Sansa Stark and the Stone Giant.

 

AGOT: Bran III

“There were shadows all around them. One shadow was dark as ash with the terrible face of a hound. another was armoured like the sun, golden and beautiful. Over them both loomed a giant in armour made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood. “

It has long been understood that these two shadows are Sandor Clegane: Aka The Hound and Jaime Lannister. These are both men who have in their own way watched over the Stark girls. Sandor literally in Kings Landing, watches over Sansa, and again in the River Lands he does so for Arya. Jaime does so through his promise to their mother, sending Brienne to find and protect the girls. I do think that by the end of the books he will also have bodily done so. 

Standing over them all however is a Giant clad in Stone, who is he?  Many have speculated that he is The Mountain; Gregor Clegane, but this makes no sense narratively. He is far from a main Antagonist in A Song of Ice & Fire. He is just a lackey, a tool. And he has no special interest in the Starks or either of their daughters. 

The  main antagonist when it comes to the downfall of House Stark is Little Finger.  It wasn’t Tywin, or Varys who poisoned Jon Arryn in order to bring Ned to Kings Landing, it was Baelish. He put Lysa up to it for the express purpose of bringing Ned to the royal court. Nor was it either of them who urged Joffrey to execute Ned. That too was Little Finger, as I shall explain in this post. I’d argue that prior to his being made Hand Tywin had no interest in Ned Stark at all. Certainly non in his daughters. Nor does Varys, he seeks to retain stability in the court at this point, it is too soon for his own plans. 

Little finger however has an interest as demonstrated by his actions framing the Lannisters for Jon’s death, and I would place money on him suggesting his old friend Ned to Robert as Hand too. He certainly now has an unhealthy interest in Sansa Stark, and his actions in Kings Landing placed both girls in grave danger. 

But why a Giant?

The author keeps House Baelish’s sigil under wraps for a while only revealing a little way into things that whilst Peytr uses a Mockingbird as his personal sigil, his House sigil is in fact the disembodied head of the Titan of Braavos.  The Titan being a gigantic statue made from stone which guards the harbour of Braavos. 

But why Stone?

As well as the Titan being made of stone there is further meaning in the stone armour. As the story unfolds we learn that Little Finger uses his humble status as the most lowly of Lords to hide his nefarious intent. How could such a lowly Lord as he possibly aspire to hold real power, he is but an up-jumped sell swords grandson.  He is using his low status as armour.  When we travel to his estate later in the story we see that his lands are so poor because of stone. It is but a Rocky outcrop, the soil is made thin due to the vast number of stones which litter it, no enrichment can be achieved so no crops grow. He can only use it graze sheep. His low status is in large defined by stone and  to ensure we pick up on this the author includes some japes. 

ASOS: Sansa VI

“ But not here, “ she said, dismayed. “ it looks so....”  

“...small and bleak and mean? It’s all that, and less. The Fingers are a lovely place, if you are a stone. But have no fear, we shan’t stay more than a fortnight. I expect your aunt is already riding to meet us.” He smiled.” 

ASOS: Sansa VI

“So silent, my Lady?” said Peytr. “ I was certain you would wish to give me your blessing. It is a rare thing for a boy born heir to stones and sheep pellets to wed the daughter of Hoster Tully and widow of Jon Arryn.”

And it is in this same chapter where Little Finger explains his origins, as Sansa spots the true sigil of House Baelish whilst in his Hall.

The source of his genteel poverty is the stones and the armour he wears to hide his ambitions is that same genteel poverty. Hence the Giant in Bran’s dream is armoured in stone.  

Additionally due to the Vale’s bastard name, when Sansa becomes his daughter she takes the name Stone, she is now the daughter of the Stone giant.

GRRM’s editor has previously said that George likes to foreshadow things three times. I believe Baelish’s fate has had three such foreshadowings. 

The first being when Joffrey takes Sansa onto the battlements to view her fathers hard.

 AGOT: Sansa VI

“ You haven’t said what you mean to give me for my name day. Maybe I’ll give you something instead, would you like that?”

“If it please you, my Lord,” Sansa said. 

When he smiled, she knew he was mocking her. “ Your brother is a traitor too, you know.” He turned Septa Mordane’s head back around. “I remember your brother from Winterfell. My dog called him the Lord of wooden swords. didn’t you, dog?”

“Did I?” the Hound replied. “I don’t recall.”

Joffrey gave a petulant shrug.  “Your brother defeated my uncle Jaime. My mother says it was treachery and deceit. She wept when she heard. Women are all weak, even her, though she pretends she isn’t. She says we need to stay in King’s Landing in case my other uncles attack, but I don’t care. After my name day feast, I’m going to raise a host and kill your brother myself. That’s what I’ll give you Lady Sansa. Your brothers head.” 

A kind of madness took over her then, and she heard herself say, “Maybe my brother will bring me your head.”

This might seem like a bit of a stretch but it should hopefully make sense as I go on.  The reason Sansa says this to Joffrey is that she views him as the person responsible for her fathers execution. And he is, I don’t think we should absolve him entirely, but he is also a child. Children are easily manipulated and I don’t think it started out as his idea to kill Ned. Rather Little Finger played on Joffrey’s nature and persuaded him to show “strong leadership.” No doubt evoking his Grandfather Tywin, notorious for his unmerciful shows of strength. 

Let’s look at what he said about Cersei in that quote. He says All women are weak; now I do not deny that this is a pervading societal attitude which he undoubtedly will have absorbed. But the way he says it strikes me as him parroting what someone else has said because it sounds like a new thought by the use of the word- Even. 

  Even my mother, though she pretends she is not. He uses her crying over Jamie’s capture as further evidence of this; even though it is the most natural response from any sibling regardless of their sex.  Using the word Even implies he did not always think her weak.

Perhaps he has been told she is as weak as other all women, by who though? Joffrey couples this with saying she wants to remain in Kings Landing in case his other uncles attack, this is sound advice. Why would he see this as foolish or weakness, leaving the capitol and the royal palace would be stupidity. Who might encourage him to focus his anger on the Starks? and loose sight of the big picture.  Even Cersei; who we know is a fool, can see the importance of holding the capitol.  The main threats at this stage in the war are Renly who has the largest host, and Stannis who has experience and tactical nounce.

Everything Joffrey says here reads like it is coming from someone else. It’s focussed solely on the Starks over the real threat of the Baratheons. And his new found belief that his mother is nothing but a weak woman, means he has easily dismissed her sound council that they need to hold the royal residence. 

Someone’s has Joffrey’s ear. I’d suggest that someone is Little Finger, who has never got over Brandon’s humiliation of him as a boy and has lived decades with  envy over Ned marrying Cat, as well as his anger over being told he was not good enough for her by Hoster Tully.

We already know he had Lysa kill Jon Arryn in order to bring Ned to court, and that he betrayed Ned to Cersei, leading Ned’s arrest.

Let’s take a look at the moment Ned is beheaded. 

AGOT: Arya V

“My mother bids me let Lord Eddard take the black, and Lady Sansa has begged mercy for her father.” He looked straight at Sansa then, and smiled, and for a moment Arya thought that the gods had heard her prayer, until Joffrey turned back to the crowd and said, “ But they have the soft hearts of women. So long as I am your King, treason shall never go unpunished. Set Ilyn bring me his head!”

The crowd roared, and Arya felt the statue of Baelor rock as they surged against it. The High Septon clutched at the Kings cape, and Varys came rushing over waving his arms, and even the Queen was saying something to him, but Joffrey shook his head. Lords and knights moved aside as he stepped through, tall and fleshless, a skeleton in iron mail, the Kings Justice. Dimly, as if from far off, Arya heard her sister scream. Sansa had fallen to her knees, sobbing hysterically. Ser Ilyn Payne climbed the steps of the pulpit.

Here again Joffrey is parroting words about women’s soft hearts, and we hear him confirm Cersei wanted to spare Ned; which is politically wise they already have two rebelling Lords. But he goes ahead and we see the people on the Dias reacting: or not. Tellingly, though we know he is up there, Arya does not describe Little Finger as reacting in the way Cersei, Varys , and the High Septon do. Each of them attempt in some way to stop Joffrey. Conspicuous by his absence in this is Peytr Baelish, he does not rush forth, or implore  the young King to re- think his judgement. Because I suspect he is the man behind that choice. It is he who has persuaded Joffrey to ignore his mother’s advice to spare Ned and hopefully avoid a third regional rebellion. 

Back to the head viewing scene.

So, whilst Sansa thinks she wants her brother to bring her Joffrey’s head, what she is really desirous of is for him to bring her the head of her fathers killer; this being the motivation behind her words. She believes Joffrey solely responsible for what occurred that day on the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor. But Baelish had as much influence if not more on the outcome.  Indeed he was the reason her father was thee in the first place, from manipulating Lysa into writing that note after killing the previous Hand, to stoking Ned’s animosity towards the Lannisters by lying about who owned the Valarian Steel dagger used in the attack on his wife, to betraying him with the Gold Cloaks in the throne room. 

