How sweet is sweetness really?
“A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness “ Prove for Jon and Dany’s epic romance. Because Grrm himself also had Lyanna say “Love is a sweet thing Dear Ned”. I mean, not really. The actual quote is "Love is sweet, dearest Ned.” and the complete quote actually is "Love is sweet, dearest Ned, but it cannot change a man's nature." but I’m sure that omission wasn’t done on purpose. But it got me thinking and I decided to also look up some quotes by Grrm, not from a completely unrelated POV but by looking at Dany’s chapters herself. At all the times that sweet smells or tastes show up in her chapter (since a flower filling the air with sweetness is mostly connected to that specific sensory meaning of “sweetness” instead of the more metaphorical ones), in what context they occur and with what they are associated with.
To get some “data” out of this, I’ll give points everytime a sweet smell or taste shows up: -2 if it is has explicit negative associations, -1 if it is rather negative and/or not directly related to a specific occurence, 0 if it’s neutral, ambiguous or negligible, +1 if it is rather positive and +2 if is definitely positive. Since these things are often open to interpretation I’ll keep two scores: the forgiving one and the merciless one when I think it isn’t clear. Don’t take it too seriously though, this is mostly meant to portray a certain pattern when it comes to this.
Let’s dive into this, shall we?
She remembered Ser Willem dimly, a great grey bear of a man, half-blind, roaring and bellowing orders from his sickbed. The servants had lived in terror of him, but he had always been kind to Dany. He called her "Little Princess" and sometimes "My Lady," and his hands were soft as old leather. He never left his bed, though, and the smell of sickness clung to him day and night, a hot, moist, sickly sweet odor.
[....]
Inside the manse, the air was heavy with the scent of spices, pinchfire and sweet lemon and cinnamon. They were escorted across the entry hall, where a mosaic of colored glass depicted the Doom of Valyria.
A Game of Thrones - Daenerys I
The smell of the sickness that killed the only man who ever really cared for her and that forced her out of the home with the red door. -2 points
And sweet smells during the feast when she is sold to Drogo. Let’s give this 0 / -1 point. Being sold like a broodmare isn’t a positive thing, but the smell of sweet lemon isn’t directly associated with it and rather small detail.
She had never seen so many people in one place, nor people so strange and frightening. The horselords might put on rich fabrics and sweet perfumes when they visited the Free Cities, but out under the open sky they kept the old ways. Men and women alike wore painted leather vests over bare chests and horsehair leggings cinched by bronze medallion belts, and the warriors greased their long braids with fat from the rendering pits.
A Game of Thrones - Daenerys II
I would be inclined to give this -1 point since it’s the first instance of sweet smells being used to cover up the truth (something that will come up several more times) but I will give 0 points to the forgiving score.
As Irri and Jhiqui helped her from her litter, she sniffed, and recognized the sharp odors of garlic and pepper, scents that reminded Dany of days long gone in the alleys of Tyrosh and Myr and brought a fond smile to her face. Under that she smelled the heady sweet perfumes of Lys. She saw slaves carrying bolts of intricate Myrish lace and fine wools in a dozen rich colors.
[...]
Turning a corner, they came upon a wine merchant offering thimble-sized cups of his wares to the passersby. "Sweet reds," he cried in fluent Dothraki, "I have sweet reds, from Lys and Volantis and the Arbor. Whites from Lys, Tyroshi pear brandy, firewine, pepperwine, the pale green nectars of Myr. Smokeberry browns and Andalish sours, I have them, I have them." He was a small man, slender and handsome, his flaxen hair curled and perfumed after the fashion of Lys. When Dany paused before his stall, he bowed low. "A taste for the khaleesi? I have a sweet red from Dorne, my lady, it sings of plums and cherries and rich dark oak. A cask, a cup, a swallow? One taste, and you will name your child after me."
[...]
Ser Jorah lifted a cup and sniffed at the wine, frowning.
"Sweet, isn't it?" the wineseller said, smiling. "Can you smell the fruit, ser? The perfume of the Arbor. Taste it, my lord, and tell me it isn't the finest, richest wine that's ever touched your tongue."
Ser Jorah offered him the cup. "You taste it first."
