CHARACTER INFO

[firekissed]

CHARACTER
» Name: Ygritte
» Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire (novel canon)
» References
- Ygritte's specific listing on the Wiki of Ice and Fire (brief though it is!)
- a general summary of Westeros, the setting of the novels
- a general discussion of the Free Folk
- a more generalized summary of the events of A Clash of Kings
- a more generalized summary of the events of A Storm of Swords
» Canon Point: midway through Storm of Swords, right after Ygritte has scaled the Wall with Styr and his raiding party (including Jon Snow)

» Gender: female
» Age: 19
» Orientation:
Ygritte identifies as heterosexual--a very free heterosexual, but heterosexual all the same. Her relationship with Jon Snow is of course a significant part of her canon and provides the bulk of my evidence for this declaration.

Her encounters with Jon during the events of Storm of Swords and Clash of Kings are not her first--Ygritte makes reference to having had at least one previous sexual partner, in keeping with the wildling habits--but the one she mentions is male.In a culture like that of the Free Folk's, sex is as much about recreation as it is about procreation--and sometimes simply a means of keeping warm on those horrible always-winter always-cold nights. "Sharing a cloak" with someone is as much a means of declaring alliance as it is about love or affection. And in a culture where spearwives are as strong and as valued as their male counterparts, I suppose it is not too ridiculous to consier that there might be other orientations or sleeping arrangements in the ranks of the Free Folk, but this is not mentioned, and Ygritte shows no interest in anyone other than men, so--given this evidence--I think it safe to assume that she is heterosexual.

» Personality:
When Ygritte is first encountered in her canon, she has been captured by the men of the Night's Watch, and is to be killed. Rather than be kept as a captive, rather than meet her end with tears or fear, Ygritte chooses to die with honor--a fact which cannot be lost on Jon Snow, whose own father valued honor nearly above all else. Jon does not kill her, of course, he sets her free, which some see as folly. And though Ygritte melts away into the darkness beyond the Wall, she is not forgotten--not by Jon, and certainly not by anyone reading the book.

Ygritte's bravery is tied up with her identity as one of the Free Folk (or the wildlings) and as a spearwife, and it is first important to understand some aspects of the wildling culture in order to come to understand Ygritte. The Free Folk live beyond the Wall. Their very dangerous and taxing circumstances have given birth to a culture that is wild indeed--free of kings, lords, and law--that is, any law besides that of the law of strength and might. The Free Folk's society is made up of tribes and clans spread across the great white expanse of the land beyond the Wall. Leaders are chosen, or else take their place by force, and everyone is free to follow whomever they wish. There are oaths that can be sworn, but they are not so strictly governed as the oaths of the people of Westeros. There is honor, but it is a warrior's honor, and has nothing to do with the honor of a family or a name. A man's name is what he makes for himself--or, in Ygritte's case, a woman's honor.

A spearwife is a warrior woman of the Free Folk. Women have as many rights as men do, and are as free to choose their lives and paths as any man. If she is strong enough, if she is quick and gifted in battle, then a woman can become a spearwife. But "spearwife" is but one title of many that a wildling woman might bear. A spearwife can also be a mother, and a wife, a daughter--she need not give up her life of fighting to take on some new soft woman's role. No one would expect it of her.

A wildling woman is subjected to being "stolen". This is a custom of marriage--a man comes to a clan or a village and steals a woman he considers desirable--but a woman can fight him and free herself, and is in fact at least expected to put up some sort of fight. This is in strict contrast to the romanticized and occasionally brutal marriage and betrothal customs of the lands south of the Wall. While a "stealing" might at first have connotations of brutality, it is in fact as much an empowerment and declaration of strength on the woman's part as it is on the man's. There is no stigma associated with a woman who fights back against her would-be husband. That's not to say that this arrangement is at all ideal, but it is an interesting commentary on the role of a woman in the Free Folk culture, as well as in the bedroom (or cloak or tent, as it were).

Ygritte is also a redhead, which in the culture of the Free Folk is referred to as being "kissed by fire". Those kissed by fire are considered to be very lucky, both in their own lives and in the lives of those that they are involved with. Red hair is an automatic beauty plus--so even though Ygritte might be considered a bit more plain south of the Wall, to the wildlings, she is a great beauty thanks to her hair color alone.

