A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers

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A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 20, 2016 3:24:16 GMT Mojo, voice, and 3 more like this

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Post by SlyWren on Apr 20, 2016 3:24:16 GMT

Okay--this took me over 2 1/2 hours to get it posted on Westeros. Hopefully the Hearth will be less difficult.

A Horn? No. A Wolf!
Jon, Ghost, and the Horn that Wakes the Sleepers

VERY SHORT VERSION: The key part of the Night’s Watch Oath is not an oath. It’s an invocation to unite the land and people, to be all in one—like the “Song of Amergin.” Jon has learned its importance and can invoke the words at the right time. Who will Jon unite? All the watchers. Jon has been dreaming of the Winterfell crypts and the “waking kings” since Game. And direwolves—human and canine—are united by their calls. “The horn” is not a horn—it’s a direwolf call to unite the pack. Human and canine, living and dead. Ghost will sing it. And Jon will speak the words of the “Oath.”

PART I: Night’s Watch Oath: An Invocation to the Land and People.
Like the Celtic “Song of Amergin.”

1. That Night’s Watch oath is NOT just an oath. It’s an invocation, as shown by how Sam gets through the Black Gate. The words are power per se.

"How did you get through the Wall?" Jojen demanded as Sam struggled to his feet.
"Does the well lead to an underground river, is that where you came from? You're not even wet . . ."

"There's a gate," said fat Sam. "A hidden gate, as old as the Wall itself. The Black Gate, he called it."

The Reeds exchanged a look. "We'll find this gate at the bottom of the well?" asked Jojen.
Sam shook his head.
"You won't. I have to take you."

"Why?" Meera demanded. "If there's a gate . . ."

"You won't find it. If you did it wouldn't open. Not for you. It's the Black Gate." Sam plucked at the faded black wool of his sleeve. "Only a man of the Night's Watch can open it, he said. A Sworn Brother who has said his words." Storm, Bran IV

2. NOTE: Coldhands told them a brother “who has said his words” can open the Gate. Not “sworn his vow.” Or “said his vow.” The words—the sound and the words themselves—spoken by the right person—have power. As Mojo argues, sound is an elemental power in the novels.

thelasthearth.freeforums.net/thread/206/magical-horns-elemental-magic

3. As kingmonkey points out, ttp://thelasthearth.freeforums.net/post/9603/thread
the section of the Night’s Watch Oath that Sam says at the Black Gate echoes “The Song of Amergin.”

4. According to Irish myths, “The Song of Amergin” was sung by Amergin (you saw that coming). Amergin sang to unite Ireland against the Faery clan—the Tuatha de Dannan. Another name for the Tuatha de Daanan? Sidhe.

“The Others are not dead. They are strange, beautiful… think, oh… the Sidhe made of ice, something like that… a different sort of life… inhuman, elegant, dangerous.” G.R. R. Martin

5. To do this, Amergin calls upon the power of the land, becoming all of the elements in one. He can thus unite Ireland, land, seas, and peoples, against their supernatural foes. And they drove back the Tuatha de Daanan.

Robert Graves did this relatively famous, loose translation.

Amergin, Bard of the Milesians, Lays Claim to the Land of Ireland.

I am a stag: of seven tines,

I am a flood: across a plain,

I am a wind: on a deep lake,

I am a tear: the Sun lets fall,

I am a hawk: above the cliff,

I am a thorn: beneath the nail,

I am a wonder: among flowers,

I am a wizard: who but I

Sets the cool head aflame with smoke?

I am a spear: that roars for blood,

I am a salmon: in a pool,

I am a lure: from paradise,

I am a hill: where poets walk,

I am a boar: ruthless and red,

I am a breaker: threatening doom,

I am a tide: that drags to death,

I am an infant: who but I

Peeps from the unhewn dolmen, arch?

I am the womb: of every holt,

I am the blaze: on every hill,

I am the queen: of every hive,

I am the shield: for every head,

I am the tomb: of every hope.

6. Note the similarities between the “Song of Amergin” and the words Sam says to get through the Black Gate.

I am the womb: of every holt,

I am the blaze: on every hill,

I am the queen: of every hive,

I am the shield: for every head,

I am the tomb: of every hope.

7. Like the “Song of Amergin,” this part of the oath is an invocation to the earth and peoples to be all in one. And Jon seems like he’s embracing a lot of it.

A. I am the sword in the darkness. Dawn

B. I am the watcher on the walls. Night’s Watch brother

C. I am the fire that burns against the cold, “The sword burned red in his fist.”

D. the light that brings the dawn, The Hour of the Wolf comes right before Dawn.
With a red blade in his fist. Bringing dawn with Dawn.

E. the shield that guards the realms of men. Jon sees himself mirrored in the Wall. (Dance, Jon X)
Serwyn of the Mirror Shield—one of the greatest heroes had a mirror shield. And the Wall only holds IF the Watch stays true. Thus, true Watchmen ARE the shield. The mirror shield—the Wall with faithful Watchmen.

