I could still feel the knife.

cerseiweek | relationships

branoween: family |

from pawn to player |

“when you come out with your long auburn hair, [...] every knight in the Vale will pledge his sword to win you back your birthright.”

from pawn to player |

religion |

Fairytales |

Cersei, the evil queen archetype, offers Sansa a poisoned apple (advice).

long road home |

Sansa Stark: an odyssey of the mind & soul.

Odysseus is a king who is at Troy for ten years and fights to return home for another ten years.

Sansa Stark is a lady turned princess of the north (who will become queen) that is in the south for nearly two years and struggles to return home for just as long.

However, whereas Odysseus is an aggressor in Troy, Sansa is a victim.

Whereas Odysseus's physique is of great asset to him in his journey back home, Sansa's greatest asset is her inner strength.

And despite their differences, both Odysseus and Sansa share the traits of intelligence and wit.

Also, both Sansa and Odysseus are held captive at some point in their journey back home by an older person who sexually assaults them, kept in a gilded cage.

Calypso keeps Odysseus on her lush island, away from his home. Odysseus never gives in to calypso, always yearning for his home and Penelope.

Littlefinger keeps Sansa in the Vale, away from her home. But despite everything, Sansa never gives in to him, always staying in touch with her Stark roots and even drawing strength from her home, Winterfell.

Both escape their respective captives in the end.

Odysseus ultimately returned home and reunited with his wife and son, and rid his home of unwanted suitors

Day 3: Historical Parallels |

Queen Bilqis of Sheba & Sansa Stark

In the Quran, Queen Bilqis is shown to be an intelligent and wise ruler, who, when presented with King Solomon's advice to submit to Allah, consulted her people. Her circle pointed out that the queen is more than capable of dealing with the matter on her own.

King Solomon summons the queen to Al-Quds and as she traveled, he decided to test the queen.

He asks for a volunteer from the men and jinn of his court to bring Bilqis’ very throne to him. Solomon orders the throne be disguised before Bilqis’ arrival. On her arrival in Quds, Solomon puts the question to her as to whether the disguised throne is indeed hers.

But even before her arrival in Quds and the transportation of the throne, it was Solomon's refusal of her lavish gift that had made her aware that he was a prophet and no ordinary king. At that point she had begun to submit to Allah.

However, the Quran reveals some remaining hesitancy on her part.

It takes one final uncanny experience for Bilqis to submit completely: Solomon shows her a crystal-floored palace which she believes is a body of water.

From the story, we deduce that Bilqis was an intelligent and wise queen, who consults her people and whose people trust in her decision and capability in handling important matters (such as the faith of an entire nation!)

Sansa was raised by Ned, who believed in listening to his men.

She was later on shown what NOT to do as a ruler by Cersei. "If I am ever a queen, I'll make them love me." signalling that she will be a wise and gentle queen, whose rule isnt derived by force.

Moreover, Sansa goes from being multi-faithed to slowly rejecting the faith of the Seven and embracing the old gods, mirroring Queen Bilqis' journey of faith and religion.

Also, queen Bilqis' fate crosses with King Solomon, a prophet who consorts with men and djinns.

Day 3: Mythological Parallels |

Elayne - or Alayne - is a female given name of French origin, which means "light". The name is a variant of Elaine, Elaina, and Helen. source: wikipedia.

Helen was known as the most beautiful woman of her time.

Sansa is the maiden who is referred to as beautiful the most in the series of A Song of Ice and Fire.

Their beauty is a curse that causes them much strife.

Zeus used Helen to kickstart Troy's doom by having Aphrodite appeal to Paris her beauty.

Ned approved of Sansa's betrothal to Joffrey, so that he could investigate Jon Arryn's death.

Both Helen and Sansa get kidnapped, taken from their husbands.

While Helen is taken by Paris from her beloved Menelaus, Sansa is taken by Littlefinger from her husband Tyrion, whom she bares no real love to, having been forced to marry him.