Sansa is stood above the Gate House of the Red Keep, viewing heads on pikes, and she says she wants her brother to bring her the head of her fathers killer. Who we know to be Little Finger. 

Second in the three foreshadowings is the Ghost of High hearts dream. 

ASOS: Arya VIII

"I dreamt a wolf howling in the rain, but no one heard his grief," the dwarf woman was saying. "I dreamt such a clangor I thought my head might burst, drums and horns and pipes and screams, but the saddest sound was the little bells. I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow." She turned her head sharply and smiled through the gloom, right at Arya. "You cannot hide from me, child. Come closer, now."

This dream is all symbolism and mystery, it is only later we can interpret the Ghosts words as pertaining to Sansa; after the Purple Wedding, where we discover the Strangler hidden in her hairnet is used to poison Joffrey.  From this point we know the maid is Sansa, and that she will later kill a giant, this giant is of course the Stone Giant of Bran’ s dream, Little Finger. 

The rest of the dream, the part about a castle made of snow is explained by the third foreshadowing which is of course the Snowcastle scene. 

This is his most explicit of the three, following that pattern explained by his editor. Sansa comes out into the Gods Garden at the Eyrie and begins to fashion a model of Winterfell from the snow, Little Finger joins her and comes up with ingenious ways to overcome the various challenges she faces in building it. This represents Little Finger helping Sansa to re-build the castle, he will use his own money and resources to restore the castle, and do so willingly for he is infatuated with Sansa to an unhealthy degree. She has learned how to move him just as he told her to do with others.  But along comes the Giant in the form of Robert Arryn’s dolly. And when that Giant seeks entrance into Sansa’s castle by means of force Sansa is enraged and she rips its head from its body and smashes it violently down onto a spiked twig, mounting it above the gate house. 

We can take the Giants arrival as a play on how later Sansa comes to view Little Finger, as two men in one, Peytr who is funny and helpful and looks to keep her safe from Cersei; that’s him helping to restore the castle, and Little Finger whom she knows she can not trust, who she reminds herself is a bad person who has done wicked things; that’s him coming to break through her portcullis. 

The symbolism of this act should be obvious the Giant has tried to come into her castle against her will, it’s sexual assault.  I would prefer it if this was not the reason for Sansa to arrest Baelish. I even think there is a viable alternative in that Jeyne Poole is headed to the Wall, and Jon.

 Jeyne could know much and more about Little Fingers involvement in Ned’s execution from her time in his brothel. She could tell all to Jon, who would then convey this all to Sansa, either in a visit to Winterfell or via Raven, but I will not deny the foreshadowing you can’t make accurate theories by ignoring what is on the page and so I admit it’s likely Sansa will be attacked by Little Finger.  This is what leads to her having him arrested and tried. 

Ironically Little Finger jests about the dolls head not being the first giants head to adorn the walls of Winterfell. And there is even further foreshadowing for it here too. 

ASOS: Sansa VII

Twigs are your answer. Peel them and cross them and use bark to tie them together into frames. I'll show you." He moved through the garden, gathering up twigs and sticks and shaking the snow from them. When he had enough, hestepped over both walls with a single long stride and squatted on his heels in the middle of the yard. Sansa came closer to watch what he was doing. His hands were deft and sure, and before long he had a crisscrossing latticework of twigs, very like the one that roofed the glass gardens of Winterfell. "We will need to imagine the glass, to be sure," he said when he gave it to her.

AFFC Arya I

stains and speckles on the Titan's arms and shoulders where the seabirds nested. Her neck craned upward. Baelor the Blessed would not reach his knee. He could step right over the walls of Winterfell.

Here Arya directly mirrors Sansa’s earlier description of Little Finger striding over the walls of the Snow Winterfell, but is referring to the actual Titan of Braavos, as she passes beneath it. This is no coincidence through the wording and imagery GRRM evokes a very deliberate parallel.

So what will happen, well we know that Little Finger will take Sansa north. Probably at her request following a power vacuum opening up once Stannis is no longer in play. I predict he dies from festering wounds following his defeat of the Bolton’s, but that is another post. 

Baelish won’t be able to resist the idea of living in Ned’s own castle, and having Sansa at his side. So he will do her bidding and take her north, he will also spend his money restoring the castle as shown in the snow castle scene. But he will push things too far and assault Sansa attempting to take her virginity. At which point she will have him arrested; after all once in Winterfell their entire power dynamic flips and it is she who has the power, and she will put him on trial. Once found guilty I believe that Jon will indeed bring her his head, making her wish come true. 

As much as I love the idea of her cutting his head off herself I’m not going to pretend she would be likely to do so, the Stark rules of doing the deed yourself I think would realistically be bent for a Lady. The north is slightly less sexist than the south but I don’t know that it would be acceptable for her to carry out executions herself. 

Or if even with a Valarian Steel sword she would have the upper body strength to do it.

Besides which the symmetry of wishing her brother would bring her Joffrey’s head and her other “brother” bringing her Little Fingers head is just too perfect to ignore. 

We already know two of Sansa’s other wishes have come true. Jon did throw Janos Slynt down and cut of his head and Sandor Clegane is on the Quiet Isle having his heart gentled by the Seven. 

Two out of three wishes granted! Third ones a charm. 

A Name Fit For A Prince!

What should you call a prince of the blood,  when his older brother is Aegon? This is the question Rhaegar and Lyanna must have faced when the birth of their child drew near. Of course that child may have been a girl so they must have discussed names for both sexes however this post isn't about what they may have named him had be been female. It is about what they had planned to name him if he was; as he is, a boy. What Lyanna herself may have already named him as decided by herself & Rhaegar prior to their deaths.

My conclusion after studying the text is that he was named Aemon.

In A Game of Thrones when Maester Aemon reveals his identity he tells Jon that he was named by his Grandfather. Who chose the name Aemon to honour his own Uncle Prince Aemon the Dragonknight , well officially his Uncle but the rumours say that perhaps Aemon was in fact Daeron II Father. 

Straight away this ties the name Aemon to a man whose Father may in fact be his Uncle. Just as Jon's Father is actually his Uncle.

The circumstances between the two men are very different but right away Gorge RR Martin has woven in a historical figure through whom he has introduced the idea of a Father who is really an Uncle.

"Jon was shocked to see the shine of tears in the old man's eyes. "Who are you?" he asked quietly, almost in dread.
A toothless smile quivered on the ancient lips. "Only a maester of the Citadel, bound in service to Castle Black and the Night's Watch. In my order, we put aside our house names when we take our vows and don the collar." The old man touched the maester's chain that hung loosely around his thin, fleshless neck. "My father was Maekar, the First of his Name, and my brother Aegon reigned after him in my stead. My grandfather named me for Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, who was his uncle, or his father, depending on which tale you believe. Aemon, he called me …"
"Aemon … Targaryen?" Jon could scarcely believe it."

This stunned response from Jon could be foreshadowing for how Jon will take it when his own identity as Aemon Targaryen is revealed. And if the name Aemon was chosen for Jon by Rhaegar then this would have been to honour his own Uncle whom he had spent years corresponding with at the Wall. Just as Maester Aemon had been named for his Grandfathers Uncle; who was still his Uncle even if he was also his father, Aemon being Rhaegars great, great Uncle. And Aemons own great Uncle being Prince Aemon the Dragonknight. 

And then there is also this quote:

"The gift of a sword, even a sword as fine as Longclaw, did not make him a Mormont. Nor was he Aemon Targaryen."

In total Aemon the Dragonknight is mentioned six times in A Game of Thrones which is by far the book containing the most foreshadowing regards Jon's heritage. 

In A Clash of Kings Aemon the Dragonknight again is mentioned six times, and this one quote from Sansa stood out to me. 

"Prince Aemon the Dragonknight cried the day Princess Naerys wed his brother Aegon," Sansa Stark said"

If Jon's name is Aemon, then just like the Dragonknight he too had an older brother named Aegon, and the two boys had one sister. Rhaenys is of course dead and so there is no love triangle to mirror Naerys and her brothers. But the set of three siblings with brothers named Aegon & Aemon I think is worth noting. 

In A Storm of Swords there is another quote which is perhaps one of the biggest hints.

"Every morning they had trained together, since they were big enough to walk; Snow and Stark, spinning and slashing about the wards of Winterfell, shouting and laughing, sometimes crying when there was no one else to see. They were not little boys when they fought, but knights and mighty heroes. "I'm Prince Aemon the Dragonknight," Jon would call out, and Robb would shout back, "Well, I'm Florian the Fool."

Again in Storm Aemon the Dragonknight is mentioned six times and here we have Jon proclaiming it as his own name. This was the first hint that I picked up on that Jon's name may be Aemon and the rest of this post sprang forth from the research I put in after reading this quote and thinking Hmmm, how very George RR Martin to have the boy unknowingly shout out his own name. And I think taken with that quote from Clash where he thinks he was no Aemon Targaryen it fits together very well. 