PART II: What about the horn and the “sleepers?” That’s Jon’s job. With Ghost.

1. I missed one out: “the horn that wakes the sleepers.” Jon’s been dreaming of the precursor to “waking sleepers” for a while.

2. Jon tells Sam he’s been dreaming of the Winterfell crypts at least since he got to the Wall.

Jon shook his head. “No one. The castle is always empty.” He had never told anyone of the dream, and he did not understand why he was telling Sam now, yet somehow it felt good to talk of it. “Even the ravens are gone from the rookery, and the stables are full of bones. That always scares me. I start to run then, throwing open doors, climbing the tower three steps at a time, screaming for someone, for anyone. And then I find myself in front of the door to the crypts. It’s black inside, and I can see the steps spiraling down. Somehow I know I have to go down there, but I don’t want to. I’m afraid of what might be waiting for me. The old Kings of Winter are down there, sitting on their thrones with stone wolves at their feet and iron swords across their laps, but it’s not them I’m afraid of. I scream that I’m not a Stark, that this isn’t my place, but it’s no good, I have to go anyway, so I start down, feeling the walls as I descend, with no torch to light the way. It gets darker and darker, until I want to scream.” He stopped, frowning, embarrassed. “That’s when I always wake.” His skin cold and clammy, shivering in the darkness of his cell. Ghost would leap up beside him, his warmth as comforting as daybreak. He would go back to sleep with his face pressed into the direwolf’s shaggy white fur. “Do you dream of Horn Hill?” Jon asked. Game, Jon IV

3. After Jon takes the Night’s Watch oath at the weirwood, Ghost brings him the dead hand. Alerting Jon to the ensuing threat. Only after Ghost’s find, that night, Jon finally goes further in his recurring dream. He dreams of the dead kings—waking.

Last night he had dreamt the Winterfell dream again. He was wandering the empty castle, searching for his father, descending into the crypts. Only this time the dream had gone further than before. In the dark he’d heard the scrape of stone on stone. When he turned he saw that the vaults were opening, one after the other. As the dead kings came stumbling from their cold black graves, Jon had woken in pitch dark, his heart hammering. Even when Ghost leapt up on the bed to nuzzle at his face, he could not shake his deep sense of terror. He dared not go back to sleep. Instead he had climbed the Wall and walked, restless, until he saw the light of the dawn off to the east. It was only a dream. I am a brother of the Night’s Watch now, not a frightened boy. Game, Jon VII

4. Only after the threat of the undead begins does Jon finish his dream and wake the dead. There must be a reason for this. Who better to fight the undead wights than woken dead Starks?

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

Last Edit: May 25, 2016 15:52:11 GMT by SlyWren: Format fixing

All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. Oscar Wilde.

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A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 20, 2016 3:32:06 GMT voice, Lady Dyanna, and 2 more like this

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Post by SlyWren on Apr 20, 2016 3:32:06 GMT

PART III: Wait—how are dead kings “sleepers?” Old Celtic and Arthurian myths.

1. The idea of sleeping heroes waiting for a final battle shows up in many legends in many cultures.

2. I’ll stick with the Celtic and British since we’ve got a lot of Arthurian and Celtic imagery in the novels. The sleeping King under the Mountain, waiting with his sleeping retainers, to be woken at the right moment when needed. Guardians and warriors.
--Bran the Blessed: a sleeping guardian of Britain. So. . . just how many “Brans” are in those Winterfell crypts?
--Fionn mac Cumhaill (AKA Finn MacCool): sleeps in a cave or mountain surrounded by his warriors, the Fianna (named after him). You can tell he’s the king because he’s bigger—a giant. And when the Dord Fiann (horn) is sounded three times, Fionn and the Fianna will rise up, strong and healthy, and return to Ireland as heroes to fight for the land.
--King Arthur: said to have been taken to Avalon to sleep until needed by the people of Britain. Some legends say a herdsman stumbles on a cave where Arthur sleeps with Excalibur and his knights. Others say they find knights who wait for the Once and Future King’s return.

3. Winterfell—built on a hill. With the crypts beneath—Kings sleeping under the mountain.

The builders had not even leveled the earth; there were hills and valleys behind the walls of Winterfell. Game, Bran II

4. Now, look at the descriptions of the crypts—from the beginning of Game. Living figures.

He led the way between the pillars and Robert followed wordlessly, shivering in the subterranean chill. It was always cold down here. Their footsteps rang off the stones and echoed in the vault overhead as they walked among the dead of House Stark. The Lords of Winterfell watched them pass. Their likenesses were carved into the stones that sealed the tombs. In long rows they sat, blind eyes staring out into eternal darkness, while great stone direwolves curled round their feet. The shifting shadows made the stone figures seem to stir as the living passed by.

