Post by Mojo on Aug 22, 2015 2:38:35 GMT
Attention: Crackpot Alert! ::crackpot:: My first essay on a subject in ASOIAF, and word count is probably in LmL territory. You have been warned...
We've been speculating on the Horn of Joramun a lot, but could the horns all correlate to different elemental magic sources? We have been introduced to three magical horns so far in the series, and they correlate at the moment with earth, fire, and water... but air is the element that is missing from this equation, but while comparing and contrasting horns we've seen, I may have an idea as to where our missing element is.
(Moved the TL;DR to the end)
Water:
ASOS- about House Celtigar & unnamed horn:
Unable to find a description just yet.
We don't know for sure, but it's possible that it has been used recently. Earlier in Storm, Varys reads the news to Tywin:
^^The way Varys giggles makes me think that this is considered fodder, no more real than the dragons he reported.
Association here would be with the drowned god, being a marine animal is being influenced. Food for thought: why would the Celtigars have this horn and not the Greyjoys? The Iron Islanders actually pay homage to the drowned god, and the kraken is the Greyjoy's friggin sigil.
Earth:
Horn of Joramun:
black and banded with gold, 8 feet in length. Runes are carved in the gold bands. (if Mance's horn is in fact the horn of legend)
Legend states that the Horn of Joramun/Winter is supposed to awaken the giants:
This I associate with earth elements/magic. Trolls are considered earth elementals in old world folklore, and Ygritte tells Jon Snow they were literally digging up graves to find this horn- so it is supposedly hidden in the earth all this time. And I believe the Great Other is an earth elemental, because I believe he's tied to the weirwoods and old gods of the north- but that is a different essay.
There are mixed opinions on the validity of this fabled horn's claim. Maester Aemon, who is pretty open minded, imo, is interested, but it seems he didn't think it was real:
Qhorin Halfhand, though, who appears to be pretty knowledgeable when it comes to northern magic, seems convinced that the horn exists. Recall he was the one who knew right away that Jon was warging Ghost during his wolf dream on the fist:
(Something to consider- why were there any graves in the first place, aren't the dead supposed to be burned so they aren't wightified? Just some food for thought)
Fire:
Dragonbinder (aka hellhorn):
black twisted horn, 6 feet long, banded with red gold and Valyrian steel. "Strange sorcerous writings" are engraved in the bands.
This one is a no brainer, the dragon horn that Euron claims will control dragons. He introduces it during his surprise appearance at the kingsmoot. Dragons would fit in with the fire elementals, and I would tie that in with R'hollor.
This horn is really mysterious, because sounding the horn is apparently fatal. So how does one manage to use it to wrangle dragons?
Moqorro continues, and it sounds a lot like a familiar house motto:
Unknown:
Horn of Herrock:
black twisted horn, banded with gold. Mentioned in Feast and I believe the WB. While it may or may not have magical properties, we are missing an air element and the description matches the horn Mance presented as the Horn of Winter as well as Dragonbinder.
(Air?)
Horn from the Fist:
this might be our wild card, it's been theorized before that the modest cracked old warhorn found in the cache on the Fist of the First Men is actually the magical horn of winter. I like this idea, kind of like the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade:
However, the horns above, save the water horn as of yet, seem to match each other aesthetically, with the exception of the warhorn at the Fist. That isn't something I'm quite sure how to explain, but, everything left in that cache of dragon glass was important for survival during a disaster; why not this? Perhaps this is the air elemental we are missing from the picture. What better creature in this series to represent air magic than...wait for it...
Crows!!
Not only is Sam a "crow", but he's the raven whisperer for the NW. He keeps his horn with him, and when he's fending off the wights with Gilly, ravens appear to him with Coldhands. A whole bunch of them, too!
These ravens are attacking the wights for Sam, and literally telling him to escape! If Bloodraven becomes an antagonist who tries to hold Bran hostage, will this horn be the answer to take control of his ravens and turn them on him? Sam still has his horn with him in Feast, as he travels to the Citadel, so I imagine a maester will stumble upon it at some point and surprise Sam when he divulges the warhorn's true purpose.
We still don't know of a god to my knowledge who represents air elementals, but from what has been shown so far, there is one piece missing from this equation to balance out the elemental magic. However, we may soon find out, as the winds of winter will (hopefully) soon be upon us...
TL;DR:
Celtigar horn is water magic, Horn of Joramun earth magic, Dragonbinder fire magic. Horn of Herrock, who the hell knows? Theory: warhorn from the fist= air magic to bind ravens.
*This crack pottery has been brought to you by the letters M, O, and J (and one more O for good luck)
We've been speculating on the Horn of Joramun a lot, but could the horns all correlate to different elemental magic sources? We have been introduced to three magical horns so far in the series, and they correlate at the moment with earth, fire, and water... but air is the element that is missing from this equation, but while comparing and contrasting horns we've seen, I may have an idea as to where our missing element is.
