Post by lynn on Nov 24, 2017 16:31:49 GMT
This is the first of the unnamed chapters that I've been re-reading with a view to understanding what Martin means by method in his madness for so naming these chapters.
Is this about transformation, identity, something else? The first unnamed character is given from the POV of a prophet. This is Aeron Greyjoy and we meet him after his transformation from a drunken fool, into a drowned man, resurrected as a prophet.
The definition of prophet:
www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/prophet/
This definition certainly fits the office that the Damphair occupies. We are also told that the Greyjoys are mad:
If there is method to madness, what is the method?
To Martin there is a certain logic that may seem scattered or disorganized; madness has a rational purpose. His method is organic with offshoots and connective tissue presented in different POV's.
I have wondered if Martin uses madness in characters to reveal truths that are easily overlooked because the actions or words of the character make little sense or seem like nonsense. When we first meet the Prophet, he is drowning men, a crazy thing to do. Those who survive the resurrection become his priest/warriors. Is this really a custom of the Ironborn or some ritual that began with Aeron Greyjoy's own resurrection?
Aeron is one of the few characters who were drowned in the (salt) water and spontaneously brought back to life. These include: Patchface, Davos, Tyrion and Samwell.
Contrast Patchface's ditty with Aeron's appearnce:
Aeron dresses himself in the fashion of the Grey King:
Patchface gives another connection between the grey king and the prophet:
Starfish feed on bivalves and Aeron breaks his fast on a broth of clams. Under the sea, the mermen feast at a table in the shape of a starfish:
Starfish are also known as seastars, a class of asteroideans. I'm curious about what this might say about Shierra Seastar since seastars are mostly hidden underwater.
If the Grey King wed a mermaid is there a connection to House Manderly? The missing tapestries echoed in the halls of White Harbor:
Does the kraken and the leviathan locked in battle also tell something of the story of the Grey King? Did the kraken take a mermaid wife as his prize?
A battered cog racing before a storm, her sails in rags calls up images of Tyrion on the Stinky Steward attempting to outrun the Bar Sinister and while Aeron fills his mouth with salt water; Tyrion's mouth is filled with blood.
This brings to mind Tyrion's potential as a seer; someone who has not yet been transformed from drunkeness to prophet. The fountain of the drunken god and the root meaning of prophet: to bubble forth, as from a fountain.
Aeron says some curious things:
A Feast for Crows - The Prophet
The sound came softly, the scream of a rusted hinge. "Urri," he muttered, and woke, fearful. There is no hinge here, no door, no Urri.
A Feast for Crows - The Prophet
In the end the Golden Storm went down off Fair Isle during Balon's first rebellion, cut in half by a towering war galley called Fury when Stannis Baratheon caught Victarion in his trap and smashed the Iron Fleet. Yet the god was not done with Aeron, and carried him to shore. Some fishermen took him captive and marched him down to Lannisport in chains, and he spent the rest of the war in the bowels of Casterly Rock, proving that krakens can piss farther and longer than lions, boars, or chickens.
That man is dead. Aeron had drowned and been reborn from the sea, the god's own prophet. No mortal man could frighten him, no more than the darkness could . . . nor memories, the bones of the soul. The sound of a door opening, the scream of a rusted iron hinge. Euron has come again. It did not matter. He was the Damphair priest, beloved of the god.The hinge and the door is first encountered in the dungeons of Casterly Rock but always in association with Euron, his abuser. But I'm reminded that the Wall is one of the hinges of the world and the Black Gate is it's door. A screaming door to what? Is Aaron disassociated from his own screams or does he hear something else? He says that no mortal man can frighten him but is Euron a mortal man?
“He was asked about how some chapters had titles instead of names. He said something along the lines of "There's a method behind my madness, but I'll leave it to you guys to figure out." He said that when an unnamed character becomes named, it means something. Are there any theories about this?”
The definition of prophet:
(Heb. nabi, from a root meaning "to bubble forth, as from a fountain," hence "to utter", Compare Psalms 45:1 ). This Hebrew word is the first and the most generally used for a prophet. In the time of Samuel another word, ro'eh , "seer", began to be used ( 1 Samuel 9:9 ). It occurs seven times in reference to Samuel. Afterwards another word, hozeh , "seer" ( 2 Samuel 24:11 ), was employed. In 1 Chronicles 29:29 all these three words are used: "Samuel the seer (ro'eh), Nathan the prophet (nabi'), Gad the seer" (hozeh). In Josh 13:22Balaam is called (Heb.) a kosem "diviner," a word used only of a false prophet.