By ancient custom an iron longsword had been laid across the lap of each who had been Lord of Winterfell, to keep the vengeful spirits in their crypts. The oldest had long ago rusted away to nothing, leaving only a few red stains where the metal had rested on stone. Ned wondered if that meant those ghosts were free to roam the castle now. He hoped not. The first Lords of Winterfell had been men hard as the land they ruled. In the centuries before the Dragonlords came over the sea, they had sworn allegiance to no man, styling themselves the Kings in the North. Game, Eddard I

5. The “living dead” are reiterated in Jon’s dreams, Bran and Rickon’s seeing Ned in the crypts, Ned’s dream of Lyanna—we’re told repeatedly that these crypts and their dead are unique. And seem alive.

PART IV: Why would Jon wake the sleepers? Because he woke up first.

1. If Jon sees the Kings stumble out of their tombs, he must be the one to wake them, right? They wake in his presence. But in the dream, he just goes in. So why do they wake?

2. Because he is one of them: Shout out to Dark Sister 1001 for finding this quote:

The air smelled of paper and dust and years. Before him, tall wooden shelves rose up into dimness, crammed with leatherbound books and bins of ancient scrolls. A faint yellow glow filtered through the stacks from some hidden lamp. Jon blew out the taper he carried, preferring not to risk an open flame amidst so much old dry paper. Instead he followed the light, wending his way down the narrow aisles beneath barrel-vaulted ceilings. All in black, he was a shadow among shadows, dark of hair, long of face, grey of eye. Black moleskin gloves covered his hands; the right because it was burned, the left because a man felt half a fool wearing only one glove. Clash, Jon I

3. Jon looks as Stark as it gets—long of face and grey of eye. He has more of the North in him than his siblings. Long faced and solemn, like the faces in the Stark crypt. ALL in black—a shadow. Like the dead. Waiting and watching.

There were three tombs, side by side. Lord Rickard Stark, Ned's father, had a long, stern face. The stonemason had known him well. He sat with quiet dignity, stone fingers holding tight to the sword across his lap, but in life all swords had failed him. In two smaller sepulchres on either side were his children. Game, Eddard I

"They were the Kings in the North for thousands of years," Maester Luwin said, lifting the torch high so the light shone on the stone faces. Some were hairy and bearded, shaggy men fierce as the wolves that crouched by their feet. Others were shaved clean, their features gaunt and sharp-edged as the iron longswords across their laps. "Hard men for a hard time. Come." He strode briskly down the vault, past the procession of stone pillars and the endless carved figures. A tongue of flame trailed back from the upraised torch as he went. Game, Bran VII

4. After his pincushion impression at the end of Dance, Jon’s very likely to be the Stark who rose from his “sleep.” The one who woke. Who better to wake the sleepers than the one who woke first?

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

Last Edit: May 25, 2016 15:53:45 GMT by SlyWren: Formatting Stuff

All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. Oscar Wilde.

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A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 20, 2016 3:45:08 GMT voice, Lady Dyanna, and 2 more like this

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Post by SlyWren on Apr 20, 2016 3:45:08 GMT

PART V: A horn? Wolves don’t need no stinkin’ horn! They sing to wake living and dead.

1. So far, all of the “magical” horns we’ve seen are broken, burnt, or flat out evil.

2. In the “oath”—no one who speaks the words is actually a sword, or fire, or light, or a shield. These are attributes, things the speaker embodies and represents. Not literal description.

3. So how does this apply to Jon and Ghost? Direwolves call for each other, living and dead. They sing. And the Starks hear their call—the dead kings have direwolves at their feet. And the current Starks have/had living direwolves.

4. BIG shout out to wolfmaid7 and her essay, “Those Who Sing.” wolfmaid7 shows the importance of song in the novels. In this case, I’d argue that the wolves sing to wake and unite the other wolves.

5. Like war horns, wolves howl to each other to unite. And they call to the fallen. To wake them. Human and animal direwolves. Living and dead.

6. Specifically, Jon and the rest of his pack call the fallen Bran to wake.

"Bran," he said, "I'm sorry I didn't come before. I was afraid." He could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks. Jon no longer cared. "Don't die, Bran. Please. We're all waiting for you to wake up. Me and Robb and the girls, everyone …"
Lady Stark was watching. She had not raised a cry. Jon took that for acceptance. Outside the window, the direwolf howled again. The wolf that Bran had not had time to name. Game, Jon II

7. Bran knows Summer and Shaggy sing to the stars for a reason. They call for their pack mates—living and dead—they call for Lady’s Shade. Bran knows they are speaking a language.

He could not walk, nor climb nor hunt nor fight with a wooden sword as once he had, but he could still look. He liked to watch the windows begin to glow all over Winterfell as candles and hearth fires were lit behind the diamond-shaped panes of tower and hall, and he loved to listen to the direwolves sing to the stars.

Of late, he often dreamed of wolves. They are talking to me, brother to brother, he told himself when the direwolves howled. He could almost understand them . . . not quite, not truly, but almost . . . as if they were singing in a language he had once known and somehow forgotten. The Walders might be scared of them, but the Starks had wolf blood. Old Nan told him so. "Though it is stronger in some than in others," she warned.

