Winter Fell?

[The Great Cornholio!]

Under these assumptions:

1. Jon is not dead.

2. Jon will become a champion to defeat the others.

3. Song of Ice and fire means means Jon saga.

Jon could be the Stark to go back to Winterfell and set things right.

[redriver]

Under these assumptions:

1. Jon is not dead.

2. Jon will become a champion to defeat the others.

3. Song of Ice and fire means means Jon saga.

Jon could be the Stark to go back to Winterfell and set things right.

I think 1,2 and 3 are correct.But there's good foreshadowing in Sansa's snow chapter that she'll rebuild Winterfell and set things right!

[The Great Cornholio!]

Sansa is a decent candidate. However, keep in mind she has a great deal of mess to get herself out of.

[The Mother of The Others]

Call me Myrtle because I've been misunderstood.

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/81078-winter-fell/page__st__320#entry4787864

It meant what it said, that this idea is fine by me with the added plus of avoiding a lengthy quest to unlock the mystery of the seasons.

If I've previously stolen your bible or ran over your dog in another topic, I'm sorry. In this one I was supportive.

[redriver]

Call me Myrtle because I've been misunderstood.

http://asoiaf.wester...20#entry4787864

It meant what it said, that this idea is fine by me with the added plus of avoiding a lengthy quest to unlock the mystery of the seasons.

If I've previously stolen your bible or ran over your dog in another topic, I'm sorry. In this one I was supportive.

Ah,apologies seem to be in order,I took you up wrong and no.I don't think we've battled before.

[Neumond]

Are you really sure about it? Personally I'm not going to rule out the Targaryan words for being connected with magic, more than about the people. Though I admit they all have a temper.

I´ve searched in the first book. But all I could find was a thought of Cat in her first chapter:

"The words gave her a chill, as they always did. The Stark words. Every noble house had its words. Family mottoes, touchstones, prayers of sorts, they boasted of honor and glory, promised loyalty and truth, swore faith and courage. All but the Starks. Winter is coming, said the Stark words. Not for the first time, she reflected on what a strange people these northerners were."

I´ve understood it, that these are the only housewords, that doesn´t brag about the family. But perhaps I´ve misunderstood it? Or perhaps Cat is wrong with that thought?

[Cat of the First Men]

Greetings , first of all sorry for the interruption , while i was playing the new game on facebook Game of Thrones Ascent a game based on The books i came on a quest to discover how to open a ancient WEIRBOOK OF THE FIRST MEN , after opening i started to read some pages what were offered i came on a really interesting stuff like this

" This red star is the blood in the snow, which shall be split when come the ancient lords of winter once more.

Beware the coming of the bloody star."

...paragraph is a bit more troublesome.It would be much easier if it said ancient King of Winter, singular, instead of plural.We might have tied it directly to the Night's King then.But I suppose,at the simplest interpretation it means Winter will be unleashed?

The third one does seem to fit this theory well.

" There shall come a day when the blood of the First Men shall grow thin even in the House of the North,

my son.This is a day to be feared ... "

This I simply take to mean that a day will arrive when there is no Stark in Winterfell,and that was the day Ramsay married Jeyne Poole.A day to be feared because that was when Winter arrived.

I don't know whether anyone else has thought of this, but I think "the ancient lords of winter" here refer to the Others. Which makes me wonder whether the Others occupied the site of Winterfell during the Long Night & gave it special significance, for example as others on this thread have suggested, Winterfell is the place where the war against the Others was won during the Long Night.

The day the blood of the First Men is thin in the House of the North has been with us for some time. It is known that the Karstarks look much more like the First Men than the Starks.

Edit to remove a line which was irrelevant and unintentionally quoted.

[Black Crow]

I´ve searched in the first book. But all I could find was a thought of Cat in her first chapter:

"The words gave her a chill, as they always did. The Stark words. Every noble house had its words. Family mottoes, touchstones, prayers of sorts, they boasted of honor and glory, promised loyalty and truth, swore faith and courage. All but the Starks. Winter is coming, said the Stark words. Not for the first time, she reflected on what a strange people these northerners were."

