Dragon in Winterfell - What does this mean?

[The Night's Prince]

I never said it was a baby, I said it wasn't too big. If it was a baby it wouldn't have been able to fly in the first place. If it's Ice then it probably doesn't need anything in terms of food. The cold sustains it?

[jon stark I]

There is slim chance that there are dragons or dragon eggs under Winterfell because Winterfell is possibly build on top of a volcano.It has hot springs and it is warmer then any other castle in North.So we now Dragons need volcanos to live and If we assume that dragons lonce lived in all around the world so it is safe to say that once there was an active volcano in winterfell but after some time it became dormant.And maybe that dragon is one of Danys dragons right now she only has Drogo right?

[CJDTrismegistus]

When Jaehaerys I Targaryen(Jaehaerys The Conciliator) visited the north to speak to the Stark at Winterfell he took his Queen, Alysanne and 6 dragons. I think he left one behind in a kind of stasis/hibernation as he had a Targ-dream relating the Long Night/AA etc.

It seems strange to take 6 dragons with him during peace time - surely you don't need to take dragons for walkies! I think that the reason he went to the North in the 1st place was to discuss the Others and the upcoming war. He didn't know when this war would happen, but I think he was preparing for it by leaving a dragon at Winterfell and all the blood and fire in the sack of Winterfell has woken it from it's slumber.

Also, Jaehaerys' hand is Septon Barth of whom Tyrion mentions when thinking of books he'd ideally want to have for information on dragons(Dragons, Wyrms, and Wyverns: Their Unnatural History), but Baelor the Blessed had all his writings destroyed as he believed he was a sorcerer. Maybe he used his knowledge to put the dragon into stasis?

[Hempen Dan the Ropemaker]

I don't think jahearys left a dragon at winterfell, people would have noticed that they only had 5 dragons on their return

Evidence aside, I think it has to be some kind of reborn dragon or ice dragon, grrm is tellin us something in that line

[CJDTrismegistus]

I don't think jahearys left a dragon at winterfell, people would have noticed that they only had 5 dragons on their return

Evidence aside, I think it has to be some kind of reborn dragon or ice dragon, grrm is tellin us something in that line

The information regarding Jaehaerys only comes from two sources - Bran and Jon's recollection of Old Nan's bedtime story - the story relates to the tower, Queenscrown. The story doesn't seem to deal with the history of the time as such, it seems to specifically relate to the Night's Watch and their interaction with the Queen. The fact that there are 6 dragons in the King's retinue is only alluded to once, by Jon, so I don't think - due to both the context of the story and the fact that most of the history of this time has been lost - that the kings actions and movements after he left Winterfell would've been in Old Nan's story or other tales of the time.

But I think that may be important - by the time King Jaehaerys got back to King's Landing he may have only had 2 or 3 dragons. It's mentioned by Jon that the King liked to do a "Grand Tour" of Westeros now and again and he also had the King's Road built. It may be the case that in his 55 year rule he was forming a defense against the Others. He may have put dragons in stasis, in key locations in Westeros to use in the inevitable war to come. Dragons are or seem to be directly connected to magic and there seem to be locations with magical attributes dotted around Westeros such as Storms End and the Wall. Maybe there are more of Jaehaerys dragons in stasis giving these locations their magical properties? As has been pointed out before in other threads - the Horn of Joramun may be a tool to wake a dragon that is in or beneath the Wall, rather than the sound of the horn somehow cracking the ice. This could be due to the fact that Jaehaerys left a dragon at the wall in stasis under Deep Lake, a castle paid for by his Queen's jewellery built by men he sent north.

The Night's Watch vow - "I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men."

I think that "the horn" could be Joramun's horn and the "sleepers" might be Jaehaerys' dragons.

To the tune of a famous Beatles song - All you need is fire and blood. :)

[Lady Nastja]

I am undecided on this one. Despite my name (Dragon of Winterfell) being inspired in part by that passage, it could amount to nothing. Or, there could be a dragon in the North. Who can say? We'll have to read the next two books, although I see that passage being forgotten in the end.

[Gentso]

I can't remember where, but isn't there evidence of something being buried along with Lyanna? Is it possible Rhaegar gave her a dragon egg? Apparently, it takes fire, blood, and magic to hatch a dragon egg. Well, we witnessed quite a bit of blood and fire. As for magic, Bran the Builder built Winterfell and he also built the wall. The wall is magical, it's not far fetched to assume Winterfell has some magical properties as well.

[Jojen Dayne-Reed]

Ok. Hold on to your crackpots guys: I'm about to get crazy.

Everyone is right.

Stay with me now.

1-The dream was a prophetic dream of what Summer will see but interpreted though the weird language of prophesies and dreams.

I

2-There was a dragon in winterfell. It was awakened by the sacking. Same dragon Ned was hiding there for years. Jon Targarian.

Visearys told us that if you make a Targarian made enough you'll 'wake the dragon'.

Ramsay Bolton seems to have gone way out of his way to upset Jon. And by the end of Dwd he's mad enough to match. So dragon waking accomplished. (Assuming R+L=J.)