Summer's howls were long and sad, full of grief and longing. Shaggydog's were more savage. Their voices echoed through the yards and halls until the castle rang and it seemed as though some great pack of direwolves haunted Winterfell, instead of only two . . . two where there had once been six. Do they miss their brothers and sisters too? Bran wondered. Are they calling to Grey Wind and Ghost, to Nymeria and Lady's Shade? Do they want them to come home and be a pack together? Clash, Bran I

8. Summer and Shaggydog howl to wake the sleepers when they hear Theon and his crew invading. (Shout out to pieceofgosa and @morrigansraven for finding this quote).

And he heard it again, clink and scrape. It brought him to his feet. His ears pricked and his tail rose. He howled, a long deep shivery cry, a howl to wake the sleepers, but the piles of man-rock were dark and dead. A still wet night, a night to drive men into their holes. The rain had stopped, but the men still hid from the damp, huddled by the fires in their caves of piled stone. Clash, Bran IV.

9. Do a search on asearchoficeandfire.com: the phrase “wake the sleepers” is used almost exclusively in the Night’s Watch oath. The only anomalies?
        Once with Summer’s trying to wake the Starks in Winterfell. (Clash, Bran IV)
        Once when Jon commands Kegs to blow a war horn to wake Watchmen (Storm, Jon IX).
        Once when “Alf of Runnymudd let out a howl loud enough to wake sleepers in the Shadow Tower” to mourn Garth’s death. (Dance, Melisandre I).

10. NOTE: only once does a horn “wake sleepers.” The other two: human howl and direwolf howl.

11. And horns at the Battle for the Wall sound like howls.

He stepped to the edge of the precipice. Careful, he reminded himself, it is a long way down. Red Alyn sounded his sentry's horn once more, Aaaaahoooooooooooooooooooooooooo, aaaaahoooooooooooooooooooo. And now the wildlings answered, not with one horn but with a dozen, and with drums and pipes as well. We are come, they seemed to say, we are come to break your Wall, to take your lands and steal your daughters. The wind howled, the trebuchets creaked and thumped, the barrels flew. Behind the giants and the mammoths, Jon saw men advancing on the Wall with bows and axes. Were there twenty or twenty thousand? In the dark there was no way to tell. This is a battle of blind men, but Mance has a few thousand more of them than we do. Storm, Jon VIII

PART VI: Why does wolf song matter? It’s a song of the earth. Of unity and life.

1. The only thing we know that the children of the forest taught any ancient figure was language. They taught Brandon the Builder. A song.

Their song and music was said to be as beautiful as they were, but what they sang of is not remembered save in small fragments handed down from ancient days. Maester Childer's Winter's Kings, or the Legends and Lineages of the Starks of Winterfell contains a part of a ballad alleged to tell of the time Brandon the Builder sought the aid of the children while raising the Wall. He was taken to a secret place to meet with them, but could not at first understand their speech, which was described as sounding like the song of stones in a brook, or the wind through leaves, or the rain upon the water. The manner in which Brandon learned to comprehend the speech of the children is a tale in itself, and not worth repeating here. But it seems clear that their speech originated, or drew inspiration from, the sounds they heard every day. World Book: Ancient History: The Dawn Age

2. It’s thanks to the children of the forest that the Last Hero united the Night’s Watch for the Battle for the Dawn. How? The texts don’t say yet.

3. BUT: the only specific thing we’re told the children did for humans was teach a language of unity with the earth. Seems reasonable that what they taught the Last Hero was a language or song—to unify and turn the tide.

How the Long Night came to an end is a matter of legend, as all such matters of the distant past have become. In the North, they tell of a last hero who sought out the intercession of the children of the forest, his companions abandoning him or dying one by one as they faced ravenous giants, cold servants, and the Others themselves. Alone he finally reached the children, despite the efforts of the white walkers, and all the tales agree this was a turning point. Thanks to the children, the first men of the Night's Watch banded together and were able to fight—and win—the Battle for the Dawn: the last battle that broke the endless winter and sent the Others fleeing to the icy north. Now, six thousand years later (or eight thousand as True History puts forward), the Wall made to defend the realms of men is still manned by the sworn brothers of the Night's Watch, and neither the Others nor the children have been seen in many centuries. World Book: - Ancient History: The Long Night

4. Robb instinctively knows Bran NEEDS to hear wolf song, though Catelyn can’t stand it. Robb’s a wolf—like Jon and Bran. He understands their call.

