#blue winter roses

[kellyvela]

Oh look at all those little blue winter roses 💙💙💙💙💙

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

PSA: Blue Winter Roses

It seems that there is a misunderstanding of what (and who) blue winter roses represent in ASOIAF. Some people use them rather freely as a means of symbolizing a Stark maiden but I’m afraid that doesn’t track with what’s been shown in the text.

Throughout the text, blue winter roses are almost exclusively presented within the context of Lyanna Stark and R+L=J. We’re told that Prince Rhaegar gave Lyanna a crown of blue winter roses at the Tourney of Harrenhal.

Ned remembered the moment when all the smiles died, when Prince Rhaegar Targaryen urged his horse past his own wife, the Dornish princess Elia Martell, to lay the queen of beauty’s laurel in Lyanna’s lap. He could see it still: a crown of winter roses, blue as frost.

- Eddard XV, AGOT

Rhaegar crowned Lyanna as the Queen of Love and Beaty with the winter roses. And it’s important to mention that this crown was placed in Lyanna’s lap which is near her womb.

This is not the only mention of winter roses as pertaining to Lyanna. Throughout his chapters, Ned associated Lyanna with winter roses and many times, he even gave the added context of a promise he made to her. So the roses are usually connected to Rhaegar, Lyanna, and a promise throughout Ned’s chapters. They even become an important part of the visual imagery surrounding Lyanna’s death; she dies presumably due to complications during child birth.

Promise me, she had cried, in a room that smelled of blood and roses. Promise me, Ned. The fever had taken her strength and her voice had been faint as a whisper, but when he gave her his word, the fear had gone out of his sister’s eyes.

- Eddard I, AGOT

So Lyanna’s last moments smell of blood and roses and then we have the added context of a promise, which we think is Lyanna asking Ned to protect her son.

Ned remembered the way she had smiled then, how tightly her fingers had clutched his as she gave up her hold on life, the rose petals spilling from her palm, dead and black.

- Eddard I, AGOT

Now we have a mention of dead roses, which fall as Lyanna dies. But the death of these roses does not indicate the death of Rhaegar and Lyanna’s love. This is because Ned has just promised to preserve a life - the life of Lyanna’s child. So the roses might be dead but the child, the son of the bard prince and Lady Stark, lives.

Remember when Prince Rhaegar placed a crown of winter roses near Lyanna’s womb? Well, Lyanna’s womb became fruitful and bore a son. The blue winter roses placed near her womb have now been replaced by a living, breathing child. That child is Jon Snow.

Then in ACOK, Ygritte tells Jon a story about Bael the Bard. Bael was a king-beyond-the-wall who, to make a long story short, climbed Winterfell’s walls and pretended to be a singer named Sygerrik of Skagos. He wined and dined from Lord Stark’s table and when told to name a price for his entertainment, asked only for a flower from the Lord of Winterfell’s garden.

‘All I ask is a flower,’ Bael answered, ‘the fairest flower that blooms in the gardens o’ Winterfell.’

- Jon VI, ACOK

Lord Stark gave him the flower but when the morning came, Bael had disappeared and had taken with him Lord Stark’s daughter. A blue winter rose was all that was left on Lady Stark’s bed.

“Her bed they found empty, but for the pale blue rose that Bael had left on the pillow where her head had lain.”

And I have to mention that a bed is usually where certain types of unions take place. So again, the winter rose doesn’t represent the Stark maiden but rather represents her union with the bard.

As the tale goes, Lord Stark eventually found his daughter. She somehow got back to her bedchamber but instead of clutching a blue winter rose, she held a newborn baby.

“For most a year they searched, till the lord lost heart and took to his bed, and it seemed as though the line o’ Starks was at its end. But one night as he lay waiting to die, Lord Brandon heard a child’s cry. He followed the sound and found his daughter back in her bedchamber, asleep with a babe at her breast.”

And as Ygritte tells this story, she makes a direct connection between Bael’s bastard and the blue winter rose that was left on Lady Stark’s bed.

“Be that as it may, what’s certain is that Bael left the child in payment for the rose he’d plucked unasked, and that the boy grew to be the next Lord Stark.”

