Ice and Fire animal project: Wolves

[Mladen]

snip

As always, Winterfellian, it`s just amazing how many new things we can learn from you. Wonderful post, indeed

My opinion of Robb is that GRRM never intended him to reach his full adulthood, and the true role of alpha. Basically, he left him where he started - in his childhood. Bran lost the child in him when he was pushed off that window, Arya`s childhood ended with killing that boy in KL, Sansa`s with Lady`s death and later her first period. They all basically, as Maester Aemon sais, killed the child in them. All, but Robb. For all his victories, for all the right things he has done, he remained Young wolf, and as you wonderfully noted, seen through his mother`s eyes. Through eyes that would never see him as adult, for mother never see her child as anything else than that. So, when we realised that Robb is stuck somewhere between what he is - young wolf, and what he must be - alpha wolf, it was too late.

[Propheticverses]

Firstly , this has to be one of the 'coolest' threads here .. and not speaking merely in terms of content .. but also the interaction level ... It's amazing

Being a Hindu , I have taken the liberty to post a few things on the Wolfish aspect in the general mythos that we believe in ….

Please note , I have created this essay merely to aid Manderlay in his/ her essay about the theme of ‘ Wolves & Hinduism ‘ …Do ignore any grammatical errors that might crop up . English is my fourth language .. although that is in no way any excuse !!!

In Hinduism, wolves are actually looked upon as the most family – oriented animals . Placed even above Humans in a few cases . Hunting wolves is prohibited except in terms of self-defence although that's a rare phenomenon these days ( sadly .. due to the rarer number of wolves :( )

Literature-wise : While I wouldn’t call this an exclusively Hindu concept, Rudyard Kipling wrote the book based on his experiences in India & the general reactions towards wolves.

‘The Jungle Book’ – perhaps the most widely known Indian themed children’s book has actually a lot of allegories that run hand-n-hand with the thematic patterns so wonderfully portrayed in the beautiful essay penned earlier ….

1. The strong binding between the wolves & a ‘brother’ whom they know is an outsider yet think nothing less of him. Quiet reminiscent of the Stark Kids & the ‘apparent Stark kid’ ! ;)

2. The acceptance of all family members irrespective of it being an alpha, beta or an omega – Contrray to normal perceptions, Omega wolves are not hated or derided .. they have their own intrinsic roles to be fulfilled . .. which are sublimely classified .

3. The intelligence level : - During hunting , the pack level mentality has predefined roles as to who would take the lead , who would play the decoy , who would … lord knows what!! .. & who nurses the young ones.

4. Also, the other wolves not related to the family accept the ideas of the single family of wolves so long as it does not have a natural effect on the standard hierarchy level . Something that also resounds well with Jon Snow ‘despite’ being a bastard is in the good book of most Northerners.

5. And finally … the lone wolf & the pack phenomenon …

Mythology-wise : There are 4 themes of Wolves in Hindu Mythology ( at least as much as my family & wikipedia is aware of !! : --

1. The most relevant to Game of Thrones is the one involving a Hindu god Krishna ..

Apparently , Krishna was born in this particular place where he noted that the People were least environmentally conscious & in turns hammering down the environmental aspect of the location beyond permissible levels (!! ) . A few demonic influences have been suggested as well. Debates & Deliberations didn’t have the quick-fix effect that he had hoped for & hence, he created quite a sizeable number of wolves so as to drive the people from the land to another ; all the while stating that the people themselves are responsible for the wolves to be created .

Now , Krishna is considered in Hindu Mythology as the stabilizer of things & the wolves displayed here are merely tools to reflect that what the universe taketh .. it giveth too !! . A bit unfortunate that we don’t have anything like this today !

Any reference to the GOT : A slightly humorous one if possible . We all know the Starks are very environmentally conscious group . I mean .. with the ‘Winter is coming ‘ thing !!! :P On a more serious note , the Wolfish aspect kind of depicts a fierceness when it comes to the last odds & that they have the last laugh kind of a thing.

2. Bhima, a warrior in the Mahabharatha …. Kind of like a Hercules guy .. right down to son of a God ( Wind ) & an earthly mother … and not through the exactly official mode of conception !!

He is considered as ‘wolf-stomached’ .. in reference to his voracious appetite for fighting and never backing down . He is credited with killing all the 99 out of his 100 Sworn enemies after taking a solemn vow of killing all the hundred … the hundredth one actually managed to survive because of a funny technicality & because he switched sides !! ..

Any-way reflected to GOT : For starters , It well matches with Arya’s behavior as of now . With her constant focusing on eliminating the people on her list and such . She does not kill the Hound ( not claiming that she could !! ) .. but the refusal was more of an emotional thing and that she felt he was going to die anyway .

3. The Vehicle of Gauri ( The Goddess of Rain & Properity ) : This one’s a bit tricky .. because the Goddess uses separate vehicles for separate occassions. Were she to accept an official State Dinner with the Other gods .. it would be on a Lion .. a fan’s or a followers place .. it would be on an Iguana ( don’t ask me why !? ) .. but should her appointments be fixed with devils & demons .. she prefers a wolf .

Any weird connection to GOT : With the enemies the Starks face .. I guess it is pretty appropriate.

4. My favorite Point & story : An extremely ancient Text known as the Rig Veda has this small yet significant account of a She-wolf .

Apparently , a hungry she-wolf finds no game for her exceptionally large litter & in her hunt she comes across a Hut that’s attached to a ‘pen’ of sheep . She instinctively wants to thieve them but something stops her & she kind of approaches the hut & beckons the man within …. She asks him if he can give her the sheep to feed her children .

Obviously , he replies in the negative saying that the sheep are to be sacrificed to the twin Gods ‘Ashwins’ . A weird but existentially philosophical conversation goes on between a Brahmin ( veg-guy ) & the she-wolf ( non veg gal ) about the sacrifice on one hand & her need to feed her kids.. The end result is that , the guy feels pity and gives her about 101 sheep ( what a litter it must have been !! ) . She thanks him & leaves .

Unfortunately , his dad comes up & he is kind of Super mystical saint & curses him to be blind since apparently the Saint had some weird plans of sacrificing the 101 sheep to ‘further’ his mystical skills .

The guy , then prays to his favorite deities ( the Ashwins ) & asks tem to cure him of the blindness. The gods humor him and ask him ‘ So.. you gave our Sacrifice to save some silly wolflings .. Yadda Yadda … and you have the gall to ask us to cure you !!??‘ . The young man then theorizes how the need for the wolflings was infinitely superior to him & his father getting super powers ..

Thoroughly impressed with the response, The Ashwins smile & turn into the ‘She-wolf’ !! & cure him & give him a couple of boons & super powers . But not before another huge session of ‘ What Gods really want !? ‘ ( coming soon – Mel Gibson starrer !! :P )

Whew !! sorry for the long post .. but shortening this would have reduced any importance that it might have .

Connections with GoT ( for the sake of it ! ) … You never know what you might gain when you support a Wolf !!

Once again , I am in no way replacing any essay that Manderlay might be penning though would be happy if this would be used as some kind of a reference .

Hope this helps

[Mladen]

snip

First, allow me to welcome you to the forum, and let me express my honor that your first post is written here.

However, as much as I appreciate your insight as Hindu, the Wolf project is already organized and scheduled. Wolf in Hindu mythology essay was given to Manderlay and is expected in several weeks. This was done to prevent jumping from topic to topic, and so we could focus on each essay once a week. I do complement your post for it`s really beautifully written and insightful, but I would ask you and everyone else, if it`s not the problem, not to jump ahead. I would be glad to include you as our contributor, but I need, as thread organizer to make sure no one`s work is overlapped by somebody else`s post.

Once more thank you for compliments and this beautiful post. If you want, we could arrange something and add you as a contributor to Wolf project. I know that after reading this post, I would really like that.

[Propheticverses]

First, allow me to welcome you to the forum, and let me express my honor that your first post is written here.

However, as much as I appreciate your insight as Hindu, the Wolf project is already organized and scheduled. Wolf in Hindu mythology essay was given to Manderlay and is expected in several weeks. This was done to prevent jumping from topic to topic, and so we could focus on each essay once a week. I do complement your post for it`s really beautifully written and insightful, but I would ask you and everyone else, if it`s not the problem, not to jump ahead. I would be glad to include you as our contributor, but I need, as thread organizer to make sure no one`s work is overlapped by somebody else`s post.

Once more thank you for compliments and this beautiful post. If you want, we could arrange something and add you as a contributor to Wolf project. I know that after reading this post, I would really like that.

My apologies.

As mentioned , the intention was not to disrupt the flow .It was merely for the benefit of the user 'Manderlay' as this particular topic has it's restrictions in research considering most of the texts that the instances occur in are not readily available in an English medium ... I had mentioned the pointers so that he/she could use it as a reference in his/her elaborative & better conceived essay .

I shall delete the post if the need be . Do inform and it would be done :)

The Wolf Project is by itself very well organized & I believe I would be a liability given my newbie status . Sincerely appreciate the gesture though :)

Regards

Propheticverses

[Mladen]

My apologies.

As mentioned , the intention was not to disrupt the flow .It was merely for the benefit of the user 'Manderlay' as this particular topic has it's restrictions in research considering most of the texts that the instances occur in are not readily available in an English medium ... I had mentioned the pointers so that he/she could use it as a reference in his/her elaborative & better conceived essay .