I´ve understood it, that these are the only housewords, that doesn´t brag about the family. But perhaps I´ve misunderstood it? Or perhaps Cat is wrong with that thought?

Some of us of course have tended to interpret the words not as an injunction to lay in some extra firewood, but as a warcry.

As to the Stark in Winterfell business, I think there has been a tendency to interpret it rather too narrowly - sometimes in text. The requirement that there must be a Stark in Winterfell probably doesn't mean there has to be a member of the Stark family in residence 24/7 year after year; but rather that there should always be a Stark lord of Winterfell.

Right now there isn't because the Starks have been killed or scattered and Ramsay Bolton is now lord of Winterfell.

[Neumond]

A warcry? Sounds very good. Interesting implications come into my mind...

I´m hooked, I will search a thread for it. Thank you very much. :)

Again: This thread is such a good read.

[redriver]

I don't know whether anyone else has thought of this, but I think "the ancient lords of winter" here refer to the Others. Which makes me wonder whether the Others occupied the site of Winterfell during the Long Night & gave it special significance, for example as others on this thread have suggested, Winterfell is the place where the war against the Others was won during the Long Night.

The day the blood of the First Men is thin in the House of the North has been with us for some time. It is known that the Karstarks look much more like the First Men than the Starks.

Edit to remove a line which was irrelevant and unintentionally quoted.

I think this might be a better interpretation of "lords of winter than I originally made.It's probably the Others it referred to and I get the impression Winterfell is important to them as well.

People have pointed out that the Others appeared in the novels before the Red Comet was seen,initially by Maester Luwin at the end of AGOT.But the operative word is seen.The WW were possibly able to sense it's advent before men could see it.

As Black Crow says,the Stark in Winterfell idea is about the Castle having a Stark in charge as opposed to being present at all times.

[Cat of the First Men]

So it seems to me that the blizzard has hit the whole of the wolfswood at the same time or before it hit Winterfell. This doesn't put into question the idea that the snowstorm has to do with the power of Winterfell. But, I am not certain that it expanded from a point (Winterfell) before engulfing Westeros. If the old gods are responsible for the storm, it might be the old gods of the wolfswood, and more generally the north, rather than the particular power contained in Winterfell.

Roose declared at the sight of the first snowflakes:

“The gods of the north have unleashed their wroth on Lord Stannis,” Roose Bolton announced come morning as men gathered in Winterfell’s Great Hall to break their fast. “He is a stranger here, and the old gods will not suffer him to live.”

(The Turncloak, ADwD)

“Stannis is cursed,” a Dreadfort man insisted. “He is the one out there in the storm.”

(A Ghost in Winterfell, ADwD)

In Stannis's army, the queen's men want a sacrifice to gain the help of R'hllor. But the northmen seem unanimous with a different view.

“What has your southron god to do with snow?” demanded Artos Flint. His black beard was crusted with ice. “This is the wroth of the old gods come upon us. It is them we should appease.”

“Aye,” said Big Bucket Wull. “Red Rahloo means nothing here. You will only make the old gods angry. They are watching from their island.”

(The Sacrifice, ADwD)

One wonders if the long and cruel Winter is not the work of Winterfell or of the old gods.

As it has been recalled upthread, Melisandre intended to burn the Winterfell godswood, just like she had the Storm's End godswood put to the torch. It might be that the storm is a protection against this threat, and that the old gods fear that the queen's men would devastate Winterfell's godswood.

Indeed, Stannis' army suffers much more from the storm than Bolton and his allies. Perhaps, Stannis will come to understand that he can't win the north to his cause without adopting the old gods. Much of the tension in his army is due to the antagonism between the queen's men and the mountain clans. In fact, Stannis' army is so starved, frozen and diminished that it is almost non existent. At best it will fight its last battle against the Bolton.

Moreover, the antagonism between the northmen and the queen's men has mounted to the point that they can barely stand each other.

At the end of the gift chapter, Asha exhorted Stannis to follow Eddard Stark's example and execute Theon in front of the heart tree. Such an execution also demanded by the northmen. It seems Stannis' choice is emblematic of the larger choice of embracing the old gods to lead the northmen versus persisting with R'hllor who seems of little help – beside sending Tycho Nestoris as the result of the sacrifice.

