Large eyes are NOT generally associated with animals that are nocturnal or cave dwelling. Large eyes are associated with animals that are Crepuscular, i.e., active not in the day or the darkest part of the night bur rather at Dawn and/or Dusk. A lot of animals commonly thought of as nocturnal, such as owls or racoons, are actually crepuscular rather than nocturnal. Large eyes help one see better in twilight, but not in true darkness. Truly nocturnal animals, and animals that spend all their lives deep in caves, tend to have very small vestigial eyes and may be almost or entirely blind as there is no benefit in investing the resources to maintain powerful eyes if they won't be exposed to enough light to use them well.
This comment is nit picking; no crap large eyes don't work in 'true darkness,' because in true darkness, there is no light to detect, so no eyes would work. This is why some of these 'true darkness' animals essentially go blind. Also, I've seen plenty of racoons active at 2am; this occurs most often during full moons and around that period; even a crescent moon can provide lots of light. Even with my 'inferior' human eyes, I can see insanely well during such periods, and I prefer going out at this hour to observe, when no human-made lights are messing it up
"Ned, my bestfriend, who thought my muscles were like a maiden's fantasy, and like a true bro thought about my deep blue lake like eyes and very manly described me as a horned god" Baratheon, Robert
"I think Ned Stark loved Robert better than he ever loved his brother or his father… or even you, my lady. He was never unfaithful to Robert, was he?” - Jaime, ACoK
These underground cities all over the map have always made me think The Long Night that "lasted a generation" pushed a whole lot of people underground to survive. A world ending comet impact that filled the sky with soot and ash. Followed by ice monsters crawling across the land and killing, then enslaving everyone and everything, sounds like a pretty good reason for the remaining population to dig tunnels deep underground to survive.. Even using existing caves and carving steps everywhere. These people were there for a LONG time. It all matches up pretty neatly when you piece it together and take a step back. Love these typed of videos Mr Lightbringer. Keep up the fantastic job and as always (MORE BASSSSS) keep on rocking on.... 🤘🤙✌🖖👌
Right? That meshes really well with the theory that many of the caves in Westeros were originally carved by weirwood roots. Many weirwoods may have died because of that event, or shortly thereafter, so the people fled and made homes in a place created by weirwoods? Idk I worshipped Garth before watching this video
Haha nope those are both good ideas. Totally agree the Long Night creates the need for bunkers, and look, the children know how to live underground off of mushrooms and fish.
@@DavidLightbringer If Fallout games have taught me anything, it’s that caves and bunkers/makeshift underground facilities can either save your ass, or make you a sitting duck. I like this theory/idea a lot. Could potentially be an alternative explaination as to why or how some of these species pretty much disappeared. It’s been a while since I re-read the first 5 GOT books or watched the show for context clues though, so...idk😅
All ASOAIF magic seems to be more than just "I cast magic spell" - It's always connected to big-picture stuff. Asshai and Valyria are radiation zones, but magic. Weirwoods are internet, but magic. The Blackstone and Fishmen are 'ruins of sykscrapers' deep time. But magic! The first Long Night was _definitely_ an extinction event, "but magic."
I dunno, Valyria's fallout is more than just radiation. What about the firewyrms and dragon miscarriages etc. Besides, radiation doesn't mutate flesh, it just degrades.
I absolutely adore the self awareness of LML saying "you probably clicked onto my weirdest wideo" in a glorious party city wig. Love your work man, I clicked as fast as I possible, can't wait to dive into Leng rabbit hole.
The fact that the punishment for going down into the caves is torture in death to mean implies there is more to the story of those soldiers returning, it sounds like they fear what’s down there so I wonder what stories they told.
The First Quote makes me think of the House of Black and White, the Cave of the Three-Eyed Crow and the Winterfell Crypts. The black water, white fish and underground rivers seen in these places also can be seen in the black waters of the Ash River through the Shadow Lands, and in the cave beneath the Rainwood visited by Arianne in WoW. One commonality among these locations is that they seem to have been the locations Children of the Forest, at least in Westeros. It is less clear whether the Children ever lived in the Shadow Lands or east of the Bones for that matter. However, it does appear that locations abandoned by the Children of the Forest turn into strange ghostly ruins similar to Stygai and Vaes Leisi. Another deep cave that gathered worshipers doesn't match the pattern though. The endlessly deep mines of Valyria that also reach to the center of the earth.
@@DavidLightbringer I certainly do. The Valyrians seems to track along the southern path I discussed in my other comment along which you find heavily forested areas and interbreading with animals like the children. The God Emperor chose to forget after sealing the temples, but I bet the God Empress remembers just like the Valyrians, Children and First Men.
That Illyrio nod is definitely something. Yeah, I always noticed that Varys and Illyrio basically enslave "children" and cut their tongues out to keep them from telling their secrets. In this obvious comparison, I wonder what the two men are meant to represent, in relation to the children of the forest?
Varys has that greenseer / icy greenseer spider symbolism, and yes exactly gets his secrets from birds and children. He’s probably a great other analog
@@Lesistius Think Larys Strong and his Fireflys in HotD. Doomed people (children) robbed of choice given an option to remain as nothing - or rise to become someone, given missions, a network, benefits never before seen or known. The price to rise is their tongue, but when you've never had a voice in this world, perhaps that's not such a high price to pay?
A fun fyi: Carcosa as a city was originally created by Ambrose Bierce. Then Robert W. Chambers borrowed the name for some of his stories. And the HP Lovecraft, who was a fan of Chamber's work, turned around and borrowed the name from him. And then GRRM, inspired by Lovecraft used it! :D
The Ghiscari in Slavers Bay make their hair into horns among other things. This could be a tradition from the Old Ghiscari Empire. If so it could be a memory of some sacred horned people they met. If they travelled from Leng to Westeros they must have passed by right?
They must have. I should look at those scenes for symbolism at least. But yeah it’s more testament to the universality of the horned human image at least.
