Mermaids in ASOIAF.

[Gar Weg Wun Sygerrik]

I didn't mean Patchface saying he had actually seen Mermaids, but the use of that word perhaps indicating that they do exist in the internal logic of this world.

Hehe, I knew that. I just meant even though he imagines them, they aren't necessarily a creature that ever existed, and I don't think that can be used as evidence that they did.

[Theda Baratheon]

Hehe, I knew that. I just meant even though he imagines them, they aren't necessarily a creature that ever existed, and I don't think that can be used as evidence that they did.

I personally believe that every single piece of folklore has a tiny, tiny, tiny shred of truth. I just liked that mermaids have been mentioned a few times, like the other example I gave of the Grey King marrying a mermaid.

[Full-Faced Braavosi]

Spoiler

I'm sold.

Hehe, I knew that. I just meant even though he imagines them, they aren't necessarily a creature that ever existed, and I don't think that can be used as evidence that they did.

Unfortunately, this is what I tend to believe too. Though they could always be linked to some mythical creature that actually exists, it seems time and again GRRM uses the representative imagery to mean certain people (like Dragon = Targ).

[Gar Weg Wun Sygerrik]

"The lord fingered the ribbon, frowning at the seals. He was an ugly man, big fleshy, with an oarsman's thick shoulders and no neck. Course grey stubble, going white in patches covered his cheeks and chin. Above a massive shielf of brow he was bald. His nose was lumpy and red with broken veins, his lips thick, and he had a short of webbing between the three middle fingers of his right hand. Davos had heard that some of the lords of the Three Sisters had webbed hands and feet, but had always put that down as just another sailor's story".

There's another. I'll try and find it.

[The Dornishman's Wife]

There are those people with webbed hands that Davos meets. I always forget about them.

The Borrells, Lords on the Sisters, have webbed hands. Their sigil is a crab, which is interesting in light of the Patchface vision, as it was Lord Borrell (the crab) who allowed Ser Davos to reach the Manderlys (the mermen). If you want to interpret the hand of the king as a starfish (5-fingered), then the mermen feasted on starfish soup, and the serving man was a crab.

[Theda Baratheon]

"The lord fingered the ribbon, frowning at the seals. He was an ugly man, big fleshy, with an oarsman's thick shoulders and no neck. Course grey stubble, going white in patches covered his cheeks and chin. Above a massive shielf of brow he was bald. His nose was lumpy and red with broken veins, his lips thick, and he had a short of webbing between the three middle fingers of his right hand. Davos had heard that some of the lords of the Three Sisters had webbed hands and feet, but had always put that down as just another sailor's story".

There's another. I'll try and find it.

Totally evidence of Mermaid and Human interbreeding :cool4: and not *ahem* inbreeding.

[Theda Baratheon]

The Borrells, Lords on the Sisters, have webbed hands. Their sigil is a crab, which is interesting in light of the Patchface vision, as it was Lord Borrell (the crab) who allowed Ser Davos to reach the Manderlys (the mermen). If you want to interpret the hand of the king as a starfish (5-fingered), then the mermen feasted on starfish soup, and the serving man was a crab.

Oooh, I like this.

[Gar Weg Wun Sygerrik]

"The woman brought them a fresh loaf of bread, still hot from the oven. When Davos saw her hand, he stared. Lord Godric did not fail to make note of it. "Aye, she has the mark, like all Borrells, for five thousand years. My daughter's daughter. Not the one who makes the stew".

Again I'm assuming she has webbed hands. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[Gar Weg Wun Sygerrik]

The Borrells, Lords on the Sisters, have webbed hands. Their sigil is a crab, which is interesting in light of the Patchface vision, as it was Lord Borrell (the crab) who allowed Ser Davos to reach the Manderlys (the mermen). If you want to interpret the hand of the king as a starfish (5-fingered), then the mermen feasted on starfish soup, and the serving man was a crab.

I've heard another fairly convincing version of this but the details are lost to me. I think it had to do with Frey pies, or a House with star sigils.

[Full-Faced Braavosi]

The Borrells, Lords on the Sisters, have webbed hands. Their sigil is a crab, which is interesting in light of the Patchface vision, as it was Lord Borrell (the crab) who allowed Ser Davos to reach the Manderlys (the mermen). If you want to interpret the hand of the king as a starfish (5-fingered), then the mermen feasted on starfish soup, and the serving man was a crab.