The "prophet" proclaimed the message given to him, as the "seer" beheld the vision of God. (See Numbers 12:6 Numbers 12:8 .) Thus a prophet was a spokesman for God; he spake in God's name and by his authority ( Exodus 7:1 ). He is the mouth by which God speaks to men ( Jeremiah 1:9 ; Isaiah 51:16 ), and hence what the prophet says is not of man but of God ( 2 Peter 1:20 2 Peter 1:21 ; Compare Hebrews 3:7 ; Acts 4:25 ; 28:25 ). Prophets were the immediate organs of God for the communication of his mind and will to men ( Deuteronomy 18:18 Deuteronomy 18:19 ). The whole Word of God may in this general sense be spoken of as prophetic, inasmuch as it was written by men who received the revelation they communicated from God, no matter what its nature might be. The foretelling of future events was not a necessary but only an incidental part of the prophetic office. The great task assigned to the prophets whom God raised up among the people was "to correct moral and religious abuses, to proclaim the great moral and religious truths which are connected with the character of God, and which lie at the foundation of his government."
The "prophet" proclaimed the message given to him, as the "seer" beheld the vision of God. (See Numbers 12:6 Numbers 12:8 .) Thus a prophet was a spokesman for God; he spake in God's name and by his authority ( Exodus 7:1 ). He is the mouth by which God speaks to men ( Jeremiah 1:9 ; Isaiah 51:16 ), and hence what the prophet says is not of man but of God ( 2 Peter 1:20 2 Peter 1:21 ; Compare Hebrews 3:7 ; Acts 4:25 ; 28:25 ). Prophets were the immediate organs of God for the communication of his mind and will to men ( Deuteronomy 18:18 Deuteronomy 18:19 ). The whole Word of God may in this general sense be spoken of as prophetic, inasmuch as it was written by men who received the revelation they communicated from God, no matter what its nature might be. The foretelling of future events was not a necessary but only an incidental part of the prophetic office. The great task assigned to the prophets whom God raised up among the people was "to correct moral and religious abuses, to proclaim the great moral and religious truths which are connected with the character of God, and which lie at the foundation of his government."
This definition certainly fits the office that the Damphair occupies. We are also told that the Greyjoys are mad:
A Feast for Crows - The Reaver
"The ironborn shall be waves," the Damphair said. "Not the great and lordly, but the simple folk, tillers of the soil and fishers of the sea. The captains and the kings raised Euron up, but the common folk shall tear him down. I shall go to Great Wyk, to Harlaw, to Orkmont, to Pyke itself. In every town and village shall my words be heard. No godless man may sit the Seastone Chair!" He shook his shaggy head and stalked back out into the night. When the sun came up the next day, Aeron Greyjoy had vanished from Old Wyk. Even his drowned men knew not where. They said the Crow's Eye only laughed when he was told.
But though the priest was gone, his dire warnings lingered. Victarion found himself remembering Baelor Blacktyde's words as well. "Balon was mad, Aeron is madder, and Euron is maddest of them all." The young lord had tried to sail home after the kingsmoot, refusing to accept Euron as his liege. But the Iron Fleet had closed the bay, the habit of obedience was rooted deep in Victarion Greyjoy, and Euron wore the driftwood crown. Nightflyer was seized, Lord Blacktyde delivered to the king in chains. Euron's mutes and mongrels had cut him into seven parts, to feed the seven green land gods he worshiped.
"The ironborn shall be waves," the Damphair said. "Not the great and lordly, but the simple folk, tillers of the soil and fishers of the sea. The captains and the kings raised Euron up, but the common folk shall tear him down. I shall go to Great Wyk, to Harlaw, to Orkmont, to Pyke itself. In every town and village shall my words be heard. No godless man may sit the Seastone Chair!" He shook his shaggy head and stalked back out into the night. When the sun came up the next day, Aeron Greyjoy had vanished from Old Wyk. Even his drowned men knew not where. They said the Crow's Eye only laughed when he was told.