The mentions tail off a little after this with him popping up only four times in Feast, and just the once in dance. But there is another final element to factor in.

Another Babe taken away to hide his identity; from someone who would kill him for his Fathers blood. Dalla's son, a Kings son. Who's mother died to birth him and who was subsequently named by another. As Jon was named Jon by Ned. This baby is named instead by Gilly who gives him the name Aemon. 

The Mysteries of Tarth.

Tarth,  An island surrounded by clear blue waters, causing it to be known as the Sapphire Isle. It is said to be extremely beautiful with mountains and waterfalls, I think this must be why GRRM chose the word Tarth as it means Mist or Vapour in Welsh. And also of course Mist is a wordplay on Mystery and that is what this post is all about. Something shrouded in Mist is Mysterious. Half hidden, glimpsed through a shroud that obscures the truth. Truth is another wordplay too Truth and Tarth are only one letter apart and this island may indeed hold the truth to one of the mysteries of A Song of Ice & Fire. 

The island is ruled over by House Tarth and the Lord is known as The Evenstar. Which has always been a title that has grabbed my attention. Even though Selwyn is never seen on page and he seems unimportant and Brienne is a support character that title is portentous. It feels mysterious and significant.

We learn through The World of Ice and Fire that the title goes back to the Dawn of Days. Yet we are told they are a house of Andal ancestry? That's a bit peculiar.  It is a theme which pops up again when looking at the Islands other Noble house Morne.  House Tarth were once Kings, residing over the island from Evenfall Hall, but the Storm King Durran "The Fair" Durrandon waged war against them and took the island into the Stormlands marrying Edwyn Evenstar's daughter to seal the peace.  This sounds like a House of First Men blood not Andal heritage. 


The content of this post came about when I was looking into the sword Nightfall.  I thought it was perhaps the sword of House Tarth lost and claimed by the Iron Born in much the same way as they hold Red Rain. Which is clearly very likely to be the sword of House Reyne.

Dalton Greyjoy is said to have claimed the sword from a dead Corsair in the stepstones when he was 15. Which would be in the year 128 AC.   This doesn't rule it out as the Tarths sword, as the stepstones are very close to Tarth and Corsairs can as easily attack Tarth and take a sword won in battle as Dalton can claim it from a Corsair in the Stepstones.  The name of the sword and that Moonstone in it's hilt just scream Tarth.  However we are told Dalton named the sword.  So I've had to accept this theory might not be solid.  He could say he named it or perhaps the Corsair told him its name.  But we're getting into very sketchy stretchy territory there.

However what this theory did do was lead me to consider the duality of Tarth and a whole lot of symbolism that ties them to House Dayne.

Evenfall Hall seat of house Tarth lies upon the westward side of the Saphire Isle. And the Lord of House Tarth is known as The Evenstar. The East side of the island used to be the home of a House called Morne. Who claim a legendary perfect Knight Galladon of Morne, who wielded a sword of great renown  The Just Maid.  This figure ties into Arthurian legends of perfect knights such as Galahad. Which ties to Arthur Dayne; who is also a perfect Knight figure, and the legendary sword Dawn. Which of course also ties to Brienne herself who is a perfect Knight figure too. 

Brienne ties into the perfect knight mythos as she like Galahad is seeking to be the embodiment of chivalric ideals.  And is on a quest which symbolises those ideals: the rescuing of maidens; just as the attainment of the Holy Grail symbolises reaching perfection in the Arthurian myths.  

 "Every place has its local heroes. Where I come from, the singers sing of Ser Galladon of Morne, the Perfect Knight."


When she receives Oathkeeper she thinks of him and deems herself unworthy though we know she is. She also receives along with the sword her quest to find the Stark girls. 

" Brienne's breath caught in her throat. Black and red the ripples ran, deep within the steel. Valyrian steel, spell-forged. It was a sword fit for a hero. When she was small, her nurse had filled her ears with tales of valor, regaling her with the noble exploits of Ser Galladon of Morne, Florian the Fool, Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, and other champions. Each man bore a famous sword, and surely Oathkeeper belonged in their company, even if she herself did not."


Day(ne) and Morn(e) of course both essentially mean the same thing and Dawn again is a word for the beginning of the day, which is observed from the east; where the ruins of Morne's castle lie.  Where as nightfall or Evenfall is observed from the west.  Where Evenfall Hall sits. 

Which brings us back to the Tarths title of Evenstar, Venus is known as the Evenstar and it is both the first star seen at night and is seen in the morning just prior to the dawn. So is also called the Morning Star.  It has a duality; it is both Morning Star and Evening Star.  House Tarths coat of arms are the sun and moon quartered so perhaps they are now both? Since Morne no longer exist on Tarth? More about that later. 

This all hints towards them as a house holding some special office which sounds suspiciously like it could be related to the Long Night.  The story of Galladon of Morne is recounted as that of an Andal knight and involves the Maid of the Seven gifting the sword to Galladon. But what if that is just a bastardisation of an older tale? Whenever the Maesters insist on something in the world book it can be pretty much guaranteed they are wrong. It is a running theme in the book.

"The Sapphire Isle, as some call it, is ruled by House Tarth of Evenfall Hall—an old family of Andal descent that boasts of ties to the Durrandons, the Baratheons, and more recently to House Targaryen. Once kings in their own right, the Lords of Tarth still style themselves "the Evenstar," a title that they claim goes back unto the dawn of days.

Many of the folk of Tarth, highborn and low alike, claim descent from a legendary hero, Ser Galladon of Morne, who was said to wield a sword called the Just Maid given to him by the Seven themselves. Given the role that the Just Maid plays in Ser Galladon's tale, Maester Hubert, in his Kin of the Stag, has suggested that Galladon of Morne was no rude warrior of the Age of Heroes turned into a knight by singers a thousand years later, but an actual historic figure of more recent times. Hubert also notes that Morne was a royal seat of petty kings on the eastern coast of Tarth until the Storm Kings made them submit, but that its ruins indicate that the site was made by Andals, not First Men."

Another curiosity is that Maesters claim the ruins at Morne are Andal in origin yet history records Tarth as falling to Durran Durrandon and there after being under the Kingship of the Stormlands, revolting thrice before the Andal invasion.  So we have a hero who is said to be from the Age of Heroes turned into a knight by singers and a castle which is said to be Andal yet belonged to petty Kings at a time before they even came to Westeros?.  All tied together with Houses who seem to embody both sunrise & sunset who definitely pre-date the Andals but who the Maesters refer to as Andal?  Most peculiar. There is much and more in the histories of ASOIAF which the Maesters are seemingly ill-informed or deliberately misleading about.

We then separately have another house  who also carry a famous "invincible" sword whose name correlates with morning & sunrise.  One of the things I looked at whilst I was investigating Nightfall was that Moonstone Pommel, and I theorised that any corresponding sword held by House Morne would have a Sun Stone in it's pommel. This was prior to me daring to propose that there may be a connection between Morne & Dayne.

I was struck by the idea that these "proto" Valyrians of Westeros may have found their way there much earlier than the Targaryens.   And that a sun stone might have been what led them there; I was thinking about the theory that Vikings sailed to the Americas using a sun stone for navigation.  House Dayne being the House most often proposed as this proto valyrian family; given their tendency towards purple eyes.  So when I looked at references to Dawn and The Sword of the Morning in the books I was interested in this quote from Jon.

"The Sword of the Morning still hung in the south, the bright white star in its hilt blazing like a diamond in the dawn,"  

Which does imply that there may be a diamond like stone in Dawns hilt.  Sun stones come in a clear diamond like colouring  or in a red colouring. The ones used by the Vikings are proposed to be the clear ones.  So if these proto Valyrians travelled to Westeros using a sun-stone they might well mount it in the hilt of their amazingly effective Sword, a sword which is named for the break of day, the return of the sun, the end of the Long Night maybe even. 

If Morne & Dayne & Tarth all came to Westeros from the Great Empire of the Dawn. And are in some way interconnected perhaps even being the same family essentially then this is an interesting idea indeed.  All three are associated with the cycle of night & day and perfect knights.  This association lends itself very well to the legend of the Long Night and the Battle for the Dawn. Additionally they all have or do live on islands.  Which may itself be significant in terms of the Long Night.  Due to defensibility. I guess that all depends upon the nature of those dead things in the water Cotter Pyke reports at the end of A Dance With Dragons.  

Though it is worth noting that House Hightowers; another house some believe to be of possible proto-Valyrian type origin, seat is built upon an island too. Atop a defensive fortress built from that very same Oily Black Stone which crops up in the most magical of places.  A fortress which seems to pre-date much of Westerosi history on an island known as Battle Isle.  Though no one remembers why?  
And whose house words might pertain to the Long Night rather than the seemingly obvious: a guide for ships entering the harbour of Old Town.  We even have stories of Dragons roosting there in a time before Targaryens came to Westeros and being ousted by the early Hightowers. 