I shall delete the post if the need be . Do inform and it would be done :)

The Wolf Project is by itself very well organized & I believe I would be a liability given my newbie status . Sincerely appreciate the gesture though :)

Regards

Propheticverses

No need for appologies, and please don`t you dare delete that post. I recognized your good intentions and that`s why I contacted you via PM. I understand you are newbie and I know these mistakes are normal. There is no need for some great appologies, and I am sure Manderlay will appreciate your help and insight, as I do.

[Propheticverses]

The Wolves of Westeros Project

Starks of Winterfell – Wolves of Westeros

Robb Stark “The Young Wolf”

Beautifully Done . Elaborate & definitive without being exhaustive . All the relevant points have been well connected and in tandem ..

Great Stuff :)

[Manderlay]

snip

Thankyou Propheticverses, regarding hindu mythology, I have mentioned the same things in my essay, you are right about not much material available in the English medium and also because wolves haven't been depicted significantly in mythology and folklore as in other cultures, also I made the same connections to aSoIaF, I have finished the essay mostly or would have asked you to contribute, looking forward to your posts when we get there.

[Propheticverses]

Thankyou Propheticverses, regarding hindu mythology, I have mentioned the same things in my essay, you are right about not much material available in the English medium and also because wolves haven't been depicted significantly in mythology and folklore as in other cultures, also I made the same connections to aSoIaF, I have finished the essay mostly or would have asked you to contribute, looking forward to your posts when we get there.

Absolutely !!! .... In eager anticipation .. :)

[Alia of the knife]

Firstly , this has to be one of the 'coolest' threads here .. and not speaking merely in terms of content .. but also the interaction level ... It's amazing

Being a Hindu , I have taken the liberty to post a few things on the Wolfish aspect in the general mythos that we believe in ….

Please note , I have created this essay merely to aid Manderlay in his/ her essay about the theme of ‘ Wolves & Hinduism ‘ …Do ignore any grammatical errors that might crop up . English is my fourth language .. although that is in no way any excuse !!!

In Hinduism, wolves are actually looked upon as the most family – oriented animals . Placed even above Humans in a few cases . Hunting wolves is prohibited except in terms of self-defence although that's a rare phenomenon these days ( sadly .. due to the rarer number of wolves :( )

Literature-wise : While I wouldn’t call this an exclusively Hindu concept, Rudyard Kipling wrote the book based on his experiences in India & the general reactions towards wolves.

‘The Jungle Book’ – perhaps the most widely known Indian themed children’s book has actually a lot of allegories that run hand-n-hand with the thematic patterns so wonderfully portrayed in the beautiful essay penned earlier ….

1. The strong binding between the wolves & a ‘brother’ whom they know is an outsider yet think nothing less of him. Quiet reminiscent of the Stark Kids & the ‘apparent Stark kid’ ! ;)

2. The acceptance of all family members irrespective of it being an alpha, beta or an omega – Contrray to normal perceptions, Omega wolves are not hated or derided .. they have their own intrinsic roles to be fulfilled . .. which are sublimely classified .

3. The intelligence level : - During hunting , the pack level mentality has predefined roles as to who would take the lead , who would play the decoy , who would … lord knows what!! .. & who nurses the young ones.

4. Also, the other wolves not related to the family accept the ideas of the single family of wolves so long as it does not have a natural effect on the standard hierarchy level . Something that also resounds well with Jon Snow ‘despite’ being a bastard is in the good book of most Northerners.

5. And finally … the lone wolf & the pack phenomenon …

Mythology-wise : There are 4 themes of Wolves in Hindu Mythology ( at least as much as my family & wikipedia is aware of !! : --

1. The most relevant to Game of Thrones is the one involving a Hindu god Krishna ..

Apparently , Krishna was born in this particular place where he noted that the People were least environmentally conscious & in turns hammering down the environmental aspect of the location beyond permissible levels (!! ) . A few demonic influences have been suggested as well. Debates & Deliberations didn’t have the quick-fix effect that he had hoped for & hence, he created quite a sizeable number of wolves so as to drive the people from the land to another ; all the while stating that the people themselves are responsible for the wolves to be created .

Now , Krishna is considered in Hindu Mythology as the stabilizer of things & the wolves displayed here are merely tools to reflect that what the universe taketh .. it giveth too !! . A bit unfortunate that we don’t have anything like this today !

Any reference to the GOT : A slightly humorous one if possible . We all know the Starks are very environmentally conscious group . I mean .. with the ‘Winter is coming ‘ thing !!! :P On a more serious note , the Wolfish aspect kind of depicts a fierceness when it comes to the last odds & that they have the last laugh kind of a thing.

2. Bhima, a warrior in the Mahabharatha …. Kind of like a Hercules guy .. right down to son of a God ( Wind ) & an earthly mother … and not through the exactly official mode of conception !!

He is considered as ‘wolf-stomached’ .. in reference to his voracious appetite for fighting and never backing down . He is credited with killing all the 99 out of his 100 Sworn enemies after taking a solemn vow of killing all the hundred … the hundredth one actually managed to survive because of a funny technicality & because he switched sides !! ..

Any-way reflected to GOT : For starters , It well matches with Arya’s behavior as of now . With her constant focusing on eliminating the people on her list and such . She does not kill the Hound ( not claiming that she could !! ) .. but the refusal was more of an emotional thing and that she felt he was going to die anyway .

3. The Vehicle of Gauri ( The Goddess of Rain & Properity ) : This one’s a bit tricky .. because the Goddess uses separate vehicles for separate occassions. Were she to accept an official State Dinner with the Other gods .. it would be on a Lion .. a fan’s or a followers place .. it would be on an Iguana ( don’t ask me why !? ) .. but should her appointments be fixed with devils & demons .. she prefers a wolf .

Any weird connection to GOT : With the enemies the Starks face .. I guess it is pretty appropriate.

4. My favorite Point & story : An extremely ancient Text known as the Rig Veda has this small yet significant account of a She-wolf .

Apparently , a hungry she-wolf finds no game for her exceptionally large litter & in her hunt she comes across a Hut that’s attached to a ‘pen’ of sheep . She instinctively wants to thieve them but something stops her & she kind of approaches the hut & beckons the man within …. She asks him if he can give her the sheep to feed her children .

Obviously , he replies in the negative saying that the sheep are to be sacrificed to the twin Gods ‘Ashwins’ . A weird but existentially philosophical conversation goes on between a Brahmin ( veg-guy ) & the she-wolf ( non veg gal ) about the sacrifice on one hand & her need to feed her kids.. The end result is that , the guy feels pity and gives her about 101 sheep ( what a litter it must have been !! ) . She thanks him & leaves .

Unfortunately , his dad comes up & he is kind of Super mystical saint & curses him to be blind since apparently the Saint had some weird plans of sacrificing the 101 sheep to ‘further’ his mystical skills .

The guy , then prays to his favorite deities ( the Ashwins ) & asks tem to cure him of the blindness. The gods humor him and ask him ‘ So.. you gave our Sacrifice to save some silly wolflings .. Yadda Yadda … and you have the gall to ask us to cure you !!??‘ . The young man then theorizes how the need for the wolflings was infinitely superior to him & his father getting super powers ..

Thoroughly impressed with the response, The Ashwins smile & turn into the ‘She-wolf’ !! & cure him & give him a couple of boons & super powers . But not before another huge session of ‘ What Gods really want !? ‘ ( coming soon – Mel Gibson starrer !! :P )

Whew !! sorry for the long post .. but shortening this would have reduced any importance that it might have .

Connections with GoT ( for the sake of it ! ) … You never know what you might gain when you support a Wolf !!

Once again , I am in no way replacing any essay that Manderlay might be penning though would be happy if this would be used as some kind of a reference .

Hope this helps

These are beautiful images that have been evoked, and as I pointed out in Native American tradition, very similar to this story, the Wolf is looked upon as the protector, teacher, and even provider for the tribe, to the point, the men of the tribes tried to mimic their ways.

You see this also with birds, particularly the Plains "Indians" who wore feathers as a tether to the birds soul, but that's another animal.

[Mladen]

Now that RW is finally behind us, we can move on with our regular activities.

After starting a Wolves of Westeros project with marvellious essay from Manderlay, it`s time to continue. As a host, it`s my privellege and honor to announce estimeed member of this forum`s community, my dear friend butterbumps!, and her essay about Jon Snow that will come in a day or two. Butterbumps kindly accepted my offer and donated her valuable time to this project. She was also extremly helpful regarding my Lion project, and I am sure she will enrich this thread with her insight about Jon. For those of you who don`t know, butterbumps is one of the organizers of Jon Snow Reread thread, that can be found on Re-read project subforum. In my humble opinion, it is one of the best threads on the forum, and I warmly recommend everyone to visit it and read many great posts. Here are the links:

The Jon Snow ReRead Project and The Jon Snow ReRead Project II AGOT-ACOK

Butterbumps, my dear, post whenever you like, and as for the others, I hope you`ll enjoy it.

[bbstark]

@ Manderly

What a beautiful and comprehensive essay! I really enjoyed reading it.