So all that being said! Ygritte comes from a position of great strength and self-assurance. She is kissed by fire--and she is a spearwife, and a good one. She has won battles, she has been raiding, she has shared cloaks with men, and she has killed. When she meets Jon Snow, she is far more worldly than he is--a fact that she is quick to remind him of, time and time again. In fact, Ygritte lords her superior worldliness over Jon at every opportunity, informing him of his stupidities and simple lack of knowledge without shame or worry over hurting his feelings. "You know nothing, Jon Snow!" she tells him every chance that she gets.

Ygritte is noting if not persistent. During the early part of their relationship, she continually beds down beside Jon Snow, despite his apparent lack of sexual interest in her. Though it's never said directly, it is at least implied that Ygritte has been interested in him for some time. She says that he has a "sweet face" at one point, and claims that he "stole" her when he let her go, as per the wildling custom--she was forced to submit to him, and so she was stolen--and she defers to him as much as she would defer to anyone that stole her. Of course, nothing is ever stolen that didn't want to be stolen, so it can be assumed that Ygritte was attracted to Jon Snow early on, long before he acknowledged being attracted to her.

Jon observes her stubbornness, which is another of Ygritte's key traits. And she is as bold as she is stubborn--not afraid to talk frankly of sex, or to boast. The Free Folk do not really have houses so much as they do tents, especially when raiding, so sex is often had quite in the open. When Ygritte is alone in the cave with Jon, she is not afraid to strip off her clothes and be naked in front of him. There is no shame in sexuality, and everyone is extremely free.

Her boldness also helps her to lie when the time comes for it. She is among those that sees Jon turn his cloak when he kills Halfhand, and she says that she believes him. We can only go by her words--she believes him--and she is determined to prove his allegiance to the wildlings, presumably to keep him safe. This might be to repay him for saving her life, or perhaps because she is attracted to him--but whatever her reasoning, Ygritte is unafraid to speak for Jon, even in front of Mance Rayer, King-Beyond-the-Wall. She challenges Styr; she stands over Jon with a knife when Styr's bird attacks him, and she stands in front of him to defend him in Mance's tent. Jon is not able to lie to Mance, so he speaks in half-truths--but Ygritte lies with boldness or else, by her defense, she does not tell the whole truth. She claims that they have had sex, and later when Jon accuses her of lying for him, she contradicts him: "I left out part, is all.... we fuck beneath your cloak many a night. I never said when we started...." This technicality is a clever tactic, and gets her into Jon's pants as much as it save his life. So, party, bonus.

Ygritte is brave and is determined to stay brave, and be seen as brave. Her courage is as much of her character and part of her identity as a spearwife as her prowess in battle. After they have scaled the Wall in Storm of Swords, Jon observes Ygritte crying. He tries to reassure her, and tell her not to be frightened, but Ygritte flies into a little rage and promptly hits him. "I wasn't frightened," she insists, despite her tears. As she isn't a POV character, we have no way of knowing if this is really true. It might be--but then again, it might not be. What Ygritte says that she is crying over is their lack of success at not finding the Horn of Winter, at being unable to easily and perhaps magically bring the Wall down. She shares the wildling hatred of the crows of the Night's Watch, and is devoted to their mission of bringing down the Wall and battling the Night's Watch in order to enter the lands that they are barred from. She has a great deal of pride at being one of the Free Folk, and considers herself nearly enlightened compared to people south of the Wall. Kneelers, that's how all wildlings dismiss those stupid enough to keep vows of fealty and follow lords and kings.

Despite Ygritte's pride, the Free Folk are not held in much esteem south of the Wall. Lords and smallfolk alike dismiss them as savages. Compared to the "civilized" Seven Kingdoms, the culture of the Free Folk seems brutal and cold, and there is little respect for them or for anything that they stand for. Their freedom is translated to stupidity and brutishness, and a lack of honor, and in fact they are as feared as they are scorned. There are many who would prefer to stamp them out. Ygritte might not have traveled beyond the Wall, but this judgement is not lost on her, and in fact is a source of great sadness for her. In Storm of Swords, she and Tormund Giantsbane sing "The Last of the Giants" for Jon Snow:

In stone halls they burn their great fires,
in stone halls they forge their sharp spears.
Whilst I walk alone in the mountains,
with no true companion but tears.
They hunt me with dogs in the daylight,
they hunt me with torches by night.
For these men who are small can never stand tall,
whilst giants still walk in the light.
Ooooooooooh, I am the LAST of the giants,
so learn well the words of my song.
For when I am gone, the singing will fade,
And the silence will last loud and long.