:agree: I think the storm is sent to reduce Stannis' strength and prevent him from reaching Winterfell. (aside: Stannis' army in the blizzard sounds to me like Napoloeon's and the Nazi army losing their strength trying to invade Russia.)

If Stannis defeated the Boltons and took over Winterfell straight away, the godswood, the weirwood and with it all the old magic in Winterfell would have been in grave danger. Whether or not he would have actually burnt them, he expressed the wish to John, which is the reason John did not take up the offer to join Stannis as his Lord of Winterfell.

"To claim his father's castle,he must turn against his father's gods."

I think this next bit is going to be a bit controversial, but I'll say it anyway: John inherited the mantle of King of the North (King of Winter) from Robb. If the Kings of Winter have the power to call in wintry weather, John may have subconsciously called in the snow storm on Stannis, even though consciously he wants Stannis to take Winterfell.

When will the storm stop?

If John has subconsciously called in the storm, it should stop if he dies & will probably stop after the stabbing anyway even if he remains alive*. He simply won't have enough power for anything but staying alive.

The King of Winter's power must come through the old gods and the weirnet (i.e. BR, Bran or the CoTF). I think that if Stannis accepts the power of the old gods & decides he will never remove the weirwood in Winterfell, the storm will stop. I think Stannis will experience some kind of revelation when he takes Theon to be executed at the weirwood grove, which makes him accept the power of the old gods. The storm will stop and he will be able to defeat the Boltons and march into Winterfell.

*An aside, here. I re-read the stabbing scene today:

"When the third dagger took him he fell face-first into the snow. He never felt the fourth knife. Only the cold"

I expect this has been gone over 1,000,000 times before, but it must be pretty cold, being face first in snow. Loss of blood isn't the only reason he has to feel cold...

"John reached for Longclaw, but his fingers had grown stiff and clumsy. Somehow he could not seem to get the sword free of its scabbard"

...because someone behind him was preventing him from unsheathing his sword.

It also struck me that not only were the brothers who attacked John stewards rather than rangers but they were also ambivalent about killing him.

"The gangling steward backed away, his hands upraised as if to say, Not me, it wasn't me. "

"Then Bowen Marsh stood before him, tears running down his cheeks" .

I think these men decided they were all going to stab Jon one after the other because none of them thought he was a bad man who deserved to die. They just hated what he was doing to the NW. They have put themselves in the place of judges and executioners, but when they look into John's eyes they don't have the heart to kill him. If all of them intentionally made a non-lethal wound, leaving it to the others to do the killing, how can John die?

Oops the aside got a bit long & probably better posted elsewhere. By the way, thanks for this thread, everyone. Its really got me thinking & bouncing ideas around (most of which end up wrong, but that's half the fun).

Oh, no, forgot, the other part. Back to Winterfell! I always assumed the fell part referred to a hill or mountain as is common usage in the north west of England. A bit strange since there's no mountain, but I may have found the answer in the Wikipedia entry for fell:

"In Northern England, especially in the Lake District and in the Pennine Dales, the word fell originally referred to an area of uncultivated high ground used as common grazing"

Winterfell is the area of common grazing used in winter, which is perfect, because the hot springs would have melted snow and allowed grass to grow for a longer period than the surrounding areas. The importance of Winterfell as a winter grazing area probably predates the castle and may even predate the invasion by the First Men, meaning there's a hollow hill of remains of CoTF under Winterfell...

Talking of CoTF, my guess is that the "collapsed" part of the lowest level of the crypts holds a cavern similar to the one Bran now finds himself in, with long abandoned thrones of greenseers.

[tbc]

I think 1,2 and 3 are correct.But there's good foreshadowing in Sansa's snow chapter that she'll rebuild Winterfell and set things right!

I hope not. I really, deeply hope not.

[evita mgfs]

I have been working on a project tracing the “blood motif” starting with AGoT, and while studying Martin’s language patterns and examining literary and figurative examples, I found some references to “blood, “snow” and “winter” which might substantiate further aspects of Redriver’s Winter Fell premise. I know Redriver references ADwD – so I am going back to AGoT to present “early” evidences of winter as a force commanded by the Starks.

