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thebluelemontree · 5 years

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The thing about jonquils...

They belong under the same umbrella genus of bulb flowers known as the narcissus. The common name for most narcissus species is a daffodil, but generally speaking, when people say daffodil, they mean the yellow or white trumpet-like flower with flat leaves. The jonquil (narcissus jonquilla) is a specific type of daffodil that blooms in clusters and are known for their strong sweet fragrance.

The color jonquil yellow refers to a true golden yellow as displayed by the flower.

Neither narcissus or daffodil are ever mentioned in ASOIAF either as flowers or names, but jonquil notably does in the tales and songs of the lovers, Florian and Jonquil. Sansa has been dubbed the Jonquil of the series by the false Florian, Dontos Hollard. It’s a song that is not only Sansa’s favorite but one that follows her around through her arc. The choice of the jonquil flower for Sansa is deliberate for its characteristics and meaning.

Jonquils and daffodils are flowers that signify the beginnings of spring, being among the first to bloom after the winter snows melt. By her skillset and character arc, Sansa is a solid contender for being a survivor of the series, so the name Jonquil fits well with that possibility of making it through ADOS. By that logic, perhaps so does her love Florian the Fool with his flower connotations. My analysis of Sansa and her Florian are explained in detail here.

The golden yellow color of the jonquil flower is one that significant to Sansa as well.

“The three dogs on our banner are the three that died, in the yellow of autumn grass...”

“In the end she chose a simple velvet ribbon in autumn gold. When Gretchel fetched her Lysa's silvered looking glass, the color seemed just perfect with Alayne's mass of dark brown hair.”

“The dress she picked was lambswool, dark brown and simply cut, with leaves and vines embroidered around the bodice, sleeves, and hem in golden thread.”

Autumn is not the time for daffodils and jonquils, but it is the time when the bulbs are planted so they may bloom in late winter/early spring.

And more gold associations:

It colors her vision like a veil over her eyes. “Sansa rode to the Hand's tourney with Septa Mordane and Jeyne Poole, in a litter with curtains of yellow silk so fine she could see right through them. They turned the whole world gold.” Sansa can only see the splendor and pageantry that was “better than the songs.” Sandor will later enlighten her to the truth that Ser Hugh’s death was no accident.

The gold Sandor Clegane won for his heroic deed in saving Ser Loras at the tourney of the Hand, prompted by Sansa’s compassion and their conversation on knighthood. That gold is stolen by the BwB, so Sandor takes the “little gold squirrel” Arya (named so by Greenbeard) instead to deliver to Catelyn and Robb. He does this in hopes of joining Robb’s army, presumably to march on KL and free Sansa, raising his station a little closer to hers in the process.

The gold Dontos Hollard, the false Florian, sold her out for.

The lessons of "lies and Arbor gold" that Petyr teaches her, which she uses on him in return. "Lies and Arbor gold, she thought. "I am Alayne, Father. Who else would I be?"

The bounty of golden dragons for her capture, where she is even referred to as the gold itself. "A good melee is all a hedge knight can hope for, unless he stumbles on a bag of dragons.”

Floriography utilizes the language of flowers to communicate various messages to others. The idea is nothing new as it is also present in Shakespeare’s plays, for example; however, it became a wildly popular practice during the Victorian period and has mostly stuck around. Think of Loras’s cloak of forget-me-nots displayed in front of his true love, Renly, while he hands out meaningless roses to the girls at the Hand’s tourney. The common consensus of meaning for daffodils and jonquils are as follows:

Daffodils are connected with “regard,” “chivalry,” and one would use them to signify that "love is unrequited." The perfect flower for courtly romance where a knight must only love a lady from afar or channel his feelings into service. But as I said, daffodils are not mentioned in ASOIAF.

Jonquils, on the other hand, express a desire for affection to be returned, which fits with Sansa’s wish to be loved for herself. It is also used to signify a “requited love,” the opposite of the daffodil. In can also convey “sorrow” and “sympathy,” which Sansa has in spades.

