"The Bear and the Maiden Fair" is a folk song in '' A Song of Ice and Fire'' novels, and it is sung in its television series adaptation '' Game of Thrones''. The lyrics are provided by

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

in the original novel;

Ramin Djawadi Ramin Djawadi (, fa, رامین جوادی; born 19 July 1974) is an Iranian and German score composer. He is known for his scores for the 2008 Marvel film ''Iron Man'' and the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', for which he was nominated for Gramm ...

composed the tune's music in 2012, at the request of the series creators

David Benioff David Friedman (; born September 25, 1970), known professionally as David Benioff (), is an American writer, director and producer. Along with his collaborator D. B. Weiss, he is best known as co-creator and showrunner of '' Game of Thrones'' (2 ...

and

D. B. Weiss Daniel Brett Weiss (; born April 23, 1971) is an American television writer, director, and producer. Along with his collaborator David Benioff, he is best-known as co-creator of ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), the HBO adaptation of George R. ...

, and the recording, by

The Hold Steady The Hold Steady is an American rock band originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, now based in Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2003. The band consists of Craig Finn (vocals, guitar), Tad Kubler (guitar), Galen Polivka (bass), Bobby Drake (drums), ...

, was arranged by

Tad Kubler Tad Kubler is an American guitarist, known for his work with Lifter Puller, Song of Zarathustra, and, most-notably, The Hold Steady. He previously worked with Brett Johnson, bass player for Atmosphere, in the band Ten-fold Hate, in Minneapolis ...

History

The US

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band

recorded "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" for season 3. Brienne and Jaime's captors (who include musician

Gary Lightbody Gareth John Lightbody (born 15 June 1976) is a Northern Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. He has also founded the musical supergroups The ...

from Snow Patrol, in a cameo appearance) sing the song in episode 3 of that season ("

Walk of Punishment "Walk of Punishment" is the third episode of the third season of HBO's medieval fantasy television series ''Game of Thrones.'' The 23rd episode of the series overall, it was written by series co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and direc ...

"), and The Hold Steady's recording is played over the end credits. The recording was released on a seven-inch record on April 20, 2013. In the '' A Song of Ice and Fire'' novels, "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" is a traditional song popular among people of all social classes throughout Westeros. It recounts the story of a bear, "All black and brown / And covered with hair", who traveled to a summer fair, and smelled "on the summer air ... The maid with honey / In her hair!" Although she vowed that she'll "never dance / With a hairy bear", he "lifted her high / Into the air", and "licked the honey / From her hair", until she "sighed and squealed / And kicked the air", eventually agreeing to go off with her "bear so fair".

Themes

Martin was the primary script writer on the

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

television series, and the Beauty and the Beast archetype shows frequently in his other works, among them A Song of Ice and Fire. Not only is the Bear and the Maiden Fair song frequently mentioned in the novels, but many characters and relationships throughout the novels embody its thematic elements. The three most prominent examples in the text are the duos of

Daenerys Targaryen Daenerys Targaryen ( ) is a fictional character in the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' by American author George R. R. Martin. She is a prominent Narrative mode#Third-person view, point of view character, and is one of ...

and Ser Jorah Mormont,

Sansa Stark Sansa Stark, later Alayne Stone, is a fictional character in the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin. Introduced in '' A Game of Thrones'' (1996), Sansa is the eldest daughter and secon ...

and Sandor Clegane, and

Jaime Lannister Ser Jaime Lannister is a fictional character in the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin and its television adaptation ''Game of Thrones'', where he is portrayed by Danish actor Nikolaj Coste ...

and Brienne of Tarth. Both Daenerys and Sansa play the archetypical Beauty to Mormont's and Clegane's beasts, with House Mormont being represented by a black, hairy bear; and the knight in the text being stated often to physically resemble a bear. However, the cliche is slightly subverted in the narrative, since Daenerys does not desire Jorah Mormont romantically, and she even banishes him at one point in the story after she discovers his secret espionage. While the first two couples are straighter examples of the trope on paper, the latter couple is inverted with the genders reversed; with the beauty being the beautiful yet cruel man, and the beast is the ugly but noble woman.

Credits

* The Hold Steady – band, primary artist * Ramin Djawadi – composer, primary artist, producer * David Benioff – liner notes * George R.R. Martin – lyricist * D.B. Weiss – liner notes *

- arrangement

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bear and the Maiden Fair, The Music of Game of Thrones 2013 songs 2013 compositions WaterTower Music singles Songs about bears Songs from television series

History

Themes

Credits

See also

References