and the promise of bold new conquests) is a little dodgy, but I agree that Euron was probably visited by the three-eyed crow at some point in his youth.

[Robert B._ Alcoholic]

By "warg-born" I meant born with a supernatural talent for clairvoyance, which in the series is often associated with the ability to possess a familiar (like Bran, Jon or Varamyr Six-skins are able to).

Yes, very likely it was primarily through showmanship and the promise of conquest that Euron won the Kingsmoot, but then again, magic in the ASOIAF novels often works in ways that are difficult to attribute directly to supernatural causes (one of the things I like best about the series.) I would have thought that Victarion had perhaps more credibility than Euron as a conqueror-king, given that he commands the iron fleet and has recently triumphed over the North, while Euron apparently has only the one vessel Silence and hasn't been seen for ages. I may be wrong though.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

Victarion had a reputation for being a good executor of somebody else's vision, something that he confirmed when he basically said that he'd give the ironborn more of what they had under Balon. Euron, on the other hand, had a reputation for boldness in a land where a lot of people were used to defeat _and_ had a breathtaking vision of total conquest that even Aeron (who hated him more than anybody) found strongly appealing.

[mormont]

Is there ever a reason given why Mormont joined the Night Watch? (Or Benjen Stark for that matter)

Yes, both are given. Both joined partly out of duty and honour, first of all - men still do join the NW for this reason rather than because of some crime or scandal, though not in the numbers they did. People tend to forget this. But it's also indicated that Jeor joined the Night's Watch to allow Jorah to become Lord in his own right. Ben, meanwhile, is noted as having been impressed by the NW recruiter at Harrenhal, and we know that the Starks frequently serve in the NW. No mystery to either, really.

[Adenspear]

Re: Jeor Mormont.

The Wiki for Song of Ice and Fire says he joined the Nights Watch to allow his son to rule, but the chapter they reference (Clash of Kings 12 - Daenaeyrs(sp) ) doesn't say anything of the sort. It just has a bit where Jorah Mormont reflects that at a certain point in time his father had already taken the Black so he was lord of Bear Island. I don't believe it is especially a nefarious thing though.

[Solitae]

Yeah, I assumed both of them joined up voluntarily since neither of them seemed the sort for terrible scandals. I just couldn't remember if it was addressed. Thanks for the info!

[Lord Pounce]

I don't have a copy of the first two books on hand but I could swear I remember that Mormont joined to take responsibility for Jorah's slave dealings (since Jorah had fled instead of taking up the black)

[Lady Winter Rose]

I don't have a copy of the first two books on hand but I could swear I remember that Mormont joined to take responsibility for Jorah's slave dealings (since Jorah had fled instead of taking up the black)

No, LC Mormont join NW before Jorah married Lynesse.

[Daemon23]

No, LC Mormont join NW before Jorah married Lynesse.

But it is why he declined to pass his heirloom sword to Jorah, who was indeed a grave disappointment to him.

[EvilClosetMonkey]

The old bear did give Longclaw to Jorah when he took the black. When Jorah fled Bear Island after the slaving incident he left Longclaw there. Jeor sees this as proof that his son wasn't completely devoid of honor.

[The Waif]

What do dogs do to wolves?

[schpat]

What do dogs do to wolves?

Ask Sandor

[Rune Targaryen]

What do dogs do to wolves?

Sniff theirs behind...

What the RR in GRRM means?

[Mad Monkey]

Aren't dogs used by humans to help run down and kill wolves or something?

[MightilyOats]

Dogs viciously maul the wolves that they're used to hunt.

It's...not pretty.

[jurble]

Aren't dogs used by humans to help run down and kill wolves or something?

Specific breeds of dogs were bred to especially hunt and kill wolves. But Teddy Roosevelt remarked that few of them were actually capable of doing so anymore, since functionality has become secondary to appearance in most breeds these days.