Regarding Robb becoming Lord Robb, I think he develops a very interesting relationship to Cat. Unlike any of the other Stark children he becomes acquianted with Cat, Lady Stark, the adult, and not just Cat the mother. She becomes his closest adviser, but he does not always heed her advice. This paradigm in which no longer acknowledges his mother's word as a command didn't start in the battlefield however, but in the home. One scene in particular sticks out as a pivotal moment in which Robb recognizes his mother's mistake. (thankfully you provided us with the Quote)

“

Mother what you are doing” “Rickon needs you” “Mother I need you too. I am trying but I can’t … I can’t do it all by myself.” His voice broke with sudden emotion.

Catelyn III Pages 123, 124 aGoT

Even though he is effectively Lord of Winterfell he doesn't command her to get back to her motherly duties. Of course he doesn't! He's Robb Stark, and he has respect for his mother, and a lot of honor, and that would be beneath him. Rather than command her, he pleads with her, beause he sees too much in his new responisibilities that he cannot or does not know how to do on his own. More importantly, the scene is pivotal, because this is the first evidence we have of Robb seeing his parents as less than invincible. It's a rite of passage for children to realize that their parents aren't perfect, and their decisions aren't always the right ones, and Robb handles that moment with a lot of grace. It's not coincidental, because these parts in the book are the first evidence of him excelling as a ruler, and a Lord, and showing enough grace for a King ( even though not yet in a legal and official sense).

What we get is a Mother/Son, and King/Adviser relationship unlike any other in the books. Their dynamic is truly unique, and though Robb is the official head of state, the King in the North, Cat has a lot more pull than an ordinary adviser. (and some pretty damn good advice, if I do say so myself) They become more equal than any other Parent/Child pair. Robb knows this, and though he tries to make it on his own, he always comes back to Cat for her advice. He disregards her advice about Theon, then admits to her that he needs her forgivness when he marries Jeyne.

In terms of the pack of wolves, it's clear that between the two of them there is no real alpha. Clearly Robb triest to establish himself as such, but within the scope of the book, he isn't quite there yet. With the loss of Ned, and Robb's clear inexperience, the pack is actually headed by both of them. Officially only Robb is at the head of the family, but through her POV, and their interactions it becomes clear that she shares his burden.

The other thing I would like to comment on, is the exchange of the girls for Jaime Lannister. When people comment on this notion as foolish, they usually only take into consideration that in typical battle circumstances, men are more valuable than women. What they notoriously forget is that in a political sense, marriage was the only surefire form of diplomacy. Tyrion doesn't send Myrcella to Dorne on vacation when Dorne is still undeclared, but he sends her there promising them the union with a princess. It's actually quite significant.

I attributed Robb's doubts at the exchange of the girls not to his lack of affection for the girls, but his inexperience. Robb couldn't imagine the disaster that would occur, if the Lannister were to marry off the girls against their will to one of their own. Perhaps something as unhonoroable as that would have never crossed his mind, but a more experienced King, would either exchange the girls or disinherit them on the spot. He really struck me as a 'young wolf' in that moment, unable to carry out a full thought out decision. The parallel to the anatomical shortsightedness of the wolf fits perfectly in this case. Robb was unable to see far enough into the future, to envision a scenario that would put them in a disadvantage, thus his decision regarding the exchange was based only on his most immediate needs.

[Manderlay]

snip

Thankyou bbstark :) and great PoV, I really liked what you said about rite of passage for children to realize their parents aren't perfect. In the essay I struggled with Robb's unwillingness to trade his sisters for Jaime, I think you and Mladen have nailed it.

What we get is a Mother/Son, and King/Adviser relationship unlike any other in the books. Their dynamic is truly unique, and though Robb is the official head of state, the King in the North, Cat has a lot more pull than an ordinary adviser. (and some pretty damn good advice, if I do say so myself) They become more equal than any other Parent/Child pair. Robb knows this, and though he tries to make it on his own, he always comes back to Cat for her advice. He disregards her advice about Theon, then admits to her that he needs her forgivness when he marries Jeyne. In terms of the pack of wolves, it's clear that between the two of them there is no real alpha. Clearly Robb triest to establish himself as such, but within the scope of the book, he isn't quite there yet. With the loss of Ned, and Robb's clear inexperience, the pack is actually headed by both of them. Officially only Robb is at the head of the family, but through her POV, and their interactions it becomes clear that she shares his burden.

I disagree, atleast in part that there is no clear Alpha between Robb and Catelyn, however I do agree with most of what you have said, like the Mother/Son and King/Adviser relationship, also Robb admits he was wrong to disregard Catelyn's council about Theon, this happens after he introduces Jeyne, but Robb is still the Alpha since he dismisses Catelyn's concerns about Greywind not being at his side, he only does it to calm her fears, he makes Jon his heir and asks the lords to fix their seals despite Catelyn's objections, he does this in full view of his bannermen and lady Stark, this was an Alpha move leaving lady Stark powerless to do anything about it. Although Robb admits that he was wrong about Theon, at the time when he makes the decision it is only challenged by Catelyn, however she cannot stop Robb from making those decisions and Robb makes his own choices dismissing Catelyn's advice. which is why he was both an Alpha and also a Young Wolf, he shows both the traits.

[Mladen]

bbstark, what a beautiful and interesting post. I am really glad for your contribution.

Even though he is effectively Lord of Winterfell he doesn't command her to get back to her motherly duties. Of course he doesn't! He's Robb Stark, and he has respect for his mother, and a lot of honor, and that would be beneath him. Rather than command her, he pleads with her, beause he sees too much in his new responisibilities that he cannot or does not know how to do on his own. More importantly, the scene is pivotal, because this is the first evidence we have of Robb seeing his parents as less than invincible. It's a rite of passage for children to realize that their parents aren't perfect, and their decisions aren't always the right ones, and Robb handles that moment with a lot of grace. It's not coincidental, because these parts in the book are the first evidence of him excelling as a ruler, and a Lord, and showing enough grace for a King ( even though not yet in a legal and official sense).

Wonderfully put. The part of growing up is understanding that people aren`t perfect, especially our parents, and accepting it gracefully. And we see that in three older Starks. Robb realizes his mother isn`t perfect, Jon knows his father sired a bastard, and that`s the fact he must live with, and lastly Sansa was told a lie that LF deflowered her mother, and she accepts it as life fact. ON the other hand, we saw how in SOS how Arya got upset when the news that Catelyn released Jaime reached Brotherhood. Arya, although having more realistic image of life, still isn`t capable of accepting her parents are less than perfect. And in those situation, when our ideals and hildish dreams are proven wrong, we either show great amount of maturity or we behave like children. And Robb demonstrates maturity and all the burden that comes with it. He is a child, there`s no doubt in that, but he balances brilliantly with who he was and who he should be. Robb indeed excelled as a King, excelled as battle commander, but he tragically played the game as a boy. We can hide part of ourselves, just as Robb hid the fact he is a boy, but that emerges and made us realize how wrong we truly are. And Robb`s youth and experience unfortunately led him to his death. He didn`t pay for any crime, he paid for playing the Game of thrones with those who have played it long before he was born.

The other thing I would like to comment on, is the exchange of the girls for Jaime Lannister. When people comment on this notion as foolish, they usually only take into consideration that in typical battle circumstances, men are more valuable than women. What they notoriously forget is that in a political sense, marriage was the only surefire form of diplomacy. Tyrion doesn't send Myrcella to Dorne on vacation when Dorne is still undeclared, but he sends her there promising them the union with a princess. It's actually quite significant.

For me, the most interesting thing is that Robb`s weapons should be his family, not his armies. Sometimes we allow our brain to veto our heart, and that`s normal. But, every once and a while, our heart proves to be right over our brain. And despite viciousness, cruelty of Westeros, Martin shows us again and again that his books also have this deep sentiment. In battle between heart and politics, politics may won today, but heart wins tomorrow. And all of us who heard Wylla and Wyman Manderly understand that no reason could ever trump our hearts. And that`s the saddest mistake Robb made.

[ARYa_Nym]

Arya felt ashamed of Catelyn's actions and was relieved when she heard something that made her think it wasn't true so on some level I think she did think it could be true. She also said that Ned was wrong about the wolf pack and as I said started to value being alone more. She knows Ned fathered a bastard. Her problem was with Ashara not Jon's supposed mother Wylla.

[Alia of the knife]

bbstark, what a beautiful and interesting post. I am really glad for your contribution.

Wonderfully put. The part of growing up is understanding that people aren`t perfect, especially our parents, and accepting it gracefully. And we see that in three older Starks. Robb realizes his mother isn`t perfect, Jon knows his father sired a bastard, and that`s the fact he must live with, and lastly Sansa was told a lie that LF deflowered her mother, and she accepts it as life fact. ON the other hand, we saw how in SOS how Arya got upset when the news that Catelyn released Jaime reached Brotherhood. Arya, although having more realistic image of life, still isn`t capable of accepting her parents are less than perfect. And in those situation, when our ideals and hildish dreams are proven wrong, we either show great amount of maturity or we behave like children. And Robb demonstrates maturity and all the burden that comes with it. He is a child, there`s no doubt in that, but he balances brilliantly with who he was and who he should be. Robb indeed excelled as a King, excelled as battle commander, but he tragically played the game as a boy. We can hide part of ourselves, just as Robb hid the fact he is a boy, but that emerges and made us realize how wrong we truly are. And Robb`s youth and experience unfortunately led him to his death. He didn`t pay for any crime, he paid for playing the Game of thrones with those who have played it long before he was born.

