Magic of A Song of Ice & Fire.

This post will examine the various forms of magic we have so far encountered in the world of A Song of Ice & Fire. Many of us have noticed that there seems to be largely a sort of classical elementary aspect to the magic involved. As well as some less common types. The Red Priests clearly use Fire they seek visions in its flames and learn a healing magic that uses fire. The Children of the Forest bought up the hammer of the waters to break the neck, using some form of water magic and we know from the world book that the Rhoynish had very powerful water magic indeed.

Here I will attempt to categorise the known magic into the elements. I suspect we will have a fifth element, a mystery wildcard one if you will.

EARTH
I've long had a sneaky feeling about the elemental magic idea but have struggled to find any "earth" magic, but it occurred to me the trees themselves are the earth magic.

• Jojen swallows mud and gets a fever which leaves him with green dreams. 
• Trees are of course connected to the earth, they grow out of it and take their nourishment from it.and the weirwoods enable the greenseers to see, Bran has to physically be in connection to a tree to see through its eyes and he has to consume the sap and its seed. Blood Raven is physically entwined with the tree. 
• It is said some crannog men can breathe mud.
• Shade of the evening trees provides a hallucinogenic drink which grants people prophetic dreams.

AIR
There hasn't seemingly been much air magic yet in world, but I think we have seen some.

• Alys Rivers in the princes and the queen sees visions in Storm clouds; amongst other things but we will come back to her later. 
• In the world book we are told that it was said the children of the forest could call upon the air to fight on their behalf.
• Aeromancers, whatever these are. A form of magic practised still in Asshai and mentioned in the world book this certainly sounds like Air magic.

Fire
Of course, we all know that the Red Priests use fire. This seems to be one of the most obvious sources of elemental magic in the series. But I don't think the power comes from a God called R'hllor. I think rather that the religion uses people with magical ability to promote their cult and that they focus these magic users energies upon the fire aspect of in world magic to that end.

• Healing, Mirri Maz Duur tells Dany there is great healing power in Fire Magic, though she doesn't demonstrate it to Dany, she seems to imply she knows how to do it. 
• Moqorro does heal Victarion's arm using Fire magic and he sings in an undulating voice whilst doing it.
• Daenerys survives the Pyre, and some theories say she does this because Mirri Maz Duur is casting a protection spell, a spell to protect from the effects of the pyre, She is singing in a high undulating voice. Much like Moqorro healing Victarion's arm. 
• Mirri Maz Duur casts a powder into the fire which sends people running in fear from the tent. the powder is seemingly activated by the fire, Mel later tells us in her POV chapter that red priests use such powders. We see Bennero seeming to use one to cast Valyrian glyphs into the air in Volantis. And in The Sons of the Dragon, the Hightowers turn the beacon flame atop the hightower green, we are not told how this is achieved but it is worth noting that green is one of the colours Mellisandre mentions the powders can turn fire. This isn't wildfire or else the whole tower would be burnt to the ground in minutes. 
• Of course, the Red Priests use flames to see visions. 
• Alys Rivers again uses cook fires to see much and more according to Aemond Targaryen 
• Thoros brings Beric back to life with a special prayer (or spell) and breaths a flame into him, which rouses him to life
• Beric (not a red priest) simply breathes this flame into the lifeless body of Catelyn Stark, she rises and he dies, implying it is the fire itself doing the work, not the act of the priest (ie not through a god) or the words of the spell/prayer, though sure enough the prayer or spell would be necessary to create this very special flame? We know from a recent interview with GRRM that the reanimated Fire Wights are dead, no blood pumps round their bodies they do not breath etc.
• Dragons certainly seem to be magical and are undoubtedly connected to fire, they are described as fire made flesh in fact.
• Mel burns the eagle out of the sky.
• In Asshai there are Pyromancers listed, separately to Red Priests.
• Wildfire; a magically created substance produced by alchemists. 

Water
Water magic is another which we haven't seen as much of in the story so far, but it is there. in both the main series and in the world book, oh and again in Alys, gosh she must have been a rare lass.