The Second and Third combined are curious. The God Emperor sent countless warriors into the underground cities beneath Leng before sealing the underground cities' ruins and forgetting. The God Empress had congress with the Old Ones living below the ruined subterranean cities and they told her at least four times to put all strangers on Leng to death. The World of Ice and Fire shows that the Valyrian Dragons were named after the Old Gods, and the Children of the Forest also worship the Old Gods of the earth. The House of Black and White, the Faceless Men and, in a more concealed manner, the Faith of the Seven all worship the Stranger, the God of Death or the Many-Faced God. The Opal Emperor had a daughter, Amethyst Empress, and a younger son, Bloodstone Emperor. The Bloodstone Emperor murdered his sister, the Amethyst Empress, became the last ruler of the Great Empire of the Dawn, took a tiger-woman as wife, feasted on human flesh, cast down the Gods of Yi Ti, and began worshipping a black stone fallen from the sky. Not only is the Bloodstone Emperor doing all of the things Bran is told a skin-changer should never do, but he also seems to be the one who initiated the worship of black stones, which seems to have been in conflict with the Gods of Yi Ti that the Bloodstone Emperor had to cast down to begin his worship of the black stone. The line of Death worship tracks along a straight line from Yi Ti, Lion of Night, to Qohor, The Black Goat, to Braavos, Many-Faced God, to Andalos, Faith of the Seven's Stranger. Whatever gods were worshipped in the forests of Yi Ti, the God Emperor of Yi Ti was clothed in green and gold which are the colors of life and fertility. In the excerpt, the God Emperor, of Yi Ti perhaps, is at odds with the God Empress of Leng. The God Empress seems to be aligned with the Old Ones, and is ordered to put strangers to death. The Lengii look like giant Children of the Forest, and Children of the Forest look like cats because of their eyes. It seems like they may spend most of their lives in the shadows of the forest and underground and seem to have been most active at night when the moon is out (surely for singing purposes). Yellow eyes and dappled skin sounds like a tiger as well, perhaps the place where the Bloodstone Emperor found his hot tiger-wife. You can similarly track the forests of the children-like Lengii from Leng, north to Yi Ti, Ifekevron, Qohor, to Wolfswood or south to Sothoryos, the Summer Isles to Rainwood. These two lines track all of the interbreeding to the south and oddly close to the Death Worship line we discussed to the north.
I like it. And of course Tiger Woman may have been a Lengii god empress or an Old One human hybrid, if the actual Old Ones have slitted eyes like the children. Pretty cool marginal world-building huh?
@@DavidLightbringer Agreed. Instead of horned goat people living in underground temples above the old ones, as they do in Lovecraft, George chose dapple-skinned creatures with giant eyes to live in the underground cities above the old ones.
Man, I wish you could have a lengthy (pun not intended) talk with GRRM about all of this. Wonder if he'd be impressed that all of this has been figured out? Perhaps disappointed that his mystery has been solved?
About the connection between the Sarnori, the Mazemakers and the Isle of Leng: The Disputed Lands has released a video on this just a month ago, it's really interesting and lines up with your theory in a couple of places, but also diverges in some. If you want to check it out, it's called "The Mazemakers of Lorath/ ASOIAF Theory ."
I've always been a huge fan of your clever theory ("theory" already in the scientific sense, since you've been able to make predictions based on it, which defines a theory, huge congratulations!) that GRRM draws quite a number of ideas from HPL in the world of ASOIAF! And I am so thrilled to meet the old ones in TWOW - maybe as a nemesis for Euron's bloody fooling around with magic? Or as something far beyond the wall in the Lands of Always Winter, which could be directly connected with the forbidden caves of Essos? (But this is in fact only a thesis, not a theory!) - Thank you so very much for all your great content!
@@DavidLightbringer We will see them! And we will face that comet you prophesied, waking up what is now rather dead and dreaming than sleeping... Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn, as I use to point out incidentially to my still disbelieving friends ;-) - Lots of love from Vienna/Austria!
Awesome video! Thanks to you and Quinn (and George himself of course) I really want to get into Lovecraft. I've listened to a couple of audiobooks of his stories (thanks Well Told Tale! 👍) but I've never actually read any. I also appreciate the fact that you are making videos under an hour now. 😜🤣 I really liked your long form, in depth videos, but these shorter ones are easier to consume, and you still manage to pack in a lot of good information and insight into them. Keep up the good work 👍👏
This is everything I need today; dramatic musical intro, dark & creepy subterranean set dressing and full tilt tin foil theorising! Let it begin. Let it begin! 🤩🤩🤩
The Langi seem like the elves to the Children’s Fae. I’d bet the Naathi interbred with the Langi or their Old Ones ancestors making them a sort of cousin branch to the Children and the Crannogmen, Kinda like how Europeans interbred with Neanderthals and Asians interbred with Denisovans
@@DavidLightbringer it’s actually so cool to me as a biological anthropology student who’s studied human origins and such like, clearly GRRM has some magical Neanderthal species running around and leaving their mark on humans much like there were in our world. Maybe like Neanderthals gave us much of our immune systems the Naathi’s resistance to the butterfly plague has some roots in a magical ancestor?
it seems like all magic humans can perform comes from interbreeding in the past, weather forced and unnatural, like with old valyrian and their dragons, or naturally as it seems to be with the children of the forest and their kin in various locations.
I know it probably took you a long time, but I really enjoyed the production values of this video. I'm not suggesting that you do this kind of thing all the time, I also enjoy your more free-form videos. But it's nice to watch this kind every now and then.
@@crypticscrutiny1153 Magic: The Gathering. There's an old Artifact card, from one of the very early sets of that game, back in the early 90's. It's title is literally "Library of Leng." Basically, it's the original "Reliquary Tower," only it's an Artifact rather than a Land card. You have no maximum hand size as long as it's on the battlefield.
if I'd done nothing last year but listen to the channel's library of content whilst working from home.... then 2020 wasn't such a bad year in my eyes...
I've had my own tinfoil wrapped theory cooking about possible Far Eastern Essos connections to Westeros, specifically Far Mossovy, the Grey Waste and the North. (Working theory title: Eldric Shadowchaser and the Russian Starks). Watching this video makes me want to make one of my own on the subject. Currently lacking the resources to do so I'll probably just hit you up with a nice patreon donation to get your thoughts on it.
Hi David. Idk if you'll see this but I really felt the need to leave this comment. You are an inspiration to me. Your way with words and your explanations of George RR Martins works are pure artwork. You've inspired me to start writing my own novel, and I've been given the opportunity to teach a class centered around writing. I really hope that I can teach and inspire the writers in my class as you have taught and inspired me. I will be recommending your channels to all my students and I wish you the very best. Thank you for being such a positive force in my life!!!!!