The spilling of blood accompanies Lord Eddard Stark’s first appearance in the novel A Game of Thrones as he assumes the roles of Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North, and executioner: he administers the King’s justice by wielding his Valyrian steel greatsword Ice to decapitate a deserter from the Night’s Watch. Martin employs a simile to compare the vibrant color of “summerwine” to the blood spatter resulting from Stark’s stroke of his blade:

“Blood sprayed out across the snow, as red as summerwine” (15).

The vibrant red contrasts sharply against the white “snow”. The blood symbolizes death and the snow symbolizes the winter; hence, the coming winter will bring death.

Furthermore, Martin chooses to link blood with summerwine through figurative language, and if the reader follows the motif, at the feast held in honor of King Robert’s visit to Winterfell, the Stark host serves summerwine to the royal guests. The Stark family imbibes too, with Ned allowing his children a glass to commemorate the event: “In honor of the occasion, his lord father would doubtless permit each child a glassful of wine, but no more” (49-50). Benjen identifies the wine when he speaks to Jon: “Summerwine . . . Nothing so sweet” (52). Thus, the summerwine symbolically represents “blood”. So, if we connect Martin’s words in Jon’s first POV, the Starks are responsible for offering the beverage [summerwine/blood] to the Baratheons and Lannisters, which consequently intimates that the Starks “eventually” [in subsequent novels] will serve “blood” to their enemies, with the blood symbology suggesting “revenge” and “death”. Moreover, the “summerwine” and “blood” allude to the Starks themselves “symbolically” drinking the blood of their enemies, maybe through their direwolves or through the weirwood? In ADwD, Bran “tastes” the blood through the roots of the weirwood tree after a white haired woman beheads a “human sacrifice” with a sickle. Does this intimate a way to awaken the collective spirits of the Starks [and others] in the weirwood?

Next, Osha asserts that the old gods send the wind to answer Bran’s prayers: “A faint wind sighed through the godswood and the red leaves stirred and whispered” (AGoT 577). Osha goes on to specify: “They hear you talking. That rustling, that’s them talking back” (577). Now that Bran is part of the godhood, he will be able to manipulate the winds to his advantage, and the winds are complicating the treacherous conditions at Winterfell, the Wall, and Stannis’ encampment. Martin describes the drifting snow in the locations mentioned, and in the case of Theon and Jeyne, the drifting snow against the WF’s walls serves as a life-saving buffer that breaks their tandem jump. [At the Wall, I am convinced that Jon shoveling out areas where the snow drifts is foreshadowing: Ghost will escape the armory by jumping from the window in Jon’s quarters, a snow drift breaking his fall as well.]

The wind is the force commanding the snow drifts, yes? Is Bran behind the damages the snow has been causing at Winterfell? Is such a thing possible? Or will another Stark commandeer the winds on behalf of Bran?

Since Bran is an intuitive, what he says at times seems prophetic. For example, in Bran’s POV in AGoT, he describes Rickon as wild as a “winter’s storm” and he describes Shaggy as “as wild as Rickon”; so, Rickon and Shaggy mirror one another. With Shaggy, Rickon is fearless, and he even visits the darkened crypts, Shaggy at his side, at least twice, both times without illumination to guide him. With the behavior Rickon exhibits and Bran informs upon, such as “Rickon ran with the wolves” and after Rickon disappears one day, Robb sets half the castle to search for his baby brother, whom they locate in the crypts, but Rickon and Shaggy do not go peacefully: “. . . when at last they found him . . . Rickon had slashed at them with a rusted sword from a dead king’s hand, and Shaggydog had come slavering out of the darkness like a green-eyed demon” (573). This image is compelling: Rickon with his sword assumes the dead king’s [as in king of winter?] protective stance, and Shaggy is a stone direwolf come to life. Rickon’s guardian is a “wildling”. Martin personifies the wind throughout its appearance in the POV’s – and it might be purposeful. Rickon’s return to Winterfell might be literal and symbolic. Will Bran unite with his brother, and through their shared bloodline, will Rickon become a force of nature?