• The hammer of the waters, the children of the forest apparently called up the sea itself in order to smash the arm of Dorne and halt the passage on the first men. 
• The neck, again they children called upon the water element to sever the north, it did not fully work. 
• The crannog men, apparently have the ability to run on water.
• The Rhoynish we learn in the world book could magically manipulate the waters of the Rhoyne to fight the Valyrians. They seemingly had great powerful water magic. 
• The crannog men have a castle/castles which float about and disappear on the waters of the neck
• The great silver sea which existed where there is now the great grass sea was home to the fisher Queens whose palace floated continually about the shoreline of the huge lake. 
• Alys again see's stuff in puddles, so that adds water to her list

Other magics
There are of course various other non-elemental magic's in the world of ice and fire, we have

Blood/shadow magic

• There are Bloodmaeges in Asshai, and Mirri Maz Duur tells Dany that what she is going to use magic to raise Drogo which she learnt from a bloodmaege. She cuts the horse with an ancient looking glyph covered beaten copper blade and scares everyone out of the tent with the fire activated powder, she kills the stallion, but we know Rhaego dies as well, we do not know for certain if he dies directly due to the acts of Mirri Maz Duur. Or if just like the other Targaryen stunted deformed babies he simply died during her labour.
• Obviously, as I mentioned Bloodmaeges exist, they seem to be experts in blood magic.
• Valyrians seem to have used a combination of fire magic and blood magic, the Targaryens used this as their house words once they passed from a Valyrian family to being a Westerosi house.
• The Dragon Binding horn seems to be a combination of fire and blood magic as so far it has killed the mortal men who have blown it by burning the blowers inside/lungs out. We are still unclear as to if and how this horn actually works. Though I suspect one needs a Fire Wight to blow it for you. 
• One of the first introductions to Magic we witness in the series is the blood magic Mirri Maz Duur preforms to raise Drogo she uses shadows too, maybe she was using two forms of magic to raise him, maybe the shadows were a separate spell? We know that she is not adverse to grandiose displays of power. Maybe Mirri Maz Duur conjured the shadows via the sperm of the Dothraki who raped her?As we know Mellisandre needs sperm to conjure her shadow babies. Or are they really the dead as she seems to tell Dany, either way, it seems the raising of Drogo may involve both fire, blood, and shadow. We are told of the powder which causes fear. She sings in an Ululating voice. Quite a lot of the magic in world seem to involve singing, shadows are seen dancing in the tent. Some do not seem human, so obviously some do, one is a great wolf (Which brings the Starks to mind, though I'm not sure there is a connection) and a burning man, no sigil is a burning man as far as I know. The shadows dance around the bloody bath and we are told several times that there is fire during this chapter, which all contributes to a sense of rising mania, fire, singing which sounds inhuman, shadows dancing, blood everywhere, and fighting outside. Dany's labour pains are described in violent language and she dreads being taken into the tent and due to the fear powder and Mirri's warning which leads her to accept the story that Mirri was responsible for killing her baby. 
• Shadow babies; it seems that Melisandre who travelled to Asshai and learnt shadow binding there learnt this skill through that training and not via R'hllor. When Stannis is going to fight Renly she has sex with him, and using his sperm draws his life force from him and gestates a shadow, which she births and which assassinates Renly for him, She repeats this magic to kill Cortney Penrose at Storms end. 
• Shadow binders are a group of magic practitioners in Ashai, of all those listed as practising in Asshai it feels as though these are most associated with the city. Quaithe is a Shadow Binder, she wears the red lacquered mask which distinguishes her as one, Mirri Maz Duur and Melisandre are not shadow Binders but both have learnt and can utilise the magic of shadows. Quaithe also seems to use the glass candles which were of Valyrian origin, as can archmaester Marwyn. Who we know taught Mirri Maz Duur and has been to Asshai himself. 
• Glass candles; no one knows what makes these work but I have included them here as they are a Valyrian artefact, maybe the candles use blood magic to work, or shadow magic perhaps? I look forward to working that out in future.
• Maybe shadow magic is related to blood magic? it seems the shadows Melisandre births are created using Stannis's life force through his semen, when Dany has her house of the undying vision she see's a king with no shadow, which we widely interpret as being Stannis after Mel has taken his life force to create the assassins, she tells Jon he would give her great strong powerful ingredients with which to make magic, (sorry I was avoiding using any language which made it sound like she thinks Jon has super spunk.) Maybe shadow magic isn't to do with blood magic maybe it is to do with the black stone? Maybe the black stone is a separate kind of magic altogether, maybe the black stone is the moon which shattered releasing the Dragons into the world? I first wrote this post in 2014 just after the release of the world of ice and fire and whilst I have edited it before posting it here, this was indeed my thoughts regarding the black oily stone in 2014. Having since then listened to Lucifer Means Lightbringer's podcasts. I can say I am absolutely in agreement with him in this matter and would be very surprised indeed if it is not the second moons fragmented remnants. 

Skinchanging/Wargs
So these are of course associated primarily with the first men, and we, of course, meet several in the books.

