Piecing together Old Nan's tales

[plurabel]

hi folks! I am new here and I thought an interesting project would be to gather old nan's accounts and tales to make up a database of things she says, as it all seems to have some relevance. if there is such a thing already, please feel free to scrap this topic. I browsed the forum and didn't find it (also the search doesn't like 'old nan' - try it). since I have just started my re-read of the whole series, I can contribute with the first instances of shit old nan says.

from bran's first pov in agot: "The man had been taken outside a small holdfast in the hills. Robb thought he was a wildling, his sword sworn to Mance Rayder, the King beyond-the-Wall. It made Bran’s skin prickle to

think of it. He remembered the hearth tales Old Nan told them. The wildlings were cruel men, she said, slavers and slayers and thieves. They consorted with giants and ghouls, stole girl children in the dead of night, and drank blood from polished horns. And their women lay with the Others in the Long Night to sire terrible half-human children."

from bran's second pov in agot: " His father would be the Hand of the King, and they were going to live in the red castle at King’s Landing, the castle the Dragonlords had built. Old Nan said there were ghosts there, and dungeons where terrible things had been done, and dragon heads on the walls."

there were 2 or so other mentions of her in between those but they were pretty irrelevant. to be fair, that first one about the wildlings seems like just drivel, of course...

(edited for typo)

[plurabel]

from bran's second pov in agot " Old Nan told him a story about a bad little boy who climbed too high and was struck down by lightning, and how afterward the crows came to peck out his eyes. Bran was not impressed. There were crows’ nests atop the broken tower, where no one ever went but him, and sometimes he filled his pockets with corn before he climbed up there and the crows ate it right out of his hand. None of them had ever shown the slightest bit of interest in pecking out his eyes."

[Blisscraft]

I like this topic. I love old Nan. I will look through over the weekend and see what I can come up with. One of the things about her tales is that there is some real truth to them, if not in a literal way, a metaphorical one. In your above example, the "pecking out the little boy's eyes" is what the three-eyed crow does to Bran's forehead. Giving Bran the gift of a "third eye" or insight.

[Blisscraft]

The next and probably longest (and even most important) Old Nan story is the one she tells Bran about the Others, the last hero and the children of the forest. It's the same chapter wherein Bran is told that his Uncle Benjen is missing. Bran remembers the ending to Old Nan's story (even though it was interrupted by the arrival of the NW and Tyrion) as that the last hero was saved by the children of the forest. Bran believes the children of the forest will help his Uncle Benjen. Theon sniggers and Luwin doubts the truth of the story and says all that remains of the COF are the faces in the trees. But Yoren, is more suportive of Bran and says, ". . .up past the Wall, who's to say? Up there, a man can't always tell what's alive and what's dead."

[Lady Olenna]

If you search the Heresy threads (I think maybe 3 or 4?) all of Old Nan's quotes are listed - I think in chronological order as well.

I'm driving so I can't link it right now.

But I'll be back!

[Blisscraft]

Thanks, LO. I will look there, although as I read the books there are certain characters and topics that I like to keep track of as I go. Old Nan is one of them. Also, I enjoy keeping track of the characters dreams, not the prophecies, but the dreamers and how it reflects upon the characters' present state of mind and then how a dream may influence a characters' ongoing development. GRRM is masterful at creating dreams and stories.

[m_k]

Here is the link to all those old nan stories

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/61905-heresy-6/#entry2976780

[Julian Rayne]

I find Old Nan's tales interesting, but somewhat unbelievable. She's got this obsession with 'drinking the hot blood'.

[Pelican]

Some of her tales may hold some truth, but I don't trust her (although I hope she has survived the Dreadfort). She gets us all off on the wrong foot right at the start of the story. Bran remembers that Old Nan said that the wildlings were cruel slayers, slavers, and thieves. "They consorted with giants and ghouls, stole girl children in the dead of night, and drank blood from polished horns. And their women lay with the Others in the Long Night to sire terrible half-human children."

What part of that has been true so far? The giants. Some of the wildlings are cruel, just as many Westerosi are, and some of them may have been in the slave trade, just as Jorah was. But they seem to be running away from the ghouls, just as everyone else is, and no one's been drinking any blood (except possibly Bloodraven and Bran during sacrifices at the weirwoods).

I've wondered if Old Nan was sent to Winterfell however many eons ago to watch the generations of Stark children to see if anything interesting turned up. Like, say, warging. The real story behind all that is probably detailed in one of those old books Sam keeps looking through, but the Children may remember why it's important to keep an eye on the Starks.

And if people wanted to find who was siring terrible half-human children with the Others, wouldn't a family whose children have supernatural abilities be the likeliest candidate?

[plurabel]

Pelican, I suspect that maybe that first chatter about wildings from Old Nan may have been a not-so-well-thought-out way of setting us up to be a bit surprised about the free folk when we finally got to meet them. But maybe that is reason enough to take Nan's words with a grain of salt. I like your idea that she may have been sent to Winterfell for a slightly more complex reason that just to nurse babies and look after Hodor. Also, Hodor may also represent something more than meets the eye.

Lady Olenna and m_k: thank you! I will look into the other thread and I guess we can call it a day on this one!

[Quiet Isle]

Look up the norse myth of Hodor, Baldyr (Walder) and Nannan (old nan?).

[Dogpile]

Ragnork, Love the Norse Myth of Hodor.

I'm sure elements of it are in play. The killing of a God that can't be killed with a mistletoe arrow.

Seems like we saw someone in Bran's vision making 3 arrows from the Weirwood tree in Winterfell. Later we hear the tale one of King Torrhen Stark's sons offering to sneak in to Ageon the Conqueror's camp to slay his dragons. Torrhen decides to kneel instead but I'll be looking for those 3 wierwood arrows to show up. Things to come maybe.