A Game of Thrones - Daenerys VI
Well, well, sweet poisoned wine. Let’s give 0 / -1 points for sweet smells in the market, -1 for the wineseller promoting all his sweet wines and luring Dany into his trap and another -2 for the “Sweet, isn’t it?”. I think that’s fair.
The plaster had caked hard as the mud walls of the Lamb Men, and like those walls it cracked easily. Ser Jorah broke the dry mud with his knife, pried the chunks from the flesh, peeled off the leaves one by one. A foul, sweet smell rose from the wound, so thick it almost choked her. The leaves were crusted with blood and pus, Drogo's breast black and glistening with corruption.
A Game of Thrones - Daenerys VIII
-2 points.
"Drink," she said, lifting Dany's head to the cup once more, but this time it was only wine. Sweet, sweet wine. Dany drank, and lay back, listening to the soft sound of her own breathing. She could feel the heaviness in her limbs, as sleep crept in to fill her up once more. "
Bring me …" she murmured, her voice slurred and drowsy. "Bring … I want to hold …"
A Game of Thrones - Daenerys IX
Hhhmmm... the context of this definitely isn’t nice. MMD has just finished her blood ritual, the Khalasar left, Drogo was zombified and Dany has just lost her unborn child. The wine itself however isn’t perceived as negative by Dany. I would say 0 / -1 is a good compromise.
She climbed the pyre herself to place the eggs around her sun-and-stars. The black beside his heart, under his arm. The green beside his head, his braid coiled around it. The cream-and-gold down between his legs. When she kissed him for the last time, Dany could taste the sweetness of the oil on his lips.
A Game of Thrones - Daenerys X
Dany kissing Drogo on his funeral pyre. Funerals and her dead first love. -1 I would say.
"I've brought you a peach," Ser Jorah said, kneeling. It was so small she could almost hide it in her palm, and overripe too, but when she took the first bite, the flesh was so sweet she almost cried. She ate it slowly, savoring every mouthful, while Ser Jorah told her of the tree it had been plucked from, in a garden near the western wall.
A Clash of Kings - Daenerys I
Let’s give this positive 2 points. It would take too long for me to explain why I think it might not deserve positive points at all so let’s just take this on at face value. For both scores (it won’t matter much anyway).
"Why should she need your Palace of Dust, when I can give her sunlight and sweet water and silks to sleep in?" Xaro said to the warlock. "The Thirteen shall set a crown of black jade and fire opals upon her lovely head."
[...]
"—pretends to power," the knight said brusquely. On his dark green surcoat, the bear of House Mormont stood on its hind legs, black and fierce. Jorah looked no less ferocious as he scowled at the crowd that filled the bazaar. "I would not linger here long, my queen. I mislike the very smell of this place."Dany smiled.
"Perhaps it's the camels you're smelling. The Qartheen themselves seem sweet enough to my nose."
"Sweet smells are sometimes used to cover foul ones."
A Clash of Kings - Daenerys II
Dany gets a lesson in how sweet smells are sometimes used to cover fouler ones.... - 2 points. As for Xaro’s promise of “sweet water”, I will go with 0 / -1. It isn’t explicitly negative but Xaro is just using his sweet promises to exploit Dany.
Her silver was trotting through the grass, to a darkling stream beneath a sea of stars. A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly. A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness. . . . mother of dragons, bride of fire . . .
A Clash of Kings - Daenerys IV
Since this is the debated topic here it won’t influence the score. (But may I mention that this follows shortly after Jorah drops some truthbombs about sweet smells and how they are sometimes used to cover fouler ones?)
Dany had no need to count his scars; there were many, she could see at a glance. "And why are you here, Strong Belwas?"
"From Meereen I am sold to Qohor, and then to Pentos and the fat man with sweet stink in his hair. He it was who send Strong Belwas back across the sea, and old Whitebeard to serve him."
The fat man with sweet stink in his hair . . . "Illyrio?" she said. "You were sent by Magister Illyrio?"
A Clash of Kings - Daenerys V
This is a hard one. I would say 0 because while it is Illyrio offering Dany help, we do know that he never cared about her wellbeing and only wanted (and still wants) to use her for his own plans. But let’s just stick with 0.
Ser Jorah stood behind her sweltering in his green surcoat with the black bear of Mormont embroidered upon it. The smell of his sweat was an earthy answer to the sweet perfumes that drenched the Astapori.