• We first meet the Starks, who once they receive the Direwolf pups begin to form a bond with them each child seems to influence their pup to be like themselves and each wolf we know becomes part of the warg too.We meet the starks and find this animal is their house sigil, and that the kings and lords in their crypt are depicted with a Direwolf at their feet. Were Starks historically wargs? have they always had the ability, with the Direwolf itself being needed to awaken the ability? could Starks have connected to other animals too, were Lyanna and Brandon really half a horse themselves? A couple of Centaurs? were they Skinchanging their horses? All valid questions. I have come to think that when a person has the ability to skinchange they need first to bond with an animal. We learn that Dogs are easiest and that a skinchanger who slips a wolf is known as a Warg. With this in mind, I think it plausible that yes Starks historically have always carried the ability and whilst not certain Lyanna & Brandon may have had a skinchanger relationship with their horses.
• We quickly find out the Starks are not alone in their ability when we meet Orrel a Wildling who skinchanges an eagle and Varamyr six skins who has various different animals, and through whom we learn a warg goes into his familiar after death, Hagon who we do not meet but who taught Varymyr the rules of skinchanging and lived on in his old one-eyed wolf, and lastly so far Borraq, with his great boar.
• We also learn from the Wildlings that Skinchangers are more frequent north of the wall, where the first men blood is strong, or is it just where magic is still strong? is the wall really made of that black stone? and just coated in ice? This is my own theory. The Black stone seems to exude magic and would explain why Mellisandre feels her magic is so strong at the wall. 
• Children of the forest were said to be able to call beasts to fight for them, and this hints that they were indeed skinchangers
• In Asshai, again, we hear of shapechangers which is likely another name for Skinchangers.
• Bran, of course, begins using Ravens once he meets Blood Raven, and can slip Hodor, whom he knows well and has a good bond with and who also does not have the same mental barriers against being occupied as other people.
• Bloodraven obviously slips into Raven's and being as he is a Blackwood descendent from Raven tree hall, it seems probable or possible at least that Blackwood blood leans towards Ravens as their natural familiar, but likewise, Bloodraven seems to have used many animals to slip over his years. Whatever there seems a strong indication that the Blackwoods are a family with some magical ability. Personally, I strongly suspect Alys Rivers to be a Blackwood bastard. 
• Arya, of course, slips a cat, whom she has been around a lot, which I think shows a bond is needed in order to inhabit an animal the first time. 
• Sansa seems to be headed towards slipping a bird and may have already at the Eyrie when she "see's" Marillion in the sky cell. My own feelings regarding Sansa are that she will eventually skinchange a Merlin. She chose a Merlin when hawking with the Tyrells in Kings Landing, and the Merlin is Europes smallest Bird of Prey; making it a "little bird". I think she also came close with the Old Dog at the Fingers. Miscellaneous and vague references

There are of course a few other mysteries which I can't seem to pin down.

• Alchemists, there is a guild of alchemists, who make Wildfire, which seems to be a fire magic, but created fire, not natural fire from which magic is sourced. It is green and can be made using spells. It is easier to make once magic begins to wax back into the world. 
• Powders, these are created somewhere by someone, I feel it is alchemy. Mellisandre mentions various powders, Mirri Maz Duur uses one which she mentions and it seems so does Benerro the firework-like floating glyphs Tyrion witnesses in Volantis and in The Sons of the Dragon the Hightowers seem to use one to light the beacon green to call their banners. House Hightower, of course, does have a repeated magic user rumour in various members being named witches and sorcerers. 
• Black-alchemists, well I'd imagine these are just alchemists who practice more dark arts.
• Warlocks, Hedge Wizards & Maeges, Sorcerers and sorceresses, I suspect these are just various names allocated to unaffiliated magic users. I have not included Woods Witches here as I have an essay dedicated entirely to them. Please do read it the link can be found on the right-hand side of this page.
• Moonsingers, these are a separate group with religious leanings. they obviously use singing, and as I mentioned various times when magic is spoken about singing has been involved. Moonsingers are from Jogos Nhai and they seem to have the ability to see/prophecies etc. 
• Dragon Dreams & Green Dreams. Various characters have prophetic dreams, the Targaryens call them Dragon Dreams and we meet several Targaryens who have them, they are clearly magical prophetic phenomena but strikingly the Greendreams of the Children of the Forrest and some First Men are much the same in nature! Though we have no evidence that Valyrians are related to the Children. Jaime has one despite never having had one before or since due to sleeping with his head on a Weirwood stump and so I think it quite acceptable to categorise his dream as an earth magic dream, and yes the children could be categorised as dreaming with an earth magic Green as a descriptor for the dreams certainly alludes to this. But the Targaryens; their magic stems from Fire & Blood. So how have they acquired the ability? Fascinating. I've included the dreams here because they do seem to defy a category given this fact.
• The last magic I will include here is the face wearing of the Faceless men. This on one level appears to be Blood Magic. The Kindly man slits Arya's forehead before applying the skin of a flayed face. This not only gives Arya the seamless appearance of the person whose face she is wearing but also allows her access to that person's memories, and thought patterns, personality even. I have a loose theory that the Bolton's flaying habit may stem from this form of magic. But I will save that mad theory for another post. 