[Alia of the knife]

I have been working on a project tracing the “blood motif” starting with AGoT, and while studying Martin’s language patterns and examining literary and figurative examples, I found some references to “blood, “snow” and “winter” which might substantiate further aspects of Redriver’s Winter Fell premise. I know Redriver references ADwD – so I am going back to AGoT to present “early” evidences of winter as a force commanded by the Starks.

The spilling of blood accompanies Lord Eddard Stark’s first appearance in the novel A Game of Thrones as he assumes the roles of Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North, and executioner: he administers the King’s justice by wielding his Valyrian steel greatsword Ice to decapitate a deserter from the Night’s Watch. Martin employs a simile to compare the vibrant color of “summerwine” to the blood spatter resulting from Stark’s stroke of his blade:

“Blood sprayed out across the snow, as red as summerwine” (15).

The vibrant red contrasts sharply against the white “snow”. The blood symbolizes death and the snow symbolizes the winter; hence, the coming winter will bring death.

Furthermore, Martin chooses to link blood with summerwine through figurative language, and if the reader follows the motif, at the feast held in honor of King Robert’s visit to Winterfell, the Stark host serves summerwine to the royal guests. The Stark family imbibes too, with Ned allowing his children a glass to commemorate the event: “In honor of the occasion, his lord father would doubtless permit each child a glassful of wine, but no more” (49-50). Benjen identifies the wine when he speaks to Jon: “Summerwine . . . Nothing so sweet” (52). Thus, the summerwine symbolically represents “blood”. So, if we connect Martin’s words in Jon’s first POV, the Starks are responsible for offering the beverage [summerwine/blood] to the Baratheons and Lannisters, which consequently intimates that the Starks “eventually” [in subsequent novels] will serve “blood” to their enemies, with the blood symbology suggesting “revenge” and “death”. Moreover, the “summerwine” and “blood” allude to the Starks themselves “symbolically” drinking the blood of their enemies, maybe through their direwolves or through the weirwood? In ADwD, Bran “tastes” the blood through the roots of the weirwood tree after a white haired woman beheads a “human sacrifice” with a sickle. Does this intimate a way to awaken the collective spirits of the Starks [and others] in the weirwood?

Next, Osha asserts that the old gods send the wind to answer Bran’s prayers: “A faint wind sighed through the godswood and the red leaves stirred and whispered” (AGoT 577). Osha goes on to specify: “They hear you talking. That rustling, that’s them talking back” (577). Now that Bran is part of the godhood, he will be able to manipulate the winds to his advantage, and the winds are complicating the treacherous conditions at Winterfell, the Wall, and Stannis’ encampment. Martin describes the drifting snow in the locations mentioned, and in the case of Theon and Jeyne, the drifting snow against the WF’s walls serves as a life-saving buffer that breaks their tandem jump. [At the Wall, I am convinced that Jon shoveling out areas where the snow drifts is foreshadowing: Ghost will escape the armory by jumping from the window in Jon’s quarters, a snow drift breaking his fall as well.]

The wind is the force commanding the snow drifts, yes? Is Bran behind the damages the snow has been causing at Winterfell? Is such a thing possible? Or will another Stark commandeer the winds on behalf of Bran?

Since Bran is an intuitive, what he says at times seems prophetic. For example, in Bran’s POV in AGoT, he describes Rickon as wild as a “winter’s storm” and he describes Shaggy as “as wild as Rickon”; so, Rickon and Shaggy mirror one another. With Shaggy, Rickon is fearless, and he even visits the darkened crypts, Shaggy at his side, at least twice, both times without illumination to guide him. With the behavior Rickon exhibits and Bran informs upon, such as “Rickon ran with the wolves” and after Rickon disappears one day, Robb sets half the castle to search for his baby brother, whom they locate in the crypts, but Rickon and Shaggy do not go peacefully: “. . . when at last they found him . . . Rickon had slashed at them with a rusted sword from a dead king’s hand, and Shaggydog had come slavering out of the darkness like a green-eyed demon” (573). This image is compelling: Rickon with his sword assumes the dead king’s [as in king of winter?] protective stance, and Shaggy is a stone direwolf come to life. Rickon’s guardian is a “wildling”. Martin personifies the wind throughout its appearance in the POV’s – and it might be purposeful. Rickon’s return to Winterfell might be literal and symbolic. Will Bran unite with his brother, and through their shared bloodline, will Rickon become a force of nature?