Outside the tower, a wolf began to howl. Catelyn trembled, just for a second.
"Bran's." Robb opened the window and let the night air into the stuffy tower room. The howling grew louder. It was a cold and lonely sound, full of melancholy and despair.
"Don't," she told him. "Bran needs to stay warm."
"He needs to hear them sing," Robb said. Somewhere out in Winterfell, a second wolf began to howl in chorus with the first. Then a third, closer. "Shaggydog and Grey Wind," Robb said as their voices rose and fell together. "You can tell them apart if you listen close." Game, Catelyn III

5. As wolfmaid7 implies, the song of the earth is key. The song sung by the children of the forest.

"The First Men named us children," the little woman said. "The giants called us woh dak nag gran, the squirrel people, because we were small and quick and fond of trees, but we are no squirrels, no children. Our name in the True Tongue means those who sing the song of earth. Before your Old Tongue was ever spoken, we had sung our songs ten thousand years." Dance, Bran II

"Someone else was in the raven," he told Lord Brynden, once he had returned to his own skin. "Some girl. I felt her."
"A woman, of those who sing the song of earth," his teacher said. "Long dead, yet a part of her remains, just as a part of you would remain in Summer if your boy's flesh were to die upon the morrow. A shadow on the soul. She will not harm you." Dance, Bran III

6. Just like the “Song of Amergin,” the children’s songs have power. Prompting the ravens to peck at Bran when they hear the earth’s song. The ravens connect with all who can hear the song.

"You will never walk again," the three-eyed crow had promised, "but you will fly." Sometimes the sound of song would drift up from someplace far below. The children of the forest, Old Nan would have called the singers, but those who sing the song of earth was their own name for themselves, in the True Tongue that no human man could speak. The ravens could speak it, though. Their small black eyes were full of secrets, and they would caw at him and peck his skin when they heard the songs. Dance, Bran III

7. NOTE: no human can speak the language of the children. The True Tongue. But a raven can. An animal. So. . . could a wolf speak it as well?

"Gone down into the earth," she answered. "Into the stones, into the trees. Before the First Men came all this land that you call Westeros was home to us, yet even in those days we were few. The gods gave us long lives but not great numbers, lest we overrun the world as deer will overrun a wood where there are no wolves to hunt them. That was in the dawn of days, when our sun was rising. Now it sinks, and this is our long dwindling. The giants are almost gone as well, they who were our bane and our brothers. The great lions of the western hills have been slain, the unicorns are all but gone, the mammoths down to a few hundred. The direwolves will outlast us all, but their time will come as well. In the world that men have made, there is no room for them, or us." Dance, Bran III

8. Leaf claims affinity with the other magical, ancient animals and people of Westeros. Sets the direwolves apart from men. So. . . seems like there’s a good chance the direwolves can speak the True Tongue as can the ravens, even though men can’t. Especially since Bran's soul can leave a shadow on the direwolf, just as the Singer's should leaves a shadow on the raven.

CONTINUED IN JUST ONE MORE POST

Last Edit: May 25, 2016 15:56:14 GMT by SlyWren

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A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 20, 2016 3:53:22 GMT voice, SlyWren, and 1 more like this

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Post by Wraith on Apr 20, 2016 3:53:22 GMT

SlyWren, speaking of uniting the people and creating one land made me think of this passage.

"Up and down," Meera would sigh sometimes as they walked, "then down and up. Then up and down again. I hate these stupid mountains of yours, Prince Bran."

"Yesterday you said you loved them."

"Oh, I do. My lord father told me about mountains, but I never saw one till now. I love them more than I can say."

Bran made a face at her. "But you just said you hated them."

"Why can't it be both?" Meera reached up to pinch his nose.

"Because they're different," he insisted. "Like night and day, or ice and fire."

"If ice can burn," said Jojen in his solemn voice, "then love and hate can mate. Mountain or marsh, it makes no matter. The land is one."

"One," his sister agreed, "but over wrinkled."

Darkstar will be the next Vulture King.

Craster has 19 daughters and there are 19 castles on the Wall, coincidence I think not!

Commander of the Salt Troopers of the First Order

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A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 20, 2016 3:53:31 GMT Lady Dyanna, sagenadia, and 1 more like this

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Post by SlyWren on Apr 20, 2016 3:53:31 GMT

PART VII: All Stark direwolves sing or howl. Except Ghost.

1. Stark direwolves sing to the dead or dying (Lady’s Shade). And all Stark direwolves are associated with singing:
        A. Shaggydog and Summer sing to the stars. Clash, Bran I
        B. Grey Wind sings with Shaggy and Summer while Bran is comatose. After Oxcross, Grey Wind is sung about as singing with stars as his eyes. (Clash, Catelyn IV)
        C. Jon thinks of Sansa, singing while brushing Lady’s coat. (Dance, Jon XIII) And if Sansa were any more associated with songs, the pages in the books themselves would start singing.
        D. Arya listens for wolves howling, not singing. But still—sound. Uniting a pack.

2. But Ghost has not sung. At all. Though Jon wonders if he will—and if the rest of the pack will unite in song with him.

It will be good to feel warm again, if only for a little while, he told himself while he hacked bare branches from the trunk of a dead tree. Ghost sat on his haunches watching, silent as ever. Will he howl for me when I'm dead, as Bran's wolf howled when he fell? Jon wondered. Will Shaggydog howl, far off in Winterfell, and Grey Wind and Nymeria, wherever they might be? Clash, Jon VIII

PART VIII: Ghost may not sing to the stars. But, like Summer, Shaggy, and Grey Wind, he’s drawn to the stars. And he brings Jon key information.