Having looked at the various magic's, it seems that the religions formed around them are just man-made ideas, seeing as various non-religious people have wielded the magic's, and how many of them seem to be used by more than one religion in the world. And by some people or groups not affiliated with a god at all.
I'm sure I've missed some magic acts and practices. But certainly, my aim here was to pull together what we do know and try to see if it can be connected at all. Also as a resource trying to understand the use of magic and the cultures surrounding them.

A Squire at the Tower of Joy.

This is one of the first theories I came up with after reading the main series of books. And I'll be the first to admit that this theory is a little crackpot!

However, equally the idea that of the six companions who went with Prince Rhaegar into the Riverlands; none of them took a squire. Is a bit odd if you stop to consider it?

We know that Prince Rhaegar had more than one squire during his time. Two are named; Myles Mooton & Richard Lonmouth. Who were both likely to be amongst those six most trusted companions? But we don't know who his squire was at the time of setting out on that fateful journey.

I am now going to propose a candidate for this squire who therefore would have been present at the Tower of Joy, would know the truth of Jon's parentage, and if there was a marriage between Rhaegar & Lyanna.

The thing which led me to this theory was the bizarre dialogue in the Arrianne chapter where Myrcella loses her ear. It set me to thinking about Gerold Dayne and why he said all that odd stuff! I never set out to prove there was a squire at the tower of Joy. But that was where this dialogue led me.

The first thing I did was look up his age, we are given late twenties by GRRM and the Wiki has his birth at between 270 and 274 making him between 9 and 13 at the time of Roberts Rebellion. Which is the perfect age for him to be a squire. I looked up his age in order to ascertain who he may have known growing up and what life stage he would have been at during significant points in the backstory. This was how I realised he would have been of squiring age during the rebellion; I was intrigued!

In fact, he is one of the few known characters who would have been at the right age to be a Squire at the time. The end of the rebellion took place in 283 and there are many in book references to boys squiring at his age. Prince Doran says he went to Squire at age 9, the Frey boys who Squire for Ramsay Snow after the sack of Winterfell are 8, Edric Dayne is 12 when we meet him in A Storm Of Swords and has been squire to Ser Beric for a few years at least, as the Brotherhood Without Banners have been in the riverlands at least a year and he was already Squire to Beric prior to them setting out at Neds behest in A Game Of Thrones. 

Another thing to note about Gerold Dayne is that he is described as the most dangerous man in Dorne, but why? He is a good swordsman but is he really so amazing to be granted such a title?

Many people have proposed that it is who he is which makes him so dangerous, with some rather far-fetched secret identity theories having been put forward. All of which fall flat under scrutiny. So I decided it must be not who he is which is dangerous but something he knows. I asked myself what he might know which would pose a danger?

If he was present at the Tower of Joy, perhaps even at Rhaegar & Lyanna's wedding, then this knowledge would be a threat to Prince Doran's plan to wed his child to the Targaryen heir, thus avenging Elia through taking the throne from the Baratheon-Lannister dynasty.

Should a new heir come to light then this would destroy his careful plans. He initially plans to wed Arianne to Viserys. But once Viserys dies he decides to back Danaerys and wed his son Quentyn to her instead. But the plan is the same, marry his child to the Targaryen heir and take the Iron Throne.

So should the son of the woman who Rhaegar eloped with come to light as the true heir his plan is not so perfect. He's not going to be so keen on placing her son on the Iron Throne. So it is in his interests to keep Jon's existence a secret. Even if Elia was onboard with the second marriage as some suspect, I doubt her brother would be keen on crowning that other woman's son given Elia died due to events set in motion by this second marriage.

Ned Stark kills no children; this gives us an answer as to how a squire survived the wer of Joy, we know Ned and Howland were not the only survivors as Ned recalls that "they" found him. This is largely taken to mean servants who would be present, but a Squire could feasibly be included in that number. We know from Jaime taking a squire into the Riverlands that the Kings Guard do at times have Squires. So they themselves too are a Reason why a squire might be there.