Awesome post.

(And Yeah! Your back). :)

[evita mgfs]

Awesome post.

(And Yeah! Your back). :)

YES! IT ALMOST FEELS LIKE "OLD TIMES'!!

[Pearlthegirl]

Awesome thread, learning lots!

There's talk up thread about the NK being a Stark, theorized but not known. Old Nan had also suggested it could've been a Bolton too. Perhaps Roose or Ramsey is about to repeat some history with these Northern power plays? The True Lord of Winterfell (a Stark!) and the King Beyond the Wall will have to unite again to stop one of them. The NK story really freaks me out! An Other Bride? With what we know of them from the text alone, they are killing machines. GRRM says there's more to them. Thanks to all the Sidhe info y'all have found, I grew up with sweet Disney fairies and such, BC European folklore Gods are blowing my mind! As suggested before and all things being cyclical, we do have a priestess at the Wall who has many ensorceled...she's not an Other, though. Then again, a lot gets lost in history. It can still be repeated with with a few role changes and that would make Stannis eligible for new NK! Crack pottery abounds! What I do know is right now the Wall and Winterfell are both in incompetent hands. Still gloved incompetent hands and Winter has come...

[Stoneborn80]

So the last victory over the long night was sealed with some kind of contract that promised "Lifetime" benefits to the Kings in the North for as long as their dynasty should last. Hmmmmm. That's hot.

Smart,as usual.

I've got the feeling that there's an unintended theory popping up here: That the Staks were included in the Pact of the Isle of Faces. But that doesn't match with the timeline. The Pact was formed a couple of thousand years before the Long Night so the Starks and Winterfell could never be included there.

[redriver]

Interesting point.I'll give some thought,though I wouldn't get to hung up on ancient timelines.

Perhaps these ideas about the role of the Starks began when Bran built Winterfell and the Wall?

[St Daga]

Good post, but the absence of a Stark in Winterfell started with Bran and Rickon leaving, not with the Bolton Bastard's wedding.

I believe another poster correlated Bran and Rickon's leaving Winterfell about the same time as the attack of the Night's Watch by The Others at The Fist of the First Men. I am rereading and will soon see if I agree.

I wonder if the timeline is right for it to overlap with Sansa's snow castle chapter. In that chapter, She notably thinks that it's the *snow* that wakes her up. Afterwards, she has a strange snow religious experience followed by the single-minded building of snow-Winterfell. If the snow that originally woke her had origins in Winterfell it adds yet another layer to that scene. Maybe Winterfell is calling her home?

A couple quotes from that chapter:

"The castle was all that mattered."

"The snow fell and the castle rose."

"It was the taste of Winterfell." (talking about the snow)

Anyways, it furthers the connection between Winterfell and the snow.

Interesting how early Sansa never seemed to feel Winterfell was the place for. She wanted to see the South and all the excitement it had to offer. And now that she has experienced the South, it is the North that calls to her. Winterfell calls to her.

I feel like Sansa could be the Stark to rebuild Winterfell, as she built the snow castle.

I think Benjen was the Stark in WF now that you mention it, Also I guess you could say at that point Robb was in Winterfell, even if he was in Catelyn at the time...stretch there perhaps.

Either way I think theres definitely some old god magic going on in Winterfell. It brings me back to what Bran saw while being the WF weirwood tree, and the blood sacrifice he witnessed. Could have something to do with it maybe?

I think Benjen was the Stark in Winterfell during Robert's Rebellion. Pretty sure Catelyn spent her entire pregnancy with Robb at Riverrun. She came north after the war, and Ned was already at Winterfell with Jon.

I worry that Bran is a sacrifice to the old God's, as Bloodraven (if that is who he is) may have been before him.