This song brings Ygritte to tears, too, and when Jon mentions that there are hundreds of giants, Ygritte yet again grows angry with him. "You know nothing, Jon Snow!" she tells him--he knows nothing of what it is to be a wildling, nothing of the sadness of the hard life beyond the Wall, or the sadness of being the last of something, to be so feared and hated that you should be killed. Ygritte has great sympathy for the giants, more than she has for any kneeler or crow. This is a particular softness to Ygritte that is only occasionally displayed, and always quickly subverted by punches and shouting whenever attention is called to it.

Despite her aforementioned worldliness, there are things that Ygritte has not done, and there are things that she is not prepared for--and there are times when this is obvious. She holds an idealized view of the future--that the Free Folk will prevail, that they will overtake the Wall and the Night's Watch. While it is true that their numbers are greater than those of the Watch, the bravado of the wildlings--and of Ygritte--belies the reality of arms and training and the simple advantage of the Wall itself--yet Ygritte does not acknowledge this, or even consider it a valid point. The wildlings will prevail.

She scorns the crows of the Night's Watch, and all the soft and silly ideals and ideas of the lands south of the Wall, but she also has the capability to believe in fanciful things, or at least to say that she believes in them--or at least, knows of them. Of course, some of these things of fancy are a reality to the wildlings--giants, for one, wargs, witches, and still more terrible beasts--and the magic of shamans and skinchangers is as much a reality for them as any harder fact of life.

Ygritte knows the stories of the wildlings well, and tells them to Jon. One particularly touching moment comes in the caves just before they scale the Wall. She leads Jon in, and tells him of Gendel's children--and they have sex, and play in the water of the pools--but before they leave, Ygritte has a moment of rare sentimentality. "Let's not go bac t' Styr and Jarl. Let's go down inside, and join up with Gendel's children. I don't want t' leave this cave, Jon Snow. Not ever." For a woman who spends most of her time punching her lover, or telling him that he knows nothing, this is a particularly poignant moment. In fact, this entire scene shows a softer side of Ygritte, one capable of some tiny bits of sentimentality, one capable of a simpler happiness more fitting with her age. She is not trying to be brave or impressive--she is still full of her usual bravado, yes--"Is the crow afeared of Gendel's children?" she teases Jon--but she has some smaller shyer smiles, and some more tender moments. And she for once admits to not knowing things--granted, they're things of oral sex, the "lord's kiss", as she calls it--but this is a rare moment where Ygritte admits her lack of knowledge and defers to Jon, or at least wants to experiment with him.

In regards to a lack of other types of knowledge--presumably, Jon was taught basic scholarly skills by Maester Luwin, alongside the Stark children--reading, writing, geography, mathematics--but there is no place for these disciplines among the Free Folk. Ygritte's education is one of experience, a sort of streetwise cleverness, but she definitely isn't book-smart. She would of course profess pride at this, were anyone to ask, and would not permit herself to be at all ashamed for not knowing things--but given her attitude and her desire to never appear weak or stupid, she might be willing to learn, if only so she could have one over her naysayers.

Ygritte comes to care very much for Jon Snow, but her love is capricious. The complications of Jon's honor and loyalty to his vows prevent anything real or lasting between them. Ygritte will not be a crow's wife; Jon will not be a wildling. Though they love one another, they are separated by the Wall and what it symbolizes. This becomes the greatest stumbling block for their relationship. No matter how Jon loves her, he cannot and does not choose her over his vows, and Ygritte will not betray her people or her own spearwife's honor.

» Appearance:
Ygritte as described as "short for her age.... skinny but well-muscled, with a round face, small hands, a pug nose... crooked white teeth". Her most distinguishing feature is her fiery red hair. In the HBO series, Ygritte is portrayed by actress Rosie Leslie, and I will be using her as my PB.