I said earlier that I looked at the dialogue in Arrianne's chapter and one thing which is inescapable is how bitter Darkstar is. I decided to try to work out why he is so full of resentment. If Darkstar was there and Ned spared him I believe he would have returned him to the main branch of his family with a vow never to speak of Lyanna's child The Martells would surely wish to speak with this boy who was privy to the events at the conclusion to the rebellion, and so Oberyn or even Doran might show up to speak to him, again swearing him to secrecy, perhaps even using less pleasant tactics, threats lies, manipulation. This could be the Venom Gerold says he was weaned on. And the answer to why he is so bitter.

When Gared speaks with pride about his own namesake, Darkstar gives a scathing speech about namesakes. I concluded that Perhaps Darkstar is not so keen upon his own namesake, who is assumed to have been Gerold Hightower. If he were a Squire to one of the Kings Guard or Rhaegars squire - left behind at the tower, he would have spent time with Hightower so maybe he didn't like what he saw? During his speech, Darkstar says of his assumed name at least it is my own as if he feels a desire to distance himself from his given name and that it is not a name he wishes to bare. He points out in their exchange that the Gared of history was no hero, but in fact led many to their deaths, so not someone to be truly proud to share a name with. In spite of what the songs and stories may infer.

I think GRRM is telling us with this story that Gerold Dayne does not wish to bear the name of Gerold Hightower because he was not the man history tells us he was, that he too needlessly led his men to their deaths. If he was there and saw how pointless the fight was and that Hightower led Arthur & Oswald to their deaths for a lost cause; the war was lost the Targaryens destroyed. He would feel that refusing Ned access to his sister because of Jon was a pointless last stand. They could not have hoped to win the war was lost, the Targaryen forces smashed, Kings Landing taken, and the rest of the royal family fled to Dragonstone.

Arrianne thinks of him as a good swordsman and implies he is unpredictable and not easy to read. Which implies to the reader that he plays his hand close to his chest. This tells us that he is a very good swordsman, which might mean he trained with someone who was also an excellent swordsman such as Arthur Dayne. Or that he has had a strong impetus to become the best fighter he can be, such as living a life under threat. His unpredictability and secretiveness also imply a need to keep himself safe.

Darkstar does not drink the wine and instead drinks unsweetened lemon water this has the effect of imprinting his bitter persona in the reader's mind. But also shows us that he does not want his mind clouded by wine, either because he had already planned to take his moment to attack Myrcella, or that it is his custom from always feeling threatened by the Martell brothers. Doran says later that Oberyn should have dealt with him years ago, maybe Darkstar was always aware that one day The Viper may come for him?

And so to the talk of venom & Vipers, what has oft been taken as an indicator he is the son of Oberyn; I think implies a life of threat.

"Watch where you put your feet," "It has been a while since prince Oberyn milked the local vipers"
"I was weaned on Venom Dalt, any Viper takes a bite of me will rue it."
He was weaned on venom ie: he endured prince Oberyn's venom from a young age when the Martell Princes began their campaign to keep him quiet, not that he was ever going to speak of the ToJ, and this is why he is so angry, he proclaims any Viper takes a bite of him will rue it. That sounds like a threat to me, he's grown up now he's a man, not a boy and he has honed his swordsmanship and won't be pushed around anymore if they come for him now they'll regret it.

Look at how similar that wording is to Doran's speech to Arianne about his and Oberyn's symbiotic rulership style.
Is Gerold so unafraid because the Viper is dead and he thinks the grass benign?

"I am not blind, nor deaf. I know you all believe me weak, frightened, feeble. Your father knew me better. Oberyn was ever the viper. Deadly, dangerous, unpredictable. No man dared tread on him. I was the grass. Pleasant, complaisant, sweet-smelling, swaying with every breeze. Who fears to walk upon the grass? But it is the grass that hides the viper from his enemies and shelters him until he strikes."

Here we are literally being told that Oberyn is the Viper, the two turns of phrase are too similar to be coincidental in my opinion.

Dalt tells Gerold to be wary of stepping on a viper and Doran says Oberyn was the Viper that no man dared tread on, Gerold says he is not afraid of the viper, that he was weaned upon its venom. And that if the viper bites him it will rue the day.

If we take it that Oberyn is the Viper being discussed and I think given Doran's later proclamation that Oberyn should have killed Darkstar long ago taken alongside these two dialogues that we ought to. Then it makes sense that there has been an ongoing hostile relationship between the three men.

Doran then calls Gerold the most dangerous man in Dorne. It could be because he knows how Myrcella was injured, or it could be because of whatever this ongoing hostility between the Martells and Ser Gerold is? I find the fact that so much of this chapter is given over to seemingly obscure conversations between Darkstar and the other members of the party very compelling towards the idea that he is significant in some way. That these odd snippets of conversation are significant.

