A constellation is a group of stars linked close together. They usually represent some sort of picture, but what this picture depicts may vary between different cultures.
Culture
The people of the Seven Kingdoms have named a number of constellations. The free folk have many of the same names for the constellations, although there are some differences. For instance, the King's Crown is named the Cradle by them, and the Stallion is named the Horned Lord.[1] The free folk believe that when the red wanderer they call the Thief is visible within the constellation of the Moonmaid, it is a good time for a man to steal a woman.[1][2]
Knowledge of the stars is useful in ocean navigation,[3] in particular the constellations of the Galley and the Crone's Lantern, and also the Ice Dragon,[4] whose blue eye points north,[5][6][4] suggesting it is a pole star, and if it is indeed a pole star, it means the Ice Dragon sits directly above the world's axis.
History
On Ser Duncan the Tall's way to Standfast with his squire, Aegon Targaryen, he looks up to the night sky and sees several constellations, including the Stallion and the Sow, the King's Crown and the Crone's Lantern, the Galley, the Ghost, the Moonmaid, and the Ice Dragon, but there are clouds in the north so the dragon's blue eye is obscured. Some time later, Wat's Wood catches fire, and smoke obscures the stars, including the King's Crown.[5]
Maester Luwin taught the Stark children about the stars, including the constellations.[1]
Recent Events
A Clash of Kings
When Bran asks the wildling woman Osha how to get to the Wall and beyond, she tells him to "look for the Ice Dragon", and chase the blue star in the rider's eye.[7]
A Storm of Swords
The night before the planned attempt by the wildlings to scale the Wall, Jon Snow goes to look for his direwolf Ghost. He looks at the stars and thinks that he is old friends with the Ice Dragon, the Shadowcat, the Moonmaid, and the Sword of the Morning. He recalls how Ygritte told him of the free folk's names and beliefs about the constellations.[1]
Jon Snow sees the Sword of the Morning while in the haunted forest.[8]
After losing his hand, Ser Jaime Lannister sees several constellations in the night sky, including the King's Crown at the zenith, the Stallion rearing, the Swan, and the Moonmaid, shy as ever.[9]
Trying to get back to the Wall from Craster's Keep with Gilly and her babe, Samwell Tarly follows the Ice Dragon's tail on clear nights to ensure that they keep going south.[10]
After helping Edric Storm escape to Essos and preparing to face down Stannis Baratheon about the matter, Davos Seaworth looks out the window of the Chamber of the Painted Table in Dragonstone and sees familiar stars, including the Ice Dragon, the Galley, sailing west, and the Crone's Lantern, four bright stars that enclosed a golden haze. He hopes it means good luck.[4]
A Feast for Crows
On the night Arianne Martell and her fellow conspirators attempted to crown Princess Myrcella Baratheon, Arianne notices that the "moon had crowned the Moonmaid".[11]
Known constellations
Names for only eleven constellations have been mentioned so far. There are twelve "houses of heaven", but it is unclear if the houses of heaven and constellations correspond to each other. However, if the houses of heaven are equivalent to the zodiac, the Ice Dragon might not be one of them, as it includes the pole star.
Quotes
Dunk need only lift his eyes to find familiar friends: the Stallion and the Sow, the King's Crown and the Crone's Lantern, the Galley, Ghost, and Moonmaid.[5]
—thoughts of Duncan the Tall
The way's easy. Look for the Ice Dragon, and chase the blue star in the rider's eye.[7]
So many stars, he thought as he trudged up the slope through pines and firs and ash. Maester Luwin had taught him his stars as a boy in Winterfell; he had learned the names of the twelve houses of heaven and the rulers of each; he could find the seven wanderers sacred to the Faith; he was old friends with the Ice Dragon, the Shadowcat, the Moonmaid, and the Sword of the Morning. All those he shared with Ygritte, but not some of the others. We look up at the same stars, and see such different things.[1]
—thoughts of Jon Snow
Jaime lay on his back afterward, staring at the night sky, trying not to feel the pain that snaked up his right arm every time he moved it. The night was strangely beautiful. The moon was a graceful crescent, and it seemed as though he had never seen so many stars. The King's Crown was at the zenith, and he could see the Stallion rearing, and there the Swan. The Moonmaid, shy as ever, was half-hidden behind a pine tree. How can such a night be beautiful? he asked himself. Why would the stars want to look down on such as me?[9]
—thoughts of Jaime Lannister
A half moon was sliding in and out amongst thin high clouds, and Davos could see familiar stars. There was the Galley, sailing west; there the Crone's Lantern, four bright stars that enclosed a golden haze. The clouds hid most of the Ice Dragon, all but the bright blue eye that marked due north. The sky is full of smugglers' stars. They were old friends, those stars; Davos hoped that meant good luck.[4]
—thoughts of Davos Seaworth
Theories
Some readers have theorized that Jon Snow's future is written in the stars, given the names of some of the known constellations, such as Ghost, the Ice Dragon, the King's Crown,[5] and the Sword of the Morning.[8] On one occasion, he looks at the stars and thinks that he is old friends with both the Ice Dragon and the Sword of the Morning.[1]
Behind the Scenes
There was some attempt during the writing of The World of Ice & Fire to commission an artist's illustration of the major constellations and the houses of heaven known to the maesters of the Citadel, but due to various complications the project was eventually dropped.[12]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 26, Jon III.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 35, Jon VII.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 66, Bran VII.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 63, Davos VI.
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 The Sworn Sword.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 24, Bran II.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 35, Bran V.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 30, Jon IV.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 31, Jaime IV.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 46, Samwell III.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 21, The Queenmaker.
- ↑ Reddit AMA, March 2015