Winning the Game of Thrones: The Host of Characters and their Agendas (20 page)

     
The mythical twins Ser Arryk and Ser Erryk who die on each other’s swords echo the Arthurian legend of Sir Balin and Sir Balan.

     
Joffrey kills all the bastards of the throne, fearing other claimants, as Arthur tries doing to Mordred.

     
Many characters from medieval romance, including Siegfried and Brunhild or the Arthurian Tristan and Isolde, lay a sword between them when they share a bed. Nimble Dick says to Brienne, “You could lay your sword between us,” when suggesting sharing a bed to save money. Jon, who’s clearly read the same books, uses Ghost for that purpose to protect himself from Ygritte.

Greek Myth

     
Cersei, whose name doesn’t match most of the English names of the court, is very reminiscent of her namesake Circe. Like the Greek demigoddess, she beguiles men into making fools of themselves, discarding them once they’ve served their purpose.

     
Littlefinger offers Sansa half a pomegranate when she’s under his protection. Of course, the god of death offered innocent Persephone the same – by accepting, she agreed to be death’s bride…Sansa, however, declines because they’re “messy.”

     
In a scene cut from the show’s Battle of Blackwater, Ser Loras decides to wear his lover and king Renly’s armor into battle to make Stannis’s army fear Renly’s ghost is coming for them. In the
Iliad
, Patrocles does much the same, donning the armor of his lover and king, Achilles, to frighten the enemy.

     
Prince Rhaegar’s carrying off Lyanna and beginning a massive war that brings down his own family echoes the Trojan War and Helen’s kidnapping.

Norse Myth

     
Odin trades an eye for wisdom as he hangs on the World Tree.
Bloodraven
, with one eye, who watches the world and sees everything, is the closest parallel. He even wanders the world, hooded and cloaked like Odin as the king’s spymaster. Later, he too is bound into a weirwood tree, source of ancient wisdom in the world. Odin was known for the two ravens, Thought and Memory, that sat on his shoulders and advised him, as Bloodraven’s birds do.

     
The kraken, symbol of House Greyjoy, is often seen in Scandinavian myth. It is a giant squid that swallows entire ships. The Drowned God’s feasts beneath the ocean also resemble the Norse Valhalla.

     
Frey, a Norse god of fertility, may be the source of Lord Frey and his enormous family.

     
Tyr, the Norse god of war, was a mighty swordsman, of course. However, his bravery led to his downfall. The Fenris wolf, which would cause the world’s end, would only let the gods bind him if one placed a hand in its mouth. Tyr did so, and lost his hand as the price for saving the world from the wolf. Jaime, notably, loses a hand because Catelyn frees him in exchange for her wolf daughters. (At the same time, many characters from myth and fiction have lost a hand. Luke Skywalker is often referenced by fans.)