Helen returns home and Sansa will as well. Each in different ways.

In romamticized versions of the tale, the Greeks rally for Helen, not for the sea pass or Troy's riches.

In Sansa's harsh reality, which is nothing like the songs, her brother leaves her to the lions.

Moreover, Helen is stripped of her identity, referred to as 'Helen of Troy', when she is of Sparta.

Day 3: Literary Parallels |

Schehrezade, who used words (stories) to stay alive.

Sansa, who used words (courtesies) to stay alive.

In Sir Richard Burton's translation (the book of a thousand nights and a night), Schehrezade is described as such: "Scheherazade had perused the books, annals and legends of preceding Kings, and the stories, examples and instances of bygone men and things;"

Sansa is repeatedly said to love her history, example: "She took down one of her favorite books, and lost herself in the stories of Florian and Jonquil, of Lady Shella and the Rainbow Knight, of valiant Prince Aemon and his doomed love for his brother's queen."

And Sansa did not just love reading stories, she recited them as well, as Schehrezade did; “You can have some sweetmilk too, and I’ll tell Gretchel to bring us some honeycombs to eat. We’ll sleep and kiss and play games, and you can read me about the Winged Knight.”

“I want a hundred lemon cakes and five tales!”

Moreover, Schehrezade was the chief vizier's daughter. Sansa was the hand of the king's daughter. Both Schehrezade and Sansa have younger sisters (Dunyazad and Arya).

Schehrezade becomes queen in a fairytale-esqu way. Shahrayar, a brutal murderous king falls for her within a thousand nights and her stories. He makes her his queen consort.

literary | historical parallels |

Arabic poets and their poetry that reminds me of Sansa;

Al-Khansā: a 7th century tribeswoman, living in the arabian peninsula. her name: tumādir bint amr. she was given the nickname "Al-Khansā" meaning 'snub nosed', an arabic epithet for a gazelle, as a metaphor for beauty. She was one of the most influential poets of pre-islamic and early islamic periods.

Known widely for her elegies, as she wrote over a hundred elegies for her two murdered brothers (Mu'awiyah and Sakhr) alone. She also named one of her sons Mu'awiyah, to honor her dear brother.

This encompassing familial love for her brothers reminds one of sansa's affections and longing for her siblings; 'She would name them Eddard and Brandon and Rickon [...] In Sansa’s dreams, her children looked just like the brothers she had lost. Sometimes there was even a girl who looked like Arya.'

in one of al-khansā's most popular elegies of her brother sakhr, she opens the poem stating that her tears wont stop falling from her eyes;

قذى بعينكِ أمْ بالعينِ عوَّارُ

أمْ ذرَّفتْ إذْ خلتْ منْ أهلهَا الدَّارُ

كأنّ عيني لذكراهُ إذا خَطَرَتْ

فيضٌ يسيلُ علَى الخدَّينِ مدرارُ

تبكي لصخرٍ هي العبرَى وَقدْ ولهتْ

وَدونهُ منْ جديدِ التُّربِ أستارُ

تبكي خناسٌ فما تنفكُّ مَا عمرتْ

لها علَيْهِ رَنينٌ وهيَ مِفْتارُ

and she wonders, do her eyes water because dust have blinded them or because they mourn a dear one?

But while Al-Khansā was allowed to mourn her brothers in public with her words and tears, Sansa was forced to hide her grief behind closed doors due to her difficult political circumstances;

He had expected anguish and anger when he told her of her brother's death, but Sansa's face had remained so still that for a moment he feared she had not understood. It was only later, with a heavy oaken door between them, that he heard her sobbing.'

A Storm of Swords - Tyrion VII

in universe parallels |

elia martell: princess of dorne, married to the crown prince, held as a political hostage in king's landing

in-universe foils |

Day 1: family | heritage

sansa daughter of rickon was heir to winterfell, but her uncle stole her birthright and made her a consort.