For me, the most interesting thing is that Robb`s weapons should be his family, not his armies. Sometimes we allow our brain to veto our heart, and that`s normal. But, every once and a while, our heart proves to be right over our brain. And despite viciousness, cruelty of Westeros, Martin shows us again and again that his books also have this deep sentiment. In battle between heart and politics, politics may won today, but heart wins tomorrow. And all of us who heard Wylla and Wyman Manderly understand that no reason could ever trump our hearts. And that`s the saddest mistake Robb made.

Good point on using his family as the weapons.

The wolf den is sacrosanct, if all is well, then so is the rest of the Kingdom, therefore balance and harmony are secured, and yes, even a naked maiden could walk down the road safe, the consequences of Stark justice absolute.

[butterbumps!]

Jon Snow: “Unique Wolf”

Apologies for the delay. After starting a more conventional essay, I decided to go a different route. I’ve put this together more like a compendium of Ghost, with atomized analysis rather than analysis of broad conclusions.

My own take on the broad strokes of Ghost/ Jon are, in (very) brief:

• Through the symbolism of Ghost, Jon potentially represents the ancient past of House Stark (point 11 below speaks to this), and Rickon (Ghost’s wolf complement) its future.
  
• The Jon-Ghost dynamic points to Jon’s becoming more of a grey character in the future; we see snippets where Jon thinks through Ghost. I suspect that part of opening his “third eye,” he will become more wolf-like, by which I mean more willing to get his hands dirty.
  

the basics symbolism: pack, appearance, name

pack

Jon’s isn’t the only “unique” wolf in terms of appearance. Of the 6 found, 4 are smoke with yellow/ gold eyes, 1 is black with green eyes, and Ghost is white with red. Both Jon and Rickon’s wolves stand out from the rest of the pack, and poignantly, are exact color complements of each other (there’s a good bit of Jon-Rickon foreshadowing, and I think this reinforces that something significant will occur between these two).

One curious observation is that Ghost has never been shown onscreen with any of the other wolves excluding Nymeria. We know from Arya’s POV that Ghost has grown the fastest and is the largest of the 6, but we don’t see how Ghost interacts with the rest other than Nym. Grey Wind is at Robb’s side when Jon and Ghost say their goodbyes, but no text is devoted to how these two behave together. From Arya I, it appears that Nym considers Ghost an alpha, or at least a leader: Nym approaches Ghost warily at first, but Ghost walks over, nips her ear and they settle. When Jon and Ghost walk away, Nym follows them rather than Arya at first.

appearance

Ghost’s appearance has been amply discussed, but I want to point out a few less overt connections. The white fur and red eyes evoke the old gods via weirwoods, and is also a nod to the “ice and fire” combination via Bloodraven (Blackwood/ Targaryen). One thing I want to point out is that I don’t believe the red and white is necessarily “fire and ice” on its own, but rather contingent symbolically on Bloodraven. Ghost’s eyes are deep “garnet” in color; Mormont chooses garnet eyes for Longclaw’s pommel, but Jon observes that Ghost’s eyes are “dark garnet” independently of this. When Tywin is having Ice reforged, he instructs Tobho to use rubies, because “garnets lack the fire.” This link shows the visual difference between rubies and garnets, which seems a purposeful distinction in Martin’s world. The color of garnet seems to invoke not fire, but blood; notable garnet mentions include the eyes of the Valyrian (dragon) sphinxes in the Red Keep, and the jeweled blood spatter on Bolton attire. Jon himself will call Ghost “blood and bones” like a weirwood.

name

I think the term "ghost" as it pertains is supposed to work across multiple registers, and the most obvious is "apparition," which layers into the recurring crypt imagery of Jon’s dreams; we're reminded how the iron keeps the “ghosts” from rising; Jon is haunted by the "ghosts" of his parentage, and later, Robb, Donal, and Ygritte haunt Jon’s dreams. There’s also the time Jon covered himself with flour in one of the tombs to play a practical joke on his siblings, the memory of which, interestingly, made Arya lose her fear of the dark and death during her escape from the Red Keep. I think that there is a great deal of death symbolism in Jon’s arc, and “ghost” can be seen as yet one more reinforcement of this, perhaps even suggesting some sort of literal or figurative passage beyond death at some point.

Other definitions of "ghost" are perhaps a bit more provocative: soul or spirit, a breath, the seat of feeling, thought and moral action (these pertain to the living as well as the dead); a corpse, a trace, vestige of a former self, an impression, a duplicate. It's also a verb, meaning to erase (ghost out), to die, to haunt, scare, prowl. All of the wolves protect their doubles from harm and offer warnings of danger; Ghost does a bit more than this, as he functions as Jon’s conscience (his seat of feeling, thought and moral action) on a few occasions, notably, when Jon tries deserting in aGoT and when Jon refuses Stannis offer in aSoS. Further, while I don’t subscribe to Jon’s inhabiting Ghost’s body after a literal death, I believe that Jon’s become increasingly “wolf-like” as his arc progresses (not unlike Dany and the dragons), such that I think Jon may become a “vestige” of his former self and more “wolf” (this relates, in my view, to “kill the boy”).

important Ghost moments

1. Finding the wolves (Bran I aGoT)

Three events stand out for me wrt Jon in this scene (as this scene has been analyzed exhaustively on the forum, I’m truncating the other aspects here). First, Jon renounces whatever “right” he has to a wolf so that the wolves’ lives will be spared and his siblings can have pets. In much the way Ned “made” Jon a bastard to save his life, so Jon reinforces his bastard status to save the wolves’ lives. The second major moment is the fact that Ghost was not with the other pups. Ghost is a silent wolf, yet Jon heard “something” that made him turn back, leading him to this pup. Personally, I believe that Jon and Ghost are the first to communicate via warging in this scene; the fact that Ghost is the only wolf to have opened his eyes (“opened eyes” is a recurring symbol of woken powers) seems to point to this as well. That Ghost either “wandered off or was driven away” is an analogue to Jon’s own ambiguous “wandered or driven” predicament in going to the NW, separate from the rest of the pack (and realm). Finally, I find Jon’s confrontation with Theon poignant. Theon wants to kill this supposedly weak albino wolf, but Jon tells him he “thinks not,” and saves Ghost’s life for the first time. Given how Theon destroyed the Stark home and has become the “Ghost of Winterfell,” I wonder if this early scene might reiterate in another Jon-Theon confrontation.

2. Ghost +Tyrion (Jon I, Jon III, Tyrion II, Tyrion III aGoT)

Despite how amiably Tyrion is portrayed in these early chapters, Ghost is consistently wary and distrustful of the man: “The wolf pup padded closer and nuzzled at Jon’s face, but he kept a wary eye on Tyrion Lannister, and when the dwarf reached out to pet him, he drew back and bared his fangs in a silent snarl.” I wonder how much of this reaction is Ghosts’ own instinct, versus how much it is Jon’s projection of his own misgivings onto Ghost. The wariness continues to a breaking point when the party is camping en route to the Wall; Tyrion incites Jon to anger, and suddenly, Ghost knocks him down and silently gets between the two men. Ghost is quite calm, though Jon and wolf stand above Tyrion as an intimidating threat. Jon cuts the tension with a joke, Tyrion gracefully accepts his well-deserved chastening, and the seeds of friendship are planted.

The last Tyrion-Ghost interaction occurs at the top of the Wall the night before Tyrion’s departure. Ghost is still wary, but Jon promises that he won’t bite so long as Jon is beside him. Tyrion is somewhat disheartened: “Tyrion scratched the white wolf behind the ears. The red eyes watched him impassively. The beast came up as high as his chest now. Another year, and Tyrion had the gloomy feeling he’d be looking up at him.” I think that Ghost’s innate wariness might forebode a less than amicable meeting between Jon and Tyrion in the future, as well as potentially suggesting that Tyrion will be in a position of supplication next they meet.

3. Ghost + Sam (Jon IV)

I think that it’s fair to say that Ghost took an immediate liking to Sam. Similarly, for all of Sam’s cravenness about everything, he’s remarkably not afraid of the direwolf that seems to scare everyone else. I find this significant in how divergent it is from the Tyrion-Ghost dynamic. With Tyrion, Jon had to be the bridge between the wolf and the dwarf, otherwise Ghost would have attacked. The opposite occurs with Ghost and Sam. Jon is unable to think of a way to comfort Sam when they talk; Sam is uncontrollably crying, and Jon doesn’t know how to bridge that void. Yet Ghost “knew what to do. Silent as shadow, the pale direwolf moved closer and began to lick the warm tears off Samwell Tarly’s face. The fat boy cried out, startled … and somehow, in a heartbeat, his sobs turned to laughter.” In both cases, laughter defused the situation, but here it’s Ghost bringing the boys together. Ghost becomes Sam’s “guardian” of sorts later that chapter when Jon brings the wolf as “muscle” to make Rast an offer he can’t refuse wrt beating up Sam.

4. Ghost + wights (Jon VI + VII)

Ghost accompanies Jon and Sam when they take their vows in the grove, but the wolf is absent during the oath-taking itself. Ghost reappears just after the ceremony: “And suddenly Ghost was back, stalking softly between two weirwoods. White fur and red eyes, Jon realized, disquieted. Like the trees …” This is the first time Jon makes the connection between Ghost and the old gods, and the thought “disquiets” him. Ghost has found a blackened hand, which we later realize belongs to Jafer.