(Moved the TL;DR to the end)
Water:
ASOS- about House Celtigar & unnamed horn:
Unable to find a description just yet.
Claw Isle was but lightly garrisoned, its castle reputedly stuffed with Myrish carpets, Volantene glass, gold and silver plate, jeweled cups, magnificent hawks, an axe of Valyrian steel, a horn that could summon monsters from the deep, chests of rubies, and more wines than a man could drink in a hundred years.
We don't know for sure, but it's possible that it has been used recently. Earlier in Storm, Varys reads the news to Tywin:
“A kraken has been seen off the Fingers.” He giggled. “Not a Greyjoy, mind you, a true kraken. It attacked an Ibbenese whaler and pulled it under."
^^The way Varys giggles makes me think that this is considered fodder, no more real than the dragons he reported.
Association here would be with the drowned god, being a marine animal is being influenced. Food for thought: why would the Celtigars have this horn and not the Greyjoys? The Iron Islanders actually pay homage to the drowned god, and the kraken is the Greyjoy's friggin sigil.
Earth:
Horn of Joramun:
black and banded with gold, 8 feet in length. Runes are carved in the gold bands. (if Mance's horn is in fact the horn of legend)
Legend states that the Horn of Joramun/Winter is supposed to awaken the giants:
Lady Melisandre watched him rise. "FREE FOLK! Here stands your king of lies. And here is the horn he promised would bring down the Wall." Two queen's men brought forth the Horn of Joramun, black and banded with old gold, eight feet long from end to end. Runes were carved into the golden bands, the writing of the First Men. Joramun had died thousands of years ago, but Mance had found his grave beneath a glacier, high up in the Frostfangs. And Joramun blew the Horn of Winter, and woke giants from the earth. Ygritte had told Jon that Mance never found the horn. She lied, or else Mance kept it secret even from his own.
This I associate with earth elements/magic. Trolls are considered earth elementals in old world folklore, and Ygritte tells Jon Snow they were literally digging up graves to find this horn- so it is supposedly hidden in the earth all this time. And I believe the Great Other is an earth elemental, because I believe he's tied to the weirwoods and old gods of the north- but that is a different essay.
There are mixed opinions on the validity of this fabled horn's claim. Maester Aemon, who is pretty open minded, imo, is interested, but it seems he didn't think it was real:
Maester Aemon paused, washcloth in hand. "The Horn of Winter is an ancient legend. Does the King-beyond-the-Wall truly believe that such a thing exists?"
Qhorin Halfhand, though, who appears to be pretty knowledgeable when it comes to northern magic, seems convinced that the horn exists. Recall he was the one who knew right away that Jon was warging Ghost during his wolf dream on the fist:
Jon swallowed his anger. "I abandoned no one. I left the Fist with Qhorin Halfhand to scout the Skirling Pass. I joined the wildlings under orders. The Halfhand feared that Mance might have found the Horn of Winter . . ."
(Something to consider- why were there any graves in the first place, aren't the dead supposed to be burned so they aren't wightified? Just some food for thought)
Fire:
Dragonbinder (aka hellhorn):
black twisted horn, 6 feet long, banded with red gold and Valyrian steel. "Strange sorcerous writings" are engraved in the bands.
This one is a no brainer, the dragon horn that Euron claims will control dragons. He introduces it during his surprise appearance at the kingsmoot. Dragons would fit in with the fire elementals, and I would tie that in with R'hollor.
That horn you heard I found amongst the smoking ruins that were Valyria, where no man has dared to walk but me. You heard its call, and felt its power. It is a dragon horn, bound with bands of red gold and Valyrian steel graven with enchantments. The dragonlords of old sounded such horns, before the Doom devoured them. With this horn, ironmen, I can bind dragons to my will.
This horn is really mysterious, because sounding the horn is apparently fatal. So how does one manage to use it to wrangle dragons?
That night, for the first time, he brought forth the dragon horn that the Crow's Eye had found amongst the smoking wastes of great Valyria. A twisted thing it was, six feet long from end to end, gleaming black and banded with red gold and dark Valyrian steel. Euron' s hellhorn. Victarion ran his hand along it. The horn was as warm and smooth as the dusky woman's thighs, and so shiny that he could see a twisted likeness of his own features in its depths. Strange sorcerous writings had been cut into the bands that girded it. "Valyrian glyphs," Moqorro called them.
That much Victarion had known. "What do they say?"
"Much and more." The black priest pointed to one golden band.
"Here the horn is named. ' I am Dragonbinder, ' it says. Have you ever heard it sound?"
"Once." One of his brother's mongrels had sounded the hellhorn at the kingsmoot on Old Wyk. A monster of a man he had been, huge and shaven-headed, with rings of gold and jet and jade around arms thick with muscle, and a great hawk tattooed across his chest. "The sound it made ...
it burned, somehow. As if my bones were on fire, searing my flesh from within. Those writings glowed red-hot, then white-hot and painful to look upon. It seemed as if the sound would never end. It was like some long scream. A thousand screams, all melted into one."
