Saturday, June 9, 2018

Ygritte

Whilst the people of the Seven Kingdoms refer to the peoples living beyond the Wall  as "wildlings," the societies, which recognized no inherent or hereditary political authority, thought themselves as "Free Folk". Like the habitants of the North, the Free Folk are descended from the First Men but are much closer to their ancestors lifestyle and habits because they were already living Beyond the Wall when the Andals came from across the Narrow Sea and invaded the South; changing the cultures of the Seven Kingdoms.

Free Folk consist of various factions, such as the people of Thenn, Frozen Shore tribes and Hornfoots who dwell in the Frostfangs. Though when people think of Wildlings, they may be referring to the generic bands and clans of the Haunted Forest. Generally, the Free Folk are constantly bickering with each other and warring amongst themselves unless an individual unites them all under one common goal. At the time of the White Walker threat, Mance Rayder aka King-Beyond-The-Wall had gathered all the Free Folk in one massive army to deal with the threat. Not only men joined his cause but warrior women too. One of these 'spearwives' was a fierce and headstrong young woman. Despite unconventional features of a pug nose and crooked teeth, Ygritte was believed lucky for her locks were a fiery red; kissed by fire.

Quick-witted and courageous and showing a great aptitude for archery she was part of a scouting party when she became a part of THE ODYSSEY OF JON SNOW. Staunchly loyal to Mance Rayder, Rattleshirt led his party to the Skirling Pass to spy upon the Crows from the Wall.

When Qhorin Halfhand and Jon Snow ambushed the wildlings, Jon is surprised that Ygritte is a woman and balked at killing her. Despite her taunting, "Strike hard and true, Jon Snow," Ygritte said, "Or I'll come back and haunt ya," and offering her pale throat in surrender, she manages to escape. Jon realises that the flame haired woman would attract more wildlings and chases after her.

When he recaptured her, night had arrived and he didn't want to make a fire to give away his position. Ygritte convinces him that to keep warm they must share body heat. Huddled up together, she made his winter sword grow hard with whispering sexual advances in his ear about how else they could keep warm.

The next day returning to the Skirling Pass to find Qhorin they argue about the rights of the people. Ygritte disagrees with Jon's beliefs of nobility and land owning, declaring "Men can’t own the land no more’n they can own the sea or the sky." Jon quickly becomes enamored by the feisty wildling and Ygritte is intrigued by the naïve Crow who so easily shared his history. Luring Jon off his guard by attempting to seduce him once again she leads him into a wildling ambush. When Rattleshirt aka Lord of Bones wanted to execute Jon, Ygritte persuaded him to present Jon to Mance instead as she thinks that Mance would be interested to hear about Jon because of his Stark blood.

Unbeknownst to Ygritte, Qhorin had told Jon he must infiltrate the Wildlings to find out why they were amassing the army. He must prove that he had left the Black and sympathized with the Free Folk whatever they asked. Ygritte also reminded them that The-King-Beyond-The-Wall was also once a Crow and had deserted the Night's Watch to join the Free Folk. So, under Qhorin's implicit command, he slays his brother and pretended to turn his cloak. Stunned, the wildlings accepted him as one of their own and freed him to join them in the return to The Frostfangs.

During the journey, Ygritte continued to toy with him with a well-placed touch, a whisper of pleasures in his ears and consistently placing her sleeping mat next to his when they stopped for the night. This did not go unnoticed by the other wildlings.

When Jon eventually met with Mance, he was shocked to find that Mance had already seen him before. For Mance had travelled south of the Wall and, disguised as a singer, was present when King Robert visited Winterfell. Playing the lute during a feast he noticed Jon then. He also had noticed Jon and Ygritte's tension between them querying, "The girl likes you. You like her back, Snow? That why you want to join us?" when Jon Snow meets with Mance under pretext of joining his campaign.

Jon found that Mance was hunting for the Horn of Winter. Legend said when blown it would topple the Wall. But his searching was in vain as it was not discovered. Mance plans to offer the horn in exchange for letting his people pass through the Wall to escape the White Walkers and the Night's King.

The army slowly travelled south towards the Wall. Jon, told to join Tormund Giantsbanes' party, found himself travelling with Ygritte once again. Ygritte was baffled that Jon had taken a vow of celibacy. "You're a pretty lad," she said. "Girls would claw each others eyes out to get naked with you. I could teach you how to do it." Jon retorted that he knew how to fuck. But Ygritte smirked, "You know nothing, Jon Snow." Which became an often used catchphrase whenever she referred to his bone and stones.

The red headed wildling broke him down eventually luring him into a cave near the hot springs with tales of how underground tunnels led under the Wall into the North of Westeros. There she stripped naked and he saw that her curls matched the flames of her head. They kissed with passion and her trailed his mouth down her body until his fingers curled in her fiery heat and kissed her sweetness. Ygritte was shocked as she did not know that oral existed. In THE ODYESSY OF JON SNOW, their passion intensified and he finally found the true joy of plunging his winter sword into her wild heat. He claimed her tight ass with powerful strokes until she cried that he definitely knew some things. She declared that she never wanted to leave the cave.

Just before they scaled the Wall, she reflected more on how much Jon was becoming a good lover but she knew that he still was loyal to the Night's Watch. She stated that the Night's Watch or Mance didn't care whether they lived or died but she was his woman. "Don't ever betray me because I'll cut your pretty cock off and wear it around me neck," she told Jon.

When they eventually scaled the Wall and stood on top they kissed again and it seemed like nothing could touch them.

They joined Styr’s advance party to attack the Wall and Jon realised that it was a suicide mission and tried to dissuade Ygritte. She reminded him that he was with them now. "You're mine, and I'm yours," she said. "And if we die, we die. But first we'll live."

When Jon refused to kill a lone man and Ygritte does it for him, chaos erupted and Jon escaped on a horse heading towards Castle Black to warn them about the attack. She watches him ride away with tears in her eyes, regretting his betrayal of her and also that she could not bring herself to kill the man she loved.

When Ygritte later attacks Castle Black together with Styr's band, she corners Jon Snow and aims an arrow at his chest.

But Olly, whose father was killed by a wildling, shoots her from behind. The woman's flames withered when she fell into Jon's arms. "Do you remember that cave...? We should've stayed in that cave...". Jon Snow insisted to the dying lover in his arms, "We'll go back there."

Her last words were "You know nothing...Jon Snow..." as her flames finally died.

She was burnt upon a weirwood pyre in a grove within the Haunted Forest by Jon himself. He would never forget the hold the spearwife had upon his heart and the wildness she exulted in the sheets.

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