Foreshadowing: Phrasing, Wording, Etc. (Spoilers Extended)

Background

In this post I thought it would be interesting to discuss times where a repeated word/phrase (or sometimes missing word/phrase), etc. is meant to foreshadow a future plotline or event.

If interested: A great little piece of writing in the series (imo) comes from D&E...

Lord Tywin Shitting Gold

GRRM was setting this up from the very beginning:

A fool more foolish than most had once jested that even Lord Tywin's shit was flecked with gold. Some said the man was still alive, deep in the bowels of Casterly Rock. -AGOT, Tyrion VII

If interested: The Bowels of Casterly Rock

and:

For once, his father did what Tyrion asked him. The proof was the sudden stench, as his bowels loosened in the moment of death. Well, he was in the right place for it, Tyrion thought. But the stink that filled the privy gave ample evidence that the oft-repeated jape about his father was just another lie. Lord Tywin Lannister did not, in the end, shit gold. -ASOS, Tyrion VII

and:

Question: Were circumstances and timing of Tywin's death something you planned for a long time or another case of characters "taking intiative", like with Cat?
GRRM: That scene was largely written even before A CLASH OF KINGS was published. Hell, I'd been setting up that "Lord Tywin shits gold" line since his very first appearance in A GAME OF THRONES.

There are several other quotes likes this ranging from Robb's death (Give my regards to Robb Stark) to Raff the Sweetling (think so?) or even potentially Alliser Thorne.

If interested: Full Circle Death Quotes in ASOIAF

The Seasons of My Love

There are plenty of great songs in the ASOIAF series ranging from Jenny's Song to lesser known songs like "The Day they Hanged Black Robin". One song that could have plot implications is "The Seasons of My Love" as the reader has been able to get the lyrics to 3 of the seasons:

• I loved a maid "as fair as summer, with sunlight in her hair"
• I loved a maid "as fair as autumn, with sunset in her hair"
• I loved a maid "as fair as winter, with moonglow in her hair"

with spring leftover, it is possible that we get something to do with ADOS, etc. for one of the plotlines.

If interested: The Seasons of My Love

Potential Future: The Valonqar & Hands of Gold

GRRM is a gardener and one thing that he may have gardened from a plotline is just how he planned to have Jaime/Cersei die. When we listen to the song that is made for Tyrion (by Symon Silver Tongue) the lyrics reference his secret relationship with Shae, but the lyrics can also be used to describe Jaime (Goldenhand) and Cersei as well.

If interested: The Valonqar: Hands of Gold

Repeated Phrasing: Imagery

Sometimes when GRRM repeats something, it sticks out to me and feels connected, but it is rather probably that GRRM either just likes a certain cadence of words or the imagery created. For instance I love all of these passages, but I don't think they actually mean anything in conjunction (from an actual plot perspective):

Ned:

He dreamt an old dream, of three knights in white cloaks, and a tower long fallen, and Lyanna in her bed of blood. -AGOT, Eddard X

Cersei:

She dreamt an old dream, of three girls in brown cloaks, a wattled crone, and a tent that smelled of death. -AFFC, Cersei VIII

Varamyr:

He dreamt an old dream of a hovel by the sea, three dogs whimpering, a woman's tears. -ADWD, Prologue

If interested: Repetition of Wording/Phrasing by GRRM

The Alternative: Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Cigar

At the same time we also have GRRM repeat things all the time that likely don't have much meaning together. As he says:

Some of my readers have livelier imaginations than I do. Well, I won't comment, except to say that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar -SSM, Questions on the Faceless Men: 2001

and:

Is the ward of Lord Gyles Rosby mentioned in Feast Aegon? I know that you have said for certain that poor Rhaenys is dead, but hedged a bit on Aegon. And I just was thinking about all the remarkable detail you put in the books, wondering how it came about that the poor coughing Lord Gyles even had a ward and how evil it was of Cersei to steal his inheritance, when suddenly I just began to wonder about why you would put that detail in. And you already hid one prince (Tommen) on the Rosby estate, so it is not that crazy an idea, is it?
GRRM: Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. -SSM, Lord Gyles' Ward: 2006

If interested: Sometimes a Quote is just a Quote

TLDR: Just a quick post on how GRRM can use certain words, in world jokes, phrasing, songs, etc. as foreshadowing.