#sword imagery

[identifyingmetalbandsinposts]

Silent Force

Power Metal

[identifyingmetalbandsinposts]

Hekseblad

Black Metal

[identifyingmetalbandsinposts]

Logo of the Day

Hulder

Black Metal

[agentrouka-blog]

Lord Samwell Tarly aka Savage Sam wielded Heartsbane to fight in Vulture Hunt. He slewed many Dornishmen with it which made the sword appeared red with blood. Sam was allowed to hold Heartsbane by husband father Randyl when he was young but Sam was scared because he didn't wanted to hurt his sisters with it. Sam believe that this sword will pass on to Dickon. How do you think Heartsbane will involved in Sam story in future? Will he yield the sword as Savage Sam or he is going to reject it?

I don't think Sam is going to emulate either of his bold namesakes, be that Savage Sam or Lady Sam.

His thoughts on the sword are given to us in AGOT, Jon VIII, in the context of Jon receiving Longclaw from Lord Commander Mormont.

"Sam." Jon stood. "What is it? Do you want to see the sword?" If the others had known, no doubt Sam did too. The fat boy shook his head. "I was heir to my father's blade once," he said mournfully. "Heartsbane. Lord Randyll let me hold it a few times, but it always scared me. It was Valyrian steel, beautiful but so sharp I was afraid I'd hurt one of my sisters. Dickon will have it now." He wiped sweaty hands on his cloak.

Sam has no desire for this dangerous sword, no more than he has ever shown a desire to be able to fight at all. He is not mourning his lost inheritance, either. It's his father's cruelty that traumatized him.

This is a marked contrast to Jon's relationship with blades and inheritance.

When Jon had been Bran's age, he had dreamed of doing great deeds, as boys always did. The details of his feats changed with every dreaming, but quite often he imagined saving his father's life. Afterward Lord Eddard would declare that Jon had proved himself a true Stark, and place Ice in his hand. Even then he had known it was only a child's folly; no bastard could ever hope to wield a father's sword. Even the memory shamed him. What kind of man stole his own brother's birthright? I have no right to this, he thought, no more than to Ice. He twitched his burned fingers, feeling a throb of pain deep under the skin. "My lord, you honor me, but—" [....] "Yes, my lord." The soft leather gave beneath Jon's fingers, as if the sword were molding itself to his grip already. He knew he should be honored, and he was, and yet …

He is not my father. The thought leapt unbidden to Jon's mind. Lord Eddard Stark is my father. I will not forget him, no matter how many swords they give me. Yet he could scarcely tell Lord Mormont that it was another man's sword he dreamt of …

Which picks up a thread introduced even earlier:

"A wolf with a fish in its mouth?" It made her laugh. "That would look silly. Besides, if a girl can't fight, why should she have a coat of arms?" Jon shrugged. "Girls get the arms but not the swords. Bastards get the swords but not the arms. I did not make the rules, little sister." (AGOT, Arya I)

He gets a sword and the arms in one from Mormont, but it is not The Sword he truly wants. The sword that marks his father's heritage, his legitimacy.

Given the cruel deeds attached to Heartsbane, Samwell seems wise to reject the sword in his heart. It's not his father or his sword that represents home to him, it is his mother and his sisters.

I have a suspicion that Jon will emulate Sam there, and have no desire to wield his "true" father's ancestral family weapon, either, should he have the chance to bond with a dragon. He may not be Ned's son, but he is the man who raised him, and it is his mother who is his tie to his home.

He already has the true symbol of legitimacy:

Ghost was curled up asleep beside the door, but he lifted his head at the sound of Jon's boots. The direwolf's red eyes were darker than garnets and wiser than men. Jon knelt, scratched his ear, and showed him the pommel of the sword. "Look. It's you." Ghost sniffed at his carved stone likeness and tried a lick. Jon smiled. "You're the one deserves an honor," he told the wolf … and suddenly he found himself remembering how he'd found him, that day in the late summer snow. 

Samwell doesn't need the validation of Heartsbane, and I don't think the text will seek to validate the sword itself, either. Samwell has plenty of heart on his own, and since GRRM has Ice put through the blender, I don't think he's out there looking to glorify these swords so much as asking us to question the purpose and worth of carrying weapons. Ancestral vanity blades (no matter the high quality) mean little. Brienne has made better use of Oathkeeper in the short time it has existed. I wouldn't bet on Heartsbane surviving.

[agentrouka-blog]

Hi Rouka. I was reading Asos and I found this

"The colors are strange," he commented as he turned the blade in the sunlight. Most Valyrian steel was a grey so dark it looked almost black, as was true here as well. But blended into the folds was a red as deep as the grey. The two colors lapped over one another without ever touching, each ripple distinct, like waves of night and blood upon some steely shore. "How did you get this patterning? I've never seen anything like it." (Tyrion IV ASOS)

Any idea to why the sword's color is described exactly as Jon's eyes?

Jon's eyes were a grey so dark they seemed almost black, but there was little they did not see. (Bran I AGOT)

Hi anon!

I would suspect it's a form of RLJ foreshadowing. Jon has the Stark look, which includes his eyes, so the Valyrian steel connects to him by that textual parallel, but the deep dark grey color is intermingled with a dark blood red.

Almost black and red.

Almost Targaryen colors.

There is probably much more to it, but as far as Jon's eyes go, this seems to be the most obvious interpretation.

[agentrouka-blog]

Thanks for the reply about the swords. I actually wanted to share that both Dark Sister and Lady Forlorn have dubious wielders and swords were described as blood thirsty. As you have mentioned that BR is in possession of DS and currently grooming Bran, Lady Forlorn is in possession of Lyn who hate LF and Sansa too fear him. There was meta about Joff sword had similar structure to Lady Forlorn. Things are not looking good for Sansa and Bran as Lyn and BR can do them harm.

Hi anon! (previous ask)

I remember that one!

It's almost like there's a theme that a fancy named sword does not a hero make. Only ever how you choose to wield it. A thirsty blade is the mark of villainy. Hearteater sounds hungry, too. As is Dany, the heart eater, when she hears a wolf howl in the grasslands. Sad and lonely (forlorn?) but no less hungry.

Brienne, with her ruby-clad reforged Ice-turned-Oathkeeper, Jon with his gifted bear-turned-wolf Longclaw, and Arya with her simple castle-forged Needle, come to my mind there. To each the sword is not "thirsty", though Arya has used it in wrath. The swords symbolize aspects of their identity. The knightly quest. An uncertain reward he ties to Ghost. The memory of family.

Galladon the Perfect Knight only ever drew the Just Maid in a fair fight, only thrice. She was not a thirsty blade, either.

Someone better than me needs to write a sword meta.

[agentrouka-blog]

"Dark Sister was made for nobler tasks than slaughtering sheep. She has a thirst for blood."- Daemon Targ about Dark Sister. "My lady has a thirst. Whenever she comes out to dance, she likes a drop of red."- Lyn Corbay about Lady Forlorn.

Oh anon, I wish I had the in-depth knowledge of asoiaf lore to do this justice.

Whenever sheep are mentioned I flash to Nymeria and Drogon both, who hunt and eat both sheep and people. Similarly with dancing, which recalls Arya's waterdancing and the Dance of Dragons, both variants of fighting.

Dark Sister is in the possession of Bloodraven and Lady Forlorn in the possession of Lyn Corbray (corvus = raven) of the three ravens sigil. Lyn likes "boys", same as Bloodraven lured the boy Bran ("raven") to his cave.

Somehow these images connect. Sadly, I don't have the brainpower to do it. Let alone figure in the backstory to both swords.

... @aegor-bamfsteel ? @eonweheraldodemanwe? You're both more versed in asoiaf history than I ever will be! Do you have any thoughts on the matter? 🙂