#the wall

About the location of the jonsa reunion in the Books, I was thinking about this question and there is something I found in my many re-reads that I never wrote about before, so maybe this is the perfect time for it.

I’m talking about the first paragraphs of the first AGOT Sansa chapter:

Eddard Stark had left before dawn, Septa Mordane informed Sansa as they broke their fast. “The king sent for him. Another hunt, I do believe. There are still wild aurochs in these lands, I am told.”

“I’ve never seen an aurochs,”Sansa said, feeding a piece of bacon to Lady under the table. The direwolf took it from her hand, as delicate as a queen.

Septa Mordane sniffed in disapproval.“A noble lady does not feed dogs at her table,” she said, breaking off another piece of comb and letting the honey drip down onto her bread.

“She’s not a dog, she’s a direwolf,”Sansa pointed out as Lady licked her fingers with a rough tongue.“Anyway, Father said we could keep them with us if we want.”

—A Game of Thrones - Sansa I

There is a lot to say about these first paragraphs, starting for the name “Eddard Stark” being the first words in the first Sansa chapter of the first Book, because without a doubt Ned is the most important man in Sansa’s life.

We also have the foreshadowing for the new Dawn after the Long Night, the Queen Sansa foreshadowing, the jonsa parallel with Ghost and Lady being fed under the table, and the parallel of King Robert hunting aurochs and later hunting the white stag, and finally the direwolves and aurochs being animals that still exist in the North and beyond.

But here I want to call your attention to Sansa saying “I’ve never seen an aurochs,” because maybe she will be able to see an aurochs at the Wall or beyond.

Aurochs is a type of large wild cattle. They have shaggy hair.

Aurochs once dwelled in the majority of Westeros. Because of hunting and domestication, however, they have dwindled in the wild and are not often seen.

One place reportedly still inhabited by wild aurochs is near the juncture of the kingsroad  and the Green Fork of the Trident in the Riverlands. They still dwell beyond the Wall, where the free folk employ them to drag sledges.

Aurochs are frequently used as a symbol of size, strength, stubbornness, and stupidity.

As you can see, there are aurochs i) near the juncture of the kingsroad and the Green Fork of the Trident; and, ii) beyond the Wall. But there is also an aurochs at the Wall or maybe more than one.

After saying in her first AGOT chapter that she has never seen an aurochs, Sansa is present in two feast where aurochs were roasted, so I suspect that when she said “I’ve never seen an aurochs” she was referring to a living aurochs.

So, to actually see a living aurochs, Sansa needs to return to the juncture of kingsroad and the Green Fork of Trident or go to the Wall and/or beyond.

Again, the expression “I’ve never seen an aurochs” makes me think that Sansa’s wishes do come true, even though this is not expressed as a wish. But I still wonder, If Sansa got to have a mythological direwolf as an animal companion, why can’t she see a living aurochs?

Then the possibility of the jonsa reunion happening at the Wall grows. Once at the Wall Sansa will be able to see some living aurochs, either beyond the Wall during some outing, or some of the aurochs the free folk brought with them when they crossed the Wall, or she can meet Grenn, AKA “Aurochs.”

And that’s it. Just a little speculation for this Sunday night.