But though the priest was gone, his dire warnings lingered. Victarion found himself remembering Baelor Blacktyde's words as well. "Balon was mad, Aeron is madder, and Euron is maddest of them all." The young lord had tried to sail home after the kingsmoot, refusing to accept Euron as his liege. But the Iron Fleet had closed the bay, the habit of obedience was rooted deep in Victarion Greyjoy, and Euron wore the driftwood crown. Nightflyer was seized, Lord Blacktyde delivered to the king in chains. Euron's mutes and mongrels had cut him into seven parts, to feed the seven green land gods he worshiped.
method in madness
(a) method in (one's) madness
A specific, rational purpose in what one is doing or planning, even though it may appear crazy or absurd to another person. Usually used in the phrase "have/there is (a) method in (one's) madness." You may have method in your madness, but these radical changes to the business could still prove catastrophic. I know you don't understand my motivation for this decision, but after the dust settles you'll see that there is a method in my madness.
method in (one's) madness
A specific, rational purpose in what one is doing or planning, even though it may seem crazy or absurd to another person. Originated in Shakespeare's Hamlet: "Though this be madness, yet there is method in it." He may seem scattered and disorganized, but I guarantee there's a method in his madness.
*method in one's madness
Fig. a purpose in what one is doing, even though it seems to be crazy. (*Typically: be ~; have ~.) What I'm doing may look strange, but there is method in my madness. Wait until she finishes; then you'll see that she has method in her madness.
(a) method in (one's) madness
A specific, rational purpose in what one is doing or planning, even though it may appear crazy or absurd to another person. Usually used in the phrase "have/there is (a) method in (one's) madness." You may have method in your madness, but these radical changes to the business could still prove catastrophic. I know you don't understand my motivation for this decision, but after the dust settles you'll see that there is a method in my madness.
method in (one's) madness
A specific, rational purpose in what one is doing or planning, even though it may seem crazy or absurd to another person. Originated in Shakespeare's Hamlet: "Though this be madness, yet there is method in it." He may seem scattered and disorganized, but I guarantee there's a method in his madness.
*method in one's madness
Fig. a purpose in what one is doing, even though it seems to be crazy. (*Typically: be ~; have ~.) What I'm doing may look strange, but there is method in my madness. Wait until she finishes; then you'll see that she has method in her madness.
I have wondered if Martin uses madness in characters to reveal truths that are easily overlooked because the actions or words of the character make little sense or seem like nonsense. When we first meet the Prophet, he is drowning men, a crazy thing to do. Those who survive the resurrection become his priest/warriors. Is this really a custom of the Ironborn or some ritual that began with Aeron Greyjoy's own resurrection?
Aeron is one of the few characters who were drowned in the (salt) water and spontaneously brought back to life. These include: Patchface, Davos, Tyrion and Samwell.
Contrast Patchface's ditty with Aeron's appearnce:
A Clash of Kings - Prologue
"In time," Cressen replied. "If the gods are good, they will grant us a warm autumn and bountiful harvests, so we might prepare for the winter to come." The smallfolk said that a long summer meant an even longer winter, but the maester saw no reason to frighten the child with such tales.
Patchface rang his bells. "It is always summer under the sea," he intoned. "The merwives wear nennymoans in their hair and weave gowns of silver seaweed. I know, I know, oh, oh, oh."
"In time," Cressen replied. "If the gods are good, they will grant us a warm autumn and bountiful harvests, so we might prepare for the winter to come." The smallfolk said that a long summer meant an even longer winter, but the maester saw no reason to frighten the child with such tales.
Patchface rang his bells. "It is always summer under the sea," he intoned. "The merwives wear nennymoans in their hair and weave gowns of silver seaweed. I know, I know, oh, oh, oh."
A Feast for Crows - The Prophet
He growled a brusque command, and his drowned men seized the dead boy by his arms and legs to carry him above the tideline. The priest followed, naked but for a sealskin clout that covered his private parts. Goosefleshed and dripping, he splashed back onto land, across cold wet sand and sea-scoured pebbles. One of his drowned men handed him a robe of heavy roughspun dyed in mottled greens and blues and greys, the colors of the sea and the Drowned God. Aeron donned the robe and pulled his hair free. Black and wet, that hair; no blade had touched it since the sea had raised him up. It draped his shoulders like a ragged, ropy cloak, and fell down past his waist. Aeron wove strands of seaweed through it, and through his tangled, uncut beard.
He growled a brusque command, and his drowned men seized the dead boy by his arms and legs to carry him above the tideline. The priest followed, naked but for a sealskin clout that covered his private parts. Goosefleshed and dripping, he splashed back onto land, across cold wet sand and sea-scoured pebbles. One of his drowned men handed him a robe of heavy roughspun dyed in mottled greens and blues and greys, the colors of the sea and the Drowned God. Aeron donned the robe and pulled his hair free. Black and wet, that hair; no blade had touched it since the sea had raised him up. It draped his shoulders like a ragged, ropy cloak, and fell down past his waist. Aeron wove strands of seaweed through it, and through his tangled, uncut beard.
