Lyanna Stark: A Gift from Old Gods
Mar 26, 2017 22:32:15 GMT
SlyWren, sagenadia, and 7 more like this
Post by voice on Mar 26, 2017 22:32:15 GMT
In asoiaf, weirwood influences seem far less widespread than they are in some of GRRM's other tales (see A Song for Lya or And Seven Times Never Kill Man!). In this series, weirwood influences are far more subtle, and far more selective.
Rather than inhabit/control the conscious minds of every sentient being in proximity, in Westeros a weirwood might only indirectly influence the subconscious. Direct weirwood-influence comes, in asoiaf, only after one with the gift weds the trees. And "one with the gift" is astoundingly rare:
- ADWD, Bran III
That provides us with some easy math.
Skinchanger:Population
1:1000
= 0.1% of men are skinchangers.
Greenseer:Skinchanger-Population
1:1000
= 0.1% of skinchangers are greenseers.
Thus, if we apply these proportions to how many men can be greenseers, we get:
Greenseer:Population
1:1,000,000
= 0.0001 % of men are greenseers.
That's one ten-thousandth of one percent of the population who are greenseers!
[side note: this ratio may mean that the population of Westeros is between 1 and 2 million people, as it currently yields between 1 and 2 greenseers]
So why did I do this math? In GRRM's other tales (listed above), such influence is far, far stronger. For example:
That is a far more potent ratio of influence than we see in asoiaf.
Except for one glaring exception....
We have a GINORMOUS concentration of this influence in the current generation of youngsters from Winterfell. According to GRRM, 6/6 are wargs, although their "amount of control varies widely".
Still, a 6/6 concentration of warghood ain't bad.
Of the six, at least one is a bona fide greenseer. Considering the scarcity of the gift that Bloodraven described, that's pretty damned impressive.
Considering only two Starks in the previous generation were even said to have had "the wolf-blood," this certainly seems to suggest something occurred in the current generation to increase this concentration.
Enter the wolf pups.
It seems as though 100% of the Kings of Winter were also wargs, unless people were lying when sculpting all those dead Starks with direwolves at their feet. As it happens, I don't think those stonemasons were lying... at least, not until 200 years ago.
So, crackpot alert, I'm thinking Starks once had a far greater concentration of weirwood influence than other First Men families. I have a hunch that their Godswood was always and ever inhabited by a Stark Greenseer. And, I think that this is what the "There must always be a Stark in Winterfell" mantra is all about.
To crack the pot further, I think Lyanna was the last Stark with the gift expressed in her blood, and, that it was incredibly strong. As in 1:1,000,000 kinda strong. (See A Song for Lya)
I don't think Lyanna lived long enough to take root beneath WF's godswood, but I do think she was able to send the kids those direwolf pups. (I believe the dead mother wolf in Bran I AGOT was hers... in spirit, if not in life.)
This is the reason she used her final breaths to get Ned's promise to bury her in Winterfell's crypts (which are under Winterfell's Godswood and Heart Tree).
And, just to make sure this pot is thoroughly pounded back into clay, I believe it is Lyanna's consciousness that is beckoning Jon deeper and deeper into crypts in his dreams...
Not Ned. Not the weirnet. Not the Others. Not the cotf... It's his mom.
Lyanna sent her bastard the Ghost pup, because Jon is the Weirwood Ghost.
I have offered the alternative crackpot before that Lyanna is, like Bloodraven, residing in the roots of WF's heart tree... but I don't want to see her like that, and I don't think any of you want to either.
TL;DR: So, I've whittled this theory down to the essentials:
1. Lyanna's consciousness connected to Winterfell's heart tree as its roots reached her crypt, as it had always reached all Starks.
2. The mother direwolf in Bran I AGOT was Lyanna's, and she sent it to reactivate A Gift from the Old Gods. (Ghost is the proof.)
3. This reactivated the gift in its entirety for the entire current generation of youngsters who carry the blood of Winterfell. (One might even be able to make a case for Theon also being influenced by this gift, but I'll save that for another day.)
And, this explains why they exhibit A Gift from Old Gods so completely and absolutely, while, for the rest of Westeros, the gift emerges in but 0.1% to 0.001% of the population (in Essos, I would argue the ratio of the population bearing A Gift from the Old Gods is zero percent).
Thanks for reading! I look forward to the conversation!
Rather than inhabit/control the conscious minds of every sentient being in proximity, in Westeros a weirwood might only indirectly influence the subconscious. Direct weirwood-influence comes, in asoiaf, only after one with the gift weds the trees. And "one with the gift" is astoundingly rare:
"Only one man in a thousand is born a skinchanger," Lord Brynden said one day, after Bran had learned to fly, "and only one skinchanger in a thousand can be a greenseer."
