Potential Spoilers Below
"The Grave is no bar to my call."
"Let whosoever sounds me think not of glory, but only of
salvation."
—Inscription on the Horn
of Valere and Prophecy of the Horn
The Horn of Valere is a powerful artifact. Little is known of how
it works, but the effect is clear: when the Horn is sounded, the great heroes
of the Pattern are summoned to battle, and will serve the Light. It has
recently been discovered that if in the presence of the Dragon Reborn it will
follow his orders whether or not he sounded it, despite nothing ever linking
the two. It is supposed to be present at the Last Battle, but there is no
direct mention of it in the Prophecies of the Dragon. It is described as
looking like any ordinary horn and is not grand, but it has an inscription that
reads in the Old Tongue "Tia mi aven Moridin isainde vadin" or
"The Grave is no bar to my call" and the Prophecy of the Horn says
"Let whosoever sounds me think not of glory, but only of salvation."
The Old Tongue for the prophecy is not given.
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| The Horn of Valere |
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| The Horn of Valere |
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| The Ride of the Heroes of the Horn |
The Horn's origins are uncertain, but it was lost to the world and
faded into the realm of myth for hundreds of years when the Aes Sedai of the
Age of Legends hid it beneath the Eye of the World during the Breaking. Deep
within the Blight, it was guarded by the Green Man, Someshta, the last of the
Nym, along with the banner of Lews Therin Telamon and one of the seals to the
Dark One's prison, until the time of its use.
Illian traditionally mounted "Great Hunts" for the Horn
in which men and women from all over the world would gather and go out in
search, but all were unsuccessful. The Great Hunt that Faile swore to was the
first called in 400 years.
It was said that the finding of the Horn would be one of the
indications of the arrival of the Last Battle.
The Horn was found recently at the Eye of the World by a party of
eight: Moiraine Damodred, Lan Mandragoran, Nynaeve al'Meara, Egwene al'Vere,
Rand al'Thor, Mat Cauthon, Perrin Aybara, and Loial. They then took it to Fal Dara where it was kept safe by Lord Agelmar Jagad. While it was under his
protection, Lord Algemar felt the presence of the Horn keenly, and he passed it
on to the Amyrlin Seat at the first opportunity, stating that the temptation to
use it was too great.
Later, the Horn was stolen from the storeroom in Fal Dara by Padan Fain during the first ever occasion that Trollocs had come into the keep. A
party of twenty Shienarans led by Lord Ingtar Shinowa were sent out to track
down the Darkfriends that stole it. They were accompanied by Rand, Perrin, Mat,
and Loial. The group chased the Darkfriends all the way from Shienar to Falme
on Toman Head, going via Cairhien.
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| Padan Fain with the dagger |
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| Padan Fain with the dagger |
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| Trolloc army, led by a Myrddraal |
When the recovery party arrived at Falme, they found that the Horn
was in the possession of a Seanchan nobleman named High Lord Turak Aladon. Five
of the party, Rand, Perrin, Mat, Ingtar, and Hurin went into Falme to get the
Horn back. After retrieving the Horn, along with Mat's tainted ruby-hilted dagger, the five went out into the street and noticed a marching Seanchan army
heading towards them. Ingtar sacrificed his life so that the other four were
able to escape. He also confessed to Rand that he was a Darkfriend. When the
others came out into another street they saw that the reason for the army was
not them but a legion of Whitecloaks heading towards the town. Caught between
two armies with no way to get out, Mat sounded the horn. This action called
forth the Heroes of the Horn to fight for the horn blower and repel the
invading Seanchan out of the city.
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| The Ruby-Hilted Dagger |
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| The Ruby-Hilted Dagger |
The Heroes of the Horn are the great heroes of the Pattern, bound
to the Horn of Valere. They are summoned to battle to fight for the Light. Sometimes the Wheel adds to their numbers,
however it is unknown if heroes can be lost from the ranks.
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| The Wheel of Time weaving the universe |
When summoned, the Heroes refer to the person who sounded the Horn
as "Hornsounder". They refer to a previous Hornsounder as
"Hornblower" and treat the Hornblower with a certain amount of
respect. This circumstance must be considered a rarity however, as in order for
a person to be a Hornblower, they must first die and then be brought back to
life before someone else blows the Horn.