1. Like Shaggy, Summer, and Grey Wind, Ghost is associated closely with the stars, though he has yet to sing to them.

He found Ghost atop the hill, as he thought he might. The white wolf never howled, yet something drew him to the heights all the same, and he would squat there on his hindquarters, hot breath rising in a white mist as his red eyes drank the stars. Storm, Jon III

2. Ghost brings Jon the dead hand at nightfall. Then leads him to the future wights. Whose eyes will soon be like stars.

The hooded man lifted his pale moon face, and Jon slashed at it without hesitation. The sword laid the intruder open to the bone, taking off half his nose and opening a gash cheek to cheek under those eyes, eyes, eyes like blue stars burning. Jon knew that face. Othor, he thought, reeling back. Gods, he's dead, he's dead, I saw him dead. Game, Jon VII

3. On a star-filled night at the Fist, red-eyed Ghost returns to lead Jon to a dragonglass cache.

A sound rose out of the darkness, faint and distant, but unmistakable: the howling of wolves. Their voices rose and fell, a chilly song, and lonely. It made the hairs rise along the back of his neck. Across the fire, a pair of red eyes regarded him from the shadows. The light of the flames made them glow. (Clash, Jon IV)

4. After Jon escapes the Wildlings and returns to the Wall (by starlight), after Jon thinks how much he wants to return to Winterfell and raise a family, Ghost returns to him—by starlight. Storm, Jon XII

PART IX: Ghost teaches Jon unity with all people. Preparing him to fight the Others
.
1. The words of the Oath are about the unity of humanity. Jon sees, smells, and hears humans as a wolf does—not tribes. Not groups. Just people. And thus his to defend.

Gods of the wood, grant me the strength to do the same, Jon Snow prayed silently. Give me the wisdom to know what must be done and the courage to do it.

"I am the sword in the darkness," said the six, and it seemed to Jon as though their voices were changing, growing stronger, more certain. "I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men."

The shield that guards the realms of men. Ghost nuzzled up against his shoulder, and Jon draped an arm around him. He could smell Horse's unwashed breeches, the sweet scent Satin combed into his beard, the rank sharp smell of fear, the giant's overpowering musk. He could hear the beating of his own heart. When he looked across the grove at the woman with her child, the two greybeards, the Hornfoot man with his maimed feet, all he saw was men. Dance, Jon VII

2. Jon remembers this lesson and acts on it. Taking in the wildlings and returning to Winterfell. That’s the “oath”—a song/invocation of unity. To protect everyone. By uniting all. Like the “Song of Amergin.” Jon sees that now. Though the rest of the Watch doesn’t yet.

Marsh flushed a deeper shade of red. "The lord commander must pardon my bluntness, but I have no softer way to say this. What you propose is nothing less than treason. For eight thousand years the men of the Night's Watch have stood upon the Wall and fought these wildlings. Now you mean to let them pass, to shelter them in our castles, to feed them and clothe them and teach them how to fight. Lord Snow, must I remind you? You swore an oath."

"I know what I swore." Jon said the words. "I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. Were those the same words you said when you took your vows?"

"They were. As the lord commander knows."

"Are you certain that I have not forgotten some? The ones about the king and his laws, and how we must defend every foot of his land and cling to each ruined castle? How does that part go?" Jon waited for an answer. None came. "I am the shield that guards the realms of men. Those are the words. So tell me, my lord—what are these wildlings, if not men?" Dance, Jon XI

PART X: Rise and Sing!

1. Jon’s getting ready to rise. And return to Winterfell. To answer his call back to the crypts. The kings will stumble from their tombs. To answer the wolf’s call—a call to the living and the dead.

2. To answer Ghost’s song. He’s the only one yet to make his song. The only one who has not yet called for his pack mates. Living and ghostly.

3. “I am the horn that wakes the sleepers.” “You are your wolf and your wolf is you.” And the Song of the Earth has been forgotten—but direwolves remember. They, like the children, are the ancient races.

4. Ghost will sing the song. He and Jon will wake the sleepers. Uniting the living and the dead in the Battle for the Dawn against the supernatural and undead forces that threaten them all.

The Hour of the Wolf brings the Dawn. And wakes the sleepers to fight the Battle for the Dawn.

THE END

Last Edit: May 25, 2016 15:59:08 GMT by SlyWren: Formatting

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A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 20, 2016 4:12:21 GMT via Tapatalk SlyWren and sagenadia like this

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Post by voice on Apr 20, 2016 4:12:21 GMT

Apr 20, 2016 3:45:08 GMT SlyWren said:

2. In the “oath”—no one who speaks the words is actually a sword, or fire, or light, or a shield. These are attributes, things the speaker embodies and represents. Not literal description.