So, the rose disappeared and was replaced with a baby. And the baby grew to become Lord Stark. Ergo, Bael’s bastard then became the blue winter rose.

This symbolism is doubly important for Jon’s story because he eventually became Lord Stark as per Robb’s Will (when it seemed that the Stark line was at its end) and he then become the king-beyond-the-wall in all but name by the end of ADWD.

This entire tale is essentially in-universe fanfiction of Jon Snow’s origin. As it was with Rhaegar and Lyanna, the story of Bael and Lord Stark’s daughter ended with a son replacing a rose. The rose became the son. It was not Bael/Rhaegar or Lyanna/Lord Stark’s daughter. The rose is Jon Snow/was Bael’s bastard.

Outside of these two couples, the only other person who is canonically connected to blue winter roses as a symbol of love is Daenerys Targaryen. She sees a vision of a blue winter rose in the House of the Undying.

A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness…

- Dany IV, ACOK

But! She is not wearing the rose as it holds no personal meaning to her. The rose stands on its own to represent a person - Jon Snow. Jon as the rose is Lady Lyanna Stark’s son by the singer, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. And here, the rose is used to symbolize Jon who is currently rising through the ranks of the Night’s Watch. It’s is not used to signify whatever love Jon and Dany will share. The flower symbolizes JON, and only Jon, as Dany’s future husband.

TL;DR

As a symbol, blue winter roses signify the beginning of a love AND union between a singer and a Stark maiden. Only two pairs have this symbolism: Bael the Bard and Lord Stark’s daughter + Prince Rhaegar and Lyanna Stark. The Stark maidens are NOT the winter roses.

As a person, blue winter roses are used in place of a baby, i.e., the baby born of the aforementioned union. Only two babies have this symbolism: Bael’s bastard and Jon Snow.

So, if we’re going to use blue winter rose symbolism for someone in the story, let’s be sure to use it for the right person - JON SNOW!

[cakesty]

Pode fazer um moodboard da jennie mordendo a cereja de cabelo rosa

aqui está, espero que goste ❤️‍🩹

Jennie moodboard

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

my little residents

[fridaraph]

Jinshi asking Maomao about what they should bloom next after the success of the blue roses:

What do you think of the cherry blossoms in the middle of winter?

Or maybe pure white lilies?

Maomao: It would be faster if | developed a hallucinogen that is not harmful to The body

[nuctua-larc]

thinking up some alternate designs for the gangs alchemized outfits

[montereybayaquarium]

It’s the sea-son of love! When’s a better time than now to learn about fish courtship behavior?

🔸Behold! The bright and beautiful garibaldi! 🔶

Garibaldi courtship includes lots of nest cleaning and gardening by the male to lure a mate, perfectly pruning the perfect patch of algae to prove his potential for parenthood. When a female garibaldi signals her interest by swimming towards the nest with all her fins upright, the male tries to entice her by swimming in loops.

Their dance doesn’t last long though—as soon as the female lays her eggs, the male garibaldi chases her away before fertilizing them. In fact, much of the work of raising eggs is handled by the male. 

And since the garibaldi is also the state marine fish of California, that of-fish-ially makes them our valentine! 🧡

[annafridacharlotte]

[blue-rose-of-wolves]

Stark sisters coloring book. If you color and share it, be sure to tag me. Have fun!

@steel-winter-rose @housestarksisters-blog @housestark @houseofjaqen @houseofstark @forcesmuggler @irisewithsunyourisewiththemoon @joneryskingdom @northremebers-blog @asoiaffanart-blog @asoiafwomensource @sansastark-queen-in-the-north @1nsaankahanhai-bkr @aryastarksource @aryastarktheshewolf @aryastarkdaily  @saltywinteradult  @wonderwomanquinn @lyanna-arya-sansa-stark-blog @housestarksisters-blog @sansastark-queen-in-the-north @aryastarksource @nomercy

@housestarksisters-blog @housestark @alyrys  @steel-winter-rose @lyannadaily  @lyannastarkweek-blog @lyannas-loves @houseofjaqen @houseofstark @forcesmuggler @irisewithsunyourisewiththemoon @joneryskingdom @lyannadaily @lyannas-loves @lyannastark @houseofjaqen @houseofstark @northremebers-blog @asoiaffanart-blog @asoiafwomensource @sansastark-queen-in-the-north @1nsaankahanhai-bkr @aryastarksource @aryastarktheshewolf @aryastarkdaily  @saltywinteradult  @aryastarkthelittleshewolf11