Whoa...what if the bloodstone emperor’s tiger woman was lengii, who was really a child of the forest or had some of that blood? He might mention this im only a few minutes in
I didn’t actually, tho I mentioned that idea in the Great Emperor of the Dawn video as well as the Weirwood Goddess podcast series. I think there’s something there
Comment for the almighty algorithm. The opening of this was absurd and utterly delightful. Thank you for your content. I hope the birds are happy with attention after the King Robert Livestream. Have a good one.
0:14 “George? It’s me, your brother Lucifer Lucas” I know others have covered it, but I’d love to hear your take on the Fisher Queens and the former inland sea, it’s my favorite lore deep cut
"Welcome to what is possibly my weirdest video" ...that's a lot to live up to - you've done some pretty weird videos, but that's part of what I love about you!
Lucifer means Lightbringer I discovered you and Quinn like 2 weeks ago during my revisit to the books after not touching anything since the show ended and I’m completely enthralled
That you actually managed to begin and finish (I assume) The Dreamquest to Unknown Kadath is testament to your dedication to the cause, because I have never managed to finish it, despite my best efforts and I never leave books and stories unfinished. This story, however, beat me with its sheer volume of descriptions and sheer lack of action. I get that dreams often meander and ramble, because I dream also, but this story really drained me. Well done you!
@@DavidLightbringer For me if I read Dreamquest I'd have a weird dream likely not nightmare as I really don't have them I just have strange dreams. Overactive imagination and an overactive mind will do it for me. Maybe the Great Other is Nyarlothotep and the Bloodstone Emperor worshiped Nyarlothotep which considering K'dath is on the map I'd not rule out the creeping chaos being involved somehow, who knows maybe I just want to see Jon and Dany face down one of the Outer Gods and win, George did write a story where Jaime Lannister fought Cthulhu once so it wouldn't be out of his area of expertise.
Thanks LML. You are really on top of your game here. I've always hoped that Cthulhu mythos is a bigger part of asoiaf than just filling out the world map. Old Gods might just still be some kind of elder race or The Great Old Ones themselves. Just imagine that Euron is Nyarlatothep. Fills my nerdish heart with joy :)
On point Bobby B impression 🦌🤣 never thought of him and Ned just immediately heading underground to the crypts as a parallel to the old ones on leng. Fits pretty freakin well. Looking forward to hearing more in the livestream today.
Nooo, I'm going to dinner at my mothers place, I can't watch this now, but I really want to... Leng AND green men? This is going to be good, can't wait until I get home again!
I continue to be surprised by the number of ASOIAF readers that haven't figured out that The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath is worth reading. A lot of the references couldn't be more in your face, and Google exists. Nothing to be ashamed of though, save that for the crowd of self-proclaimed Lovecraft aficionados that won't touch it or anything approaching it's length.
@@DavidLightbringer Seen him pop up in my recs a few times but I probably saw video lengths of 4 hours and said nope. If a video/stream/whatever is over an hour I get weird and would rather read a transcript of it or an essay. I'll have to find time on a slow day to skim some of his Lovecraft crossref videos.
Thanks to Quinns Ideas i found your channel and i am very glad that happens. Your channel is simply amazing. I watched so many of your videos over the last couple days and i can't get enough. Very amazing work. Greetings from Germany
The Ashaii in Martin's world seems to be like the Men from Leng in Lovecraft's. They both have a bad reputation, hide their faces and trade with gold and gems.
Yeah I’m going to file this one away in the “tf did I just listen to” part of my brain. In all seriousness, this is incredibly interesting, and sheds light on the weirder parts of asoiaf lore. Man, I love this channel.
@23:06 I thought my PC was spazzing out for a sec cuz I got that same pic of Big Bobby B and Ned as my desktop wallpaper. Also, love love love this video! Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is one of the few Lovecraft stories I have yet to read. This video gives me the urge to finally read it!
Praise be to the Old Gods! I find your videos so amazing, Please never, NEVER, stop teaching all of us all MYTH HEADS about this wonderful world🤟much love and appreciation.
I might have missed the sarcasm, but in that TWOIAF passage about the god-empress, I'm pretty sure "congress" refers to an intimate encounter, not a political one.
Leng. I'm glad someone is talking about this place because of it is just so interesting. First off...the appearance. I definitely agree that the Lengii are related to the children of the forest, as are the Naathi and probably the Jogos Nhai as well. The Jogos Nhai have pointed skulls, and Bran notes misshapen skulls in the weirwood net of caves that would match this, not to mention the Jogos Nhai were the first moonsingers, and using the moon to send information or dreams is definitely employed by mysterious characters in our story, some may be children of the forest. I also find it telling that both the Lengii and Jogos Nhai are feminist societies with both descriptions giving mentions of famous women leaders and a tradition of it overall. I do wonder if that is also how the children were as well; Osha tells Bran that she is of the true North, like her mother and mother before her. She thinks of wildlings such as Mance Rayder as no true wildling. Does she infact just mean that he has no child of the forest blood? She notably follows her matrilineal line, and not her patrilineal...which makes me wonder of the Rhoynish, a famously feminist people. The salty Dornishmen (those with the most Rhoynish blood) are literally described as "...lithe and olive-skinned..." but no eye color description, that probably would have made it too telling. I could totally be wrong about these connections, but some food for thought...
Sometimes I feel like Martin's original idea (until the 2nd book, I feel) was to show us all of this Far East mysterious lore through Dany and her party's POV in the books. I just wonder how it would be all these revelations (through a symbolism orgasm, of course) and connections happening simultaneously in Essos and Westeros.
Actually you’re probably right. He was gonna take her to Asshai to learn “truth,” then abandoned the plan (I think he switched it to glass candle visions of Asshai Dany will have). So yeah he probably thought he could use some of this. Some of the East stuff be fleshed out for TWOIAF specifically, but I noticed the YiTish story of a woman with a monkeys tail was there already, as the YiTish wear monkey tail hats in AGOT
What if the underground tunnels and cities all over the world are connected? The CotF's name for themselves is translates to "those who sing the song of earth," and the only such Singers we've ever seen are 1) Leaf & Co., who live underground; and 2) the Ghost of High Heart (probably), who lives in the vicinity of a great hill, and the worldbook says the CotF live in "hollow hills,' among other housing options. Oh, and maybe the dwarf servant at the House of the Undying. Those Shade of the Evening trees are just photonegative weirwoods, so something is going on there.