"And the man who blew the horn, what of him?"
"He died. There were blisters on his lips, after. His bird was bleeding too." The captain thumped his chest. "The hawk, just here. Every feather dripping blood. I heard the man was all burned up inside, but that might just have been some tale."
"A true tale." Moqorro turned the hellhorn, examining the queer letters that crawled across a second of the golden bands. "Here it says, ' No mortal man shall sound me and live. ' "
That much Victarion had known. "What do they say?"
"Much and more." The black priest pointed to one golden band.
"Here the horn is named. ' I am Dragonbinder, ' it says. Have you ever heard it sound?"
"Once." One of his brother's mongrels had sounded the hellhorn at the kingsmoot on Old Wyk. A monster of a man he had been, huge and shaven-headed, with rings of gold and jet and jade around arms thick with muscle, and a great hawk tattooed across his chest. "The sound it made ...
it burned, somehow. As if my bones were on fire, searing my flesh from within. Those writings glowed red-hot, then white-hot and painful to look upon. It seemed as if the sound would never end. It was like some long scream. A thousand screams, all melted into one."
"And the man who blew the horn, what of him?"
"He died. There were blisters on his lips, after. His bird was bleeding too." The captain thumped his chest. "The hawk, just here. Every feather dripping blood. I heard the man was all burned up inside, but that might just have been some tale."
"A true tale." Moqorro turned the hellhorn, examining the queer letters that crawled across a second of the golden bands. "Here it says, ' No mortal man shall sound me and live. ' "
Moqorro continues, and it sounds a lot like a familiar house motto:
Moqorro pointed to the band of steel. "Here. ' Blood for fire, fire for blood. ' Who blows the hellhorn matters not. The dragons will come to the horn's master. You must claim the horn. With blood."
Unknown:
Horn of Herrock:
black twisted horn, banded with gold. Mentioned in Feast and I believe the WB. While it may or may not have magical properties, we are missing an air element and the description matches the horn Mance presented as the Horn of Winter as well as Dragonbinder.
(Air?)
Horn from the Fist:
this might be our wild card, it's been theorized before that the modest cracked old warhorn found in the cache on the Fist of the First Men is actually the magical horn of winter. I like this idea, kind of like the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade:
Beneath the dragonglass was an old warhorn, made from an auroch's horn and banded in bronze.
"The warhorn he had given to Sam. On closer examination the horn had proved cracked, and even after he had cleaned all the dirt out, Jon had been unable to get any sound from it. The rim was chipped as well, but Sam liked old things, even worthless old things." --Jon V ACOK
However, the horns above, save the water horn as of yet, seem to match each other aesthetically, with the exception of the warhorn at the Fist. That isn't something I'm quite sure how to explain, but, everything left in that cache of dragon glass was important for survival during a disaster; why not this? Perhaps this is the air elemental we are missing from the picture. What better creature in this series to represent air magic than...wait for it...
Crows!!
Not only is Sam a "crow", but he's the raven whisperer for the NW. He keeps his horn with him, and when he's fending off the wights with Gilly, ravens appear to him with Coldhands. A whole bunch of them, too!
Fair." The raven landed on his shoulder. "Fair, far, fear." It flapped its wings, and screamed along with Gilly. The wights were almost on her. He heard the dark red leaves of the weirwood rustling, whispering to one another in a tongue he did not know. The starlight itself seemed to stir, and all around them the trees groaned and creaked. Sam Tarly turned the color of curdled milk, and his eyes went wide as plates. Ravens! They were in the weirwood, hundreds of them, thousands, perched on the bone-white branches, peering between the leaves. He saw their beaks open as they screamed, saw them spread their black wings. Shrieking, flapping, they descended on the wights in angry clouds. They swarmed round Chett's face and pecked at his blue eyes, they covered the Sisterman like flies, they plucked gobbets from inside Hake's shattered head. There were so many that when Sam looked up, he could not see the moon.
"Go," said the bird on his shoulder. "Go, go, go."
"Go," said the bird on his shoulder. "Go, go, go."
These ravens are attacking the wights for Sam, and literally telling him to escape! If Bloodraven becomes an antagonist who tries to hold Bran hostage, will this horn be the answer to take control of his ravens and turn them on him? Sam still has his horn with him in Feast, as he travels to the Citadel, so I imagine a maester will stumble upon it at some point and surprise Sam when he divulges the warhorn's true purpose.
We still don't know of a god to my knowledge who represents air elementals, but from what has been shown so far, there is one piece missing from this equation to balance out the elemental magic. However, we may soon find out, as the winds of winter will (hopefully) soon be upon us...
TL;DR:
Celtigar horn is water magic, Horn of Joramun earth magic, Dragonbinder fire magic. Horn of Herrock, who the hell knows? Theory: warhorn from the fist= air magic to bind ravens.
*This crack pottery has been brought to you by the letters M, O, and J (and one more O for good luck)