Most telling of all, Septon Barth; whose word is basically law, claims the Valyrian priests prophesiesed the Doom of Man would come from the land beyond the narrow sea.  This little gem of information is included in the segment of the world book pertaining to the fortress. 
This seems to me to allude to the Prince that was Promised Prophesy/Azor Ahai Reborn. 

Which itself likely pertains to the original Long Night and the Bloodstone Emperor of the Great Empire of the Dawn doing some seriously fucked up shit. As argued very convincingly by Lucifer Means Lightbringer. 

Maybe a group of people left the lands of the Bloodstone Emperor and travelled to where the meteor impacted in Westeros, battled the Long Night then  remained there to guard from its return. Then after the empires collapse other people from there settled in Valyria that would explain this prophesy Barth speaks of.  That the Doom of Man would come from Westeros.  Because those now Valyrians would know their ancestors set out to save the world from the Long Night which originated in Westeros and may one day return from there too. 

This all works rather well for there being a few key houses in Westeros whose job it is to make sure the Long Night never returns. Watching for each sunrise, keeping watch over each evening, passing along the crucial sword to the one most able/worthy to wield it.  Should the need arise.  And lighting the way to what must be done.  Remembering how to do it.  Warning that Winter is Coming ie: the threat is always there when winter comes so might the Others. 

I think these few people from the Great Empire might have worked alongside the First Men.  With the Children eventually helping too; The Last Hero is clearly another telling of the same tale. To beat back the Long Night and contain the Others behind the wall. 

But Back to Tarth!

The head of house Morne perhaps might have been titled The Morning Star which isn't far from the Sword of the Morning when you consider the sword is supposed to be made from a star, you could flip the words to get Star of the morning or Morning Sword.  Who simply became Dayne through translation once the common tongue took over from the Old Tongue?  If members of House Morne removed themselves from Tarth upon the islands fall to the Durrandons & took the very important legendary sword with them settling in Dorne. Then the House could be seen as extinct on the island leading to the next idea in this theory..... 

Brienne claims blood ties with the famous Galladon of Morne and her elder brother who died is named for him. Given their coat of arms is the sun and moon quartered and how quartering usually signifies a marriage to an heiress ie: last member of a noble family who is female; after her death  her son takes her arms and may display his coat of arms as his deceased mothers and his fathers quartered.  Which is exactly what we see with Brienne's coat of arms. A sun and moon quartered. One presumes the moon must come from her Tarth ancestry as their entire house is associated with the evening/nightfall.  And that the sun was adopted into their arms when a daughter of the Morne's was married into their house and was the heiress, thus gifted her arms to her son. Who will of course have become the head of House Tarth and thus this is how they came to bear both the sun & the moon. 

We see this in A Feast For Crows when Lancel Lannister marries Amerei Frey, who is the heiress to House Darry. After the last of the male line is killed, she as the eldest child of Mariya Darry inherits. Lancel now lord of Darry takes his wife's arms and quarters them with that of his own. 

Starfall is said to be built where that star landed but if this were the case there would be a crater on the island surely and building a castle in a crater might be difficult & defensibly is a bad idea.  Not to mention that a meteor landing on such a small island as that which Starfall is built upon would probably destroy it.  

However Dawn is real and really is made from some mysterious material which is pale as milk glass and is said to have come from a fallen Star. This Star/Meteor may have something to do with the second moon; which as I've said I think the oily black stone is the remnants of and which holds immense magical power. 

Maybe the heart of the falling star that became Dawn was the heart of that moon? The Oily Black stone is considered in some corners of the fandom to be a possible source of the magic in world, it is certainly to be found at important geographical points and en masse in Asshai a city state renowned for the strength of magic in it's vicinity.

If it is indeed the fragmented second moon then Dawn being formed from its heart - a metal which is imbued with the same magical capacity as the black stone then this once again becomes embroiled with the idea of Dayne/Morne/Tarth as guardians standing watch over the night and day cycle.  Keeping the magic sword which played a pivotal part in beating back the Long Night safe, handing it not to the eldest male of the House but to the one most worthy and skilled to use it.  


In conclusion I think that the Tarths/Mornes travelled from the Great Empire of the Dawn  to Westeros using their Sun-stone following the trajectory of the Star/Meteor.  That they found the metal that became Dawn there and built their castle in Westeros. Not specifically on that exact spot that the star fell on as we are told; all the myths of early Westerosi life are bastardised and misleading in so many ways so why should this one from House Dayne be any different?  But on the land mass where it fell & the metal heart of that meteor was found. And that they fought in the Long Night alongside the first men of Westeros and hold an important office as do other families which will be essential in the upcoming battle against the Others. 

Jon Snow & Ygritte: A Romance.

Jon Snow & Ygritte: A Romance.




This is an essay I wrote first back in 2013 for the Rethinking Romance threads on Westeros.org

It covers the relationship between Jon & Ygritte which is a lot more than a simple love story or teen romance. And in fact covers themes such as love V's Duty and explores Jon's personality and how he transforms from boy to the Lord Commander who opened the gates.

Boy meets Girl.

The first meeting between our two lovers happens when Qohrin half hand takes Jon with him to scout the Skirling pass, he sends him to kill some Wildlings they spot up high in the pass. Jon Kills Orell. But the remaining Wildling is sleeping, when he see’s she is female he hesitates. Orell is the first person Jon has ever killed and I don’t suppose he thought that he’d be killing women when he joined the Nights Watch.

She is of an age with him or so he thinks, when Jon first meets her (Ygritte) he feels reminded of Arya his much loved sister. Because she reminds him of his sister he takes her captive rather than kill her. Unknowingly to him, in her eyes he has stolen her. He has no idea how to deal with the situation of having a captive though and ends up giving more information about himself than he gets from her. He knows nothing & this makes Ygritte laugh.

Jon gives us our only POV description of Ygritte, so we only ever see her through his eyes, though from what others say we can garner that she is seen as a beauty to the wildlings due mainly to her thick red hair. Possibly this is to the reader her most defining feature.

She is older than he first thought, maybe 20? short, bandy legged, with a round face. Small hands and a pug nose, so she is clearly a petite woman. She has an unruly shaggy mop of red hair. Quite romantic sounding hair - I’m thinking Merida in Brave. The red head is a bit of a fantasy trope, it conjures up wild, free spirited Celtic women. And is a classic hair colour for the love interest in both fantasy & romance novels, kind of literary speak for quirky but appealing unconventional beauty. Our story book red heads usually have a strong independent personality.

He thinks she looks plump, but that its likely layers of skins and fur, He thinks that underneath she could be as skinny as Arya- again likening the two, but also he’s already thinking of what Ygritte may look like naked & having sexual thoughts to her.

After some futile questioning as to Mance’s plans she tells Jon the tale of Bael the bard, and later reveals that she did this in order to hint at him that he had stolen her, in order to get him to realise that she wanted sex. She’s no shy maid but he’s just too green to get her meaning.

One Mans Terrorist is another Man’s freedom fighter!

Ygritte taunts him by naming him a southerner, the wall is further North than Winterfell after all. And it is really is all in where you are standing a thought which Jon will repeat later on.

Ygritte is partially a vehicle to teach Jon that the Wildlings are not really the enemy, that they are just as human as he is, Jon’s story is largely about this. I feel there is a definite Class element to their love story; they are from two different worlds. Him privileged and castle raised and her even lower than the smallfolk she has lived her life in hide tents wearing furs and scavenging for a living.

As well as being a conduit for Jon to understand the position the wildlings are in she also makes several feminist statements during their time together, after all she is a spear wife, a warrior maid. The first being when she tells him that her mother used to sing the song of Bael the Bard to her.

“she was a woman too, Jon snow. Like yours.”

This retort is in response to his “witty” and from a female perspective rather offensive statement, that his mother was “some woman, most of them are”- which is rather dismissive of a woman’s role in life, ie: not important…just a woman, a walking womb. Jon has borrowed this comment from Tyrion. Tyrion said it in order to make Jon feel better. It doesn’t matter who she was , as it doesn’t change who he is but when Jon says it to Ygritte it comes across as he doesn’t care who she was. This is very dismissive of a mothers role and women in general. And although Tyrion meant it in a way to comfort Jon it is actually an early sign of his own bad attitude towards women.

Ygritte says her mother was a woman too like his. I am inclined to think Ygritte found Jons disregard for his mother quite upsetting and I have come to think Ygrittes parents died either on/at the wall or at the hands of Crows. This adds another dimension to their romance. There are several stories throughout the books of Nights Watch brothers who engage in relationships with women from the wrong side of the wall and it doesn’t end well for any of them. Ygritte seems to hold the watch in contempt and yet…she is drawn to Jon.

Also it once more reiterates, we are the same we are all people we all come out of a woman’s cunt. This theme of there being no real difference between them comes up over & over again during their romance, which really sets Jon up for his later role as the Lord Commander who opened the gate.