More of note, in Lovecraft lore Shub-Niggurath, "The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young", is another of the outer gods and takes the position of an abominable fertility deity. Of course, the people of Qohor worship the "Black Goat", a deity which demands endless blood sacrifice. This calls to mind the mass sacrifices on Leng and the blood sacrifices to the Weirwood in Westeros, and naturally the figure of a goat is reminiscent of the stag/fertility god imagery present in old Westeros as well. Combine this with certain other facets of imagery, particularly the Lengi and Children being described with "teak" and "nut-brown" skin, the "green men", and even the twisted horns of the stag possibly being analogous to the branches of a tree, this leads me to question whether these people and figures are perhaps descended from the woods in a literal sense. After all, if humans can enter the genetic consciousness of the Weirwood, does it not follow that humans, or at least some humans, literally share a genetic heritage with the Weirwood, the "Old Gods"?
Yep I’ve wondered about this too. In Norse myth the only two survivors of Ragnarok hide in an Ash tree and are reborn from it, plus there are other similar creation myths involving trees.
A small quibble but when you list all the place names GRRM used which are from HPL you included Carcosa. Carcosa was created by Ambrose Pierce in 1886, only to be picked up by other authors (HPL included).
Carcossa came from The King in Yellow written by Robert W Chambers, not lovecraft. That said he was heavily *heavily* inspired by lovecrafts work. Just thought I would be pedantic for a moment.
Mindblowing. This is the prime example why I subscribed to your channel, thanks to the collaboration with Quinn for the Winds of Winter predictions. And also, unfortunately, the prime example why I can't get my "normie" GoT-watching friends to dive in this deep. Thanks for the astonishing entertainment, L!
The old ones legend reminds me of that one episode of Doctor Who where that planet by the black hoke had an old civilization where they trapped that giant demon God thing underground
Large eyes are NOT generally associated with animals that are nocturnal or cave dwelling. Large eyes are associated with animals that are Crepuscular, i.e., active not in the day or the darkest part of the night bur rather at Dawn and/or Dusk.
A lot of animals commonly thought of as nocturnal, such as owls or racoons, are actually crepuscular rather than nocturnal. Large eyes help one see better in twilight, but not in true darkness.
Truly nocturnal animals, and animals that spend all their lives deep in caves, tend to have very small vestigial eyes and may be almost or entirely blind as there is no benefit in investing the resources to maintain powerful eyes if they won't be exposed to enough light to use them well.
true
You're confusing cave dwelling with subterranean cave dwelling brother
This comment is nit picking; no crap large eyes don't work in 'true darkness,' because in true darkness, there is no light to detect, so no eyes would work. This is why some of these 'true darkness' animals essentially go blind.
Also, I've seen plenty of racoons active at 2am; this occurs most often during full moons and around that period; even a crescent moon can provide lots of light. Even with my 'inferior' human eyes, I can see insanely well during such periods, and I prefer going out at this hour to observe, when no human-made lights are messing it up
@@LennyDeee No, they arent.
It sound like they ARE generally associated with nocturnal animals, but that association is erroneous
The idea of Robert and Ned playing hide and seek in the crypts of winterfell is so pleasing
You know it happened. Lol
this comment..is but a humble sacrifice to the algorithm gods.
Same
Out come the digital long knives
For the algorithm is dark and full of terror!
Comments for the comment god replies for the reply throne
Praise be
"Ned, my bestfriend, who thought my muscles were like a maiden's fantasy, and like a true bro thought about my deep blue lake like eyes and very manly described me as a horned god" Baratheon, Robert
Bromance, take or leave the B
Duro contra el muro y sin pena sobre la arena. Muy bro todo.
Lol, you’re seeing what I’m seeing
@@DavidLightbringer It's in the text!!!! And it's my new headcanon
"I think Ned Stark loved Robert better than he ever loved his brother or his father… or even you, my lady. He was never unfaithful to Robert, was he?” - Jaime, ACoK
Thank goodness there are some ASOIAF youtubers who continue with coverage on the magical and strange aspects to the series.
9:30 It should be noted that only small cats have elliptical pupils, large cats are almost exclusively predatory and all possess circular pupils.
Man, the whole King Robert of the Infinite Libido bit was amazing.
Why thank you I fired my best shot ;)
ppl talk about GoT being realistic but i like how the further u get the more straight up high fantasy it really is
100%
These underground cities all over the map have always made me think The Long Night that "lasted a generation" pushed a whole lot of people underground to survive.
A world ending comet impact that filled the sky with soot and ash. Followed by ice monsters crawling across the land and killing, then enslaving everyone and everything, sounds like a pretty good reason for the remaining population to dig tunnels deep underground to survive..
Even using existing caves and carving steps everywhere. These people were there for a LONG time.
It all matches up pretty neatly when you piece it together and take a step back.
Love these typed of videos Mr Lightbringer.
Keep up the fantastic job and as always (MORE BASSSSS) keep on rocking on.... 🤘🤙✌🖖👌
Right? That meshes really well with the theory that many of the caves in Westeros were originally carved by weirwood roots. Many weirwoods may have died because of that event, or shortly thereafter, so the people fled and made homes in a place created by weirwoods? Idk I worshipped Garth before watching this video
Haha nope those are both good ideas. Totally agree the Long Night creates the need for bunkers, and look, the children know how to live underground off of mushrooms and fish.
@@DavidLightbringer If Fallout games have taught me anything, it’s that caves and bunkers/makeshift underground facilities can either save your ass, or make you a sitting duck. I like this theory/idea a lot. Could potentially be an alternative explaination as to why or how some of these species pretty much disappeared.
It’s been a while since I re-read the first 5 GOT books or watched the show for context clues though, so...idk😅
All ASOAIF magic seems to be more than just "I cast magic spell" - It's always connected to big-picture stuff.
Asshai and Valyria are radiation zones, but magic.
Weirwoods are internet, but magic.
The Blackstone and Fishmen are 'ruins of sykscrapers' deep time. But magic!
