Warrior Philosophy in Game of Thrones (3 page)

Whether you are a martial artist yourself, follow a moral or spiritual teaching tradition or are just considering what the core values are that you want to live your life by, I'd strongly recommend that you keep your eyes and mind open to the subtleties and the undefinable, but highly visible, qualitative aspects of any life path.  If you have never considered the principles by which you live your life, it may be something worth thinking about.  You will be living out certain value choices unconsciously whether you like it or not so if you want to have some influence over what those values are it is worth your time and energy to ask yourself some tough questions and begin to recognise the values you are embodying now, and the ones which you really want to live by.

Having considered how the Warrior Code turns up both in Westeros and in our own history, and having reflected a little on its relevance in our day-to-day lives, I finally want to turn our attention to why these codes sprang into existence in the first place.

Acknowledging that at the lowest common denominator, 'might is right' why would those most skilled and therefore powerful in the realms of 'might' apply a strict set of rules to themselves?  Couldn't they do what they liked?  One could argue that the societies these warriors belonged to may have had a hand in creating these kinds of rules to make these fierce individuals safer to have as part of the community – and that's a totally valid point.  However, my personal experience, and the anecdotal evidence from the histories of many great warriors I have come across seems to suggest there may be more to it than that - maybe not in every case, but certainly in many.  Before I go on I do want to acknowledge that there have definitely been times in history when warriors were not harnessed to these kinds of moral codes.  I think this was most frequently the case in societies and environments where basic human needs were not getting met (sustenance, space, shelter) but not exclusively so, and even in the societies and environments where such codes were in place they did not necessarily meet our modern expectations of freedom and justice for all.  As mentioned before, it also varied greatly how deeply these codes were adhered to.  However, all that said, if instead of looking at  the historical specifics we look at the archetypal ideal and the mythological picture I still come back to this question of why those most able to enforce their will on others would chose instead to be in service?  I consider there to be a deeper human truth than the purely historical which we can find by examining this mythological view, and as one of my teachers, Simon Buxton quotes his teacher as saying:

“The only difference between Myths and History is that everything in the Myths is true.”
[ix]

In the stories of so many great warriors I have seen a common theme: that they are wild and destructive when young, but once they have proven themselves and begin to mature, their focus shifts from being the most dangerous person, to being the most complete person.  In the Chinese martial traditions there is an informal title 'Master of the Five Excellences' which was someone who had mastered not just the martial arts but meditation, healing, composing (music, poetry, painting), and performing (acting, dancing, speaking).  This is very like the Western concept of a 'Renaissance Man' – someone who was really a well rounded person who had achieved highly in diverse art forms including the typically manly ones – like sword-fighting, the typically sensitive ones – like dancing or the fine arts, and the academic ones – such as the sciences, medicine, literature or philosophy.  These are both expressions of what I am talking about.  Another example would be in central America where different levels of spiritual development were signified by a counting system with twenty being the human optimum state.  Someone who would be really respected might be spoken of as a 'Twenty' meaning that they are a wise and well developed person who has explored the many different levels of themselves as a human being and understands their place in nature.

In the Samurai era of
Japan
, particularly later on around the 1600's when the Emperor and the Shogun ruled all of
Japan
and there was therefore a kind of peace, Samurai warriors were often to be found practising various fine arts.  This was not an entirely new thing, but in this time of peace something had to be found to occupy the fierce spirits of these mighty warriors so that they didn't get bored administrating their lands and end up picking fights just for the fun of it!  In some ways then, these art forms were contrived methods for keeping the most skilfully violent people in check, but there were many examples where it went much further than this and it is one of those I want to highlight as an example of this progression from death and destruction to growth and even great beauty.  Miyamoto Musashi is one of the most famous Samurai of all time, however, he was not born into the Samurai Class (like being a Knight or Lord), and never ruled an estate.  He was a
Ronin
[6]
, which was a kind of Samurai who did not serve a single Lord but was taken into service by Lords when they needed an experienced veteran warrior.  This was not a mercenary.  Mercenary's were considered to be without honour.  Most Ronin took on this role if their Lord died in battle but they had not been dishonoured by it
[7]
.  However, some common-born men who were great fighters managed to be accepted as Ronin just because of their fighting prowess and Musashi was one such man.  He won his first duel at the age of 13 fighting an adult Samurai, and went on to win a total of 60 duels before he withdrew from fighting and eventually died.  He also fought in several large scale battles over the years in the service of various Samurai
Daimyo
[8]
.  What is less commonly talked about regarding Musashi is that he was arguably one of the finest brush painters of his generation as well as being a highly skilled calligrapher.  It was these arts that he came to focus on as he got older along with recording his philosophy on combat and life in  'The Book of Five Rings.'  Even his fighting style shifted away from killing his opponents.  This was partly due to his awesome level of skill – the fact that he
could
defeat opponents without killing them – but I believe it also shows a growth into a particular mindset.  Most Samurai fought with a single sword called a Katana (the second shorter sword being kept as back-up and for ritual suicide), but Musashi developed a very rare style of fighting using both swords.  In one of his final duels after he had taken a position in a Daimyo's household as a teacher to the Lord's son's, Musashi used 2 wooden training swords against an opponent armed with a razor-sharp steel blade and each time his opponent attacked Musashi trapped his sword using the 2 wooden swords thus making it impossible for his opponent to continue attacking.  As I say, while this definitely demonstrates a peak of skill in swordsmanship, I think it also signals a shift away from killing which was reflected in the rest of his life at this time. 