The following chapter, Ghost leads a small ranging to find the bodies from which the hand came. The hounds and the horses are “useless,” as they dislike something in the atmosphere. In fact, no other living creature will go near the wights: “they’ve been lying here in the woods, but they … they haven’t been chewed or eaten by animals … only Ghost … otherwise they’re … they’re …” “Untouched,” Jon said softly. “And Ghost is different.” Ghost is curiously unfearful of the dead; at the very least, wights do not scare him. Ghost will, however, become frightened at the Fist of the First Men; this tells us that there is something other than wights Ghost feels deeply vulnerable to.

When Jafer and Othor rise in the night, it’s Ghost who senses them, leading Jon to Mormont’s chamber. Ghost leads the attack on the wight; the wight strangles the wolf, but Jon intervenes to save his life. Further into the scuffle, the wight strangles Jon (puts his extremely cold hands directly into Jon’s mouth) and Ghost saves his life in turn.

5. Jon’s attempted desertion (Jon IX)

Jon flees from CB with Ghost keeping pace at his side. This chapter bears deeper scrutiny than I’ll get into, but Jon was already having extreme doubts about leaving well before his friends find him. As the doubts flow, Ghost goes off on his own. Jon thinks that his father would be disappointed if he deserted, he’s not sure that Robb will even welcome him, and he’s slowly realizing that he really doesn’t have a place outside of the Watch anymore, and possibly never had one. He tries to convince himself to keep going, but thinks, “I am doing the right thing, he told himself, so why do I feel so bad?”

Jon slows down, calls for Ghost, and sits down to eat. I think Jon’s slackened pace, combined with his mounting doubts, signals that deserting is not truly what he wanted, and I think Ghost “sensed” this. Jon hides from his friends as they approach his position, but Ghost appears suddenly, blowing his cover. I don’t think Jon didn’t desert only because he was luckily found, facilitated by Ghost. I don’t think it’s so cut and dry that Jon truly wanted to go. At any rate, he re-commits himself to the Watch, acknowledging the hard truth that he has no place elsewhere, that he’s “alike, but different” than his family, much like his wolf.

6. Rabbit attack + “the warg” (Jon III aCoK)

Ghost gets into Gilly’s rabbit hutch, stealing 2 rabbits and scaring her terribly. Chett tries to scare the girl further, telling her that the wolf will rip the baby from her stomach. Jon scolds Chett and Lark for tormenting Gilly, and in retaliation, Lark tries to insult Jon by alluding to him as a “warg”: “He’s afraid of you, Chett. On the Sisters, we have a name for them like him.” Jon tells them that he knows all the names (“warg” is not brought up directly, merely implied), which leads to the suggestion that Jon’s been taunted about the wolf thusly before, and that “warg” is considered a great insult.

7. Ghost’s first fear: the Fist and the cache (Jon IV)

Where the other animals refused to deal with wights, the Fist presents a reversal of behavior distinguishing Ghost and the others. The other animals go into the ringfort easily enough, but Ghost is beside himself around the fist. Three times Ghost refuses to climb the Fist, and finally Jon gives up and lets him go hunt.

Later, Jon goes in search of Ghost. This time the wolf comes up as far as the ringfort, but is utterly distressed all the while: “But when they reached the ringfort, Ghost balked again. He padded forward warily to sniff at the gap in the stones, and then retreated, as if he did not like what he’d smelled. Jon tried to grab him by the scruff of his neck and haul him bodily inside the ring, no easy task; the wolf weighed as much as he did, and was stronger by far. “Ghost, what’s wrong with you?” It was not like him to be so unsettled. In the end Jon had to give it up.” I’m not sure what to project from this, except that there’s something significantly different about the Fist than other places, and only Ghost seems to understand the gravity of it.

After a while, Jon is startled to find Ghost in the ringfort. He does not stay long, however, as the wolf beckons him to follow, leading him to a soft fresh mound of dirt containing a Watchman’s cloak, a horn, and dragonglass.

8. Bran’s appeal to Jon via dream (Jon VII)

I think Qhorin has strongly suspected that Jon is a warg, and this skill is why he wanted Jon to come with him on the scouting. This is the first clear occasion in which Jon inhabits Ghost on the page:

When he closed his eyes, he dreamed of direwolves.

There were five of them when there should have been six, and they were scattered, each apart from the others. He felt a deep ache of emptiness, a sense of incompleteness. The forest was vast and cold, and they were so small, so lost. His brothers were out there somewhere, and his sister, but he had lost their scent. He sat on his haunches and lifted his head to the darkening sky, and his cry echoed through the forest, a long lonely mournful sound. As it died away, he pricked up his ears, listening for an answer, but the only sound was the sigh of blowing snow.

Jon?

The call came from behind him, softer than a whisper, but strong too. Can a shout be silent? He turned his head, searching for his brother, for a glimpse of a lean grey shape moving beneath the trees, but there was nothing, only . . .

A weirwood.

It seemed to sprout from solid rock, its pale roots twisting up from a myriad of fissures and hairline cracks. The tree was slender compared to other weirwoods he had seen, no more than a sapling, yet it was growing as he watched, its limbs thickening as they reached for the sky. Wary, he circled the smooth white trunk until he came to the face. Red eyes looked at him. Fierce eyes they were, yet glad to see him. The weirwood had his brother’s face. Had his brother always had three eyes?

Not always, came the silent shout. Not before the crow.

He sniffed at the bark, smelled wolf and tree and boy, but behind that there were other scents, the rich brown smell of warm earth and the hard grey smell of stone and something else, something terrible. Death, he knew. He was smelling death. He cringed back, his hair bristling, and bared his fangs.

Don’t be afraid, I like it in the dark. No one can see you, but you can see them. But first you have to open your eyes. See? Like this. And the tree reached down and touched him.

Just to clarify, Bran smells “like death” to him, because at this point in time Bran is hiding in the crypts. I think this passage is significant in that it’s essentially similar in nature to Bran’s early crow dreams; the crow cajoled Bran to open the third eye, and now Bran cajoles Jon to do the same.

At Bran’s touch, Ghost is pulled back into his reality, and Jon sees Mance’s army massing in the Skirling Pass. The wolf dream is brought to an end when Orell’s eagle attacks Ghost, both Jon and Orell sensing that each other are skin changers.

9. Qhorin’s death (Jon VIII)

Ghost makes it easier to kill Qhorin, biting the man’s leg to enable an opening. We know Qhorin was going to throw the fight anyway, so it’s not exactly that Ghost saved his life. I think it’s more of a psychological aid Ghost provided.

10. Jon and Ghost part ways (Jon III aSoS)

Throughout aCoK and aSoS, there’s hints that Jon has been warging, but he doesn’t recognize it as such. He calls it “sensing” his wolf: “He found Ghost atop the hill, as he thought he might. The white wolf never howled, yet something drew him to the heights all the same, and he would squat there on his hindquarters, hot breath rising in a white mist as his red eyes drank the stars.”

Jon must scale the Wall as part of Jarl’s gang, and as such, must part from the wolf. He tries talking to Ghost: “Do you have names for them as well?” Jon asked, as he went to one knee beside the direwolf and scratched the thick white fur on his neck. “The Hare? The Doe? The She-Wolf?” Ghost licked his face, his rough wet tongue rasping against the scabs where the eagle’s talons had ripped Jon’s cheek. The bird marked both of us, he thought. “Ghost,” he said quietly, “on the morrow we go over. There’s no steps here, no

cage-and-crane, no way for me to get you to the other side. We have to part. Do you understand?”

Though the others have been mocking Jon as a warg, Jon reflects that he can’t seem to slip into his skin at will. Hence, he tries to communicate verbally. He tries instructing Ghost to make for Castle Black: “I will meet you again at Castle Black, but you have to get there by yourself. We must each hunt alone for a time. Alone.”

I can’t help but see a parallel with Arya and Nym’s parting.

11. Ghost returns (Jon XII)

Jon and Ghost have been separated for the past 8 chapters. Stannis is at the Wall, and has offered Jon Winterfell; as part of the bargain, the godswood must be burned. Jon is strongly conflicted about belonging in WInterfell to begin with, but the thought of burning the old gods sickens him:

You do not belong here. This is not your place. When Jon closed his eyes he saw the heart tree, with its pale limbs, red leaves, and solemn face. The weirwood was the heart of Winterfell, Lord Eddard always said . . . but to save the castle Jon would have to tear that heart up by its ancient roots, and feed it to the red woman’s hungry fire god. I have no right, he thought. Winterfell belongs to the old gods.

Jon walks seemingly aimlessly around CB as he ponders the offer. Suddenly, he realizes how badly he hungers for it: “It was a hunger inside him, sharp as a dragonglass blade. A hunger . . . he could feel it. It was food he needed, prey, a red deer that stank of fear or a great elk proud and defiant. He needed to kill and fill his belly with fresh meat and hot dark blood. His mouth began to water with the thought.” Unwittingly, Jon’s slipped into Ghost, making his desires that much stronger. After a moment, Jon realizes what happened, and that Ghost must be close.

They reunite, and we see that Jon has not been able to sense the wolf, wherever he was: “I thought you’d died on me, like Robb and Ygritte and all the rest. I’ve had no sense of you, not since I climbed the Wall, not even in dreams.”