Qorhin arrives and instructs Jon to do what must be done with her and she puts the idea of defection to him. Saying Mance would take him. When it comes to killing her Jon raises Longclaw and thinks about Ned and Ice & the executions he has witnessed, he thinks.

“He was his father’s son. Wasn’t he? Wasn’t he?”

He’s questioning his place in the world & his ability to carry out executions, but cleverly GRRM is also posing the question is Jon really Ned’s Son???

When he returns, Qohrin explains that Mance was once a ranger and gives Jon counsel regarding the Wildlings. Reiterating what Ygritte said about them being the same as him really.


“Only fools like Thoren Smallwood despise the Wildlings. They are as brave as we are, Jon as strong, as quick, as clever.”

He (Jon) explains why he never killed her, saying that his father never used a headsman, that you owed it to look into a man’s eyes and hear his last words. Explaining that when he looked into Ygrittes eyes, that there was no evil in them.

Jon has begun his journey towards empathising with the wildlings, Ygritte shows him that they are just as much a part of the realms of men as he or anyone else is and this is what ultimately leads to him re-joining the free folk to the 7 kingdoms by allowing them passage through the wall and away from the Others.

But it’s going to be a long while before Jon finds himself and comes to the place where he can make that happen.

What am I? Who am I? Where is my place in this world?

Jon continually questions himself, who he is what motivates him, what he is and who he wishes to be. He gets a lot of flak for being “EMO” but really Jon is on an essential journey. One which is entirely understandable for a young man in his position but also one which moulds him into what he must become in order to fulfil his role in the story.

He discovers whilst in the Skirling Pass that he is a Warg. Though he feels daft re -telling the dream, none of the Nights Watch men laugh at him. Though the men do not laugh; and in fact validate Jon’s experience, he still feels that these things (wargs) are like the fairy tales Old Nan would tell him as a child. Though up here free of the world in which he grew up, it is not so hard to believe in them; his self view is being radically changed as well as his world view.
Qohrin states:

“The cold winds are rising. Mormont knows it, Benjen Stark felt it as well. Dead men walk and the Trees have eyes again. Why should we baulk at giants & wargs.”

It is perhaps easier for Jon to accept his ability than say it may have been for Robb who had no one to validate his dreams. Jon rejects his identity to an extent though, I wonder why? Is it because some people react negatively to skinchanging or that those he meets are not good people? I’m hoping to see Jon embrace it in the coming books. Ygrittes role in helping Jon find himself is what I’m exploring here, though I do feel Ghost is tied to Jon in a way which makes him part of the romance too, he thinks of the two of them in the same moments more than once.

Later, when Qohrin instructs a fire to be lit; Jon reflects on his life. He thinks that one forgets how pretty a fire can be when it has been a long time, which makes me think GRRM is hinting at how pretty a woman can be when it has been a long time. Or perhaps when you are about to die? Ygritte was not as beautiful as many women Jon will have seen in his life at Winterfell but….she is a woman and the first he’s seen in some time.

Qohrin talks of maids and wedding nights prompting Jon to wonder if Qohrin has ever known such things. We all know Jon has not. He then likens the warmth of the flames to the sweetest kiss but has Jon even been kissed? Not as far as we know. Surely at this point he is wondering if he will die having never known a woman? Catelyn wonders the same about Robb before his first battle. I think that Jon is wondering if he might die a virgin.

Next Ebben speaks negatively of Skinchangers & Wargs which will undoubtedly make Jon feel negative about his newly realised status. As I’ve discussed a little Jon tries to bury this side of himself and tries to deny it. Qohrin does not deny it, he sends Stonesnake to Mormont instructing him to relay Jon's dream; that he is a Warg & that the Trees have eyes again. This phrase comes up a couple of times and I feel it’s very evocative of the weirwood network and green seers, which we find out about in later books. Qohrin is reinforcing Jon’s new status as a Warg. Jon is being validated, though he still can’t come to terms with what he is…yet!

Girl saves boy.

When they are cornered by the wildlings Ygritte speaks up for Jon - saving him as he did her. He kills Qohrin and turns his cloak. Ygritte answers Rattleshirts questions in order to gain Jon a chance. But Rattleshirt calls Jon Warg, it is said in a negative way which will again reinforce in Jon that it is a bad thing, he really struggles to embrace this side of himself. It must be tough to come to terms with being something you thought only existed in fairy tales & which causes those around you to mistrust you and guard themselves. Jon is also really uncomfortable with the role of turncloak and defector, it's yet another thing which contributes to Jon’s confused and uncertain sense of self.


The reluctant Lover.

Jumping to next chapter Jon is talking to Tormund, who insinuates that the Nights Watch cut off their penis when they take the vow as why else would Jon refuse Ygritte who so clearly desires him, insinuating that Jon must not be a man if he does not want her. He spells it out saying

”The girl wants you in her.”

Tormund makes fun of Jon for not realising but Jon does know, he acknowledges that half the column sees it, he tries to bolster himself that he is a man of the Nights Watch but questions why he is blushing, like a maid - he is a maid as we well know.

Ygritte follows him from Rattleshirts band to Tormunds declaring a free woman goes where she will (another of her feminist statements.) she makes her bed next to him each night, no matter where Jon chooses to sleep, she cuddles up to him, he has awoken to her arm around him before & he is aroused by this. He feels a tension in his groin, he listens to her breathing it is not just sexual this indicates he is beginning care for her. Listening to a persons heart beat is very intimate.

Jon does try hard to resist he even uses Ghost to keep her away, like the story Old Nan told of knights and their ladies sleeping with a sword between them to keep their honor.

Two points stick out to me; firstly he thinks of a knight and his lady, is he already seeing Ygritte as his lady love? And secondly He wants to keep his honor, unlike his dad. He does not want to be like his father in this respect, he’ll father no bastards! A big concern for Jon is not getting a woman with child, he has suffered the shame of Ned's indiscretion all his life and understandably does not wish to inflict that upon anyone else.

But even with Ghost there Ygritte persists. She is not afraid of the wolf; the wolf does not dislike her. This indicates she is a good person and Jon likes her, as dire wolves always reflect the owners feelings about a person and that persons character and intentions.

The first time she says you know nothing, is in relation to trying to get him naked, on the pretence of a swim.

He firmly refuses stating I don’t go in at all. It is not just the water he is talking about in this statement.

Jon compares the wildlings idea of beauty to the look preferred in Westeros; Ygritte is not pretty by the standards he is familiar with, her hair is red and said to be lucky. kissed by fire. But it is a tangle, Jon is used to refined well groomed ladies. He notes that at a lords court she would only be seen as common, plain etc. He lists her aesthetic faults, round face, like a peasant, pug nose eyes too wide apart but then he notes that of late he has also noticed her grin & how it makes the crooked teeth not matter, her eyes are a pretty blue - grey colour. So what if they are too wide apart, they are lively. Her voice is husky & low when she sings. It stirs him.

He likes the way fire light plays on her hair & how she smiles which also stirs some things. Jon reiterates to himself that he is a man of the Nights Watch & he swore his oath in front of the Weirwoods.

During this time Jon is struggling to keep his vows, he’s trying very hard to resist the natural urge to be with ygritte and that is not an easy task for a teenager. But Jon is going to try his hardest and Ygritte is going to try her hardest too. Tormund asks him if he mislikes her? He states no and that he is too young to wed, to which tormund laughs and says who spoke of weddings?


The Wildlings live a very different, perhaps easier life to the one Jon knows. Maybe it would be very tempting to give in and go over to them for real, after all here he is not Ned Starks bastard the shame of his house, he is free, his duality as man & wolf is accepted, he can be with Ygritte or another if he chooses with no shame or come back. You can see why some Nights Watch men do abandon their posts. But this is Jon Snow, son of the Honourable Eddard Stark. And he says no, he would not dishonour her. Jon has a lot of hang ups about the circumstances of his own conception & birth; he protests he might get her with child.

”Aye & where’s the harm in that?”

States Tormund. Up here there is no shame in bastardy; no one cares if you are wed, or if a child is legitimate as no one owns property for a child to inherit or for legitimate & illegitimate children to fight over.

All the reasons that a marriage is so important in Jon's world are irrelevant here.

Tormund is teaching Jon that the way of the world is different north of the Wall, a bastard child is just as healthy & strong these are the traits that count up here, not legitimacy to inherit a castle. He also points out Ygritte’s agency, if she does not want a babe she can brew some moon tea, it’s her body, her choice.

He laughs at Jon’s protestations and calls kneelers fools. He asks him why did you steel the girl if you did not want her? Of course Jon does not realise he stole her and says he never but Tormund points out he slew the men she was with and carried her off.

“you made her yield to you.”

Through Jons internal monologue we get an insight into his musings on the Wildlings:

“They have no laws, no honour, not even simple decency. They steel endlessly from each other & breed like beasts, preferring rape to marriage, and fill the world with base born children. But in spite of just how opposite to his own culture they are he is growing fond of Tormund, Longspear & Ygritte….”No I will not think of Ygritte.”