During the Last Battle, Artur Hawkwing states that the Heroes of
the Horn fight of their own free will and serve the Light, and that if a
servant of the Shadow blew the horn the Heroes could refuse to serve him. It is also revealed that the Heroes of the
Horn are not invincible, and that battle damage could force them back into the
World of Dreams to heal.
It is also revealed that Mat is no longer the Hornsounder; his
death and revival during the events of the invasion of Andor were sufficient to
sever his ties to the Horn, allowing a new Hornsounder to emerge.
It is also later revealed that the Horn can summon not only human
heroes, but wolves as well.
Heroes of the Horn:
The name "Valere" is derived from the Latin for "to
be worth." As such the name of the horn may be taken to mean "horn of
worth" or "horn of value," showing it to be an artifact of great
importance.
Another interpretation of the name "The Horn of Valere"
may be "The Horn of The Worthy" as only those deemed heroic enough
by the Pattern are chosen to be bound.
It also seems that the Pattern takes into account the individual's
personality as Hend the Striker told Mat that though Mat had done more than
enough to be bound he had not been chosen to be bound. Mat retorts that this is
because he didn't want to be at the beck and call of any one instrument.
The Horn of Winter, also known as the Horn of Joramun, is a legendary horn with magical
properties. It was supposedly blown by Joramun, a wildling
King-Beyond-the-Wall. When he blew the horn, he woke the giants from the
earth. Whether the giants mentioned are
actually the giants or something else is not known. It is currently claimed
that blowing the Horn will destroy the Wall.
Mance Rayder claims to have found the Horn of Joramun in a grave beneath
a glacier, high up in the Frostfangs.
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| Joramun |
.jpg) |
| Mance Rayder |
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| Giant |
The horn
which Mance Rayder names the Horn of Joramun is eight feet long. It is so wide
at the mouth that Jon Snow could put his arm inside up to the elbow. It is black in colour with gold bands that
are graven with runes of the First Men. At first Jon thinks the bands are
bronze but when he moves closer he realises that the bands are made of gold,
old gold, more brown than yellow. It is
said to be a thousand years old.
It is not
known what the horn is made of. Jon Snow thinks that if it came from an
aurochs, it was the biggest aurochs that ever lived
Legends
claim that Joramun blew the Horn of Winter to awaken giants from the earth and
fight off the Night's King.
Mance Rayder
initially claimed to have opened fifty graves in search of the Horn but failed
to find it. However, when Jon Snow returned to the wildling camp, this time as
a brother of the Night's Watch, Mance presented what he said was the Horn,
telling Jon of his plans to blow the horn should the wildlings fail to take the
Wall.
When Jon
asked why they haven’t used the horn, why not just sound it and be done? It is
Dalla that answers,
“We free
folk know things you kneelers have forgotten. Sometimes the short road is not
the safest, Jon Snow. The Horned Lord once said that sorcery is a sword without
a hilt. There is no safe way to grasp it.”
Talk in the
tent turns to the threat of the Others and Mance remarks that if he sounds the
Horn of Winter, the Wall will fall, or so the songs say. Dalla then speaks,
“But once
the Wall is fallen, what will stop the Others?”
Mance
planned to offer the Horn in exchange for letting his people pass through the
Wall. If the Night's Watch refused Tormund Giantsbane was to sound the Horn at
dawn three days hence but the arrival of Stannis Baratheon put an end to that
plan.
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| Tormund Giantsbane |
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| Stannis Baratheon |
The supposed
Horn is burned by Melisandre when she has "Mance Rayder" (actually a
glamoured Rattleshirt) put to death by fire.
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| Melisandre |
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| Rattleshirt |
When
Melisandre sets the Horn of Joramun alight it bursts into flame and goes up
with a whoosh as swirling tongues of green and yellow fire leap and crackle all
along it length. The men of the Night’s Watch have to fight to still their
mounts. A moan comes from the stockade as the free folk see their hope afire.
For half a heartbeat the runes graven on the gold bands seem to shimmer in the
air. The Queen's Men then heave the Horn into the fire pit where it crashes
amongst the logs and leaves and kindling. Within three heartbeats the whole pit
is aflame and "Mance Rayder" is dying in agony.
Later, as
the free folk are passing through the Wall Tormund Giantsbane mentions to Jon
Snow that the destroyed horn was a fake; Mance never found the true Horn.
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| Men of the Night's Watch |
“She burned
that fine big horn, aye. A bloody sin, I call it. A thousand years old, that
was. We found it in a giant’s grave, and no man o’ us had ever seen a horn so
big. That must have been why Mance got the notion to tell you it were
Joramun’s. He wanted you crows to think he had it in his power to blow your
bloody Wall down about your knees. But we never found the true horn, not for
all our digging. If we had, every kneeler in your Seven Kingdoms would have
chunk’s o’ ice to cool his wine all summer.”
Tormund
says to Jon
“We never
found the Horn of Winter. We opened half a hundred graves and let all those
shades loose in the world, and never fond the Horn of Joramun to bring this
cold thing down!”
Ygritte
“The Horn of
Joramun? No. Call it the Horn of Darkness. If the Wall falls, night falls as
well, the long night that never ends. It must not happen, will not happen!”
Melisandre
Melisandre
“Would that
I had the Horn of Joramun I’d give it a nice toot and we’d climb through the
rubble.”
Tormund
Giantsbane, to Jon Snow
“Had Mance
Rayder lied to him, or was Tormund lying now? If Mance’s horn was just a feint,
where is the true horn?
Jon
Snow’s thoughts
Since I have
read the Wheel of Time here is what I believe:
The Hero’s
of the Horn will turn out to be the Seventy-Nine Sentinels. We hear this story from Bran who heard it
from Old Nan.
According to the story, seventy-nine deserters of the Night's Watch abandoned their posts at the Nightfort,
a fortification on theWall, and went south,
becoming outlaws. One was the youngest son of Lord Ryswell.
When the deserters reached the lands of House Ryswell,
they sought shelter with his father, but instead were captured and returned to
the Wall. As punishment, holes were cut into the Wall and each of the deserters
were placed in their own hole with spears and horns and then the holes were
sealed up while they lived. They had left their posts in life so that in death,
they continue their watch. Lord Ryswell, as he was dying, had himself carried
to the Wall to take the black so he could stand beside the son that he had
condemned to certain death. They became known as the seventy-nine sentinels.
We also know from The Wheel of Time that Noal, who turned out
to be Jain Farstider, died during on his quest to The Tower of Ghenjei came
back to be a rider of the horn of valere.
I think that will also happen in The Game of Thrones except that it will
be Ygritte because she mirrors Birgitte Silverbow a legendary heroine and
archer in the Wheel of Time.
I believe that when the Horn of Winter is found and it is
blown that the Wall may indeed fall but the 79 sentinels, now 80 with Ygritte,
will be released and fight against the Others.
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| Ygritte |
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| Birgitte Silverbow |
This also seems to mean Petyr Baelish, aka Littlefinger, is the Padan Fain character from the Wheel of Time. Fain took the dagger from Mat Cauthon. Mat seems to be Tyrion Lannister from the Game of Thrones. Fain using the alias of Ordeith manipulates Pedron Nial, the Lord Commander of the Whitecloaks, to go to the Two Rivers to draw out Rand, the Dragon Reborn. But instead he got Perrin Aybara who seems to be the Bran Stark character. While in the Two Rivers Perrin's entire family was killed. In the Game of Thrones because of the dagger and Littlefinger's plotting to begin with Ned Start ends up going to Kings Landing to protect King Robert but because of these actions a larger majority of the Stark family ends up being killed.
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| Petyr Baelish |
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| Tyrion Lannister |
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| Ordeith |
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| Pedron Niall |
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| Dagger used to try and kill Bran Notice the ruby-like hilt |
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| Dagger |
Padan Fain was revealed to be a Darkfriend in league with the Dark One. If The Game of Thrones holds true that would put Petyr Baelish in league with the Great Other.
The Myrddrall = The Others aka White Walkers
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| Trollocs |
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| Trolloc |
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| Wight |
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| Wight |
Comments encouraged. Love to hear the idea’s of others. Most believe that since I present my idea’s
as “fact like” I’m not open to change my viewpoints which is far from the
truth. I simply look at the information
presented and go from there. If you can
shine a light on another way of thinking that opens the door to debate.
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