Another more modern example, also from
Japan
, would be Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido.  He is famous for his Aikido as being  a martial art, but with a peaceful and even loving intent.  A core part of the embodied philosophy in this art is to take care of your opponent – even as they are thrown, they are thrown in such a way as to help them land safely.  What is less often talked about regarding Ueshiba is that he was much more violent and even war-like when he was younger.  He developed and trained a small paramilitary group with whom he invaded a part of
China
, with the intention of annexing it to form their own country – on a small scale this was war, and people died.  Ueshiba talked of having had a profound realization and I can believe it.  I think there must have been a massive turning point in his life for the violent youth to have become the heartfelt representative of peace.  While Ueshiba's shift is seen as a full-on spiritual transformation, I think this is not so different from the shift that occurred in Musashi and the link between the martial arts and the fine arts, and healing arts is not restricted to
Japan
.  In
China
many of the finest calligraphers also practised martial arts.  Often the local doctor would also be the martial arts instructor.  In
Europe
, many very fine writers and poets in ages past were Knights and military men.  The art of ballroom dancing was originally a warrior art: it was a way to demonstrate your grace, elegance, dignity, and general physical prowess off the battle-field, and therefore in an environment more likely to be frequented by ladies!  

To me, these links between the arts of war and the arts of beauty and healing are significant when we consider why the mighty would burden themselves with a code of behaviour.  I have witnessed it in myself and others, and it is recognised in the field of psychology that a nearness to death will often bring out in us a desire to feel more alive.  Whether it is thrill-seeking behaviour, sex, physical exercise, partying, or making big life changes, when those near to us die many of us will find ways to connect more profoundly with life.  My suspicion is that in these ancient warrior traditions something similar was going on.  At an archetypal level, what this says to me is that life and death walk hand-in-hand.  This makes sense to me and is borne out in many philosophies from around the world – a prime example being the concept of yin and yang: opposites are interdependent on each other and one contains the seed of the other.  Practically and physically this makes sense too because without death, there can be no life.  If plants don't die, other creatures can't live, if those other creatures don't die, then other larger creatures can't live... and so on.  Equally, and for the same reasons, it is just as true that destruction and creation go hand-in-hand.  Warriors often are, like the ancient God of War, Mars, destroyers.  Just as a nearness to death brings out a desire to feel nearer to life, I think a nearness to destruction brings out a desire for a nearness to creation.  In this way at a fundamental level I see the warrior arts which are so often inextricably linked to harm, destruction, and ultimately death, must be connected to creative arts which seek to heal, create, and ultimately give life.  For these reasons I think that people drawn to a warrior's path (who are not clinically imbalanced such as psychopaths) will eventually find their way to creative and healing arts.  It is part of how the healthy human psyche balances itself.  To come back to the question of why the mighty would harness themselves to a warrior code, I think it is for similar reasons of balance.  Not an imposed balance by a fearful society but a healthy balance born of the wisdom of older warriors initiating the younger warriors into a life not just of destruction and death, but of creation and life too.  By binding themselves to a warrior code they moved from practising fighting skills to practising a warrior art.  The warrior's very way of life became an art form.  They took acts which were often destructive and put those acts in service of a creative and essentially life-affirming purpose in the wider context: service, care, fairness, justice, faith, one of the most beautiful of human traits – courage, and protecting the weak (preserving life).  For me it is the code of honour – and living within the spirit of it, not just the letter – which distinguishes the purely martial from the martial art.  The Fighter, from the true Warrior.  When considering the characters in 'Game of Thrones' this is the key thing to consider.  It is a story set in a time of war so many, or even  most of the characters are involved in acts which lead to destruction – either directly or by command – but, the key distinction is whether they are doing so for a larger purpose than merely their own self-aggrandisement or desire for revenge.  In the larger context, are their actions life-affirming or life-degrading?  Gregor Clegane 'The Mountain' is a very clear example of pure destruction incarnate.  There is nothing of the true Warrior about him.  But while Loras Tyrell 'The Knight of the Flowers' for example seems much more gallant, I'm not sure there is anything more significant to his motives than his own glory.  The distinctions in this realm are not clear-cut and just as in life, true Warriors, truly honourable men and women are rare.  As I mentioned before, some of them may not be obvious at first glance.  Eddard Stark is so often a clear example of a Warrior's heart, but some of the blindness that leads to his downfall is due to his attachment to a rigid sense of his own honour, which strays at times into pride.  His honour is more important to him than the safety of the common-folk.  Ironically, Tyrion Lannister's lack of attachment to any sense of honour sometimes means his acts are more honourable.  I will speak more of this in Chapter 8 on Honour. 

The dedication to a higher purpose that I would suggest comes with a commitment to a true Warrior's path  says to me that what we are dealing with here is a spiritual path.  That doesn't mean that it needs to have any religious trappings, to be 'woo woo' or 'new-age', it just means that  the Warrior's path is more than a job or even a vocation: it's a calling.  As such it is a path that can be walked whoever you are and whatever you 'do.'  While I have talked mostly here of historic figures who were martial experts, I would say that just as someone can be a fighter without being a Warrior (such as Gregor Clegane, or Bronn), someone can equally be a Warrior without being a fighter (such as Tyrion Lannister, or Varys perhaps).  That holds as true in this world as in Westeros so if you choose to temper and hone your heart and mind, to wield your power wisely, to serve a higher purpose (something greater than your own self-interest) and to follow a code of honour – be it a formal one, or your own personal one, then I say you are a Warrior.  To quote Richard Strozzi Heckler in his excellent book 'In Search of the Warrior Spirit' which is his diary and reflections from teaching awareness disciplines to the US Army Green Beret's: