A Song of Ice and Fire - A Chapter a day discussion

Tomorrow we will discuss Catelyn's first chapter in A Game of Thrones.



And the location is:

This one was a brief chapter... with a lot of information. In it we learn that Catelyn Tully is Eddard Stark’s wife and that she calls him Ned.

First of all, we are given a description of the godswood at Winterfell and an explanation of the differences between southron religion and northern religion. Catelyn is of the Faith of the Seven, while Ned keeps the Old Gods.

”(...)For her sake, Ned had built a small sept where she might sing to the seven faces of god, but the blood of the First Men still flowed in the veins of the Starks, and his own gods were the old ones, the nameless, faceless gods of the greenwood they shared with the vanished children of the forest.
At the center of the grove an ancient weirwood brooded over a small pool where the waters were black and cold. “The heart tree,” Ned called it. The weirwood’s bark was white as bone, its leaves dark red, like a thousand bloodstained hands. A face had been carved in the trunk of the great tree, its features long and melancholy, the deep-cut eyes red with dried sap and strangely watchful. They were old, those eyes; older than Winterfell itself. They had seen Brandon the Builder set the first stone, if the tales were true, they had watched the castle’s granite walls rise around them. It was said that the children of the forest had carved the faces in the trees during the dawn centuries before the coming of the First Men across the narrow sea.
In the south the last weirwoods had been cut down or burned out a thousand years ago, except on the Isle of Faces where the green men kept their silent watch. Up here it was different. Here every castle had its godswood, and every godswood had its heart tree, and every heart tree its face...”

So, we learn a little more about the children of the forest. It is said they carved the faces into the barks of the heart trees. These faces are quite mysterious and it is emphasised during the chapter that Catelyn feels she is being watched.

”(...)A thousand years of humus lay thick upon the godswood floor, swallowing the sound of her feet, but the red eyes of the weirwood seemed to follow her as she came...”

”(...)She spread her cloak on the forest floor and sat beside the pool, her back to the weirwood. She could feel the eyes watching her, but she did her best to ignore them...”

”(...)There are darker things beyond the Wall.” She glanced behind her at the heart tree, the pale bark and red eyes, watching, listening, thinking its long slow thoughts...”

That last quote affirms again the existence of weird things beyond the Wall. Ned talks about poor headless Gared, too:

”(...) “He was the fourth this year,” Ned said grimly. “The poor man was half-mad. Something had put a fear in him so deep that my words could not reach him.” He sighed. “Ben writes that the strength of the Night’s Watch is down below a thousand. It’s not only desertions. They are losing men on rangings as well.”
“Is it the wildlings?” she asked.
“Who else?” Ned lifted Ice, looked down the cool steel length of it. “And it will only grow worse. The day may come when I will have no choice but to call the banners and ride north to deal with this King-beyond-the-Wall for good and all.”
“Beyond the Wall?” The thought made Catelyn shudder.
Ned saw the dread on her face. “Mance Rayder is nothing for us to fear.”...”

So, Gared survived the attack of the Others, but he ended up quite shocked. There is more talk about the wildlings and their “king”, Mance Rayder.

Catelyn gives us her thoughts on Ice and mentions a historical event, the Doom of Valyria.

”(...)Catelyn had no love for swords, but she could not deny that Ice had its own beauty. It had been forged in Valyria, before the Doom had come to the old Freehold, when the ironsmiths had worked their metal with spells as well as hammers. Four hundred years old it was, and as sharp as the day it was forged. The name it bore was older still, a legacy from the age of heroes, when the Starks were Kings in the North...”

However, the central fact of the chapter is that Jon Arryn, Lord Paramount of the Vale, died. Jon Arryn fostered Ned and King Robert Baratheon when they were young. He was like a father to Eddard and became a brother when he married Catelyn’ sister, Lysa Tully.

The letter that informed Catelyn of Jon Arryn’s death also said that King Robert is marching toward Winterfell.

”(...)“Would that I could,” Catelyn said. “The letter had other tidings. The king is riding to Winterfell to seek you out.”
It took Ned a moment to comprehend her words, but when the understanding came, the darkness left his eyes. “Robert is coming here?” When she nodded, a smile broke across his face...”

And... I did not remember this! Catelyn thinks that Robert will bring something awful with him, because the sigil of House Baratheon is a stag:

”(...)Catelyn wished she could share his joy. But she had heard the talk in the yards; a direwolf dead in the snow, a broken antler in its throat. Dread coiled within her like a snake, but she forced herself to smile at this man she loved, this man who put no faith in signs...”

It is mentioned that Robert is married to a Lannister of Casterly Rock and, apparently, he holds a grudge against House Lannister because they joined him and Robert when "the war" was already won. So now we know Robert won the throne fighting.

”(...)Ned grimaced at that. There was small love between him and the queen’s family, Catelyn knew. The Lannisters of Casterly Rock had come late to Robert’s cause, when victory was all but certain, and he had never forgiven them. “Well, if the price for Robert’s company is an infestation of Lannisters, so be it. It sounds as though Robert is bringing half his court.”
“Where the king goes, the realm follows,” she said.
“It will be good to see the children. The youngest was still sucking at the Lannister woman’s teat the last time I saw him. He must be, what, five by now?”
“Prince Tommen is seven,” she told him. “The same age as Bran. Please, Ned, guard your tongue. The Lannister woman is our queen, and her pride is said to grow with every passing year.” ...”

The Queen doesn’t seem very friendly, right?

I forgot Catelyn thought Robert's arrival was a bad sign. Which is very interesting, and Iam pretty sure I didn't notice this detail the first time I read the book. She is not in my list of favourites, but I don't hate it. But her chapter aren't the most excited in my opinion.

I have to admit that for the longest time I hated the Lannisters, because I belived House Stark was the best of them all, and that all the things that happen to the family in the series are unfair. But, as I read the other books I realised it's not so much like that. What I am trying to say is that, for me, there are no antagonist in this books. I am looking forward to read other opinions as we read this series! And the Lannisters are some of my favourite characters now.

Also, I really like the religious aspect of this books, and I will read more carefully from now on whenever it is mention.

The fact that Jon Arry died is key to the story, and in my opinion what started all.

It was a short chapter with some interesting (but brief) information about the different religions, the children of the forest (I don't know if they are named that way on the english version) and the mention of Brandon the Builder as the first lord of Winterfell.

Something I forgot to mention but I think it's nice is how Eddard named his children after people important in his life:
-Bran for his brother *SPOILERS FOR THIS BOOK*(view spoiler)[who was killed by Aerys Targaryen (hide spoiler)]
-Robb for Robert Baratheon his best friend in his youth
And more important: Jon Snow after Jon Arryn. I think that naming the bastard after his mentor shows that he actually cares for Jon Snow, even though he is cold when he talks to him.

Last night I actually took notes on an index card so that I could remember my initial thoughts as I was re-reading, so here goes:

1. I forgot the godswood is the name of the entire set of woods that radiate around the "heart tree," the name for the weirwood tree, which is the official name for the tree with the face carved into it (odd that the bark is bone white and its leaves dark red, with the sap color being blood red so the face looks bloody, the same colors for Jon's direwolf. Coincidence?). Every major house has a godswood, but only the north still have their weirwoods still intact.

2. Rickon is said to be "not quite sure" about the direwolf pups, whereas everyone else is excited. Catelyn says he's only 3, though, but I wonder if this means anything?

3. The Doom of Valyria was less than 400 years ago, since that is how old Ice is, and it's said Ice was forged there before the Doom. I didn't think it was that short a time ago.

4. Didn't know Ned was prepared to call his banners and ride north to deal with Mance Rayder. Also surprised how perceptive Catelyn is, despite being born in the south. She knows there are "darker things beyond the Wall." (And now that I think about it, she could just be reciting this because it's what she hears, but I sincerely doubt it because she DOES feel unnerved around the heart tree, so I really do believe she holds the north's mysteries seriously).

5. The Others are said to have been gone for 8,000 years, the same with the children of the forest *SPOILERS FOR A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE*(view spoiler)[(but I know they never really left -- just fell dormant) (hide spoiler)].

6. I wonder why Ned and Robert were wards at the Eyrie, since wards generally mean their fathers did something to offend the warden. It says here Mad King Aerys II had demanded their heads but Jon Arryn, and his banners, protected them. I wonder why the Mad King would want their heads?

7. Catelyn says of Ned, "this man who put no faith in signs." It's strange she would but Ned doesn't, since he prays to his gods all the time.

(Yes, I wrote very small on my index card, lol.)

*SPOILERS FOR A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, BOOK 5*(view spoiler)[Actually, after having read the 5th book and learned a bit more about Jon Connington being good friends with Rhaegar, who is supposedly Jon's true father in R+L=J, it may be possible that Jon is really named after him by his mother and father, before Ned found him. I can just see it in my head, Lyanna handing her baby to Ned, saying, "This is my son, Jon." It would therefore be very convenient for Ned to say he named his bastard son after Jon Arryn, then. Any thoughts, for those who've read all five books? (hide spoiler)]

Vicki wrote: "Last night I actually took notes on an index card so that I could remember my initial thoughts as I was re-reading, so here goes:

1. I forgot the godswood is the name of the entire set of woods th..."

*SPOILERS FOR A DANCE WITH DRAGONS* (view spoiler)[That is a good theory Vicki! I never thought about it, but it kind of makes sense. I mean, in book five we learn Jon and Rhaegar were closed, so maybe it has something to do if the R+L=J theory is correct. (hide spoiler)]