The first Long Night was _definitely_ an extinction event, "but magic."
I dunno, Valyria's fallout is more than just radiation. What about the firewyrms and dragon miscarriages etc. Besides, radiation doesn't mutate flesh, it just degrades.
I absolutely adore the self awareness of LML saying "you probably clicked onto my weirdest wideo" in a glorious party city wig.
Love your work man, I clicked as fast as I possible, can't wait to dive into Leng rabbit hole.
Damn there are rabbits down there too? I think the Old Ones ate all the rabbits
@@DavidLightbringer Yes, in fact Lorath is actually Wonderland
@@DavidLightbringer idk man rabbits that live in the deep Lengii rabbit holes don’t go down easy. Takes a holy hand grenade to kill ‘em
The fact that the punishment for going down into the caves is torture in death to mean implies there is more to the story of those soldiers returning, it sounds like they fear what’s down there so I wonder what stories they told.
“Weirdest video” you say?
Hold on... *grabs bong*
okay, fuck me up LML
I'm here for it. 1 spliff on in lol
I was just doing the same thing.
😂👍
I got the carts guys. Much better for my lifestyle. Which is the "I don't need all these herbs on me right now" lifestyle.
XD
GRRM has created such a complex world that the story possibilities seem endless.
The First Quote makes me think of the House of Black and White, the Cave of the Three-Eyed Crow and the Winterfell Crypts. The black water, white fish and underground rivers seen in these places also can be seen in the black waters of the Ash River through the Shadow Lands, and in the cave beneath the Rainwood visited by Arianne in WoW. One commonality among these locations is that they seem to have been the locations Children of the Forest, at least in Westeros. It is less clear whether the Children ever lived in the Shadow Lands or east of the Bones for that matter. However, it does appear that locations abandoned by the Children of the Forest turn into strange ghostly ruins similar to Stygai and Vaes Leisi.
Another deep cave that gathered worshipers doesn't match the pattern though. The endlessly deep mines of Valyria that also reach to the center of the earth.
But I’ve always wondered if skinchanger magic played a part in creating the dragon bond. Don’t you?
@@DavidLightbringer I certainly do. The Valyrians seems to track along the southern path I discussed in my other comment along which you find heavily forested areas and interbreading with animals like the children. The God Emperor chose to forget after sealing the temples, but I bet the God Empress remembers just like the Valyrians, Children and First Men.
That Illyrio nod is definitely something.
Yeah, I always noticed that Varys and Illyrio basically enslave "children" and cut their tongues out to keep them from telling their secrets.
In this obvious comparison, I wonder what the two men are meant to represent, in relation to the children of the forest?
Varys has that greenseer / icy greenseer spider symbolism, and yes exactly gets his secrets from birds and children. He’s probably a great other analog
If he cuts their tongues, how do they relay information tot Varys ?
I just thought too, the old ones form of mind control could be just skinchanging into humans
Notes, like the note one boy passed to Mysaria the white worm in episode 4 of hotd
@@Lesistius Think Larys Strong and his Fireflys in HotD.
Doomed people (children) robbed of choice given an option to remain as nothing - or rise to become someone, given missions, a network, benefits never before seen or known.
The price to rise is their tongue, but when you've never had a voice in this world, perhaps that's not such a high price to pay?
Ned + Robert is the ghost ship I didn't know I needed
Welcome to the party my friend
Why, just why . . . . It is just way more amuseing than it should be
a literal ghost ship even!
Cersei jokes a lot about their marriage…she ships it too
Was that "down in the crypts with my platonic friend" or "with my plutonic friend"? Because either works.
Oh man that’s rich, well played. It was platonic of course
@@DavidLightbringer you need to step up your pun game, bro. It's the only way to humour the gods of the great algorithm.
A fun fyi: Carcosa as a city was originally created by Ambrose Bierce. Then Robert W. Chambers borrowed the name for some of his stories. And the HP Lovecraft, who was a fan of Chamber's work, turned around and borrowed the name from him. And then GRRM, inspired by Lovecraft used it! :D
I'll try to remember that name for my book, goodness knows when I'll actually be able to use a real city though
I always think of true detective
Also with regards to the bonus round: the sea serpent Nagga, was a boat made of weir wood trees. You get a Yig made of Ygg.
The Ghiscari in Slavers Bay make their hair into horns among other things. This could be a tradition from the Old Ghiscari Empire. If so it could be a memory of some sacred horned people they met. If they travelled from Leng to Westeros they must have passed by right?
They must have. I should look at those scenes for symbolism at least. But yeah it’s more testament to the universality of the horned human image at least.
Been waiting so long to see you do a video connecting The Dreamquest to Leng in ASOIAF! It's one of my favorite Lovecraft stories. Really cool video!!
The Second and Third combined are curious.
The God Emperor sent countless warriors into the underground cities beneath Leng before sealing the underground cities' ruins and forgetting.
The God Empress had congress with the Old Ones living below the ruined subterranean cities and they told her at least four times to put all strangers on Leng to death.
The World of Ice and Fire shows that the Valyrian Dragons were named after the Old Gods, and the Children of the Forest also worship the Old Gods of the earth.
The House of Black and White, the Faceless Men and, in a more concealed manner, the Faith of the Seven all worship the Stranger, the God of Death or the Many-Faced God. The Opal Emperor had a daughter, Amethyst Empress, and a younger son, Bloodstone Emperor. The Bloodstone Emperor murdered his sister, the Amethyst Empress, became the last ruler of the Great Empire of the Dawn, took a tiger-woman as wife, feasted on human flesh, cast down the Gods of Yi Ti, and began worshipping a black stone fallen from the sky.
Not only is the Bloodstone Emperor doing all of the things Bran is told a skin-changer should never do, but he also seems to be the one who initiated the worship of black stones, which seems to have been in conflict with the Gods of Yi Ti that the Bloodstone Emperor had to cast down to begin his worship of the black stone. The line of Death worship tracks along a straight line from Yi Ti, Lion of Night, to Qohor, The Black Goat, to Braavos, Many-Faced God, to Andalos, Faith of the Seven's Stranger. Whatever gods were worshipped in the forests of Yi Ti, the God Emperor of Yi Ti was clothed in green and gold which are the colors of life and fertility.
