The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors

Like the great tales and myths of Norse mythology, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, is a fantastical universe filled with various tall tales, popular myths, and world religions. Norse mythology also has various fables and stories as well as many different accounts of events in the wide-ranging bracket of Norse mythology. The number of parallels between Norse mythology and the interesting lore of ASOIF is so vast that it cannot merely be coincidental. A few examples include: events before and during Ragnarök--a prophetic tale about the end of the world--compared to the endless winter approaching Westeros, the uncanny similarities between shapeshifters, such as Loki, and the Three-Eyed Crow, and the visions of and visions seen through the eyes of wolves in Norse mythology and ASOIF.

Firstly, prior to Ragnarök a “long winter” is going to engulf the world, known as Fimbulvetr in which three simultaneous endless winters will lay waste to the world before the ensuing apocalypse. This parallels nicely with an ominous motto repeated throughout the ASOIF series, “Winter is coming. ” The phrase is the words of House Stark, an ancient house known for their indistinguishable honor, perpetual loyalty, and familiarity with the cold. In ASOIF the Night King, a mysterious being of ice and lifelessness known as a White Walker, brings behind him fellow beings similar to himself and an army of zombified creatures called Wights. This short summarization of the events prophesied in ASOIF is almost plagiaristic when compared to Fimbulvetr. The story claims that the jötnar, which for simplicity are mystically elementary beings, will unite together after the great winter and battle, then eventually, slay the gods. The jötnar and the White Walkers both bring endless winters and wield the ideology of death as their sole motivator for their actions. The only thing that fuels the White Walkers and the jötnar is their unchanging desire to destroy and kill. For jötnar, they wish to slay the gods and the White Walkers wish to kill living beings you are not themselves or their slaves.

Secondly, the trickster god Loki and the giantess Angrboda are similar to Bloodraven not only in actions but as well as back story and characteristics. Bloodraven is a “warg” in the ASOIF universe, meaning he was the ability to enter the minds of animals, see through their eyes, as well as control their actions. He can also see through a network of trees called weirwoods, giving him “eyes” across the entirety of Westeros. He almost exclusively “wargs” into crows, wolves, and weirwoods. Loki is often described in ancient Norse runes as the father of “wargs”--meaning “monstrous wolf” in old Norse--because of his son Fenrir. Loki is also a shapeshifter known for turning into various birds, wolves, and other animals. Bloodraven is similar to Loki that both can experience animals, notably wolves and crows, using them for their own gain and both are described as “wargs” and shapeshifters with immense power. Bloodraven and Loki also both have mysterious births and are called bastards. Bloodraven was born for the unwed consummation of King Aegon IV Targaryen and one of his many mistresses, Melissa Blackwood. Loki was born from the relationship of a jötunn Fárbauti and a figure Laufey. Due to his birth including a giant Bloodraven is an extremely old Targaryen bastard blamed for the death of Aerion Targaryen, much the same as Loki is blamed for the death of Baldr.