We find Catelyn sitting in the "godswood". Wtf a godswood is I have no idea, but I have a feeling I might learn by the end of the chapter.
Catelyn
Catelyn is searching for her husband, Ned, in the godswood of Winterfell. Immediately, we learn she is a Tully of Riverrun. While searching, she thinks of the godswood in her birthplace of Riverrun; bright and airy, with tall redwoods following streams. She then begins to think, in a very glum manner, of the godswood in which she currently walks. She doesn't like it, it's cold, gloomy, primal, and smelled of earth and decay. It' sounds kinda creepy.
She notes that the gods who lived in that particular godswood had no names. And she does some reminiscing of what sounds like a baptism (forgive me, I was raised Catholic); her Father and granfather and his father before him were all of the Faith, in the sept of Riverrun. Unlike the gods of her husband, her gods had names and faces she could remember. At the center of every godswood is the heart tree of the wood, and carved in it is a face
We continue getting tidbits of history/lore/faith through Catelyn's thoughts until she finds Ned at the center of the wood , where the heart of this godswood sat. It is white as bone, a weirwood tree, and has it's own face carved in it; the eyes are red from dried sap. The leaves are red as well.
Ned and Catelyn begin idling chatting, and here we finally make the connection; Ned is Eddard, and we know this because he has the greatsword Ice in his lap as he cleans it. Catelyn is the Lady of Winterfell. Not sure how you get Ned out of Eddard ...
They talk of the children and their new pets. And then here, for the first time in the book, we get a line that is used over and over and over again. "Winter is coming". From the descriptions of the weather in Winterfell, summer seems to be a time of what I would call early winter in Minnesota. Average snow falls of about 6 inches, and bearable temperatures in the 20's F. I'm betting that Winter in Winterfell rivals the snow storms of the Arctic circle.
Then we find out that Gared was the fourth deserter that year, and that the Night's Watch is down to less than a thousand men. They're not only losing men to desertions but men aren't returning from rangings either.
More back and forth discussion of ending Mancer Rayder, and then Ned asks Catelyn why she's come out to him, knowing she hates the place.
With little hesitation she tells him that Jon Arryn is dead. Catelyn explains that the letter informing her of this was in Robert's own hand, and that Jon died quickly. We get a little background info on Jon Arryn, Catelyn and Eddard here; Jon was married to Catelyn's sister, and Eddard grew up with Jon at the Eyrie, whatever that is ...
And Catelyn's sister and Jon had a son, and the two of them went back to the Eryie after Jon's death. Catelyn's uncle, Brynden, brother to Hoster, is also in the Eryie, as a Knight of the Gate in the Vale. Surely he'll take care of them ...
Eddard suggests Catelyn go to her sister and to take the children with her, but she says she can't because the King also informed them that he's going to come to Winterfell to see Eddard. Eddard is pleased, and decides to call his brother home from the Night Watch for the visit as well.
And now we get bombarded with family names and I had to stop and go read up who belong to what frackin' family on Wikipedia because I was so damned confused at this point. Here's the deal. King Robert is married to Queen Cersei Lannister, who has two brothers, Jaime and Tyrion. Robert and Cersei have three children together and the whole family is going to follow Robert to Winterfell.
Ned's not happy about that. But he agrees there should be a feast.
Meeting In the WTFWoods Afterthoughts
Alright, too many names are in this book already, and this is only chapter 2 (3 counting the Prologue). And what is with this godswood thing? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the book, but Martin is a sink-or-swim writer: if you can dive in and understand what in the world is going on and keep up, you're swimming. If not, you're dead. And no, I'm no closer to really understanding what a godswood is at the end of this chapter than I was when I started.
I'm treading water. Sort of. Poorly. Maybe the next couple chapters will clear some things up. Over all, a more informative chapter than anything.
We continue getting tidbits of history/lore/faith through Catelyn's thoughts until she finds Ned at the center of the wood , where the heart of this godswood sat. It is white as bone, a weirwood tree, and has it's own face carved in it; the eyes are red from dried sap. The leaves are red as well.
Ned and Catelyn begin idling chatting, and here we finally make the connection; Ned is Eddard, and we know this because he has the greatsword Ice in his lap as he cleans it. Catelyn is the Lady of Winterfell. Not sure how you get Ned out of Eddard ...
They talk of the children and their new pets. And then here, for the first time in the book, we get a line that is used over and over and over again. "Winter is coming". From the descriptions of the weather in Winterfell, summer seems to be a time of what I would call early winter in Minnesota. Average snow falls of about 6 inches, and bearable temperatures in the 20's F. I'm betting that Winter in Winterfell rivals the snow storms of the Arctic circle.
Then we find out that Gared was the fourth deserter that year, and that the Night's Watch is down to less than a thousand men. They're not only losing men to desertions but men aren't returning from rangings either.
More back and forth discussion of ending Mancer Rayder, and then Ned asks Catelyn why she's come out to him, knowing she hates the place.
With little hesitation she tells him that Jon Arryn is dead. Catelyn explains that the letter informing her of this was in Robert's own hand, and that Jon died quickly. We get a little background info on Jon Arryn, Catelyn and Eddard here; Jon was married to Catelyn's sister, and Eddard grew up with Jon at the Eyrie, whatever that is ...
And Catelyn's sister and Jon had a son, and the two of them went back to the Eryie after Jon's death. Catelyn's uncle, Brynden, brother to Hoster, is also in the Eryie, as a Knight of the Gate in the Vale. Surely he'll take care of them ...
Eddard suggests Catelyn go to her sister and to take the children with her, but she says she can't because the King also informed them that he's going to come to Winterfell to see Eddard. Eddard is pleased, and decides to call his brother home from the Night Watch for the visit as well.
And now we get bombarded with family names and I had to stop and go read up who belong to what frackin' family on Wikipedia because I was so damned confused at this point. Here's the deal. King Robert is married to Queen Cersei Lannister, who has two brothers, Jaime and Tyrion. Robert and Cersei have three children together and the whole family is going to follow Robert to Winterfell.
Ned's not happy about that. But he agrees there should be a feast.
Meeting In the WTFWoods Afterthoughts
Alright, too many names are in this book already, and this is only chapter 2 (3 counting the Prologue). And what is with this godswood thing? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the book, but Martin is a sink-or-swim writer: if you can dive in and understand what in the world is going on and keep up, you're swimming. If not, you're dead. And no, I'm no closer to really understanding what a godswood is at the end of this chapter than I was when I started.
I'm treading water. Sort of. Poorly. Maybe the next couple chapters will clear some things up. Over all, a more informative chapter than anything.
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