A Feast for Crows - The Drowned Man
On the crown of the hill four-and-forty monstrous stone ribs rose from the earth like the trunks of great pale trees. The sight made Aeron's heart beat faster. Nagga had been the first sea dragon, the mightiest ever to rise from the waves. She fed on krakens and leviathans and drowned whole islands in her wrath, yet the Grey King had slain her and the Drowned God had changed her bones to stone so that men might never cease to wonder at the courage of the first of kings. Nagga's ribs became the beams and pillars of his longhall, just as her jaws became his throne. For a thousand years and seven he reigned here, Aeron recalled. Here he took his mermaid wife and planned his wars against the Storm God. From here he ruled both stone and salt, wearing robes of woven seaweed and a tall pale crown made from Nagga's teeth.
On the crown of the hill four-and-forty monstrous stone ribs rose from the earth like the trunks of great pale trees. The sight made Aeron's heart beat faster. Nagga had been the first sea dragon, the mightiest ever to rise from the waves. She fed on krakens and leviathans and drowned whole islands in her wrath, yet the Grey King had slain her and the Drowned God had changed her bones to stone so that men might never cease to wonder at the courage of the first of kings. Nagga's ribs became the beams and pillars of his longhall, just as her jaws became his throne. For a thousand years and seven he reigned here, Aeron recalled. Here he took his mermaid wife and planned his wars against the Storm God. From here he ruled both stone and salt, wearing robes of woven seaweed and a tall pale crown made from Nagga's teeth.
A Feast for Crows - The Prophet
When he woke the day was bright and windy. Aeron broke his fast on a broth of clams and seaweed cooked above a driftwood fire. No sooner had he finished than the Merlyn descended from his towerhouse with half a dozen guards to seek him out. "The king is dead," the Damphair told him.
When he woke the day was bright and windy. Aeron broke his fast on a broth of clams and seaweed cooked above a driftwood fire. No sooner had he finished than the Merlyn descended from his towerhouse with half a dozen guards to seek him out. "The king is dead," the Damphair told him.
A Dance with Dragons - Jon X
Ser Malegorn offered his arm, and Queen Selyse took it stiffly. Her other hand settled on her daughter's shoulder. The royal ducklings fell in behind them as they made their way across the yard, marching to the music of the bells on the fool's hat. "Under the sea the mermen feast on starfish soup, and all the serving men are crabs," Patchface proclaimed as they went. "I know, I know, oh, oh, oh."
Ser Malegorn offered his arm, and Queen Selyse took it stiffly. Her other hand settled on her daughter's shoulder. The royal ducklings fell in behind them as they made their way across the yard, marching to the music of the bells on the fool's hat. "Under the sea the mermen feast on starfish soup, and all the serving men are crabs," Patchface proclaimed as they went. "I know, I know, oh, oh, oh."
Starfish feed on bivalves and Aeron breaks his fast on a broth of clams. Under the sea, the mermen feast at a table in the shape of a starfish:
A Feast for Crows - The Drowned Man
But that was in the dawn of days, when mighty men still dwelt on earth and sea. The hall had been warmed by Nagga's living fire, which the Grey King had made his thrall. On its walls hung tapestries woven from silver seaweed most pleasing to the eyes. The Grey King's warriors had feasted on the bounty of the sea at a table in the shape of a great starfish, whilst seated upon thrones carved from mother-of-pearl. Gone, all the glory gone. Men were smaller now. Their lives had grown short. The Storm God drowned Nagga's fire after the Grey King's death, the chairs and tapestries had been stolen, the roof and walls had rotted away. Even the Grey King's great throne of fangs had been swallowed by the sea. Only Nagga's bones endured to remind the ironborn of all the wonder that had been.
But that was in the dawn of days, when mighty men still dwelt on earth and sea. The hall had been warmed by Nagga's living fire, which the Grey King had made his thrall. On its walls hung tapestries woven from silver seaweed most pleasing to the eyes. The Grey King's warriors had feasted on the bounty of the sea at a table in the shape of a great starfish, whilst seated upon thrones carved from mother-of-pearl. Gone, all the glory gone. Men were smaller now. Their lives had grown short. The Storm God drowned Nagga's fire after the Grey King's death, the chairs and tapestries had been stolen, the roof and walls had rotted away. Even the Grey King's great throne of fangs had been swallowed by the sea. Only Nagga's bones endured to remind the ironborn of all the wonder that had been.