In numerous other metas, readers have made a credible case for Sansa as a Persephone character. Persephone, daughter of Demeter, was kidnapped by Hades, the god of the underworld by way of a narcissus. Persephone was attracted by some narcissus flowers, which lured her away from her nymph companions. When she pulled them out of the ground, a chasm opened up to the underworld and Hades emerged to steal her away. Dontos uses the story of Florian and Jonquil (our narcissus flowers) to lure Sansa away to be eventually taken under false pretenses by Petyr Baelish, who will only allow her to return home on his terms. Very Hades indeed. Persephone’s Roman counterpart Proserpina, whose name means ”to emerge” or “to creep forth” may account for the golden vines and leaves on Sansa’s dress as a nod to Proserpina.

Along this same vein, the perfume she chooses just before she learns she is to wed Tyrion is “a sharp sweet fragrance with a hint of lemon in it under the smell of flowers.” Her association with yellow lemons often occurs when their sourness/sharpness is subdued by the sweet, as in her lemon cakes. While jonquils are not specified here, their scent is noted to be quite sweet. The perfume is thematically the same as the lemon cake. Like the narcissus, they are temptations for Sansa that lure her into another’s clutches. Lady Olenna and Margaery woo her with lemon cakes as they discuss Joffrey and promise to wed her to Willas. As the maids apply the floral-lemon perfume, Sansa believes she is wearing her new dress to Joffrey and Margaery’s wedding and eventually taking it with her to Highgarden. The ground opens up under her when Cersei tells her she is being dressed to go to her own imminent wedding.

The latest warning signs for Sansa may be the fates of Cissy and Saffron in regards to Harrold Hardying. Cissy was quickly dumped after her pregnancy with Harry’s daughter made her fat. Saffron is also currently pregnant, and it looks as though Harry may be ready to abandon her as well if he is sufficiently charmed by Alayne. I can’t help but think the name Cissy is a play on narcissus and Saffron is not only a precious spice but a rich golden yellow color. Both wound up trapped into the shame of unwed motherhood, tempted by the handsome young heir to the Vale. It’s a form of luring and stealing them away into the underworld, out from under the protection of the metaphysical mother who guarded their maidenhood. While Harrold is not that pleasing to Sansa on a personal level, as far as she knows, wedding him may be her best and only option to finally go home. To her credit, she’s not as naive and easily led this time around; however, Winterfell is still her temptation. In the Eyrie’s godswood, she built her own snow castle, complete with glass gardens. Laying out her heart’s desire for Petyr to ingratiate himself with her.

He walked along outside the walls. "I used to dream of it, in those years after Cat went north with Eddard Stark. In my dreams it was ever a dark place, and cold."

"No. It was always warm, even when it snowed. Water from the hot springs is piped through the walls to warm them, and inside the glass gardens it was always like the hottest day of summer."

Winterfell is an underworld in itself (there’s been quite a bit of meta on this topic too). To summarize, Ned is a Hades figure to Catelyn’s Persephone, but with a much happier union than the myth. It is the underworld where Sansa feels comfort, love, and warmth, being a child born there to begin with. So Sansa is more of a reverse Persephone, seduced and stolen away from her underworld home and desperately trying to get back. So as Dontos was a false Florian, Petyr is a false Hades and false father. Petyr shows this when he reveals he doesn’t know what Winterfell is like at all. And as Sansa builds her snow castle, she is also raising up an oasis of perpetual summer, with all its plants and flowers, out of that same snow like the daffodils breaking through the thaw. Perhaps what Jonquil/Persephone needs is a little help from the real Florian to bring her back to her underworld home safe beneath the snow.

#sansa stark meta #florian and jonquil #hades and persephone #sandor clegane #dontos hollard #petyr baelish #flower symbolism #floriography #yellow symbolism #gold symbolism #jonquils #daffodils #narcissus #cissy #saffron #harrold hardyng

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