#the mutiny

The Bonnie here is based on some leaks from the following episodes, MAYBE The Mutiny to be specific.

Why Haggon mistrusts keeping boars is only a guess. He could be absorbing some of his own wolf, Greyskin's, instincts toward other animals. Wolves do hunt smaller boars but may be mortally wounded trying to take on a larger one. Ghost is certainly going a little crazy with the scent of a prey animal nearby. Jon orders them separated or else a bloody fight could break out, one Ghost may not survive. But Haggon may have other reasons. Not only are boars so strong and fierce they've been known to kill many an experienced hunter, but they are also highly adaptable omnivores, and they can eat small animals, even carrion.

Okay, bear with me here while I indulge in a bit of speculation, and I promise I am making my way toward answering your question. Take this next part with a HEFTY amount of salt. Does Borroq's boar, or maybe Borroq himself, have a taste for carrion?

Until such time, Borroq had taken up residence in one of the ancient tombs beside the castle lichyard. The company of men long dead seemed to suit him better than that of the living, and his boar seemed happy rooting amongst the graves, well away from other animals. -- Jon XIII, ADWD.

Resorting to eating decaying flesh (sometimes even human) isn't unheard of in the harsh wilderness when the only choice is that or starve; however, boars are natural survivors because they can eat practically anything. The boar is shown to be rooting around the graves, which could be an attraction to the scent of decay. Bran relished eating bloody deer meat in Summer's skin, so I don't think the urge to eat whatever the animal naturally wants would be any different. If a skinchanger has eaten carrion often enough while inhabiting a boar, maybe when the circumstances are not quite that dire, it could change the man in ways others might find ghastly and disturbing, even if the flesh is animal and not human. Lots of hardened wildlings are inured by death, but Borroq gives off these morbidly cozy, comfy vibes being around the dead. Major goth edgelord shit there.

I'm not suggesting Borroq does the actual butchering of any people himself for the purpose of eating them, but being an occasional carrion-eater or nibbling on the recently deceased (instead of immediately burning them as custom strictly dictates) would certainly be enough to earn someone a bit of a ghoulish reputation, hence Tormund's reaction to his presence. Haggon makes this clear that if a skinchanger crosses the line into eating humans, he wouldn't be just gross, but fucking cursed. "Men may eat the flesh of beasts and beasts the flesh of men, but the man who eats the flesh of man is an abomination." I could be way off and being too literal here with the lichyard bit. There could be a multitude of reasons why Tormund dislikes Borroq. Spitting on the ground might just be a display of general contempt, but it is also commonly believed in many real-world cultures that spitting on the ground is an effective way to ward off The Evil Eye. GRRM could be borrowing that signifier. Like there's bad juju surrounding this guy. Wildlings do believe certain people are cursed for violating taboos like Craster is considered cursed for his blatant offense to the gods. So, I don't know. We'll see. Borroq does feel like a minor character that managed to distinguish himself when given the spotlight, and I suspect he'll be fleshed out more in TWOW.

Regardless, in the literary sense, he's aligned with death in this scene. He's like the specter of the Stranger, who is sometimes depicted as half-man, half-beast, just nonchalantly loitering around the tombs and graves. His boar is busy digging up a fresh hole in the ground like someone(s) is due to croak very soon... Oh yeah. This is Jon XIII: the mutiny chapter. This would not be the first time in this series a very large boar was associated with an assassination and sudden regime change. It's also not the first time an agitated direwolf has been chained up (for everyone's safety ha!) while its warg got assassinated by men sworn to them. If Borroq and his boar are a portent of death, hidden in plain sight, then Jon is blind to it. Jon can only think "the last thing I need right now is Ghost savaging that boar," at a time when it would have been wiser to keep his direwolf close. In superstitious thinking, the howling of restless dogs is said to be a sign that trouble is near; Ghost is mute, however, but is still definitely flipping out. He's pacing around his confinement, bristling, bearing his teeth, and snapping at Jon. Even Mormont's raven is calling his name over and over like they are trying to get his attention. Yes, it's on account of that boar, but not the literal boar. The boar that means he's about to get the ol' heave-ho via knife. Repeated misunderstanding of this communication speaks to Jon being unable to read the signs orbiting around him. He's had a case of tunnel vision and has taken some things for granted like the continued obedience of the mutineers, who will decide new leadership is in order. He doesn't fully appreciate the extent to which his soon-to-be-assassins feel he has betrayed them and the mission of the Watch. But back to Borroq. There's a dark ironic humor to Borroq calling Jon "brother." Jon is both a brother skinchanger and a black brother. Just a short time ago they were all still mortal enemies. Necessity has forced them all to the same side. Now wildlings are pledged to help defend the Wall against the Others, making them de facto brothers of the Night's Watch. The world's gone topsy-turvy. Those old hatreds do not get put aside so easily, and there is growing discontent within the NW over Jon's executive decisions. On second reading, his ugly smile and the "yup, close that gate up good and tight cause they're coming tee hee" feel like GRRM taking a bit of wicked glee in teasing what is about to happen. In many ways, Jon has invited the Stranger in through the front door, completely unaware he's sealed himself up inside with the more immediate threat.

In fact, it's Borroq's question that stirs up the controversial announcement that will drive the assassins into action only moments later. "And where will you be, crow?" Borroq thundered. "Hiding here in Castle Black with your white dog?"

"No. I ride south." Then Jon read them the letter Ramsay Snow had written. [Jon makes his plans clear and asks for volunteers to ride with him]

...

I have my swords, thought Jon Snow, and we are coming for you, Bastard.

Yarwyck and Marsh were slipping out, he saw, and all their men behind them. It made no matter. He did not need them now. He did not want them. No man can ever say I made my brothers break their vows. If this is oathbreaking, the crime is mine and mine alone.