A Storm of Swords - Daenerys III
The sweet perfumes of the astapori masters? I would say -2. Not the kind of people Dany is too fond of.
The besiegers gave him a raucous welcome as soon as he reached the camp. Her Dothraki hooted and screamed, and the Unsullied sent up a great clangor by banging their spears against their shields. "Well done," Ser Jorah told him, and Brown Ben tossed the eunuch a ripe plum and said, "A sweet fruit for a sweet fight." Even her Dothraki handmaids had words of praise. "We would braid your hair and hang a bell in it, Strong Belwas," said Jhiqui, "but you have no hair to braid."
A Storm of Swords - Daenerys V
Another difficult one. On the one hand they are celebrating a victory, on the other hand we know how all of Dany’s victories in Slaver’s Bay turned out ... it also doesn’t directly concern Dany: But, let’s give it 1 / 0.
Daenerys held out her cup for Irri to refill. The wine was sweet and strong, redolent with the smell of eastern spices, much superior to the thin Ghiscari wines that had filled her cup of late. Xaro perused the fruits on the platter Jhiqui offered him and chose a persimmon. Its orange skin matched the color of the coral in his nose. He took a bite and pursed his lips. "Tart."
"Would my lord prefer something sweeter?"
"Sweetness cloys. Tart fruit and tart women give life its savor." Xaro took another bite, chewed, swallowed. "
[...]
I was a beggar queen and you were Xaro of the Thirteen, Dany thought, and all you wanted were my dragons. "Your slaves seemed well treated and content. It was not till Astapor that my eyes were opened. Do you know how Unsullied are made and trained?"
"Cruelly, I have no doubt. When a smith makes a sword, he thrusts the blade into the fire, beats on it with a hammer, then plunges it into iced water to temper the steel. If you would savor the sweet taste of the fruit, you must water the tree."
"This tree has been watered with blood."
A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys III
Another lesson about how sweetness isn’t always the bestest thing ever? Yes! Let’s give -2 points. Sweet wine making another appearance when Dany is interacting with somebody who doesn’t have her best interest in mind ... let’s say 0 / -1. Xaro’s sugarcoating the Unsullieds treatment is another instance of “sweetness” covering up a truth, but I would still give it 0 points. We shouldn’t take this too far.
He is going to make a sortie, Dany realized, and if he takes Ben Plumm's head, he'll walk into the wedding feast and throw it at my feet. Seven save me. Why couldn't he be better born?
When he was gone, Missandei brought the queen a simple meal of goat cheese and olives, with raisins for a sweet. "Your Grace needs more than wine to break her fast. You are such a tiny thing, and you will surely need your strength today."
That made Daenerys laugh, coming from a girl so small. She relied so much on the little scribe that she oft forgot that Missandei had only turned eleven. They shared the food together on her terrace. As Dany nibbled on an olive, the Naathi girl gazed at her with eyes like molten gold and said, "It is not too late to tell them that you have decided not to wed."
[...]
The hall rang to Yunkish laughter, Yunkish songs, Yunkish prayers. Dancers danced; musicians played queer tunes with bells and squeaks and bladders; singers sang ancient love songs in the incomprehensible tongue of Old Ghis. Wine flowed—not the thin pale stuff of Slaver's Bay but rich sweet vintages from the Arbor and dreamwine from Qarth, flavored with strange spices. The Yunkai'i had come at King Hizdahr's invitation, to sign the peace and witness the rebirth of Meereen's far-famed fighting pits. Her noble husband had opened the Great Pyramid to fete them.I hate this, thought Daenerys Targaryen.
How did this happen, that I am drinking and smiling with men I'd sooner flay?
A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys VII
A sweet breakfast on the day of Dany’s wedding to Hizdahr, sweet wine during it. Let’s give 0 for Missandei getting breakfast and -1 point for that sweet wine always showing when Dany has to talk to people she would rather kill.
"Locusts!" as he seized the bowl and began to crunch them by the handful.
"Those are very tasty," advised Hizdahr. "You ought to try a few yourself, my love. They are rolled in spice before the honey, so they are sweet and hot at once."
"That explains the way Belwas is sweating," Dany said. "I believe I will content myself with figs and dates."
[...]
No, she knew, they love their mortal art. When the cheers began to ebb, she allowed to herself to sit. Their box was in the shade, but her head was pounding. "Jhiqui," she called, "sweet water, if you would. My throat is very dry."
A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys IX
The poisoned locusts! Also sweet! -2 points. Dany asking for sweet water when the mortal art she hates so much begins! 0 / -1. Another instance of Dany trying to swallow the sour with some sweet.
How sweet is sweetness then?
Total score (forgiving): -15 Total score (merciless): -22 Total score (middleground): -18,5
Sweet smells/tastes in a positive context (+1/+2)*: 1,5 Sweet smells/tastes in an ambiguous, neutral or negligible context (0): 6,5 Sweet smells/tastes in a negative context (-1/-2): 14
*Things that fall under different categories in the two scores will be counted as 0,5 for the respective categories. Should they only fall under one they count as 1.
Oh my, looks like “sweetness” isn’t all that sweet for Dany after all. Even looks rather bitter to me. Even the forgiving score doesn’t look particularly positive to me.Is that a negative sign in front of it? I wonder why Grrm never bothered to associate sweet smells with anything positive in her chapters. Considering that the most quoted, indisputable foreshadowing for her number one romance is so strongly associated with sweetness.
A little additional point is that Dany is the character with the most references to sweet smells and flavours. I would assume that Grrm is implementing so much of it in her chapters to give us a clue as to what it means to Dany’s character. I think that alone warrants that we take a closer look at the associations in her POV chapter. (btw, I didn’t even include all the times when she mistrusts, is deceived or fucked over by perfumed people. I think that could also be included but since it isn’t explicitly “sweet” I decided to leave it out.)
Sweet smells and flavours make an appearance 23 times in Dany’s POV. More often than in any other main characters’: Arya(10), Bran(6), Jon (9), Sansa (14), Tyrion (24), Catelyn(7), Jaime (4), Eddard (9), Theon(5).* But to derive a bit more meaning from this we should probably look at it in relation to number of POV chapters:
Dany: 0,74 per chapter Arya: 0,29 per chapter | Bran: 0,29 per chapter Jon: 0,21 per chapter | Sansa: 0,58 per chapter Tyrion: 0,51 per chapter | Catelyn: 0,28 per chapter Jaime: 0,24 per chapter | Eddard: 0,6 per chapter Theon: 0,38 per chapter
*The word “sweet” shows up very, very often in the context of women. “sweet mouth”, “sweetness”, “sweet flesh”, “sweet kisses” etc. (Especially in Tyrion’s POV) I did not include those instances if they weren’t directly related to “taste”. The same goes for expressions that aren’t directly related to the smell or taste of something, eg “ lies dripping from his lips, sweet as honey“. I did however include instances where “tastes” or “smells” sweet is used in a metaphorical sense. eg “taste the sweet air of victory”. I tried to be consistent with what I included and with what I considered to be “one” reference. eg “fat man with sweet stink in his hair” was only counted once despite appearing in the text two times because it was simply a repetition.
If you take a look at the quotes above sweetness is associated with two things: deception/distrust and illness/death. Rather negative things, wouldn’t you say?
This is in no way unique to Dany either. Several characters include similar associations: “but many a poison was sweet as well”, “A sweet offer . . . yet sweets can be poisoned.”, “Her aunt was drenched in sweet scent, though under that was a sour milky smell.”. And: “the sweet cloying stench of death.”, “There was a smell of death about that room; a heavy smell, sweet and foul, clinging.”, but I do not see how that would turn “filled the air with sweetness” into a necessarily positive foreshadowing? Sweet smells being associated with deception (either of oneself or others) is especially prevalent in the other POV’s who are often associated with them (Sansa, Tyrion, Eddard). In the former two cases it’s often ... in the context of romantical self-deception to be more precise. But I wanted to stick to Dany’s POV here so I won’t go into that here.
So, yes, perhaps Jon will “fill the air with sweetness” once he comes into Dany’s life but looking at the prevalent, negative role that sweetness plays in her arc I wouldn’t be too surprised if it turns bitter in the end. (Especially since ... you know Jon doesn’t taste the sweetness:
The light of the half-moon turned Val's honey-blond hair a pale silver and left her cheeks as white as snow. She took a deep breath. "The air tastes sweet."
"My tongue is too numb to tell. All I can taste is cold."
A Dance with Dragons - Jon VIII
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