In the excerpt, the God Emperor, of Yi Ti perhaps, is at odds with the God Empress of Leng. The God Empress seems to be aligned with the Old Ones, and is ordered to put strangers to death. The Lengii look like giant Children of the Forest, and Children of the Forest look like cats because of their eyes. It seems like they may spend most of their lives in the shadows of the forest and underground and seem to have been most active at night when the moon is out (surely for singing purposes). Yellow eyes and dappled skin sounds like a tiger as well, perhaps the place where the Bloodstone Emperor found his hot tiger-wife. You can similarly track the forests of the children-like Lengii from Leng, north to Yi Ti, Ifekevron, Qohor, to Wolfswood or south to Sothoryos, the Summer Isles to Rainwood. These two lines track all of the interbreeding to the south and oddly close to the Death Worship line we discussed to the north.
I like it. And of course Tiger Woman may have been a Lengii god empress or an Old One human hybrid, if the actual Old Ones have slitted eyes like the children. Pretty cool marginal world-building huh?
@@DavidLightbringer Agreed. Instead of horned goat people living in underground temples above the old ones, as they do in Lovecraft, George chose dapple-skinned creatures with giant eyes to live in the underground cities above the old ones.
I like the Tiger-Woman theory, it makes so much sense.
Man, I wish you could have a lengthy (pun not intended) talk with GRRM about all of this. Wonder if he'd be impressed that all of this has been figured out? Perhaps disappointed that his mystery has been solved?
No I think as a writer you want people to solve this shit, why else put it in?
I lost my old UA-cam account so I'm rewatching stuff and damn I love this world and lore
About the connection between the Sarnori, the Mazemakers and the Isle of Leng: The Disputed Lands has released a video on this just a month ago, it's really interesting and lines up with your theory in a couple of places, but also diverges in some. If you want to check it out, it's called "The Mazemakers of Lorath/ ASOIAF Theory
."
been meaning to watch that one, I saw it come out. Love her channel!
@@DavidLightbringer the descendants on the lower third of Leng made me think of her theory about the displaced fisher queens
My good sir i had to hit like after that spot on Bobby B impression🦌
I've always been a huge fan of your clever theory ("theory" already in the scientific sense, since you've been able to make predictions based on it, which defines a theory, huge congratulations!) that GRRM draws quite a number of ideas from HPL in the world of ASOIAF! And I am so thrilled to meet the old ones in TWOW - maybe as a nemesis for Euron's bloody fooling around with magic? Or as something far beyond the wall in the Lands of Always Winter, which could be directly connected with the forbidden caves of Essos? (But this is in fact only a thesis, not a theory!) - Thank you so very much for all your great content!
Dude I can’t WAIT to see green men. It’s right after seeing a comet / moon disaster on my wish list
@@DavidLightbringer We will see them! And we will face that comet you prophesied, waking up what is now rather dead and dreaming than sleeping... Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn, as I use to point out incidentially to my still disbelieving friends ;-) - Lots of love from Vienna/Austria!
Awesome video! Thanks to you and Quinn (and George himself of course) I really want to get into Lovecraft. I've listened to a couple of audiobooks of his stories (thanks Well Told Tale! 👍) but I've never actually read any. I also appreciate the fact that you are making videos under an hour now. 😜🤣 I really liked your long form, in depth videos, but these shorter ones are easier to consume, and you still manage to pack in a lot of good information and insight into them. Keep up the good work 👍👏
I seem to have found a good length, yes :) Youtibe likes 10 min vids but I can’t cut down that far. 20-40 seems to work. My thanks!
This is everything I need today; dramatic musical intro, dark & creepy subterranean set dressing and full tilt tin foil theorising!
Let it begin. Let it begin! 🤩🤩🤩
The art you are using is amazing. I am sure it is fun to see the symbolisms in each one.
The Langi seem like the elves to the Children’s Fae. I’d bet the Naathi interbred with the Langi or their Old Ones ancestors making them a sort of cousin branch to the Children and the Crannogmen, Kinda like how Europeans interbred with Neanderthals and Asians interbred with Denisovans
Exactly. I bet it’s a lot like that
@@DavidLightbringer it’s actually so cool to me as a biological anthropology student who’s studied human origins and such like, clearly GRRM has some magical Neanderthal species running around and leaving their mark on humans much like there were in our world. Maybe like Neanderthals gave us much of our immune systems the Naathi’s resistance to the butterfly plague has some roots in a magical ancestor?
it seems like all magic humans can perform comes from interbreeding in the past, weather forced and unnatural, like with old valyrian and their dragons, or naturally as it seems to be with the children of the forest and their kin in various locations.
except the bloodstone meteor, it and its legacy seems to have knowledge of its own it can impart, like an alien influence
I know it probably took you a long time, but I really enjoyed the production values of this video. I'm not suggesting that you do this kind of thing all the time, I also enjoy your more free-form videos. But it's nice to watch this kind every now and then.
The only thing that I know about Leng, is that it has a massive library. And when it is on the "battlefield," you have no maximum hand size.
Did my dude just make a tcg reference? No, he made it 2 months ago. Which card game is the card you are referring to in?
@@crypticscrutiny1153 Magic: The Gathering.
There's an old Artifact card, from one of the very early sets of that game, back in the early 90's. It's title is literally "Library of Leng."
Basically, it's the original "Reliquary Tower," only it's an Artifact rather than a Land card. You have no maximum hand size as long as it's on the battlefield.
if I'd done nothing last year but listen to the channel's library of content whilst working from home.... then 2020 wasn't such a bad year in my eyes...
I've had my own tinfoil wrapped theory cooking about possible Far Eastern Essos connections to Westeros, specifically Far Mossovy, the Grey Waste and the North. (Working theory title: Eldric Shadowchaser and the Russian Starks). Watching this video makes me want to make one of my own on the subject. Currently lacking the resources to do so I'll probably just hit you up with a nice patreon donation to get your thoughts on it.
My second listen, and your King Robert gets me every time. You should always voice him like that.
don't miss the stream tomorrow!
@@DavidLightbringer I won't
Wow. Thanks for pulling all this Lovecraft green men info out. Great vid as always!!!
Wow. A video I didn’t know I wanted! Great work!
Cool. Thanks for posting. Your previous green men videos was a little thick for me. Thanks for the summary video. Keep them coming!!! Good Stuff.