It’s Ghost that brings Jon to his final decision about Winterfell: “Red eyes, Jon realized, but not like Melisandre’s. He had a weirwood’s eyes. Red eyes, red mouth, white fur. Blood and bone, like a heart tree. He belongs to the old gods, this one. And he alone of all the direwolves was white. Six pups they’d found in the late summer snows, him and Robb; five that were grey and black and brown, for the five Starks, and one white, as white as Snow.”

12. Wolf dream (Jon I DwD)

We learn that Jon’s wolf dreams have been becoming more vivid:

The white wolf raced through a black wood, beneath a pale cliff as tall as the sky. The moon ran with him, slipping through a tangle of bare branches overhead, across the starry sky.

“Snow,” the moon murmured. The wolf made no answer. Snow crunched beneath his paws. The wind sighed through the trees.

Far off, he could hear his packmates calling to him, like to like. They were hunting too. A wild rain lashed down upon his black brother as he tore at the flesh of an enormous goat, washing the blood from his side where the goat’s long horn had raked him. In another place, his little sister lifted her head to sing to the moon, and a hundred small grey cousins broke off their hunt to sing with her. The hills were warmer where they were, and full of food. Many a night his sister’s pack gorged on the flesh of sheep and cows and horses, the

prey of men, and sometimes even on the flesh of man himself.

“Snow,” the moon called down again, cackling. The white wolf padded along the man trail beneath the icy cliff. The taste of blood was on his tongue, and his ears rang to the song of the hundred cousins. Once they had been six, five whimpering blind in the snow beside their dead mother, sucking cool milk from her hard dead nipples whilst he crawled off alone. Four remained … and one the white wolf could no longer sense.

“Snow,” the moon insisted.

The white wolf ran from it, racing toward the cave of night where the sun had hidden, his breath frosting in the air. On starless nights the great cliff was as black as stone, a darkness towering high above the wide world, but when the moon came out it shimmered pale and icy as a frozen stream. The wolf’s pelt was thick and shaggy, but when the wind blew along the ice no fur could keep the chill out. On the other side the wind was colder still, the wolf sensed. That was where his brother was, the grey brother who smelled of summer.

13. Ghost + Mel (Jon VI, Mel I)

Mel has been on a one-track mission to bring Jon to trust her since she’s come to the Wall. She knows that there is magic between Jon and Ghost; one of her visions reveals how intertwined they are: “ The flames crackled softly, and in their crackling she heard the whispered name Jon Snow. His long face floated before her, limned in tongues of red and orange, appearing and disappearing again, a shadow half-seen behind a fluttering curtain. Now he was a man, now a wolf, now a man again.” This passage is often cited to support Jon’s literal death and rehabitation in Ghost’s body. I’m not convinced this will occur in such a way, but it ought to be noted.

One of her methods is to use Ghost as a tool. There’s an ambiguous scene at the end of Jon VI in which Mel “smells of summer,” prompting Jon to turn to the fragrance and expect Ygritte. Mel asks if Jon can touch him; Jon is reluctant, but Mel calls the wolf’s name “like a song;” the wolf goes to her, wary at first: “The direwolf padded toward her. Wary, he stalked about her in a circle, sniffing. When she held out her hand he smelled that too, then shoved his nose against her fingers.” Jon finds this passing odd, and tries calling Ghost to come to him. The wolf refuses, and looks at Jon “as if he were a stranger.” Mel tells Jon that he should embrace the magic between Ghost and himself; when Jon asks her how, she tells him through sex with her (Mel is clearly deluded, as we know how warging power is woken, and it’s not through sex with a fire priestess).

14. Chapter 13

Ghost’s behavior in Jon’s last chapter is quite odd. He’s out of sorts and attacks Jon’s men in his chambers. Yet, when Bowen and Yarwyck come in later, Ghost is surprisingly calm. The wolves seem attuned to danger, yet it appears Ghost attacks the wrong men in this circumstance, given that Bowen is the one who stabs Jon later. It could mean that the Bowen plot had not been planned by this point, or that there is some greater threat behind the plot that Ghost is responding to.

Jon’s last word is “Ghost,” which could suggest he’s reaching out to his wolf.

[Alia of the knife]

Jon Snow: “Unique Wolf”

Apologies for the delay. After starting a more conventional essay, I decided to go a different route. I’ve put this together more like a compendium of Ghost, with atomized analysis rather than analysis of broad conclusions.

My own take on the broad strokes of Ghost/ Jon are, in (very) brief:

• Through the symbolism of Ghost, Jon potentially represents the ancient past of House Stark (point 11 below speaks to this), and Rickon (Ghost’s wolf complement) its future.
  
• The Jon-Ghost dynamic points to Jon’s becoming more of a grey character in the future; we see snippets where Jon thinks through Ghost. I suspect that part of opening his “third eye,” he will become more wolf-like, by which I mean more willing to get his hands dirty.
  

the basics symbolism: pack, appearance, name

pack

Jon’s isn’t the only “unique” wolf in terms of appearance. Of the 6 found, 4 are smoke with yellow/ gold eyes, 1 is black with green eyes, and Ghost is white with red. Both Jon and Rickon’s wolves stand out from the rest of the pack, and poignantly, are exact color complements of each other (there’s a good bit of Jon-Rickon foreshadowing, and I think this reinforces that something significant will occur between these two).

One curious observation is that Ghost has never been shown onscreen with any of the other wolves excluding Nymeria. We know from Arya’s POV that Ghost has grown the fastest and is the largest of the 6, but we don’t see how Ghost interacts with the rest other than Nym. Grey Wind is at Robb’s side when Jon and Ghost say their goodbyes, but no text is devoted to how these two behave together. From Arya I, it appears that Nym considers Ghost an alpha, or at least a leader: Nym approaches Ghost warily at first, but Ghost walks over, nips her ear and they settle. When Jon and Ghost walk away, Nym follows them rather than Arya at first.

appearance

Ghost’s appearance has been amply discussed, but I want to point out a few less overt connections. The white fur and red eyes evoke the old gods via weirwoods, and is also a nod to the “ice and fire” combination via Bloodraven (Blackwood/ Targaryen). One thing I want to point out is that I don’t believe the red and white is necessarily “fire and ice” on its own, but rather contingent symbolically on Bloodraven. Ghost’s eyes are deep “garnet” in color; Mormont chooses garnet eyes for Longclaw’s pommel, but Jon observes that Ghost’s eyes are “dark garnet” independently of this. When Tywin is having Ice reforged, he instructs Tobho to use rubies, because “garnets lack the fire.” This link shows the visual difference between rubies and garnets, which seems a purposeful distinction in Martin’s world. The color of garnet seems to invoke not fire, but blood; notable garnet mentions include the eyes of the Valyrian (dragon) sphinxes in the Red Keep, and the jeweled blood spatter on Bolton attire. Jon himself will call Ghost “blood and bones” like a weirwood.

name

I think the term "ghost" as it pertains is supposed to work across multiple registers, and the most obvious is "apparition," which layers into the recurring crypt imagery of Jon’s dreams; we're reminded how the iron keeps the “ghosts” from rising; Jon is haunted by the "ghosts" of his parentage, and later, Robb, Donal, and Ygritte haunt Jon’s dreams. There’s also the time Jon covered himself with flour in one of the tombs to play a practical joke on his siblings, the memory of which, interestingly, made Arya lose her fear of the dark and death during her escape from the Red Keep. I think that there is a great deal of death symbolism in Jon’s arc, and “ghost” can be seen as yet one more reinforcement of this, perhaps even suggesting some sort of literal or figurative passage beyond death at some point.

Other definitions of "ghost" are perhaps a bit more provocative: soul or spirit, a breath, the seat of feeling, thought and moral action (these pertain to the living as well as the dead); a corpse, a trace, vestige of a former self, an impression, a duplicate. It's also a verb, meaning to erase (ghost out), to die, to haunt, scare, prowl. All of the wolves protect their doubles from harm and offer warnings of danger; Ghost does a bit more than this, as he functions as Jon’s conscience (his seat of feeling, thought and moral action) on a few occasions, notably, when Jon tries deserting in aGoT and when Jon refuses Stannis offer in aSoS. Further, while I don’t subscribe to Jon’s inhabiting Ghost’s body after a literal death, I believe that Jon’s become increasingly “wolf-like” as his arc progresses (not unlike Dany and the dragons), such that I think Jon may become a “vestige” of his former self and more “wolf” (this relates, in my view, to “kill the boy”).

important Ghost moments

1. Finding the wolves (Bran I aGoT)

Three events stand out for me wrt Jon in this scene (as this scene has been analyzed exhaustively on the forum, I’m truncating the other aspects here). First, Jon renounces whatever “right” he has to a wolf so that the wolves’ lives will be spared and his siblings can have pets. In much the way Ned “made” Jon a bastard to save his life, so Jon reinforces his bastard status to save the wolves’ lives. The second major moment is the fact that Ghost was not with the other pups. Ghost is a silent wolf, yet Jon heard “something” that made him turn back, leading him to this pup. Personally, I believe that Jon and Ghost are the first to communicate via warging in this scene; the fact that Ghost is the only wolf to have opened his eyes (“opened eyes” is a recurring symbol of woken powers) seems to point to this as well. That Ghost either “wandered off or was driven away” is an analogue to Jon’s own ambiguous “wandered or driven” predicament in going to the NW, separate from the rest of the pack (and realm). Finally, I find Jon’s confrontation with Theon poignant. Theon wants to kill this supposedly weak albino wolf, but Jon tells him he “thinks not,” and saves Ghost’s life for the first time. Given how Theon destroyed the Stark home and has become the “Ghost of Winterfell,” I wonder if this early scene might reiterate in another Jon-Theon confrontation.