Gerold seems jealous of Arthurs reputation when Marcella refers to him on their introduction. In retort to being told Arthur was a great knight, He says that Arthur had a great sword, that his house goes back tens of thousands of years yet all anyone remembers is his cousin.

Gerold if he was this proposed squire would know how good Arthur was and have seen him die. Did Arthur die without Dawn in his hand. Is this why Gerold thinks it was the sword not the man who was great?

He certainly seems disillusioned with the fable of Arthurs prowess. In keeping with a child who thought for sure his cousin would win the fight but instead saw him loose.

It would seem he is determined to have war, he urges Arianne to kill Myrcella not crown her as a surer route and mentions the suggestion again in jest when the sun begins to come up, then when it seems Doran has discovered the plot and the plan is lost he seeks to secure war by attempting to kill the princess. I propose that he wants war with House Lannister as revenge for Ned Stark, the man who spared his life all those years ago?

Later Prince Doran finally brings Arianne out of the tower and they talk, she asks if they have cought Ser Gerold. Doran replies.

"would that we had, you were a fool to make him part of this.Darkstar is the most dangerous man in Dorne. You and he have done us all great harm."

Doran is berating Arianne, and says Darkstar is the most dangerous man in Dorne, I believe because of what he knows. not because of what he just did to Myrcella. though his actions could indeed be deadly for Dorne; we know they are not as militarily strong as the realm believes and all out war could crush them.

As I said at the beginning this is not the strongest theory but for me, the weird dialogue has to mean something. Darkstar as a character is one of very few who would be the right age to be squiring at the time of the rebellion, it would be most strange for there to have been no squires at the Tower of Joy, and he is related to one of the KG so had the connections to be given such an auspicious position as squire to Prince Rhaegar or indeed to his cousin himself.

Woodswitches; a comprehensive review.

This post has been born out of a conversation I had with Jon's Queen Consort and The Fattest Leach a while back in which we were discussing Val.  It also comes in large part as a result of Bemused's thread on Westeros.Org. In which she proposes that Val may hold a Volva/Vala role in Wildling culture. 

I have taken that idea a step further, and propose that this Volva/Vala role is already out in the open in the books.  Vala were basically witches & there is an in world parallel to witches being made in these books. Woods Witches.  The use of the word witch for a start; the role described is the same basically as in our own history ie: A woman who provides basic medical care via Herblore.  Whom you might go to for an abortion, or for help during a birth.  Who might make you a love spell or an ill-wish?  Who might claim to have the ability to scry, or see? etc.  This is basically who & what the Vala/Volva were too.  In fact, you even find the Vala being referred to as witches when you read accounts in different languages, such as the Roman accounts.  And when you look at the role of Volva/Vala in Norse culture,that of the Witch in the rest of pagan European culture, and what became of it post Christianisation it is basically the same thing.  They even carried wands!

Bemused proposes in her own thread that Val is a Vala figure and I propose here that her role may be to play the Vala to Jon's Odin/war chief.  In the real world, the Vala were nomadic to an extent they traveled independently and were welcomed and honoured when they visited a community. But they also would team up with a war chieftain from time to time and toghether they would form a kind of power couple.  

Their role echoing the Odin & Frigg/Freya relationship in their community.  Some accounts say that Frigg/Freya taught the Aesir the power of Seidhr. (Seeing.)  So I am inclined to think there is some likelihood in this notion that Val will be important to Jon. 

In The Rogue Prince we meet Alys Rivers; whom I'll admit I'm more than a little obsessed with.  She has the ability to see, she sees much and more in campfires, storm clouds, & puddles.  And she teams up with a war chieftain, Aemond. Who incidently has one eye.  See where I'm going with this?  Alys is clearly a magic user, and she is depicted as flying through the sky with her long, flowing Black hair streaming behind her.  Now she is flying on the back of a Dragon, but just take a minute to think about what that imagery evokes?  Are you picturing a witch? 

Alys was a beauty, young, and undoubtedly powerful.  Whereas to my knowledge, the other Woodswitches we have met so far have all been old.  Which of course fits another trope of witchery. 

The Ghost of High Heart is ancient, decrepit, and no one would view her as a potential lover.  Likewise, mother mole is inferred as being an old woman.  Maggy the Frog is referred to also as a Woodswitch sometimes, though we know she is not of the Old Gods.  She seems to fill the same role within Lannisport and the surrounding region as the traditional Westerosi WoodsWitches. Therefore;much as how Mellisandre becomes the Red Witch. Despite being a Priestess, not a witch.  It seems Smallfolk in particular, but highborn also tend to name any female magic users as witches.  And that anyone who fills the role perceived as Woodswitch will be named as a witch. 