Holy shit SlyWren! I'm still reading but had to give you a deep bow. I've always interpreted ALL of these as archetypes... EXCEPT FOR THE HORN!!!

I've ALWAYS interpreted the horn literally.

Ho. Ly. Shit.

"I can see it. You have more of the north in you than your brothers."

voice Administrator Absolution Bastard Posts: 9,520 Mini-Profile Theme: Example 2 Staff Mini-Profile Theme: Example 3 voice inherit Absolution Bastard Male Administrator 6 0 1 Apr 24, 2020 19:16:11 GMT 14,511 voice 9,520 Nightmare Moon Jul 22, 2015 20:02:17 GMT July 2015 Twitter voice Example 2 Example 3	A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 20, 2016 4:18:08 GMT via Tapatalk Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by voice on Apr 20, 2016 4:18:08 GMT Apr 20, 2016 3:45:08 GMT SlyWren said: snip Okay. ...okay. ...I'm still reading, but I just have to mention that Ghost is silent...but...... ......mayhaps he's only silent to the living.
	"I can see it. You have more of the north in you than your brothers."

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A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 20, 2016 4:25:23 GMT

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Post by SlyWren on Apr 20, 2016 4:25:23 GMT

Apr 20, 2016 3:53:22 GMT Wraith said:

SlyWren, speaking of uniting the people and creating one land made me think of this passage.

Apr 20, 2016 3:53:22 GMT Wraith said:

"If ice can burn," said Jojen in his solemn voice, "then love and hate can mate. Mountain or marsh, it makes no matter. The land is one."

"One," his sister agreed, "but over wrinkled."

Well done!

I was afraid this was getting to long so I didn't let myself look for certain phrases. Didn't even think of this.

But you're right--Jojen brings up the land being one. And tomorrow, when I have more time (having takes FOREVER fixing that @#%&$! spoiler on Westeros), I should have a look.

Just how often IS that land spoken of as being one???

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A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 20, 2016 4:30:43 GMT voice likes this

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Post by SlyWren on Apr 20, 2016 4:30:43 GMT

Apr 20, 2016 4:12:21 GMT voice said:

Holy shit SlyWren! I'm still reading but had to give you a deep bow. I've always interpreted ALL of these as archetypes... EXCEPT FOR THE HORN!!!

I've ALWAYS interpreted the horn literally.

Ho. Ly. Shit.

Well, Martin gives us a bunch of horns, so it makes a lot of sense to look for one.

But Euron's dragon horn is pure evil. The horn Mance found is burned. Other horns are broken or not magical.

Then I thought of the wolves calling to each other and it clicked--the Starks ARE wolves. Dany's dragons sing to her. The Stark wolves. . . sing to them.

Then @morrigansraven and pieceofgosa found that quote about Summer howling to wake the sleepers and I knew I had a chance of being right.

Apr 20, 2016 4:18:08 GMT voice said:

Okay. ...okay. ...I'm still reading, but I just have to mention that Ghost is silent...but......

......mayhaps he's only silent to the living.

AHHHH!!! I thought I'd fixed that. There's supposed to be a line about WHY I think Ghost is silent when he does all of the other things Stark wolves do, including his affinity with the stars: I think he's waiting to sing to the ghosts.

Bran thinks Shaggy and Summer sing to Lady's Shade. But Lady doesn't rise.

But what if the weirwood direwolf named ghost sings to the memories of the dead? After his human rises from the dead--"you are your wolf and your wolf is you"--Ghost, like Jon, will have crossed the line between life and death. So, I'm thinking he can really call the sleepers.

Maybe.

And I have used up all my time and more.

Back to play on your new threads tomorrow,

Sleep well, one and all!

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A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 20, 2016 5:43:53 GMT SlyWren likes this

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Post by Wraith on Apr 20, 2016 5:43:53 GMT

Apr 20, 2016 4:25:23 GMT SlyWren said:

Apr 20, 2016 3:53:22 GMT Wraith said:

SlyWren, speaking of uniting the people and creating one land made me think of this passage.

Apr 20, 2016 3:53:22 GMT Wraith said:

"If ice can burn," said Jojen in his solemn voice, "then love and hate can mate. Mountain or marsh, it makes no matter. The land is one."

"One," his sister agreed, "but over wrinkled."

Well done!

I was afraid this was getting to long so I didn't let myself look for certain phrases. Didn't even think of this.

But you're right--Jojen brings up the land being one. And tomorrow, when I have more time (having takes FOREVER fixing that @#%&$! spoiler on Westeros), I should have a look.

Just how often IS that land spoken of as being one???

None that come to mind except that quote that I can think of.

Darkstar will be the next Vulture King.

Craster has 19 daughters and there are 19 castles on the Wall, coincidence I think not!

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Deleted Deleted Member Posts: 0 Deleted inherit guest@proboards.com 14 0 Apr 26, 2024 6:50:01 GMT Deleted 0 Apr 26, 2024 6:50:01 GMT January 1970 Deleted	A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 20, 2016 10:50:21 GMT via mobile voice, SlyWren, and 1 more like this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2016 10:50:21 GMT Nice!