These Old Ones ideas were a little jumbled in the Weirwood Compendium, yes. I enjoyed doing this summary quite a bit. :)
Hi David. Idk if you'll see this but I really felt the need to leave this comment. You are an inspiration to me. Your way with words and your explanations of George RR Martins works are pure artwork. You've inspired me to start writing my own novel, and I've been given the opportunity to teach a class centered around writing. I really hope that I can teach and inspire the writers in my class as you have taught and inspired me. I will be recommending your channels to all my students and I wish you the very best. Thank you for being such a positive force in my life!!!!!
Whoa...what if the bloodstone emperor’s tiger woman was lengii, who was really a child of the forest or had some of that blood? He might mention this im only a few minutes in
I didn’t actually, tho I mentioned that idea in the Great Emperor of the Dawn video as well as the Weirwood Goddess podcast series. I think there’s something there
Comment for the almighty algorithm. The opening of this was absurd and utterly delightful. Thank you for your content. I hope the birds are happy with attention after the King Robert Livestream. Have a good one.
0:14 “George? It’s me, your brother Lucifer Lucas”
I know others have covered it, but I’d love to hear your take on the Fisher Queens and the former inland sea, it’s my favorite lore deep cut
"Welcome to what is possibly my weirdest video" ...that's a lot to live up to - you've done some pretty weird videos, but that's part of what I love about you!
Lucifer means Lightbringer I discovered you and Quinn like 2 weeks ago during my revisit to the books after not touching anything since the show ended and I’m completely enthralled
the comment section is dark and full of memes
I’ve been waiting for this!
That you actually managed to begin and finish (I assume) The Dreamquest to Unknown Kadath is testament to your dedication to the cause, because I have never managed to finish it, despite my best efforts and I never leave books and stories unfinished. This story, however, beat me with its sheer volume of descriptions and sheer lack of action. I get that dreams often meander and ramble, because I dream also, but this story really drained me. Well done you!
it's like a weird nightmare, yes, and it does go on a bit too long. But I had to get the Leng man, I just had to
@@DavidLightbringer For me if I read Dreamquest I'd have a weird dream likely not nightmare as I really don't have them I just have strange dreams. Overactive imagination and an overactive mind will do it for me. Maybe the Great Other is Nyarlothotep and the Bloodstone Emperor worshiped Nyarlothotep which considering K'dath is on the map I'd not rule out the creeping chaos being involved somehow, who knows maybe I just want to see Jon and Dany face down one of the Outer Gods and win, George did write a story where Jaime Lannister fought Cthulhu once so it wouldn't be out of his area of expertise.
Great video. Don't have much else to say since I just woke up.
This just brightened my day!! Love the mystery surrounding this place!
This is some of my favorite stuff from Game of Thrones I Enjoy the Lovecraft references this is a really good video man
Aww thanks I love this crazy theory
Leng - the Taiwan of Planetos (with a sprinkling of Sumatra and Lovecraft). Congrats on getting Robert Baratheon as a channel sponsor!
Almost forgot about Leng. Great video LML.
Leng didn’t forget about you though. The Old Ones remember.
Another well thought out and articulated piece of work. Thank you 😊!
Thanks LML. You are really on top of your game here. I've always hoped that Cthulhu mythos is a bigger part of asoiaf than just filling out the world map. Old Gods might just still be some kind of elder race or The Great Old Ones themselves. Just imagine that Euron is Nyarlatothep. Fills my nerdish heart with joy :)
Wow, I never would've thought of this. Great stuff, as always!
I am SO glad I found this channel. It's as if my life now has meaning. But for real, love your videos so much.
Ah! Welcome! If you like this series then yeah you’ll feel comfortable here... come hang with the crew on a livestream some time!
The Lengii' Empress was just " Making Leng Great Again"
Right, and selling out your empire to an inferior tribe to be made into slaves is extremely preferable.
Think it was a joke my man
@@DavidLightbringer Yours was a joke. His has obvious intent.
On point Bobby B impression 🦌🤣 never thought of him and Ned just immediately heading underground to the crypts as a parallel to the old ones on leng. Fits pretty freakin well. Looking forward to hearing more in the livestream today.
Nooo, I'm going to dinner at my mothers place, I can't watch this now, but I really want to... Leng AND green men? This is going to be good, can't wait until I get home again!
I continue to be surprised by the number of ASOIAF readers that haven't figured out that The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath is worth reading. A lot of the references couldn't be more in your face, and Google exists. Nothing to be ashamed of though, save that for the crowd of self-proclaimed Lovecraft aficionados that won't touch it or anything approaching it's length.
have you checked out Grey Waste Tim's channel?
@@DavidLightbringer Seen him pop up in my recs a few times but I probably saw video lengths of 4 hours and said nope. If a video/stream/whatever is over an hour I get weird and would rather read a transcript of it or an essay. I'll have to find time on a slow day to skim some of his Lovecraft crossref videos.
Thanks to Quinns Ideas i found your channel and i am very glad that happens. Your channel is simply amazing. I watched so many of your videos over the last couple days and i can't get enough. Very amazing work.
Greetings from Germany
I love the King Robert riff you rocked here.
had way too much fun doing it, trust me
Great video.
Perfect thing to vibe with before work.
This one was especially good and chock full of symbolism.
🖤🔥👹🐉🌊🌟🌀⚔🤙🏻
The Ashaii in Martin's world seems to be like the Men from Leng in Lovecraft's. They both have a bad reputation, hide their faces and trade with gold and gems.
Yeah I’m going to file this one away in the “tf did I just listen to” part of my brain.
In all seriousness, this is incredibly interesting, and sheds light on the weirder parts of asoiaf lore. Man, I love this channel.
@23:06 I thought my PC was spazzing out for a sec cuz I got that same pic of Big Bobby B and Ned as my desktop wallpaper. Also, love love love this video! Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath is one of the few Lovecraft stories I have yet to read. This video gives me the urge to finally read it!
Your pronunciation of lovecraftian lore entities is maybe the best I've ever heard
oh wow thank you!