On the topic of connecting Winterfell to the weather:

In her last chapter from AFFC, Sansa thinks that the wind "sounds like a wolf... A ghost wolf, big as mountains."

One obvious 'ghost wolf' is Jon's wolf Ghost, but another interpretation is that 'ghost wolf' is a reference to Lady. After all, Starks of old had their wolves buried alongside them. We talk a lot about the ghosts of those Starks, but maybe the ghosts of the wolves are something to be concerned about as well. Lady is buried at Winterfell... the only one of the current wolves who is at the castle at all. Considering the bonds between the Starks and their wolves, maybe part of Sansa *is* at Winterfell. This connection would also help further explain the snow Winterfell scene.

If we interpret it this way, then the fact that Sansa hears Lady on the wind means that the wind might have originated at Winterfell.

I would love for Lady to still play apart in this story; I feel like GRRM may have sacrificed her early for a payoff at the end.

Or crazy as it may seem, I wonder that part of Lady lives on in Sandor Clegene. He has protected both Sansa and Arya!

I am really enjoying this thread. Thanks for starting it.

[evita mgfs]

“WORDS ARE WIND”

The WIND is a powerful force in Martin’s series ASoI&F, and one I nearly overlooked because I instead focused on the mystery of the White Walkers appearing in conjunction with the COLD. After carefully deconstructing passages in search of recurring language patterns associated with WINTER, the weather, the White Walkers, and the COLD, I could not ignore the relationship that the wind shares with the enigma that is the old gods, that is the heart tree, and that is winter.

In AGoT, Bran finds peace in the godswood with his direwolf Summer. Sitting beneath the heart tree, Bran prays to the old gods, asking them to protect his brother Robb and his retainers on their journey south:

"If Robb has to go, watch over him," Bran entreated the old gods, as they watched him with the heart tree's red eyes, "and watch over his men, Hal and Quent and the rest, and Lord Umber and Lady Mormont and the other lords. And Theon too, I suppose. Watch them and keep them safe, if it please you, gods. Help them defeat the Lannisters and save Father and bring them home."

Immediately following Bran’s prayer, Martin personifies the wind by endowing it with a voice that “sighs” and with leaves that “stir” and “whisper”:

“A faint wind sighed through the godswood and the red leaves stirred and whispered. Summer bared his teeth.” Evidently, as is often the case, an animal will sense a presence or hear a sound that a human might not be able to sense. Summer baring his teeth indicates that he hears “something” out-of-the-ordinary that Bran as yet cannot hear.

Osha makes her presence known by asking Bran:

"You hear them, boy?" AND "They are my gods too . . . Beyond the Wall, they are the only gods."

Bran quizzes Osha: "Tell me what you meant, about hearing the gods."

"You asked them and they're answering. Open your ears, listen, you'll hear."

Bran listened. "It's only the wind," he said after a moment, uncertain. "The leaves are rustling."

"Who do you think sends the wind, if not the gods? . . . They see you, boy. They hear you talking. That rustling, that's them talking back" (577).

Martin establishes that the old gods send the wind that causes the leaves in the heart tree to rustle, or to “talk back”. Bran consequently understands that he will need to develop the insight to understand what the old gods are trying to communicate to him. More importantly, once Bran becomes a part of the godhood, he will have the wind at his disposal to make his presence known.

In ADwD, when Bran first slips his skin to go into the roots of the weirwood, he finds himself looking through the eyes of the heart tree in Winterfell’s godswood where Bran sees his father cleaning Ice:

Lord Eddard Stark sat upon a rock beside the deep black pool in the godswood, the pale roots of the heart tree twisting around him like an old man’s gnarled arms. The greatsword Ice lay across his lap, and he was cleaning the blade with an oil cloth.

“Winterfell,” Bran whispered.

His father looked up. “Who’s there?” he asked, turning . . .” (457).

Lord Brynden’s advice to Bran echoes that which Osha says to him in AGoT:

“A man must know how to look before he can hope to see . . . Those were shadows of days past that you saw, Bran” (ADwD 458). Then, Lord Brynden explains that “time” is different for trees. Regardless, Bran insists his father heard him, to which BR says, “He heard a whisper on the wind, a rustling amongst the leaves” (ADwD 458).