Mind = blown.

That being said, I don't understand how they feasted on Davos (hand of the king). Does that just mean they ate with him? Or was it a reference to that the Lannisters think they kiled Davos? or his betrayal yet to come? Or What?

"The woman brought them a fresh load of bread, still hot from the oven. When Davos saw her hand, he stared. Lord Godrid did not fail to make note of it. "Aye, she has the mark, like all Borrells, for five thousand years. My daughter's daughter. Not the one who makes the stew".

Again I'm assuming she has webbed hands. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Hint of mermaid-ism or just syndactylism?

[Theda Baratheon]

"The woman brought them a fresh load of bread, still hot from the oven. When Davos saw her hand, he stared. Lord Godrid did not fail to make note of it. "Aye, she has the mark, like all Borrells, for five thousand years. My daughter's daughter. Not the one who makes the stew".

Again I'm assuming she has webbed hands. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I can't really imagining it being anything else.

[Gar Weg Wun Sygerrik]

I can't really imagining it being anything else.

That's the problem(not really a problem). That's how GRRM writes. Then some incredibly smart person will link 30 quotes together and put an entirely different spin on it :D

[Theda Baratheon]

Unfortunately I'm not an incredibly smart person :( But yes, this is true!

[The Dornishman's Wife]

I personally believe that every single piece of folklore has a tiny, tiny, tiny shred of truth. I just liked that mermaids have been mentioned a few times, like the other example I gave of the Grey King marrying a mermaid.

Indeed they have been mentioned quite a bit and interestingly they don't belong to only one people, but also by people from quite different cultures:

• The Grey King belongs to the folklore of the Iron Isles about as west as west goes, as you said he is supposed to have married a mermaid
  
• The Manderlys are a southern house in origin. The house is ancient and connected to mermen.
  
• The Spears of the Merling King are a place in Blackwater Bay, i.e. at the east coast of the continent.
  
• Braavos is on Essos and hails from Valyria. The Merling Queen, attended by her own little "mermaids" (dressed up maidens) indicates that in that culture, merpeople are a common feature as well.
  

It seems that mermaids are not limited to the folklore of one particular people but are known all over the place, wherever there's water. That's a further indication for some kind of truth being behind the myth.

[Theda Baratheon]

I just wanted to know if people believed they existed in the universe of ASOIAF like many other creatures of mythology, we already know that Unicorns possibly do, for example.

[Theda Baratheon]

Indeed they have been mentioned quite a bit and interestingly they don't belong to only one people, but also by people from quite different cultures:

• The Grey King belongs to the folklore of the Iron Isles about as west as west goes, as you said he is supposed to have married a mermaid
  
• The Manderlys are a southern house in origin. The house is ancient and connected to mermen.
  
• The Spears of the Merling King are a place in Blackwater Bay, i.e. at the east coast of the continent.
  
• Braavos is on the eastern continent hails from Valyria. The Merling Queen, attended by her own little "mermaids" (dressed up maidens) shows that in that culture, merpeople are a common feature as well.
  

It seems that mermaids are not limited to the folklore of one particular people but are known all over the place, wherever there's water. That's a further indication for a truth being behind the myth.

Oh, thank you!! This is great that they have been mentioned in all different parts of the world of ASOIAF in many different cultures.

[Angmar]

They might exist...They just don't play an important role in the story...I can believe unicorns exist too, If I recall there was a chapter where Bran saw via warg Shaggydog eating a creature, and its description seemed pretty similar to that of a unicorn.

[Theda Baratheon]

They might exist...They just don't play an important role in the story...I can believe unicorns exist too, If I recall there was a chapter where Bran saw via warg Shaggydog eating a creature, and its description seemed pretty similar to that of a unicorn.

Yes, exactly; this is what I was remembering too. I also don't think they'll play a part in the story, but sometimes I lie to think about the world in ASOIAF and the universe and it's internal logic and what is actually possible. Even if we won't see a lot of it in this narrative. :D

[Full-Faced Braavosi]

I thought there was some theory about the unicorn just being a man with a horn on his helm or the sigil of a unicorn (House Brax).

[Theda Baratheon]

I thought there was some theory about the unicorn just being a man with a horn on his helm or the sigil of a unicorn (House Brax).

Perhaps, but in my whimsical head these creatures exist in GRRM's world.