Characters in A Song of Ice and Fire recall the refrain “And Joramun blew the Horn of Winter and woke giants from the earth”, and know that it is about the legendary King Beyond-the-Wall bringing down the Wall. But they don't seem to know what it means to wake giants from the earth, or exactly how that relates to the Wall falling.
The horn is a riddle to the fan community as well; which of the ancient horns we see is truly Joramun’s horn, and which are fake? Is there a magic horn at all, and if not, where did the legend come from? Can the precious truth be heard amidst the blare of deception?
Conversations about the Horn of Winter test Jon Snow, Mance Rayder, and Tormund on their ability to lie and deceive, like a version of the lying game played by Arya as part of her training at the House of Black and White.
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Heimdall an der Himmelsbrücke, by Emil Doepler, 1905
Tricksy Birds
When Jon is first brought to Mance Rayder, King-beyond-the-Wall, he is questioned:
🧵 Mance Rayder – "What brings you up the Milkwater, so far from the fires of home?" (to Rattleshirt) "How many were they?"
☠️ Rattleshirt, the Lord of Bones – "Five. Three's dead and the boy's here. T'other went up a mountainside where no horse could follow."
🧵 Mance Rayder – (to Jon) "Was it only the five of you? Or are more of your brothers skulking about?"
🐺 Jon Snow – (misleading) "We were four and the Halfhand. Qhorin was worth twenty common men."
🧵 Mance Rayder – 🙂 "Some thought so. Still . . . a boy from Castle Black with rangers from the Shadow Tower? How did that come to be?"
🐺 Jon Snow – (lying) "The Lord Commander sent me to the Halfhand for seasoning, so he took me on his ranging."
🥉 Styr the Magnar – ☹️ "Ranging, you call it . . . why would crows come ranging up the Skirling Pass?"
🐺 Jon Snow – (truthful) "The villages were deserted. It was as if all the free folk had vanished."
🧵 Mance Rayder – "Vanished, aye. And not just the free folk. Who told you where we were, Jon Snow?"
🎅🏻 Tormund – (snort) "It were Craster, or I'm a blushing maid. I told you, Mance, that creature needs to be shorter by a head."
🧵 Mance – (to Tormund, irritated look) "Tormund, some day try thinking before you speak. I know it was Craster. I asked Jon to see if he would tell it true."
🎅🏻 Tormund – "Har." (spit) "Well, I stepped in that!" (to Jon, grinning) "See, lad, that's why he's king and I'm not. I can outdrink, outfight, and outsing him, and my member's thrice the size o' his, but Mance has cunning. He was raised a crow, you know, and the crow's a tricksy bird."
🧵 Mance – (to Rattleshirt) "I would speak with the lad alone, my Lord of Bones. Leave us, all of you."
🎅🏻 Tormund – "What, me as well?"
🧵 Mance – "No, you especially,"
🎅🏻 Tormund – "I eat in no hall where I'm not welcome. Me and the hens are leaving." (takes a chicken) "Har"
Dialogue from A Storm of Swords, Jon I
Mance was withholding information to test Jon’s honesty, and Tormund just blurts out the truth. Mance clears the tent so that it doesn't happen again.
🧵 Mance Rayder – Tormund spoke truly, the black crow is a tricksy bird, that's so . . . but I was a crow when you were no bigger than the babe in Dalla's belly, Jon Snow. So take care not to play tricksy with me."
Dialogue from A Storm of Swords, Jon I
👵🏻 "Crows are all liars," Old Nan agreed, from the chair where she sat doing her needlework.
A Game of Thrones, Bran IV
So according to Mance, crows like him and Jon are “tricksy”, and Old Nan agrees they're liars. We even see Jon lie about Qhorin. However, Tormund spoke truly.
Big Black Horn
After rejoining the Night’s Watch, Jon is sent as an envoy to treat with Mance. This time, Mance doesn't even let Tormund in the room.
🧵 Mance – "Come inside. The rest of you, wait here."
🎅🏻 Tormund – "What, even me?"
🧵 Mance – "Particularly you. Always."
Dialogue from A Storm of Swords, Jon X
Given it's a similar exchange to the last time he was excluded, likely it's the same reason: Mance may need to lie to Jon, and Tormund might spoil the deception.
There were other weapons in the tent, daggers and dirks, a bow and a quiver of arrows, a bronze-headed spear lying beside that big black . . .
. . . horn.
Jon sucked in his breath.
A warhorn, a bloody great warhorn.
A Storm of Swords, Jon X
It's true, Ygritte did say that.
♨️ Ygritte – 😢 "I almost fell. Twice. Thrice. The Wall was trying t' shake me off, I could feel it."
🐺 Jon – "The worst is behind us. Don't be frightened."
♨️ Ygritte – 😠 “I wasn't frightened. You know nothing, Jon Snow."
🐺 Jon – "Why are you crying, then?"
♨️ Ygritte – 😤 "Not for fear! I'm crying because we never found the Horn of Winter. We opened half a hundred graves and let all those shades loose in the world, and never found the Horn of Joramun to bring this cold thing down!”
Dialogue from A Storm of Swords, Jon IV
According to Ygritte, they searched about fifty graves, and didn't find the Horn of Winter. But apparently they did release the Others 😱
A Bloody Sin
Mance Rayder showed Jon a big black horn and claimed it was the legendary Horn of Winter, but Ygritte told Jon they had not found the Horn of Winter.
The topic comes up again when Tormund and Jon are overseeing the free folks’ passage through the Wall:
🎅🏻 Tormund – "You need a bigger gate. Too bloody slow this way. Like sucking the Milkwater through a reed. Har. Would that I had the Horn of Joramun. I'd give it a nice toot and we'd climb through the rubble."
🐺 Jon – "Melisandre burned the Horn of Joramun."
🎅🏻 Tormund – "Did she?" (hoots, slaps thigh) "She burned that fine big horn, aye. A bloody sin, I call it. A thousand years old, that was. We found it in a giant's grave, and no man o' us had ever seen a horn so big. That must have been why Mance got the notion to tell you it were Joramun's. He wanted you crows to think he had it in his power to blow your bloody Wall down about your knees. But we never found the true horn, not for all our digging. If we had, every kneeler in your Seven Kingdoms would have chunks o' ice to cool his wine all summer."
Dialogue from A Dance With Dragons, Jon XII
Jon turned in his saddle, frowning. And Joramun blew the Horn of Winter and woke giants from the earth. That huge horn with its bands of old gold, incised with ancient runes … had Mance Rayder lied to him, or was Tormund lying now? If Mance's horn was just a feint, where is the true horn?
A Dance With Dragons, Jon XII
Jon hasn't quite figured it out, but as soon as the topic came up, Tormund gave up all the details of Mance’s horn deception. Once again, Tormund just blurts out the truth. There is no need to keep it secret now, but there was no reason to volunteer that information either.
This is most likely why Mance left Tormund outside the tent when he showed Jon the horn; he didn't want the loud-mouth spoiling his ruse.
Honest to a Fault
Mance tries to deceive Jon to test his honesty. Jon lies to protect the Night’s Watch. There is a lot of deception happening, but Tormund is compulsively revelatory. He spoiled Mance’s chance to test Jon’s honesty, and it seems like he would have given away the horn hoax too, if Mance hadn't left him outside.
Mance and Jon may be tricksy hobbitses, but Tormund tells the truth.