If the Grey King wed a mermaid is there a connection to House Manderly? The missing tapestries echoed in the halls of White Harbor:
A Dance with Dragons - Davos III
Lord Manderly's household guard wore cloaks of blue-green wool and carried silver tridents in place of common spears. One went before him, one behind, and one to either side. They walked past the faded banners, broken shields, and rusted swords of a hundred ancient victories, and a score of wooden figures, cracked and worm-riddled, that could only have adorned the prows of ships.
Two marble mermen flanked his lordship's court, Fishfoot's smaller cousins. As the guards threw open the doors, a herald slammed the butt of his staff against an old plank floor. "Ser Davos of House Seaworth," he called in a ringing voice.
As many times as he had visited White Harbor, Davos had never set foot inside the New Castle, much less the Merman's Court. Its walls and floor and ceiling were made of wooden planks notched cunningly together and decorated with all the creatures of the sea. As they approached the dais, Davos trod on painted crabs and clams and starfish, half-hidden amongst twisting black fronds of seaweed and the bones of drowned sailors. On the walls to either side, pale sharks prowled painted blue-green depths, whilst eels and octopods slithered amongst rocks and sunken ships. Shoals of herring and great codfish swam between the tall arched windows. Higher up, near where the old fishing nets drooped down from the rafters, the surface of the sea had been depicted. To his right a war galley stroked serene against the rising sun; to his left, a battered old cog raced before a storm, her sails in rags. Behind the dais a kraken and grey leviathan were locked in battle beneath the painted waves.
Lord Manderly's household guard wore cloaks of blue-green wool and carried silver tridents in place of common spears. One went before him, one behind, and one to either side. They walked past the faded banners, broken shields, and rusted swords of a hundred ancient victories, and a score of wooden figures, cracked and worm-riddled, that could only have adorned the prows of ships.
Two marble mermen flanked his lordship's court, Fishfoot's smaller cousins. As the guards threw open the doors, a herald slammed the butt of his staff against an old plank floor. "Ser Davos of House Seaworth," he called in a ringing voice.
As many times as he had visited White Harbor, Davos had never set foot inside the New Castle, much less the Merman's Court. Its walls and floor and ceiling were made of wooden planks notched cunningly together and decorated with all the creatures of the sea. As they approached the dais, Davos trod on painted crabs and clams and starfish, half-hidden amongst twisting black fronds of seaweed and the bones of drowned sailors. On the walls to either side, pale sharks prowled painted blue-green depths, whilst eels and octopods slithered amongst rocks and sunken ships. Shoals of herring and great codfish swam between the tall arched windows. Higher up, near where the old fishing nets drooped down from the rafters, the surface of the sea had been depicted. To his right a war galley stroked serene against the rising sun; to his left, a battered old cog raced before a storm, her sails in rags. Behind the dais a kraken and grey leviathan were locked in battle beneath the painted waves.
A battered cog racing before a storm, her sails in rags calls up images of Tyrion on the Stinky Steward attempting to outrun the Bar Sinister and while Aeron fills his mouth with salt water; Tyrion's mouth is filled with blood.
This brings to mind Tyrion's potential as a seer; someone who has not yet been transformed from drunkeness to prophet. The fountain of the drunken god and the root meaning of prophet: to bubble forth, as from a fountain.
Aeron says some curious things:
A Feast for Crows - The Prophet
The sound came softly, the scream of a rusted hinge. "Urri," he muttered, and woke, fearful. There is no hinge here, no door, no Urri.
A Feast for Crows - The Prophet
In the end the Golden Storm went down off Fair Isle during Balon's first rebellion, cut in half by a towering war galley called Fury when Stannis Baratheon caught Victarion in his trap and smashed the Iron Fleet. Yet the god was not done with Aeron, and carried him to shore. Some fishermen took him captive and marched him down to Lannisport in chains, and he spent the rest of the war in the bowels of Casterly Rock, proving that krakens can piss farther and longer than lions, boars, or chickens.
That man is dead. Aeron had drowned and been reborn from the sea, the god's own prophet. No mortal man could frighten him, no more than the darkness could . . . nor memories, the bones of the soul. The sound of a door opening, the scream of a rusted iron hinge. Euron has come again. It did not matter. He was the Damphair priest, beloved of the god.