He is trying to force his thoughts about her away as well as convince himself that all he has been told about Wildlings & all his preconceptions about them are true. Despite what he is currently discovering about them.

Some more thoughts of Jons on Ygritte. This time considering her nature more than her looks. Jon is thinking that she claims to be 3 years older but that she is really short,she is tough though. He considers that a necessity up here. He notes she is not wed and asks why would she choose to fight instead?

During their next encounter she sings him the Last of the Giants which moves him.

But not wanting to believe that his people have driven the Giants to extinction he retorts that there are hundreds of giants, he just saw them. She slings back you know nothing Jon snow, seemingly quite bitter. I think she is trying to make him aware of the damage his people have done to the free folk beyond the wall, how they are losing the old ways, their culture is vanishing, as are the giants. He calls himself northern and says he follows the Old Gods, but compared to her, he is a southerner, and he knows nothing of the real old ways, unlike her. Ygritte is again Jon’s teacher, allowing him to recognise what needs to happen when the time comes and he is able to right some of the centuries of wrong doing by allowing the free folk through the Gate.

One might think Ygritte is holding a grudge against Jon given how frequently she berates him over his people’s suppression of her own. But then Orell attacks him and she protects him and goes with him to Mance. She will not leave him vulnerable. She deeply cares for Jon and wants him for her own. She wants him to truly go native and be with her. Tormund also protects Jon and it is clear he has come to really care for Jon as well.

She laments that Orrel has damaged Jon's sweet face, she see’s him as sweet, perhaps his appeal to her is in his kindness. He spared her not many others would do so, but his kind heart will undo them later on when he is called upon to kill the old man at Queenstower. When Mance tells him he wishes for Jon to go with Jarl & the Magnar, Ygritte looks fierce, and insists she as a free woman will be coming with Jon on his new assignment, she refuses to leave his side, she wants him and she wants to protect him.

Sealing the deal.

Ygritte, has so far done all the running and is really persistent, she certainly knows what she wants and is determined to get it. When Jon is accused of being a Nights Watch man still she sticks up for him and speaks for him, pointing out that he spared her that he killed the half hand and then as Jon mentions that he wears a sheepskin cloak now, she chimes in with a lie, that they are lovers. This convinces Mance that he is true and she uses it to force Jon to fuck her. Jon is asked is it true & Jon lies saying yes. He is now in a position where he cannot really refuse her any longer & Mance sends the two of them off together.

Rattleshirt is less convinced and warns her she had best not be lying. Jon then threatens Rattleshirt to get away from us referring to them as a couple. He has given in to his desires and Ygrittes advances. He knows he has to do it. At the end of this chapter he tells her he never asked her to lie for him. To which she very assertively tells him it was no lie & he needs to find a different spot for Ghost tonight, she will be having him.

Ygritte comes to him & they discuss the stars, she tells him he stole her at a fortuitous time. The thief whom the Septons call the red warrior was bright that night. Jon insists that he never meant to steel her; he did not know she was a woman & she points out that never the less he did steel her. Jon thinks he has never met anyone more stubborn except perhaps for Arya. He thinks again about his place in the world, that he is not a true stark but is only Neds motherless bastard.

I think this next scene between Jon & Ghost is important. He goes to Ghost and has an intimate moment with himself; he nuzzles his wolf this is almost like self-soothing. He asks the wolf do you have names for the stars too, names different to my own. He’s definitely feeling a tad displaced by Ygritte & the wildlings & questioning what he thought he knew of the world. He notes that Orell has scarred both he & ghost now, this is to remind us they are as one. This all happens just before he has to be parted from Ghost as he prepares to scale the wall. It will be some time before they reunite. This is a vulnerable moment for Jon he is letting go of a chunk of himself by sending the wolf away - his last link to Winterfell, his identity as a Stark, he is also about to do the thing which he was at the wall to prevent. He will breech the wall with a band of wildlings.

He seems almost angry & frustrated as he thinks about the Wildlings calling him a Warg, as he does not know how to put on his wolfs skin independently and has only dreamt himself in ghost. He is not able to go into him now to let him know to go to Castle Black and so he tells ghost that they must part, verbally instructing the wolf to return to Castle Black in the hopes that Ghost will somehow understand. He reiterates they will meet again at Castle Black but for now each must hunt alone.

When Ghost goes he is sad and fears he will prove a failure as a warg just as he has in his mind as a sworn brother & a spy. I think later on Jon will get to grips with slipping into his wolf of his own volition and that this is why Borraq is at the wall as of the close of A Dance with Dragons.

Now he is alone & Ygritte is never far, He thinks of Mance’s words two hearts that beat as one & thinks it is a mockery. This comes over as very bitter. The two hearts that beat as one are he and Ghost whom he has been forced to part from. He is confused and knows he has no choice but to have sex with Ygritte.

The First Time.

As She slips beneath his skins he thinks if he refuses her she will know him for a turncloak, he tells himself he is just playing the part Qohrin told him to. His body though is eager to play this part, even if internally he is still conflicted.

"His lips on hers, his hand sliding under her doe skin shirt to find a breast, his manhood stiffening when she rubbed her mound against it through their clothes. My vows he’d thought, remembering the Weirwood grove where he had said them, nine great white trees in a circle, the carved red faces watching, listening. But her fingers were undoing his laces and her tongue was in his mouth and her hand slipped inside his smallclothes and brought him out, and he could not see the Weirwoods anymore, only her. She bit his neck and he nuzzled hers, burying his nose in her thick red hair. Lucky he thought, she is lucky, fire kissed. Isn’t that good she whispered as she guided him inside her she was sopping wet down there, and no maiden, that was plain, but Jon did not care. His vows, her maidenhood, none of it mattered, only the heat of her, the mouth on his, the finger that pinched at his nipple. Isn’t that sweet she said again, not so fast, oh, slow, yes , like that.  There now, there now, yes, sweet, sweet. You know nothing, Jon Snow, but I can show you. Harder now. Yessss.”

He tries to remind himself after that he is just playing a part. That he had to do it once to make her trust him, he tells himself it need never to happen again.  But.  He thinks the proving had been SO sweet, and Ygritte sleeping beside him, her head against his chest is sweet too. He thinks again of the Weirwoods, he excuses himself with the thought that even his father stumbled once. He vows he won’t sire a bastard though it will not happen again.


" It happened twice more that night though & again in the morning when she awoke to find him hard"

- these are teenagers after all.

He likens their coupling to that of a pair of rutting dogs which seems to imply it’s all pure hormone driven instinct, not caring that others see.

He thinks what has become of him, where has his honour gone? That he can fuck for all to see he discards his vows. He has no control over himself. Jon is ordinarily a person with quite a lot of self-control.

This is sex after all a completely instinctual thing, we have very little control as teens & just fuck & fuck, it takes up a huge part of adolescent life after all. Thinking about it, doing it thinking again. Etc.

And every night his vows seem less important & he wonders if this is what it was like for Ned, was he as weak when he dishonoured himself in Jons mothers bed.?

The sex between Jon & Ygritte is written very differently to the rest of the sex in the series. It’s much more relatable for the reader. I do think this is very deliberate on GRRM’s part. He wants the reader put themselves in their shoes.

When we arrive at the cave, Jon is called to speak with the Magnar, he thinks that he would execute Jon at the slightest whiff of betrayal; & Ygritte. Jon now feels a sense of responsibility for her. Which is very “seven kingdoms”, that the woman is the man’s property, that he is responsible for keeping his Lady safe.

After speaking with the Magnar he seeks Ygritte out. He finds her deep within the dark winding caverns. She tells him you know nothing again & relays the story of Gendals children. Again saying you know nothing.

They soon begin to make love he filled his nose with the smell of her, again GRRM using animalistic smelling of one another to convey raw lust, instinctual desire & a genuine attraction.

He tells her she is like Old Nan, she says are you calling me old? He says you are older than me. All gentle teasing, again she tells him you know nothing Jon snow.

She takes of her clothes so he can see her naked. As she undresses he see's her breasts (Breasts not teats GRRM wants us to relate to their sex by using our own language in place of his usual westeros speak.) Jon notes her nipples are wide and pink.

She implores him to undress, saying if you want to look you have to show, you know nothing Jon snow. That’s a lot of you know nothings for one scene? I think Ygritte's catchphrase was very deliberate seeing as her role really is that of teacher, both teaching Jon about love & sex and also about the Free Folks customs & the Old ways. He often thinks about making love to her in front of Weirwoods sometimes it’s a negative feeling as though doing so would be shameful and at other times that doing so would be supremely romantic and gratifying. Almost as a form of religious sacrament.
He replies:

“I know I want you”, all his vows forgotten, she stood naked before him and he was as hard as the rock all around them"


He had been in her half a hundred times by now, but always beneath the furs, with others all around them. (Inhibited sex)He had never seen how beautiful she was.