The "c" in Cernunnos is pronounced like a "k" and is sometimes even replaced with a "k". Great video ty
I never cared much for the plot of the books but the world itself seems interesting as hell, im glad this channel exists
all this mythical astrology stuff us fun, but the real jewel of this video is the premium nedbert content
THANK YOU for being my target audience. I do it all for you
Ok the Robert Baratheon intro was Hilarious! 😂😂😂Thanks for that.
Weirdest video? Right on! Strapping in and getting my flaming sword polished and ready for some reading with swordlight 🔥♥️
I have been waiting for this for YEARS now! 👏👏👏
Your channel is great buddy, consistent quality. Keep it up
May the old gods accept these words as a sacrifice to help me sleep and feed the ever ravenous algorithm
Your King Robert is great, I hope he becomes a regular!
Praise be to the Old Gods!
I find your videos so amazing,
Please never, NEVER, stop teaching all of us all MYTH HEADS about this wonderful world🤟much love and appreciation.
I might have missed the sarcasm, but in that TWOIAF passage about the god-empress, I'm pretty sure "congress" refers to an intimate encounter, not a political one.
hahah yeah totally i was trying to use subtle humor
I'm sure going to savour that video.
This is the stuff I LOVE about this world
Leng. I'm glad someone is talking about this place because of it is just so interesting.
First off...the appearance. I definitely agree that the Lengii are related to the children of the forest, as are the Naathi and probably the Jogos Nhai as well. The Jogos Nhai have pointed skulls, and Bran notes misshapen skulls in the weirwood net of caves that would match this, not to mention the Jogos Nhai were the first moonsingers, and using the moon to send information or dreams is definitely employed by mysterious characters in our story, some may be children of the forest.
I also find it telling that both the Lengii and Jogos Nhai are feminist societies with both descriptions giving mentions of famous women leaders and a tradition of it overall. I do wonder if that is also how the children were as well; Osha tells Bran that she is of the true North, like her mother and mother before her. She thinks of wildlings such as Mance Rayder as no true wildling. Does she infact just mean that he has no child of the forest blood? She notably follows her matrilineal line, and not her patrilineal...which makes me wonder of the Rhoynish, a famously feminist people. The salty Dornishmen (those with the most Rhoynish blood) are literally described as "...lithe and olive-skinned..." but no eye color description, that probably would have made it too telling. I could totally be wrong about these connections, but some food for thought...
Sometimes I feel like Martin's original idea (until the 2nd book, I feel) was to show us all of this Far East mysterious lore through Dany and her party's POV in the books. I just wonder how it would be all these revelations (through a symbolism orgasm, of course) and connections happening simultaneously in Essos and Westeros.
Actually you’re probably right. He was gonna take her to Asshai to learn “truth,” then abandoned the plan (I think he switched it to glass candle visions of Asshai Dany will have). So yeah he probably thought he could use some of this. Some of the East stuff be fleshed out for TWOIAF specifically, but I noticed the YiTish story of a woman with a monkeys tail was there already, as the YiTish wear monkey tail hats in AGOT
👍🏻🤘🏻😎
Carry on, my good man. I thoroughly enjoy your work. How soon til your book comes out? I'm quite looking forward to it.
a coupe months still, I've got writing to do. Thanks for your interest!
Your Robert impression killed me!
Oh ho! Now you can play hide and seek in the crypts with me and my good buddy Ned Stark! Since you’re dead!
What if the underground tunnels and cities all over the world are connected? The CotF's name for themselves is translates to "those who sing the song of earth," and the only such Singers we've ever seen are 1) Leaf & Co., who live underground; and 2) the Ghost of High Heart (probably), who lives in the vicinity of a great hill, and the worldbook says the CotF live in "hollow hills,' among other housing options. Oh, and maybe the dwarf servant at the House of the Undying. Those Shade of the Evening trees are just photonegative weirwoods, so something is going on there.
I think Westeros is all connected at the least. Not sure how far it can go under the oceans, but maybe. It’s fantasy. GRRM is surely suggesting it.
@@DavidLightbringer The moon meteor impacts would have caused cave-ins, come to think of it
Yet again another great video from the man the myth the legend ! Thanks LML.
Nice editing! I'd love to elaborate on YiTi or Ashai. Very Lovecraftian.
Can't argue with an endorsement from King Robert. Gotta smash that like button
More of note, in Lovecraft lore Shub-Niggurath, "The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young", is another of the outer gods and takes the position of an abominable fertility deity. Of course, the people of Qohor worship the "Black Goat", a deity which demands endless blood sacrifice. This calls to mind the mass sacrifices on Leng and the blood sacrifices to the Weirwood in Westeros, and naturally the figure of a goat is reminiscent of the stag/fertility god imagery present in old Westeros as well.
Combine this with certain other facets of imagery, particularly the Lengi and Children being described with "teak" and "nut-brown" skin, the "green men", and even the twisted horns of the stag possibly being analogous to the branches of a tree, this leads me to question whether these people and figures are perhaps descended from the woods in a literal sense. After all, if humans can enter the genetic consciousness of the Weirwood, does it not follow that humans, or at least some humans, literally share a genetic heritage with the Weirwood, the "Old Gods"?
Yep I’ve wondered about this too. In Norse myth the only two survivors of Ragnarok hide in an Ash tree and are reborn from it, plus there are other similar creation myths involving trees.
This far east ancient myth shit is right up my alley, great job!
I like your theories, they're the most interesting 💜
Glad you think so! I do my best
A small quibble but when you list all the place names GRRM used which are from HPL you included Carcosa. Carcosa was created by Ambrose Pierce in 1886, only to be picked up by other authors (HPL included).
Carcossa came from The King in Yellow written by Robert W Chambers, not lovecraft. That said he was heavily *heavily* inspired by lovecrafts work. Just thought I would be pedantic for a moment.
Mindblowing. This is the prime example why I subscribed to your channel, thanks to the collaboration with Quinn for the Winds of Winter predictions.
And also, unfortunately, the prime example why I can't get my "normie" GoT-watching friends to dive in this deep.
Thanks for the astonishing entertainment, L!
Ouch, the story of the Elves' size in Tolkien is... complicated.
Leng is Skull Island... Awesome video x)
The old ones legend reminds me of that one episode of Doctor Who where that planet by the black hoke had an old civilization where they trapped that giant demon God thing underground
Cranking the Weirwood and Greenseers playlist at work today. 🌿🌿🌿🌿