That provides us with some easy math.
Skinchanger:Population
1:1000
= 0.1% of men are skinchangers.
Greenseer:Skinchanger-Population
1:1000
= 0.1% of skinchangers are greenseers.
Thus, if we apply these proportions to how many men can be greenseers, we get:
Greenseer:Population
1:1,000,000
= 0.0001 % of men are greenseers.
That's one ten-thousandth of one percent of the population who are greenseers!
[side note: this ratio may mean that the population of Westeros is between 1 and 2 million people, as it currently yields between 1 and 2 greenseers]
So why did I do this math? In GRRM's other tales (listed above), such influence is far, far stronger. For example:
In ASTNKM, every clan has its "Talker" and every clan numbers 20-30, half of which are adults and half of which are children. Even if we include the children, that means 3.33% to 5% of Jaenshi are "Talkers".
In A Song for Lya, the influence is quite complete and absolute:
If you've not read A Song for Lya, and do not understand the terms and phrases, I'll translate:
Greeshka = Weirwood.
Shkeen = cotf.
Final Union = Bloodraven's current state of being.
In A Song for Lya, the influence is quite complete and absolute:
"The Greeshka takes everyone. And they go willingly. Like lemmings they march off to the caves to be eaten alive by those parasites. Every Shkeen is Joined at forty, and goes to Final Union before he's fifty."
If you've not read A Song for Lya, and do not understand the terms and phrases, I'll translate:
Greeshka = Weirwood.
Shkeen = cotf.
Final Union = Bloodraven's current state of being.
That is a far more potent ratio of influence than we see in asoiaf.
Except for one glaring exception....
We have a GINORMOUS concentration of this influence in the current generation of youngsters from Winterfell. According to GRRM, 6/6 are wargs, although their "amount of control varies widely".
Still, a 6/6 concentration of warghood ain't bad.
Of the six, at least one is a bona fide greenseer. Considering the scarcity of the gift that Bloodraven described, that's pretty damned impressive.
Considering only two Starks in the previous generation were even said to have had "the wolf-blood," this certainly seems to suggest something occurred in the current generation to increase this concentration.
Enter the wolf pups.
It seems as though 100% of the Kings of Winter were also wargs, unless people were lying when sculpting all those dead Starks with direwolves at their feet. As it happens, I don't think those stonemasons were lying... at least, not until 200 years ago.
So, crackpot alert, I'm thinking Starks once had a far greater concentration of weirwood influence than other First Men families. I have a hunch that their Godswood was always and ever inhabited by a Stark Greenseer. And, I think that this is what the "There must always be a Stark in Winterfell" mantra is all about.
To crack the pot further, I think Lyanna was the last Stark with the gift expressed in her blood, and, that it was incredibly strong. As in 1:1,000,000 kinda strong. (See A Song for Lya)
I don't think Lyanna lived long enough to take root beneath WF's godswood, but I do think she was able to send the kids those direwolf pups. (I believe the dead mother wolf in Bran I AGOT was hers... in spirit, if not in life.)
This is the reason she used her final breaths to get Ned's promise to bury her in Winterfell's crypts (which are under Winterfell's Godswood and Heart Tree).
And, just to make sure this pot is thoroughly pounded back into clay, I believe it is Lyanna's consciousness that is beckoning Jon deeper and deeper into crypts in his dreams...
Not Ned. Not the weirnet. Not the Others. Not the cotf... It's his mom.
Lyanna sent her bastard the Ghost pup, because Jon is the Weirwood Ghost.
I have offered the alternative crackpot before that Lyanna is, like Bloodraven, residing in the roots of WF's heart tree... but I don't want to see her like that, and I don't think any of you want to either.
TL;DR: So, I've whittled this theory down to the essentials:
1. Lyanna's consciousness connected to Winterfell's heart tree as its roots reached her crypt, as it had always reached all Starks.
2. The mother direwolf in Bran I AGOT was Lyanna's, and she sent it to reactivate A Gift from the Old Gods. (Ghost is the proof.)
3. This reactivated the gift in its entirety for the entire current generation of youngsters who carry the blood of Winterfell. (One might even be able to make a case for Theon also being influenced by this gift, but I'll save that for another day.)
And, this explains why they exhibit A Gift from Old Gods so completely and absolutely, while, for the rest of Westeros, the gift emerges in but 0.1% to 0.001% of the population (in Essos, I would argue the ratio of the population bearing A Gift from the Old Gods is zero percent).
Thanks for reading! I look forward to the conversation!