Bran sees his father in the “past”, which retards his abilities to speak with him.

So, is it possible that Bran’s powers exceed BR’s in that those whom he speaks to in the “present” might be able to hear what the rustling leaves have to say in real time?

Bran attends the wedding of Ramsay Bolton and “fake” Arya by watching through the eyes of the weirwood, from which he observes the mummer’s farce of a wedding. It is Theon who notices the heart tree’s expression, presenting a far different countenance from the “long and melancholy” features it wears in scenes depicted in AGoT.

“The weirwoods carved red eyes stared down at them, its great red mouth open as if to laugh. In the branches overhead a raven quorked” (488). The mouth indicating a laugh suggests that at least Bran can see some humor in the blasphemy playing out in the godswood.

Moreover, Bran commands the attention of Theon Greyjoy, who is aware of supernatural forces that he suspects are taunting him. But the mischievous entity controlling the winds is Bran, and he has a bit of fun tormenting his late father’s ward, the turncloak who betrayed the Starks.

“It had been a lifetime since any god had heard him. He did not know who he was, or what he was, why he was still alive why he had ever been born.

“Theon,” a voice seemed to whisper.

His head snapped up. “Who said that?” All he could see were the trees and the fog that covered them. The voice had been as faint as rustling leaves, as cold as hate. A god’s voice, or a ghost’s? How many died the day that he took Winterfell? How many more the day he lost it? The day that Theon Greyjoy died to be reborn as Reek. Reek, Reek, it rhymes with shriek.

Suddenly he did not want to be here.

Once outside the godswood, the cold descended on him like a ravening wolf had caught him in its teeth. He lowered his head into the wind and made for the Great Hall, hastening after the long line of candles and torches. Ice crunches beneath his boots, and a sudden gust pushed back his hood as if a ghost had plucked at him with frozen fingers, hungry to gaze upon his face” (489).

Martin describes the “cold” descending upon Theon “like a ravening wolf had caught him in its teeth.” The simile comparing the cold to a wolf definitely suggests a very STARK influence in the godswood. The airy force which is commanded by Bran seemingly taunts Theon in a mischievous way that definitely hints at Bran.

Note that a “sudden gust” [of wind], which IS Bran, pushes back Theon’s hood as “if a ghost had plucked at him with frozen fingers” and the ghost is “hungry to gaze upon his face.”

Martin creates an eerie ambience in the godswood with the persistent mention of the color “grey” and the mists, and these “mists” appear in Bran’s three-eyed-crow dream in AGoT, wherein Martin describes a grey mist that surrounds and seemingly protects Bran until he returns to his bed, then it dissipates. Six times is the grey mist referenced in Bran’s dream, so the appearance of the mist indicates the presence of Bran and the three-eyed-crow.

“He had never seen the godswood like this, though – grey and ghostly, filled with warm mists and floating lights and whispered voices that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere” (487)

“The mists were so thick that only the nearest trees were visible . . .”

“Then the mists parted, like the curtain opening at a mummer show to reveal some new tableau” (487).

I cannot help wondering if the WIND is a force that is part of Bran’s powers and that Bran, either consciously or unconsciously, is governing to a purpose.

One other note about the WIND: it appears that the WIND is also behind Jon turning back to find his direwolf Ghost:

“Halfway across the bridge, Jon pulled up suddenly.

“What is it, Jon?” their lord father asked.

“Can’t you hear it?”

BRAN COULD HEAR THE WIND IN THE TREES, the clatter of their hooves on the ironwood planks, the whimpering of his hungry pup. But Jon was listening to SOMETHING ELSE” (AGoT 20).

Apparently, the wind in the trees, which indicates the old gods, is the power that harkens Jon to return and to find his direwolf pup Ghost.

The oft-repeated expression “words are wind” takes on a deeper meaning IF the powers that are the old gods are, or will be using the wind to cause problems with drifting snows, as we see at Winterfell, the Wall, and Stannis’ army’s location.