Marriage Symbolism
We’ve seen a lot of different kinds of weddings now in the ASOIAF series. Many have remarked that the Hound cloaking Sansa and leaving his cloak during the Blackwater Battle constitutes a marriage and there are some excellent metas I’ve read showing how the whole scene is like a wedding and bedding ceremony. I think I’ve also seen people discuss how he was coming to steal her away like a wildling man would steal his bride. Has anyone noticed that the presence of fire also is a part of the marriage ceremony for those who follow R'hllor as we see when Alys Karstark marries Sigorn in A Dance With Dragons?
The girl smiled in a way that reminded Jon so much of his little sister that it almost broke his heart. “Let him be scared of me." The snowflakes were melting on her cheeks, but her hair was wrapped in a swirl of lace that Satin had found somewhere, and the snow had begun to collect there, giving her a frosty crown. Her cheeks were flushed and red, and her eyes sparkled.
"Winter’s lady.” Jon squeezed her hand.
The Magnar of Thenn stood waiting by the fire, clad as if for battle, in fur and leather and bronze scales, a bronze sword at his hip. His receding hair made him look older than his years, but as he turned to watch his bride approach, Jon could see the boy in him. His eyes were big as walnuts, though whether it was the fire, the priestess, or the woman that had put the fear in him John could not say. Alys was more right than she knew.
“Sigorn,” asked Melisandre, “will you share your fire with Alys, and warm her when the night is dark and full of terrors?”
“I swear me.” The Magnar’s promise was a white cloud in the air. Snow dappled his shoulders. His ears were red. “By the red god’s flames, I warm her all her days.”
“Alys, do you swear to share your fire with Sigorn, and warm him when the night is dark and full of terrors?”
“Till his blood is boiling." Her maiden’s cloak was the black wool of the Night’s Watch. The Karstark sunburst sewn on its back was made of the same white fur that lined it.
Melisandre’s eyes shone as bright a the ruby at her throat. Then come to me and be as one." As she beckoned, a wall of flames roared upward, licking at the snowflakes with hot orange tongues. Alys Karstark took her Magnar by the hand.
Side by side they leapt the ditch.
"Two went into the flames.” A gust of wind lifted the red woman’s scarlet skirts till she pressed them down again. “One emerges." Her coppery hair danced about her head. "What fire joins, none may put asunder.”
It may be a bit of stretch to compare this to the scene between the Hound and Sansa during Blackwater, but here we see the brutal Magnar of Thenn, dressed as for battle, nervously waiting for his bride (and he’s a little scared of the big fire), Alys Karstark, a distant Stark relative who reminds Jon of his little sister–admittedly he’s thinking of Arya, but Sansa is also a little sister. Jon even calls her Winter’s Lady. We see a precedent being set for a lady of the North marrying a Wildling without true titles, lands or sigil–they have to make one up for him.
I think it’s interesting that her maiden’s cloak is the black wool of the Nightwatch, when if we take Sansa and Sandor’s cloak exchange as significant, it is the white wool of the Kingsguard. There is a parallel there. The girl whom Jon expects to be frightened is surprisingly bold while the huge warrior is the one who expresses the most fear.
During the battle of Blackwater, it is the fire that drives Sandor from the battlefield and into Sansa’s chambers. The green fire is the only light in the room, and at one point, Sansa even describes the very air as burning with green fire. Also, that night was dark and full of terrors for both Sansa and Sandor, and he ran to her to save her and she gave him comfort.
I don’t know how strong a parallel it really is, but I do like to think that “what the fire joins, none may put asunder” could apply to Sansa and Sandor too and could be one more example of marriage symbolism in their scene.