Morna is a Wildling Woods witch, whom we have met, unlike Mother Mole.  What are we told of her?  She is described as neither old nor young. So I'd guess she is mid to late 30's or early to mid 40's.  

The idea that Dalla was a Woods Witch too is a good one, as we know she is described by Mel as a Wise Woman.  And well, a Witch too is a wise woman.  Another name for Vala is fjǫlkunnig, which means Plenty of Knowing. 

The major impression we get in the books about Woodswitches comes from Southron Knights, and we're left with the impression of harmless old women, living hermetic lifestyles in the woods concocting moontea and selling their skills to young maids in trouble.  But what if these ladies are just the remnants of a First Men institution which once held way more clout.  I mean what happened to real-world witches once Christianity came in?  They lost their social standing and went into hiding mostly.  It got to the point of mass persecution & eventually hysteria!  What about in a world where Paganism and Christianity had ended up co-existing though?  Would they have ended up as a few lonely women living on the fringes of society doling out herbs and what not to the desperate villagers? 

When we take a look beyond the wall at Morna & Mother Mole it certainly seems they garner a lot more respect than the few modern Westerosi Witches do.  Mother Mole is so revered that thousands of wildlings follow her after she has a vision.   And Morna is not only a witch but also a warrior, and she wears a Weirwood mask. She seems to be a leader too, Jon puts her in charge of Queensgate.  She has a title Morna Whitemask.  And she seems to be respected amongst her people.  So within the stronger Firstmen culture of the Wildlings Woodswitches are much more important than in the southron Seven worshipping regions.

Let's look at historical WoodsWitches now.  Nimble Dick tells Brienne of Ser Clarence, a local folk hero. This is what he says of Ser Clarence's wife:- note this is another Warrior with a witch as a wife/partner. 

"His wife was a woods witch. Whenever Ser Clarence killed a man, he'd fetch his head back home and his wife would kiss it on the lips and bring it back t' life.  "

So this Woodswitch had the power to reanimate the dead, even once the head was removed? Now I actually think this power is the fire kiss, but that's another topic.  The point is though that this is a Woodswitch doing way more than performing abortions or making love potions for giddy maids. 

In the world book we hear of several, firstly I'll mention a Dothraki war lord who consulted with his mother who was a Witch Queen, in the histories of the Grasslands.  Interestingly one of the Norse poetic Edda's refers to a Vala called Gudrun who married Atilla the Hun. She served him their sons hearts in honey, after he had killed her brothers and then she killed him too.  By setting fire to his hall with him inside.  Sounds interesting given the Dothraki similarities to the Hunnish. Again this is a warlord with a witch for a wife or mother.

When Varymyr Six Skins gives us an account of his brothers' death. He says that a Woodswitch came to his mother and told her that her son was with the gods now.  In the Tree's and all around them.  This terrified Varymyr as it made him think his brother could see him.  however my interest lies in the fact that here we see a WoodsWitch performing the role of a priest. In our world priests visit the bereaved and counsel them that their loved ones are in the arms of the Lord now.  So here we have a WoodsWitch taking on that role showing once again that past the wall at least WoodsWitches are more than we've been led to believe. 

In Storm we briefly meet a man named Lenn, whose feelings regarded the weather are taken as gospel, because his mother was a WoodsWitch.  Again showing us that the seer ability of Woodswitches within the more traditionall Old Gods culture is taken seriously.  We have a Wildling with Mance called Willow-Witch Eye, who has a long Black Braid.  We learn nothing else of her. Though given GRRM's tendency to write about witchy women with long black hair I can't help take note of her.  Maybe Mance took her because she has the blood of a witch? Witch-eye might indicate she has some seeing abillity?  I'm speculating here but mainly just wanted to take note of her and the specific moiker of Witch-Eye. 

 And in the world book we learn of several historical Woods Witches who were also Queens. One in the Riverlands. Called Sharra-the Witch Queen. Again is she a Queen because she is a witch who teamed up with a warrior chief?  Or is she more like Morna and leads/rules on her own? 

We hear of the fire-Witch in the mountains of the moon, with her burned men and her dragon - this could be Nettles from The Princess and the Queen.  I think we should consider why this woman is being named a witch?  If it is Nettles then we have to take into account the fact she may have Targaryen blood.  The Dragonseeds who claimed Dragons in that novella were supposed to be descended from Targaryens. Nettles is often thought of as not a dragonseed and so touted as proof that you do not need Targaryen blood to ride a dragon. She tamed hers with dead sheep.  Personally I do think she was a Dragonseed, and if this was indeed her that the naming of her as a Witch by the First Men of the Mountains of the Moon,  implies she was indeed of the Targaryen blood.  And that she was named as a witch due to prophetic dreaming. A trait of Targaryens known as dragon dreams. There is nothing in the story that indicates as far as I remember that Nettles had any Dragon dreams.  So I am merely speculating again. 