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A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 20, 2016 13:48:39 GMT voice and sagenadia like this

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Post by SlyWren on Apr 20, 2016 13:48:39 GMT

Apr 20, 2016 5:43:53 GMT Wraith said:

None that come to mind except that quote that I can think of.

Okay--I got a chance to look.

The closest I could find was

After the biting cold of the ice cells, the crowded cellar was so hot that Jon felt suffocated from the moment he came down the steps. The air smelled of smoke and roasting meat and mulled wine. Axell Florent was making a toast as Jon took his place upon the dais. "To King Stannis and his wife, Queen Selyse, Light of the North!" Ser Axell bellowed. "To R'hllor, the Lord of Light, may he defend us all! One land, one god, one king!"

"One land, one god, one king!" the queen's men echoed. Dance, Jon X

But this is not about the land's being innately united, but about R'hllor's and Stannis' forcing the peoples in the land back into union.

Most of the time, people talk about owning their land, bestowing land, how land makes them personally powerful. Or wasting each other's land.

So, looks like Jojen is alone in being the Woody Guthrie of Westeros.

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A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 20, 2016 21:28:57 GMT SlyWren and sagenadia like this

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Post by voice on Apr 20, 2016 21:28:57 GMT

Apr 20, 2016 4:30:43 GMT SlyWren said:

Well, Martin gives us a bunch of horns, so it makes a lot of sense to look for one.

But Euron's dragon horn is pure evil. The horn Mance found is burned. Other horns are broken or not magical.

Then I thought of the wolves calling to each other and it clicked--the Starks ARE wolves. Dany's dragons sing to her. The Stark wolves. . . sing to them.

Then Morrigan and pieceofgosa found that quote about Summer howling to wake the sleepers and I knew I had a chance of being right.

I'm more than sold, SW. I'm hitting myself for never looking at it this way before. I mean, I'm literally ALWAYS looking at the oath figuratively. Even when I'm not. LOL

Jon is the sword, Jon is the light and fire (heat, Dawn, blah blah blah), Jon is shield.... yes yes yes... have thought and said much in that regard. I've even gone so far as to say the Wall represents Arthur Dayne! LOL

But for some reason, I've never really seen the "horn that wakes the sleepers" in a figurative way.

Never.

Always took that one single part of the oath literally. I think I may have cracked a few jokes over the years that, true to his oath, Jon was horny. But that's about as close as I got, which is lightyears away.

Apr 20, 2016 4:30:43 GMT SlyWren said:

AHHHH!!! I thought I'd fixed that. There's supposed to be a line about WHY I think Ghost is silent when he does all of the other things Stark wolves do, including his affinity with the stars: I think he's waiting to sing to the ghosts.

Bran thinks Shaggy and Summer sing to Lady's Shade. But Lady doesn't rise.

But what if the weirwood direwolf named ghost sings to the memories of the dead? After his human rises from the dead--"you are your wolf and your wolf is you"--Ghost, like Jon, will have crossed the line between life and death. So, I'm thinking he can really call the sleepers.

Maybe.

It only stood out to me because that's where my brain has been going too.

I can finally say more now that I've posted by long hypothesis.

Weirwood=Heart=Westeros
Westeros is a Heart in Conflict
Wall=Heart Wall, divides oxygenated blood from deoxygenated
Ghost=Silent Signals of the Heart
Jon+Ghost might be the heartbeat

Our hearts contain a tree with many branches, as do our lungs. These trees keep us alive. The Others have cut and burned themselves away from that process. Ghost Jon Not-A-Stark is the katharmos to end the miasma they created for the realms of men. A purified heartbeat.

In my mind, Martin has simply anthropomorphized natural phenomena, and made them magical. (Although, they really are quite magical even in real life.)

I think this is what makes Martin's tangled web of stories so realistic and relatable.

"I can see it. You have more of the north in you than your brothers."

sagenadia Theon Greyjoy Posts: 438 sagenadia inherit Other / Decline to State 49 0 Dec 3, 2021 3:24:02 GMT 936 sagenadia 438 Theon Greyjoy Sept 28, 2015 0:24:36 GMT September 2015 sagenadia861	A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 21, 2016 2:51:17 GMT via Tapatalk voice, SlyWren, and 1 more like this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by sagenadia on Apr 21, 2016 2:51:17 GMT Yes. Yes! and Yes!!!

sagenadia Theon Greyjoy Posts: 438 sagenadia inherit Other / Decline to State 49 0 Dec 3, 2021 3:24:02 GMT 936 sagenadia 438 Theon Greyjoy Sept 28, 2015 0:24:36 GMT September 2015 sagenadia861	A Horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Sleepers Apr 21, 2016 2:53:58 GMT via Tapatalk voice and SlyWren like this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by sagenadia on Apr 21, 2016 2:53:58 GMT Gonna have to whip out The White Goddess and delve...

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