The Horned Lord, The Green Men & Sorcery

Happy Sunday everyone. I hope you all are as excited for tonight's episode as I am. In the meantime here are a few somewhat disjointed (maybe even tinfoily) thoughts on (you guessed it): The Horned Lord, The Green Men and sorcery.

Background

The Horned Lord was a leader/chieftain among the wildlings (likely) thousands of years ago, who was able to breach the Wall. We know very little about him (not even his fate):

The Horned Lord would follow them, a thousand years after (or perhaps two). His name is lost to history, but he was said to have used sorcery to pass the Wall. After him, centuries later, came Bael the Bard, whose songs are still sung beyond the Wall...but there are questions as to whether he truly existed or not. The wildlings say he did and credit many songs to his name, but the old chronicles of Winterfell say nothing of him. Whether this was due to the defeats and humiliations he was said to have visited upon them (including, according to one improbable story, deflowering a Stark maid and getting her with child) or because he never existed, we cannot truly say. -TWOIAF, The Wall and Beyond: The Wildlings

and according to Mance he "came south to conquer".

If interested: The Wildling Invasions

But the primary thing we should note is that he used "sorcery to pass the Wall"

The Horned Lord & Sorcery

The only other time the Horned Lord is mentioned at all in the series (besides the constellation) is what Dalla shares on the nature of sorcery:

Jon faced him. "If you've had the Horn of Joramun all along, why haven't you used it? Why bother building turtles and sending Thenns to kill us in our beds? If this horn is all the songs say, why not just sound it and be done?"

It was Dalla who answered him, Dalla great with child, lying on her pile of furs beside the brazier. "We free folk know things you kneelers have forgotten. Sometimes the short road is not the safest, Jon Snow. The Horned Lord once said that sorcery is a sword without a hilt. There is no safe way to grasp it." -ASOS, Jon X

which is later repeated in a convo between Jon/Mel:

"Dalla told me something once. Val's sister, Mance Rayder's wife. She said that sorcery was a sword without a hilt. There is no safe way to grasp it."

"A wise woman." Melisandre rose, her red robes stirring in the wind. "A sword without a hilt is still a sword, though, and a sword is a fine thing to have when foes are all about" -ADWD, Jon VI

So if we keep in mind that:

• A major theme in ASOIAF is that: All Magic Has a Cost
• The Horned Lord used sorcery/magic to pass the Wall
• The only other time the Horned Lord is mentioned is with respect to magic/sorcery having a cost and why the Wildlings aren't using the "Horn of Joramun" to pass the Wall

it makes for some interesting theorization as to:

1. What exactly what the Horned Lord did (magic/sorcery wise) to pass the Wall
2. What the fallacy of the sorcery/magic used was

Thoughts/Theories

• Skinchanging/Stark Warging Powers

Since the Horned Lord came from beyond the Wall (likely First Men/Old Gods/Wildling culture) the first thought I had was skinchanging (for instance enormous goats on Skagos) and with that in mind it is worth noting how many other "kings"(Warg King, Marsh King were conquered by the Starks (likely how they got their warg powers)

• The Green Men

The Green Men on the Isle of Faces supposedly had horns and since they are often associated with magic/sorcery:

Whether the green men still survive on their isle is not clear although there is the occasional account of some foolhardy young riverlord taking a boat to the isle and catching sight of them before winds rise up or a flock of ravens drives him away. The nursery tales claiming that they are horned and have dark, green skin is a corruption of the likely truth, which is that the green men wore green garments and horned headdresses. -TWOIAF, Ancient History: The Coming of the First Men

and since Old Nan drops knowledge like Barth/Mushroom:

"The green men ride on elks, Old Nan used to say. Sometimes they have antlers too." -ASOS, Bran IV

If interested: Weird Happenings Around the God's Eye

• Black Gate

Only able to open via a man of the Night's Watch, it is confirmed/known sorcery on the Wall, so had to mention it. If interested: Thoughts/Theories on the Black Gate

TLDR: The Horned Lord passed the Wall due to magic/sorcery but is also known to have talked about the fallacies of relying on it. We don't know much else about him but its possible that he was defeated by the Starks (like numerous other ancient kings).