There is a place called the Witch isle in the Vale region which has a sinister reputation.  And in The World of Ice & Fire once again we learn of a woman; a leader - Ursula Upcliff. Of House Upcliff whose seat lies upon the Witch Isle.  Ursula was said to be a powerful sorceress.  She joins with several of the other First Men of the Vale in an attempt to throw back the Andals but according to songs, one Torgold Tollett tore the Witches head from her body.  So we can garner that there is a song about this battle and that in it she is named as a Witch.  Given she was said to be a sorceress and lived on Witch Isle.  I think it likely she can be included in our list of historical Woodswitches who were powerful leaders. She claimed to be the wife of the Merling king a god often associated with sea faring and who house Velaryon claim they received the Driftwood Throne from as part of a pact.  So again we have a witch as wife to a great leader, a god no less! 

In the reach:  Harlon the Hunter and Herndon of the Horn, twin brothers who built their castle atop Horn Hill. Took to wife the beautiful Woodswitch who dwelled there, sharing her favors for a hundred years (for the brothers did not age so long as they embraced her whenever the moon was full).  

Another woods witch taking warrior husbands, two in this case! And one with strong magical powers it seems.

At Highgarden. Mern III (the Madling) showered gold and honours on a Woodswitch who claimed that she could raise armies of the dead to throw the Andals back.   Again this can be taken as evidence that some Woodswitches had knowledge of the magic required for the fire kiss. 

And in the Stormlands the Woodswitch known as the Green Queen held the rainwood for a generation. 

Nymeria was known as a Water Witch, and a Witch-Queen.  So again showing us that when women turn up in Westeros with magical powers they get adopted into the category of witch. All of which adds weight to the idea that Woodswitches are or have been in the past people who wielded real magical ability and various skills.  And that their place in this world could indeed be far more than what we are initially led to believe.  

One of the questions I posed in the thread which this post is based upon was; why are Woodswitches named Woodswitches?  Is it because they are witches who live on the fringes of their communities, in the woods.  Or are they called Woodswitches because they are witches of the Weirwood? 

I think it is the latter, these women whom we meet in the historical accounts  are all First Men.  The Woodswitches of the Free Folk are of course also First men. The Ghost of High Heart is as far as can be asertained from the text an Old Gods follower.  She even looks like a Weirwood with her long white hair, pale skin, and red eyes.  We have a few non-Old Gods women who are named Witch in the series. I feel we can make reason of this by assuming that in Westeros if a woman turns up and has magic then people will call her by the name which they use for women in their own communities who have magic. ie: Witch. 

Note how Mellisandre becomes the Red Witch, not a Woodswitch.  She is viewed as a witch and they use something associated with her to dub her the Red Witch, she wears red all the time.  Nymeria became a Water Witch,because the Rhoynar's magic was water magic.  The witch with a dragon in the Mountains of the Moon was a Fire Witch becauseher dragon breathed fire.  Which again supports that this may have been Nettles, she was not as far as I can recall an Old Gods follower, indeed coming from Dragonstone she likely was not.  But the clans of the Mountains of the Moon are, so them naming this woman Fire Witch would indicate she was not of the First men like them.

What does all of this tell us? Well, it all comes together to indicate that Woodswitches matter a lot more than you'd imagine.  And that if Val is a Woodswitch in training (as indicated by her having a Weirwood face brooch as opposed to Morna's full mask) then we might see her using some of the powers we hear about through the historical accounts, in the upcoming books. 

When we take into account the stuff about the Valla and Warlords from Norse mythology and the stuff from the historical accounts of Woodswitches and Kings/warrior leaders.  I think we can make a prediction about Val & Jon.  It became quite obvious in A Dance with Dragons that there is sexual attraction between the two characters.

Something I noted of interest, was that Jon; who is an Odin figure. Spies Val through a Myrish lens from atop the wall.  A Myrish lens is essentially a telescope so he's looking at her one eyed here.
And when he spots her outside of Mance's tent she is milking a goat. In Norse mythology, there is a goat (Heiðrún.) who provides the Mead for the hall of Valhalla. That Mead is served by the Valkyries. Who are represented on earth by the women known as Valla or Volva.  Who as I said at the start were essentially witches who wandered around and teamed up with warrior leaders.  So again this hints at Jon and Val as an Odin & Frigg/Freya team.