Her legs were skinny, but well-muscled, the hair at the juncture of her thighs a brighter red than that on her head, Does that make it even luckier?

He pulled her close, “I love the smell of you” (again using smell, very sexy, evocative language) I love your red hair (Uh oh, Tully red? A bit Freudian perhaps) I love your mouth & the way you kiss me, I love your smile. I love your teats. This time teats as he has spoken it, so it is in keeping with Westerosi dialect, but when descriptive its breasts so we the reader relate the experience better. I don’t know about you but I’ve always found Martins use of “Teats” as rather dehumanising, it’s really not a word anyone uses to describe breast, tits, bangers, knockers, tata’s, boobies, anything but teats, teats belong on livestock. Back to Jon & Ygritte though. He kissed them one & then the other. I love your skinny legs, and what’s between them.

He knelt to kiss her there, lightly on her mound at first, but ygritte moved her legs apart a little; she’s always in control in their relationship by opening her legs she has invited him to kiss her, and he saw the pink inside & kissed that as well, and tasted her . There is so much smelling and tasting with these two. We get a total sensual experience with their sex, GRRM uses very raw drive based language to paint a picture of a very strong urge and highly charged coupling. Like the first time with a new partner and especially teenage sex is. She gave a little gasp. “if you love me all so much, why are you still dressed” this is her taking back the control after momentarily losing it in her orgasm.

She whispered you know nothing,Jon Snow, Noth-Oh. Oh. OHHHH. And she lets go again.
Afterward she was almost shy. Or as shy as Ygritte ever got (subdued by his prowess perhaps. Very much like, hey he showed her who knows nothing. A comedic moment.) After she asks about the oral sex. Is that what Lords do with their ladies - down south?

She knows nothing it transpires for all her sexual experience she’s never done anything but very straight sex.  Jon replies I don’t think so. And thinks that no one ever told him about what lords & ladies do his sex Ed is lacking it’s only what he heard in the benches of the feast hall from time to time. I guess Ned yet again failed to educate his kids on that front. It did seem on Sansa’s wedding night she knew the theory, she seemed to understand what goes where but clearly did not know what to expect from her husbands manhood as they all look like Tyrions is described by her; if we accept the American norm of circumcision as Tyrions purple head kinda implies he is cut, yet she was grossed out. Calling it ugly (admittedly some are nicer than others) Jon must know the basics too but I doubt he got “the talk” like Sansa seems to have gotten, but then Cersei may well have been the one to give it to her & not necessarily Cat, or perhaps her septa? Jon has heard stuff sure but it seems he never got the marriage bed chat.


“I only….wanted to kiss you there, you seemed to like it.”

Oh my how sweet. This is just adorable.


“Aye, I liked it some….no one taught you such?”

Time for Jon to fess up to having been a virgin.  She seems taken aback and teases him, he retorts he WAS a man of the Nights Watch, and thinks was but what am I now.  He asks her was she maiden (though he has already noted that she is not, but I ask myself how on earth could he tell?) she scoffs at him.  Indeed, of course she was not, this is beyond the wall, there is no shame in sex here they fuck in plain sight of each other, women are not controlled by their virginity she was free to fuck who she wished, when she wished.

She tells him of the boy and that he was a disappointment and that when he came back Longspear ran him off and he never tried again Jon is pleased it was not Longspear as he rather likes him, she explains how one does not mate with members of your own village that it would be like fucking your sibling, ewww that way begets monsters, lack witts etc. Once again she tells him…you know nothing. Yes while he impressed her in the sack he still knows very little of her culture she explains that those who wed kin, or clan kin offend the gods, Jon brings up Craster, she says he’s more like your kin than ours. Ygritte tells Jon that Crasters father was a crow who got a lass from white tree with child & then flew back to the wall, she took the babe to them but they ran her off she says that.


“Craster’s blood is black, and he bears a heavy curse”

Ygritte tells him that she once feared he might do the same, fly back to the wall. He does but not just yet. She explains that he never knew what to do after he stole her, Ygritte, I never did – he still protests. She explains he did that he climbed a mountain and killed Orell.  I wonder if Orell was Ygritte’s man until then? and that before she could react he had a knife at her throat. I thought you’d have me then she tells him, which tells us she possibly has not had the best sexual experiences in the past, or is this just highlighting that the wildlings have a culture of rape. Or kill her, or maybe both - Ygritte really has a negative view of the Nights Watch men.

She told him the tale of Bael the bard to give him a hint that she wanted to be stolen; she wanted him to fuck her.

She thought it would make him know to pluck her for certain he didn’t though, she then says, again you know nothing, Jon Snow.

We get another little comedic comment from Ygritte, “You might be learning some though.” then she straddles him, tells him she is not done with him yet and then asks him to lick her out again offering a Blow Job in return. Jon no longer cared about the vows but the guilt returned by the time the torch had burnt out.

“If this is so wrong why did the gods make it feel so good?”

Bloody good question Jon….They tried to get dressed but then give in to the urge to fuck again. I love how the sex with these two reminds me of being young, of the days when you would do it over & over again, the freshness of having just discovered sex, of having just discovered each other. I think this has a lot to do with the appeal of their relationship it’s easy to relate to. We’ve all (or mostly all.)been there, illicit sex as teenagers discovering how good it can feel to do something you’ve been told is wrong.

The chapter ends on a touching note, she implores him to stay in her (A thing women often ask when feeling very connected and in love or after very satisfying sex) and expresses a wish to stay with him in the cave forever. A simple life, a solution to the outside problems affecting their relationship. She knows that he is a crow and he will eventually fly back to the wall.

You know nothing, no you know nothing!

We re-join Jon as the climb is about to begin, He is contemplating once again his place in the world. If he truly wants a life with her he needs to fully embrace life as a wildling. Heart & soul. But if he abandons her & re-joins his brothers it’s likely that she will die, he sees himself as responsible for her now that he has bedded her. He briefly imagines taking her with him to Castle Black. No he certainly could not do that, he realises there is nowhere in the 7 kingdoms that she would find a welcome. They could go back to the cave & be together, with Gendels children, who are as like to eat them. When the section of the wall slides off, he protects her physically from the ice fall. Jon is genuine in his feelings for Ygritte.

Ygritte expresses her feelings about the wall which could be interpreted as her feelings about the 7 kingdoms.

“I hate this wall.” In a low angry voice. “can you feel how cold it is?” Jon points out it is made of ice and she replies “it is made of blood” (you know nothing) this statement again makes me think she has experienced personal loss at the hands of the Nights Watch and at the wall. Being kept out of the 7 kingdoms has hurt the wildlings badly they have bled and died and suffered for being the wrong side of that wall. She tells him she almost fell when at the top. She cries causing Jon to comfort her or at least he tries to but she rejects his comfort as a slight to her “toughness” refutes that she was scared and again tells him you know nothing, she was not crying for fear, the horn was not found, the horn that could have rid her of this hated wall, the wall that is so cold, and built of blood.

Next Jon gets a turn to inform Ygritte of the harm that wildling raiders do. The gift is empty because those who lived there gave up after years of raids, thefts, murders, rapes, kidnaps etc. He thinks if she is so impressed by a towerhouse, if he could show her Winterfell, give her a flower from the glass gardens, ( Like Bael.) Feast her in the great hall, show her the stone kings on their thrones.

 "we could bathe in the hot pools & love beneath the heart tree while the old gods watched us.”

He reminds himself winterfell is not and cannot be his it belongs to his brother, the king of winter, he is no stark, a snow a bastard, an oathbreaker & a turncloak.

He thinks on what might have been if things had been different, Ned & Benjen were planning to re-establish the gift he would likely have been given lands a holdfast etc in his father’s name. When he tells her why the gift is now empty she retaliates that no wives are taken, just daughters (like this is somehow not as bad?) it’s you who are thiefs you stole the whole world & built the wall to keep our kind out, he says did we? He thinks he sometimes forgets how wild she is and asks her to explain. She says she would rather be stolen by a strong man than traded by her father to a weakling for the sake of politics, They argue about their cultures she says she wants a hard cock not flowers when he proposes she could be stolen by a man she hated who treated her badly and stinks etc. She ends the argument with yet another you know nothing, he thinks that he knows she is wildling to the bone. He knows they cannot work. He knows he loves his land more than her he will give her up to protect the realms of men. But their time has taught him so much. He thinks he is reminded of the wall between their worlds.

"A man can own a woman, or a man can own a knife, no man may own both, every little girl learns that from her mother…."

Ygrittes mother? Who must be dead surely. She is again giving away her bitterness.  She defiantly tells him no one can own the land, the sea the air and Mance will show them that, he informs her Mance cannot win this.  He can, she insists (like a petulant child) you know nothing Jon snow. You have never seen the free folk fight.

HE explains they will die all of you, when she picks up on his “you”, and realises he means to go back over. She tells him he better not be no crow, she has sworn he is not she possessively pushes him against a tree and aggressively kisses him telling him he is hers and she is his. All men must die but first we’ll live, he is kissed into submission yes we’ll live he says.

Jon thinks he has somehow come to love her crooked teeth, but he means her. He once again thinks she is wildling to the bone and has a sick sad feeling in his stomach, again he knows he will betray her, he knows he cannot keep her nor keep her safe.

He wonders if she knew his heart, would she betray him, if he explained to her he is still a stark, still a brother of the Nights Watch. He doubts that she would understand. Hopes but dare not risk it.

He has a wobble over having shared bread & salt (guest right) with these people whom he must betray & Ygrittes blankets as well. Even though he has done all of this they do not trust him, he is not safe. He fears for her safety as an extension of him she would die too. Two hearts that beat as one. They are as one her smell has become a part of him, we hear a lot about Ygrittes smell don’t we?

The things he lists about her are his joy & his despair, he again wonders about his lord father did he feel this way with Jons mother? He feels a trap was set by her and Mance pushed him into it.

He did not want to feel for the wildlings or for her.

A wildling describes her as his Ygritte, another layer of the guilt sandwich. Being without Ghost makes him feel as though part of him has been cut off even with ygritte lying beside him. He feels alone he does not want to die alone. Jon no longer feels he knows where he belongs.

Another you know nothing.

He tells of good queen Alysanne and Ygritte says if she was so good she would have torn the wall down, again expressing her hatered of the wall, of the position being born the other side of it placed her and her loved ones in. Jon points out that the wall holds a more pressing purpose to protect the world from the Others he calls her sweetling, which kind of implies youth and naivety- she knows nothing…

The beginning of the end.

When Jon is called upon to kill the old man he hesitates and Ygritte encourages him, she points out that Orell was also a man sitting beside a fire. To her it is no different she is desperate for Jon to remain true to her cause she knows their relationship is slipping away this side of the wall, that he is still a crow. She kills the old man herself to rid them of the awkward situation she cannot stand for Jon to reveal himself as a crow or for the Magnor to kill him. She flings you know nothing at him in her anger as she knows the game is up, too late he has revealed himself.

Then Summer bursts in he had only just been thinking of how lost he is without his wolf how he does not know his place in the world but summer is here just at the right time not only to rescue Jon from almost certain death but to remind him of who he is and what he represents the Stark at the wall, the protector of the realms of men, he is a wolf of winterfell. When push came to shove he left her. He had to and they both knew it all along. After escaping he examines the arrow to see if it were hers and explains she uses grey goose feathers, was she aiming at him or the horse? So we can presume it was indeed hers? He makes for home, and tells himself he ought to feel relieved and happy but asks why does he feel so hollow? Because the romance was real he did love her and she him, it was real but doomed.

During his journey back to Castle Black he thinks of her a lot, her smell (yet again) of her hair her body the look on her face as she slit the old man’s throat he has a voice who says you were wrong to love her and another who says you were wrong to leave her. GRRM is really laying it on thick about how divided he was and how torn he found himself. He again compares him & her to Ned & the “mother” he never knew. Was this how he(Ned) had felt? Is Jon finally feeling he can empathise with Ned's supposed position?


"He was pledged to Lady Stark as I am pledged to the Nights Watch.  He rode hard for the North." 

What a line!!! There is so much in that. Loyalty, Determination, Sweat, Blood, Sacrifice. Having decided once and for all who he is and where his loyalties lie! A short line but full of emotive visuals.

When he arrives at Castle Black he feels good to be back, he is asked who Ygritte is after he mentions her they know he has broken his vows with her. How can he explain, he thinks of her quality’s warm, smart, funny, can kiss a man or slit his throat. Young & wild, he whitters in his milk of the poppy induced delirium. It was wrong I was wrong to love her wrong to leave her. He thinks of her whilst he is being patched up, he thinks I had to. He feels so much guilt for both her and his vows and his dad and himself. He dreams it is her who is tending him with gentle hands.

He dreams he is splashing in the hot pools back at HOME, beneath a huge weirwood that has Neds face. Ygritte is there and strips off laughing & splashing and wants to screw her but he cannot respond to her advances with his father watching via the tree. He was the blood of winterfell a man of the nights watch. I will not father a bastard. He told her I will not I will not, she tells him you know nothing Jon snow- A dream about his day dream, perhaps the beginning of his recurring dream in which he lives the fantasy he had about taking her to Winterfell, he fantasises about making love in the hot pools beneath the Heart tree and of feasting her in the great hall and taking her to the crypts to see the kings, his ancestor’s. This dream and the later ones where he is descending into the crypts and can hear feasting in the hall above him don’t go quite as his fantasy however, in fact its all wrong.

Getting ready to defend Castle Black, he recalls as he once told Arya to stick em with the pointy end. He is thinking about his beloved sister as he prepares for a battle in which he may die. He thinks of all the wildlings coming whom he knows and Ygritte too. He did not allow them to become friends but her she was more than a friend even, he feels the throb of pain where her arrow went into his leg. So it was hers.

He recalls the grotto how she looked the taste of her mouth as it opened beneath his. We’re always invited into their love making in a very intimate and evocative way. He implores her to stay away in his mind. He does not want her to die, but of course he knows she will. He may too. You’ll find nothing here but death. As they await the attack he sees the stars and thinks which is it, is it his name for them or hers? Is he wildling or a stark a Nights Watch brother, he wondered where Ghost was now and Ygritte but that way lay madness. It's really really tough for him even though he knows she will die and that they were always doomed he is still heart broken by it all, and Ghost he wants his wolf to make him feel better. They are the two hearts that beat as one, he and Ghost. Funny how Mance exclaimed who is he to separate Two Hearts that beat as one, yet he did he forced Jon to send away his Wolf, knowing full well that he is a Warg seems like he cleaved straight through that relationship without a care in the world. Or was it deliberate?

When the battle ends he goes searching for her and finds her with an arrow between her breasts. In the moonlight she looks to be wearing a glittering silver mask could this hold significance it’s a very beautiful image.

He is very concerned it might have been his arrow but it is not, he feels as though it were though he feels totally responsible for her death. They share some sweet final words, he tells her that it is a real castle, even though it really is not, but he wants her to die in peace, he tries to tell her she won’t die, he thinks Maester Aemon will heal her, and he wants to believe it so much. They remember the cave, and agree they should have stayed there, he says you’re not going to die Ygritte, you’re not you’re not you’re not. This seems so very sad so childlike and desperate , she tells him one final time you know nothing Jon Snow.

She is now dead, in his next chapter we have the dream he thinks a light has gone out somewhere Ygritte forgive me please. He once imagined taking her and feasting her at Winterfell and showing her the crypts. In his dream the barriers to him not getting WF are gone he cannot find a single family member, he can hear feasting in the great hall indeed and he is going down to the crypt but what use when his light (her) has gone out? He begs forgiveness of her, This line sticks out to me” it was only a Direwolf, Grey and Ghastly spotted with blood its golden eyes shining sadly through the dark, “could it be summer and it is Brans sadness shining through the dark? He is cold and feels so alone. He misses Ghost and in the wild he had Ygritte to share his furs and warm him, both gone now, he had burned her himself….as she would have wanted and ghost where are you now? Gosh he sure misses his wolf, Ghost is part of him he is lost without the wolf.

When he sees the wildling host he wants to tell them this is not your place not your land go, he thinks Ygritte would have said you know nothing to that. He thinks of her quite often really and her lessons to him. When Zia the Molestown whore tries to kiss him in victory, he pushes her away. No I am done with kissing. He wants to remain true to his vows now he can’t risk the hurt he can’t risk feeling ashamed of himself again.

Saying goodbye.

Later on at the start of his next chapter he thinks I should have stayed in that cave that she’d claw his face and call him a craven if he could tell her that, but still he should have.

On meeting Tormund again he tells him he thinks it was Ygrittes arrow that pierced his leg causing the limp. Tormund laughs. That’s a woman for you one minute kissing you the next filling you with arrows, Jon tells him she is dead. Tormund shakes his head sadly, aye if I’d been ten years younger, he raises a toast to her, kissed by fire & drank deep, Jon repeats & drinks even deeper, Tormund asks if Jon killed her he says no a brother he hopes to never know which one. This sad encounter is cementing Jon & Tormunds relationship, Jon is grieving her still but she taught him so much. Things which later enable him to let the free folk through the wall.

When Tormund tells Jon of Longspear Ric stealing his daughter it brings Ygritte to mind once more he imagines a conversation where she buoys him up to meet Mance, to what he assumes is certain death, he draws strength from what he feels she would say, he jokes to himself easy for you to say you are already dead a good brave death. Not a turncloak like me.

I feel that the main themes explored in the relationship are finding one’s self, learning to value & respect other cultures and of course discovering sex & love for the first time. Ygrittes purpose in the story was very much to mature Jon and enable him to discover who he is and who he needs to be to fulfil his destiny as the Lord Commander who opened the gate, and possibly much more too. He now has empathy and knows sacrifice& grief as well as love.