3-Jon's going to yield a fiery sword and swing it around winterfell. (This requires we accept J=PTWP) so his roar (angry vengeful Jon) is fire (fiery sword).

The dragon makes some noise then disappears. Not fly away. Disappears. So Jon saves the north then dies.

Is it true? Who knows. It requiers a lot of crackpot Ideas to pay off and buld to a n even crackier pot. It's probably purposefully written so you could justify any interpretation. And everyone here has had very convincing arguments for their interpretations, so I'm not going to defend this to the death. But if we accept JS is a Targ and at least part of the PTWP stuff And we accept Bran is having crazy visions of all kinds and shapes: then it works.

Also I just realized grrm did this exact same thing twice in Dunk and Egg.

[Lady Flandrensis]

I don't know if this is true, but I love the idea of it. And it's plausible; Winterfell must sit on intense heat to stay warm in that clime. The amount of geothermal needed to circulate hot water through all those walls is surely enough to hatch a dragon. We don't know what particular damage done in the sacking could have ruptured what.

Is a dragon the reason there must always be a Stark in Winterfell?

And who was Ned's mother? A Targ perhaps? hmmmm

[direwolves_and_dragons]

Just a comment on FittleLinger, just re-watching the series and that glimpse of the comet is s02e01, long before the sack of winterfell (which would transpire around s02e08) . Also obv TV series is not canon, just had to watch them wrongly kill Rakharo off again, I love the series but couple of annoying bits in season2).

In terms of the dragon, I am torn. I think most likely it is John discovering his identity with the constant references to what is down in the crypts for him. This could even be his awakening to his real identity beyond or at the Wall and it would still qualify because he is of Winterfell and was dormant all the time he was there, though the metaphor may lose some of its efficacy here.

I think the closest we will get to a real dragon at Winterfell would be either:

a ) him finding an egg there, possibly within Lyanna's statue or (far less likely) from a time when it was deposited there when the Targs initially visited (Dunk and Egg times, Bloodraven or maybe at a stretch even Alysanne and Jaehaerys)

b ) Jon taming one of the existing dragons (Rhaegal/probably Viserion) amongst the wreckage of Winterfell

c ) most likely though it is just quite a cool metaphor for him emerging from the crypts with his Targ identity and perhaps some relic of it

d ) crackpot would be that upon discovering his identity Jon discovers the dragon beneath the springs and rides to the Wall on it (if there is a real live/dormant dragon beneath Winterfell as I've seen some suggest, George would have to handle it with a lot of care i think). Wouldn't really like to see this.

[FittleLinger]

snip

Mostly I agree, yes, that the dragon is not a literal one in any case.

I mean, a dragon benath WF would be cool, but in kind of a Darth Vader riding a T-Rex cool, which is why I don't think Martin is going this way.

[direwolves_and_dragons]

Cheers there Baelish, only my second comment on the boards, so warm feedback is well received. Yea, like I say wouldn't like scenario d) to happen at all I've just noticed strings of comments about the hot springs fuelled by a dragon and such and kind of thought, GRRM if you do this , ffs please make it tasteful like the way the dragons emerged at the end of GOT. I don't think George should or will go that way either. I think its a great metaphor for Jon though, it could stand as it is or may work even better if he tames a dragon or finds his potential cradle egg or even just asserts his identity

[Ser Creighton]

Chances are it is Bloodraven effecting Brans wolf dream. We see it with Jon a couple of times. There was no little weirwood speaking to Jon, and the Moon in Dance was also speaking. Moons don't talk not even in this series.

At the time it is a clue from the author. Remember we don't know Bloodraven is alive at the time, seems simple enough foreshadowing. Bran goes on to seek the three eyed crow who is Bloodraven. Bloodraven of course being a Targ. This is pointing north, and Bran goes on to find Bloodraven.

Bloodraven is more than capable of effecting wolf dreams. Bran may also be having a vision on his own after all he seeks the 3 eyed crow. That's what he wants and he is being shown a Dragon and it points north. As there has been no other visions of the dragon it would seem just a clue from the author about the three eyed crow and where he is at.

The ice dragon theory does not work that well as Ice Dragons breathing fire seems counter intuitive. There is also no clue of ice, but rather the scene is about smoke and fire.

[Ser Creighton]

An interesting connection is that both Summer and Ghost bared their fangs at the vision. Ghost at the moon and Summer at the dragon. If both are Bloodraven it would seem they don't trust him.

[direwolves_and_dragons]

Like it Ser Creighton I think BR was AFFECTING possibly both their dreams but in terms of a dragon emerging out of Winterfell , this has to be Jon in my mind as Bloodraven is not of Winterfell. Otherwise I think the dragon would be hovering beyond the wall in the sky.

If you are simply referring to Bloodraven altering Bran and John's dreams respectively, though him not being the dragon emerging out of Winterfell, then yea I agree.

[SirRunty]

I read it as a metaphor myself, but I'll check out this dragon sighting thread and then judge

[direwolves_and_dragons]

Soz I meant that it is a metaphor for Jon i.e. not a metaphor for Bloodraven, even though BR may well be/ probably is (Cheers Ser Creighton) controlling the dream