2. Ghost +Tyrion (Jon I, Jon III, Tyrion II, Tyrion III aGoT)

Despite how amiably Tyrion is portrayed in these early chapters, Ghost is consistently wary and distrustful of the man: “The wolf pup padded closer and nuzzled at Jon’s face, but he kept a wary eye on Tyrion Lannister, and when the dwarf reached out to pet him, he drew back and bared his fangs in a silent snarl.” I wonder how much of this reaction is Ghosts’ own instinct, versus how much it is Jon’s projection of his own misgivings onto Ghost. The wariness continues to a breaking point when the party is camping en route to the Wall; Tyrion incites Jon to anger, and suddenly, Ghost knocks him down and silently gets between the two men. Ghost is quite calm, though Jon and wolf stand above Tyrion as an intimidating threat. Jon cuts the tension with a joke, Tyrion gracefully accepts his well-deserved chastening, and the seeds of friendship are planted.

The last Tyrion-Ghost interaction occurs at the top of the Wall the night before Tyrion’s departure. Ghost is still wary, but Jon promises that he won’t bite so long as Jon is beside him. Tyrion is somewhat disheartened: “Tyrion scratched the white wolf behind the ears. The red eyes watched him impassively. The beast came up as high as his chest now. Another year, and Tyrion had the gloomy feeling he’d be looking up at him.” I think that Ghost’s innate wariness might forebode a less than amicable meeting between Jon and Tyrion in the future, as well as potentially suggesting that Tyrion will be in a position of supplication next they meet.

3. Ghost + Sam (Jon IV)

I think that it’s fair to say that Ghost took an immediate liking to Sam. Similarly, for all of Sam’s cravenness about everything, he’s remarkably not afraid of the direwolf that seems to scare everyone else. I find this significant in how divergent it is from the Tyrion-Ghost dynamic. With Tyrion, Jon had to be the bridge between the wolf and the dwarf, otherwise Ghost would have attacked. The opposite occurs with Ghost and Sam. Jon is unable to think of a way to comfort Sam when they talk; Sam is uncontrollably crying, and Jon doesn’t know how to bridge that void. Yet Ghost “knew what to do. Silent as shadow, the pale direwolf moved closer and began to lick the warm tears off Samwell Tarly’s face. The fat boy cried out, startled … and somehow, in a heartbeat, his sobs turned to laughter.” In both cases, laughter defused the situation, but here it’s Ghost bringing the boys together. Ghost becomes Sam’s “guardian” of sorts later that chapter when Jon brings the wolf as “muscle” to make Rast an offer he can’t refuse wrt beating up Sam.

4. Ghost + wights (Jon VI + VII)

Ghost accompanies Jon and Sam when they take their vows in the grove, but the wolf is absent during the oath-taking itself. Ghost reappears just after the ceremony: “And suddenly Ghost was back, stalking softly between two weirwoods. White fur and red eyes, Jon realized, disquieted. Like the trees …” This is the first time Jon makes the connection between Ghost and the old gods, and the thought “disquiets” him. Ghost has found a blackened hand, which we later realize belongs to Jafer.

The following chapter, Ghost leads a small ranging to find the bodies from which the hand came. The hounds and the horses are “useless,” as they dislike something in the atmosphere. In fact, no other living creature will go near the wights: “they’ve been lying here in the woods, but they … they haven’t been chewed or eaten by animals … only Ghost … otherwise they’re … they’re …” “Untouched,” Jon said softly. “And Ghost is different.” Ghost is curiously unfearful of the dead; at the very least, wights do not scare him. Ghost will, however, become frightened at the Fist of the First Men; this tells us that there is something other than wights Ghost feels deeply vulnerable to.

When Jafer and Othor rise in the night, it’s Ghost who senses them, leading Jon to Mormont’s chamber. Ghost leads the attack on the wight; the wight strangles the wolf, but Jon intervenes to save his life. Further into the scuffle, the wight strangles Jon (puts his extremely cold hands directly into Jon’s mouth) and Ghost saves his life in turn.

5. Jon’s attempted desertion (Jon IX)

Jon flees from CB with Ghost keeping pace at his side. This chapter bears deeper scrutiny than I’ll get into, but Jon was already having extreme doubts about leaving well before his friends find him. As the doubts flow, Ghost goes off on his own. Jon thinks that his father would be disappointed if he deserted, he’s not sure that Robb will even welcome him, and he’s slowly realizing that he really doesn’t have a place outside of the Watch anymore, and possibly never had one. He tries to convince himself to keep going, but thinks, “I am doing the right thing, he told himself, so why do I feel so bad?”

Jon slows down, calls for Ghost, and sits down to eat. I think Jon’s slackened pace, combined with his mounting doubts, signals that deserting is not truly what he wanted, and I think Ghost “sensed” this. Jon hides from his friends as they approach his position, but Ghost appears suddenly, blowing his cover. I don’t think Jon didn’t desert only because he was luckily found, facilitated by Ghost. I don’t think it’s so cut and dry that Jon truly wanted to go. At any rate, he re-commits himself to the Watch, acknowledging the hard truth that he has no place elsewhere, that he’s “alike, but different” than his family, much like his wolf.

6. Rabbit attack + “the warg” (Jon III aCoK)

Ghost gets into Gilly’s rabbit hutch, stealing 2 rabbits and scaring her terribly. Chett tries to scare the girl further, telling her that the wolf will rip the baby from her stomach. Jon scolds Chett and Lark for tormenting Gilly, and in retaliation, Lark tries to insult Jon by alluding to him as a “warg”: “He’s afraid of you, Chett. On the Sisters, we have a name for them like him.” Jon tells them that he knows all the names (“warg” is not brought up directly, merely implied), which leads to the suggestion that Jon’s been taunted about the wolf thusly before, and that “warg” is considered a great insult.

7. Ghost’s first fear: the Fist and the cache (Jon IV)

Where the other animals refused to deal with wights, the Fist presents a reversal of behavior distinguishing Ghost and the others. The other animals go into the ringfort easily enough, but Ghost is beside himself around the fist. Three times Ghost refuses to climb the Fist, and finally Jon gives up and lets him go hunt.

Later, Jon goes in search of Ghost. This time the wolf comes up as far as the ringfort, but is utterly distressed all the while: “But when they reached the ringfort, Ghost balked again. He padded forward warily to sniff at the gap in the stones, and then retreated, as if he did not like what he’d smelled. Jon tried to grab him by the scruff of his neck and haul him bodily inside the ring, no easy task; the wolf weighed as much as he did, and was stronger by far. “Ghost, what’s wrong with you?” It was not like him to be so unsettled. In the end Jon had to give it up.” I’m not sure what to project from this, except that there’s something significantly different about the Fist than other places, and only Ghost seems to understand the gravity of it.

After a while, Jon is startled to find Ghost in the ringfort. He does not stay long, however, as the wolf beckons him to follow, leading him to a soft fresh mound of dirt containing a Watchman’s cloak, a horn, and dragonglass.

8. Bran’s appeal to Jon via dream (Jon VII)

I think Qhorin has strongly suspected that Jon is a warg, and this skill is why he wanted Jon to come with him on the scouting. This is the first clear occasion in which Jon inhabits Ghost on the page:

Just to clarify, Bran smells “like death” to him, because at this point in time Bran is hiding in the crypts. I think this passage is significant in that it’s essentially similar in nature to Bran’s early crow dreams; the crow cajoled Bran to open the third eye, and now Bran cajoles Jon to do the same.

At Bran’s touch, Ghost is pulled back into his reality, and Jon sees Mance’s army massing in the Skirling Pass. The wolf dream is brought to an end when Orell’s eagle attacks Ghost, both Jon and Orell sensing that each other are skin changers.

9. Qhorin’s death (Jon VIII)

Ghost makes it easier to kill Qhorin, biting the man’s leg to enable an opening. We know Qhorin was going to throw the fight anyway, so it’s not exactly that Ghost saved his life. I think it’s more of a psychological aid Ghost provided.

10. Jon and Ghost part ways (Jon III aSoS)

Throughout aCoK and aSoS, there’s hints that Jon has been warging, but he doesn’t recognize it as such. He calls it “sensing” his wolf: “He found Ghost atop the hill, as he thought he might. The white wolf never howled, yet something drew him to the heights all the same, and he would squat there on his hindquarters, hot breath rising in a white mist as his red eyes drank the stars.”

Jon must scale the Wall as part of Jarl’s gang, and as such, must part from the wolf. He tries talking to Ghost: “Do you have names for them as well?” Jon asked, as he went to one knee beside the direwolf and scratched the thick white fur on his neck. “The Hare? The Doe? The She-Wolf?” Ghost licked his face, his rough wet tongue rasping against the scabs where the eagle’s talons had ripped Jon’s cheek. The bird marked both of us, he thought. “Ghost,” he said quietly, “on the morrow we go over. There’s no steps here, no

cage-and-crane, no way for me to get you to the other side. We have to part. Do you understand?”

Though the others have been mocking Jon as a warg, Jon reflects that he can’t seem to slip into his skin at will. Hence, he tries to communicate verbally. He tries instructing Ghost to make for Castle Black: “I will meet you again at Castle Black, but you have to get there by yourself. We must each hunt alone for a time. Alone.”