[starishsky]

love grows where my rosemary goes

[kellyvela]

This is Sansa Stark by artist M. Luisa Gilberti - © 2005 M.Luisa Giliberti:

This is Sansa Stark by artist M. Luisa Gilberti - © 2005 M.Luisa Giliberti:

This is Sansa Stark by artist M. Luisa Gilberti - © 2005 M.Luisa Giliberti:

Wait a minute . . . . Are you telling me that one of these Sansas is not a Sansa???

But all of them have blue eyes and auburn hair!!!

What, one of them is actually Lyanna Stark??? Which one???

This one:

Rhaegar Targaryen presenting Lyanna Stark with the rose crown making her the Queen of Love and Beauty during the Tourney at Harrenhal. Art by M.Luisa Giliberti - © 2005 M.Luisa Giliberti.

A blue eyed & red haired Lyanna Stark depicted by an artist that worked for Fantasy Flight Games and her artworks was featured in The Art of George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, exists???

A Lyanna Stark that looks like Sansa??? Sacrilege!!! Arya is supposed to be the only one who looks like Lyanna. . . .

This is Arya Stark by artist M. Luisa Gilberti - © 2005 M.Luisa Giliberti:

This is Arya Stark by artist M. Luisa Gilberti - © 2005 M.Luisa Giliberti:

This is Arya Stark by artist M. Luisa Gilberti - © 2005 M.Luisa Giliberti:

I . . . .

A blue eyed & red haired Lyanna Stark that looks nothing lika Arya . . . . HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE???

Like this:

Rhaegar Targaryen presenting Lyanna Stark with the rose crown making her the Queen of Love and Beauty during the Tourney at Harrenhal. Art by M.Luisa Giliberti - © 2005 M.Luisa Giliberti.

Whoa! I wonder how Asoiaf fans reacted back then???

*Lyanna Tully*??? You mean Sansa???

Unbelievable Unthinkable Outrageous

~~~

Look, I'm not saying that Lyanna really looks like that as the text says she has the Stark Look, but it's interesting that the artist chose this look (blue eyes/auburn hair) to depict Lyanna precisely in the scene where she was crowned with the crown of winter roses as the Queen of Love and Beauty by Rhaegar Targaryen during the Great Tourney at Harrenhal.

[jackoshadows]

A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness...- Daenerys Targaryen

"Do you ever find anyone in your dream?" Sam asked. Jon shook his head. "No one. The castle is always empty." He had never told anyone of the dream, and he did not understand why he was telling Sam now, yet somehow it felt good to talk of it. "Even the ravens are gone from the rookery, and the stables are full of bones. That always scares me. I start to run then, throwing open doors, climbing the tower three steps at a time, screaming for someone, for anyone. And then I find myself in front of the door to the crypts. It's black inside, and I can see the steps spiraling down. Somehow I know I have to go down there, but I don't want to. I'm afraid of what might be waiting for me. The old Kings of Winter are down there, sitting on their thrones with stone wolves at their feet and iron swords across their laps, but it's not them I'm afraid of. I scream that I'm not a Stark, that this isn't my place, but it's no good, I have to go anyway, so I start down, feeling the walls as I descend, with no torch to light the way. It gets darker and darker, until I want to scream." He stopped, frowning, embarrassed. "That's when I always wake." - Jon Snow

[cakesty]

liberando mais um moodboard que fiz para uso pessoal, espero que gostem ❤️‍🩹

Jennie, blackpink moodboard

[ivoryteacups]

[bemyvillain]

x

[dansnaturepictures]

25th November 2024: Tree out the front, Coot and bramble leaves at Lakeside Country Park on my lunch time walk, sunset this evening and glorious Goldfinch in the sun out the front at lunch time on a golden sunny early winter day.

Siskins, Long-tailed Tits, Moorhen, Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Ducks, oakmoss, dandelion with a hoverfly on and wild carrot seed heads were also nice to see at Lakeside with rose hips, Starling and Collared Dove also enjoyed at home.