I can’t help but see a parallel with Arya and Nym’s parting.

11. Ghost returns (Jon XII)

Jon and Ghost have been separated for the past 8 chapters. Stannis is at the Wall, and has offered Jon Winterfell; as part of the bargain, the godswood must be burned. Jon is strongly conflicted about belonging in WInterfell to begin with, but the thought of burning the old gods sickens him:

Jon walks seemingly aimlessly around CB as he ponders the offer. Suddenly, he realizes how badly he hungers for it: “It was a hunger inside him, sharp as a dragonglass blade. A hunger . . . he could feel it. It was food he needed, prey, a red deer that stank of fear or a great elk proud and defiant. He needed to kill and fill his belly with fresh meat and hot dark blood. His mouth began to water with the thought.” Unwittingly, Jon’s slipped into Ghost, making his desires that much stronger. After a moment, Jon realizes what happened, and that Ghost must be close.

They reunite, and we see that Jon has not been able to sense the wolf, wherever he was: “I thought you’d died on me, like Robb and Ygritte and all the rest. I’ve had no sense of you, not since I climbed the Wall, not even in dreams.”

It’s Ghost that brings Jon to his final decision about Winterfell: “Red eyes, Jon realized, but not like Melisandre’s. He had a weirwood’s eyes. Red eyes, red mouth, white fur. Blood and bone, like a heart tree. He belongs to the old gods, this one. And he alone of all the direwolves was white. Six pups they’d found in the late summer snows, him and Robb; five that were grey and black and brown, for the five Starks, and one white, as white as Snow.”

12. Wolf dream (Jon I DwD)

We learn that Jon’s wolf dreams have been becoming more vivid:

13. Ghost + Mel (Jon VI, Mel I)

Mel has been on a one-track mission to bring Jon to trust her since she’s come to the Wall. She knows that there is magic between Jon and Ghost; one of her visions reveals how intertwined they are: “ The flames crackled softly, and in their crackling she heard the whispered name Jon Snow. His long face floated before her, limned in tongues of red and orange, appearing and disappearing again, a shadow half-seen behind a fluttering curtain. Now he was a man, now a wolf, now a man again.” This passage is often cited to support Jon’s literal death and rehabitation in Ghost’s body. I’m not convinced this will occur in such a way, but it ought to be noted.

One of her methods is to use Ghost as a tool. There’s an ambiguous scene at the end of Jon VI in which Mel “smells of summer,” prompting Jon to turn to the fragrance and expect Ygritte. Mel asks if Jon can touch him; Jon is reluctant, but Mel calls the wolf’s name “like a song;” the wolf goes to her, wary at first: “The direwolf padded toward her. Wary, he stalked about her in a circle, sniffing. When she held out her hand he smelled that too, then shoved his nose against her fingers.” Jon finds this passing odd, and tries calling Ghost to come to him. The wolf refuses, and looks at Jon “as if he were a stranger.” Mel tells Jon that he should embrace the magic between Ghost and himself; when Jon asks her how, she tells him through sex with her (Mel is clearly deluded, as we know how warging power is woken, and it’s not through sex with a fire priestess).

14. Chapter 13

Ghost’s behavior in Jon’s last chapter is quite odd. He’s out of sorts and attacks Jon’s men in his chambers. Yet, when Bowen and Yarwyck come in later, Ghost is surprisingly calm. The wolves seem attuned to danger, yet it appears Ghost attacks the wrong men in this circumstance, given that Bowen is the one who stabs Jon later. It could mean that the Bowen plot had not been planned by this point, or that there is some greater threat behind the plot that Ghost is responding to.

Jon’s last word is “Ghost,” which could suggest he’s reaching out to his wolf.

Awesome as always "Butterbumps," and since I'm of the opinion the wolves are totems/guardians, (perhaps from the old gods) to the Stark children, I do think there is a definite connection, and at least in the TV series, it was conveyed in the confrontation between Jaimie and Robb.

As Robbs anger grows, you see Grey wolf becoming vicious.

While I understand that Tyrion is a fan favorite, I am not so sure he is any better than his siblings- just a little more disciplined in not showing the Lannister's true nature, so Ghost reflects what he knows of Tyrion.

The wolf pup that is supposed to be blind, (albinos are not known for keen sight), sees perhaps better than all of them.

Misc.:

Garnet is my birthstone, so I confess to thinking it prettier than the ruby. :P

[Lykos]

Another little thing about garnets. In german they´re called Granate and the pomegranate is called Granatapfel, since the garnets are often found in clusters of grainlike structure reeminiscent of the pomegranete´s pips. So there is also a connectionto this mythical fruit of temptation that will bind you to the other underworld.

[WinterKing]

Impressive! Great essay Butterbumps!!

[Mladen]

Butterbumps, I expressed my admiration in my PM, now it`s time to do it publically. This compendium/essay/post is wonderful piece, it`s beautifully written and really is a valuable asset to our project. I thank you sincerely for devoted time and energy put in this.

The direction you take is quite interesting one. By showing different aspects of Ghost`s personality throughout the books, you showed actually the genesis of Jon`s wolf traits, and the growth of the character. From finding the wolves to Jon`s death, Ghost has been extension of Jon`s heart, soul and thoughts, but Ghost also, as you showed us has thoughts of his own, the will of his own, and is the most interesting direwolf for observation. In my opinion, Martin walked the thin line between describing Ghost as an animal itself, and as an animal with special abilities. The two sides in Ghost, side connected with Jon and his own animalistic side wonderfully coexist as the world of raw reality and most imaginative magic exist in ASOIAF.

And now my observations:

1. Pack, appearence and name. From Ghost`s description as albino wolf to his name, and the position in the pack, all reflects Jon`s own position in the Starks. The reason why this essay was named unique wolf, is that albino gene that causes albinism doesn`t exist in wolf`s genetic pool. and that`s why we don`t have any recorded case of albinism in wolves. Therefore this albino wolf would be indeed considered as outcast just like Jon is. The name Ghost, is appropriate for a direwolf befriended with a child `that doesn`t exist`. His white fur color is more than appropriate to Jon`s last name - Snow. But, interestingly his position as alpha, seen through Nymeria`s eyes isn`t. In the world of social norms, bastards don`t trumop firstborn sons, so why would Ghost trump Greywind? The possible and most logical solution is that Ghost reflects Jon`s own position viewed by other Stark kids who see Jon as the oldest and wisest of them. Also, Ghost`s albinism, behavior and name may suggest that there is something more about Jon. Something that isn`t connected strictly to Stark household.

2. Ghost with Tyrion and Sam. If there is nail to seal the coffin of the theory about Tyrion being Targaryen(and therefore sharing blood with Jon), this is it. No matter how kind and normal Tyrion is around Starks, Ghost sensed something is rotten about him. He is distrustful about Tyrion. Why? Well, as we know Tyrion did nothing to the Starks. He didn`t push Bran, he was wrongly accused by Catelyn, he treated Sansa nice, so where this mistrust comes from? Well, if it`s not Jon`s Stark side, it has to be his Targaryen side. Whether Ghost sensed Tyrion will be involved in Targaryen conundrum that will come, and whether we can argue that Dance of dragons 2.0 was in GRRM`s early thoughts, this can serve as foreshadowing of Tyrion`s involvement in Targaryen messy affairs, and the fact he is no friend to any of them. Like Moqorro said `snarling in midst of it all`, there is a great chance Tyrion won`t be friend with neither Aegon, nor Dany, nor lastly Jon. Opposite to Tyrion, Ghost, as butterbumps noticed, serves as a bridge between Jon and Sam. This is also a very beautiful part of Ghost`s story where he helps Jon in adapting and creating a new pack.

3. Ghost as Jon`s consciousness. The most wonderful example of direwolf having the will of its own and is also connected on a deep level with his human counterpart is the one during Jon`s attempted desertion. I think that Ghost didn`t just project Jon`s guilt and remorse, it also in a way sensed Jon`s right position, and made him to stay at the Wall. This way, Ghost`s eyes saw a glimpse of something Jon didn`t, and sensed where Jon should be. This is also very important to remember in the future.

4. Ghost and Fist of FM. This one is odd indeed. Why would Ghost be afraid of Fist? I can come up with 2 reasons:

1. Ghost sensed possile danger that would come later when Others attack

2. As warging is possibly connected with CotF somehow, and we know what happened between them and First Men. Perhaps Fist is protected somehow against warged animals, or it`s place where magic of CotF is diminished.(Crackpot, I know.)

5. Ghost and Melisandre. As we previously said, Jon is half Stark/half Targaryen, symbolically `ice and fire`, and therefore his direwolf would be parted in the same way. For me that look between Jon and Ghost when he`s in Mel`s hands is quite significant. I will use this to put things this way. By accepting fire in him (Targaryen heritage), there is a big chance Jon would loose connection to the North and his Stark side. Actually, that`s also what happens when he chose not to accept ice (Stark side). This behavior of Ghost may indicate that for Jon is maybe the best not to be neither Stark nor Targaryen, neither ice nor fire. That could possibly foreshadow Jon`s future in NW, where he has no name nor title. To defend the Kingdoms, but not to rule them.

For the end, thank you again, butterbumps. This was indeed beautifully written, and really interesting and pleasurable reading.