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A Dance with Dragons
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Read A Dance with Dragons
A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 5

A Dance with Dragons (2011) (edit title/settings)

by George R. R. Martin (Author) (edit contributors)

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In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again–beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and... read more

Summary edit see section history

In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again - beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance once again - beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has three times three thousand enemies, and many have set out to find her. Yet, as they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.

To the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone - a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, will face his greatest challenge yet. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.

And from all corners, bitter conflicts soon reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all...

Characters edit see section history

  • Jon Snow: "Lord Snow" - "Bastard of Winterfell" - 16-17 years old; 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch; A warg; Bastard son of Eddard Stark, by a mother of unknown identity, he was raised at Winterfell side-by-side with the true-born Stark children and often wonders who his mother might be; Is slender with brown hair and grey eyes like his father; Has burn scars on one hand from when he saved Lord Mormont's life from a wight; Has faint scars on one cheek where an eagle once tried to rip his eye out.
  • Robb Stark: "Lord of Winterfell" - "King in the North and King of the Trident" - "Young Wolf" - Eldest son of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully; Big and broad with fair skin, auburn hair falling to his shoulders and blue eyes; Slain at the Twins during his uncle, Edmure Tully's wedding to Roslin Frey in what is now being called "The Red Wedding"
  • Sansa Stark: "Princess Sansa" - "Alayne Stone" - "Lady Lannister" - 13 years old; Eldest daughter of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully; Has thick autumn auburn hair and deep Tully blue eyes; Has dyed her hair a burnt brown color so that she is not easily recognized; Was forced to marry Tyrion Lannister but the marriage was never consummated; Sansa is now hiding in the Vale as Alayne Stone, Petyr Baelish's bastard daughter.
  • Arya Stark: "Princess Arya" - "Arya Underfoot" - "Arya Horseface" - "Arry" - "Weasel" - "Nan" - "Squab" - "Salty" - "Cat" - "Cat of the Canals" - 10 years old; Youngest daughter of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully; Looks like her father and has brown hair and grey eyes; Is missing and presumed dead; Is hiding in the Free City of Braavos; A novice in the House of Black and White; Meanwhile an impostor Arya has been betrothed to Ramsay Snow
  • Brandon Stark: "Prince Bran" - "Brandon Stark" - 9 years old; Second to youngest son of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully; Has auburn hair and blue eyes; Is paralyzed from the waist down; Prince of the North and rightful heir to his late brother, Robb; Has green dreams and is a warg; Is believed dead by his own family; The new "Lord of Winterfell" but he does not know it yet since he is seeking an old power beyond the Wall.
  • Rickon Stark: "Prince Rickon" - 4 years old; Youngest son of Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully; Has auburn hair and blue eyes; Is believed dead by his own family; Is traveling south with Shaggy Dog and Osha, a wildling woman
  • Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell: "Ned" - Was Warden of the North, Lord of Winterfell and The Hand of King Robert; Husband to Catelyn Stark; Father to Jon Snow, Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran Rickon Stark; Had long brown hair, a closely trimmed beard shot with white and grey eyes; Beheaded at King's Landing by Ser Ilyn Payne under King Joffrey's orders; deceased
  • Catelyn Stark: "Cat" - "Catelyn Tully" - "Lady Stark" - "Lady Stoneheart" - "The Silent Sister" - "Mother Merciless" - "The Hangwoman" - Eddard Stark's widow; Mother to Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran & Rickon Stark; Lord Hoster Tully's daughter; Sister to Lysa Arryn and Edmure Tully; Had fair skin, auburn hair and blue eyes; Slain at the Twins during her brother, Edmure Tully's wedding to Roslin Frey (The Red Wedding); Beric Dondarrion resurected her and she now rides with the Brotherhood without Banners seeking revenge; Her hair is dry and brittle, white as bone; Her brow is mottled green and grey, spotted with the brown blooms of decay; The flesh of her face clings in ragged strips from her eyes down to her jaw; Some of the rips are crusted with dried blood, but others gape open to reveal the skull beneath.
  • Lyanna Stark: "Lady Lyanna" - "Lya" - Eddard Stark's beloved sister; King Robert had loved her and she was to have been his bride; Died in the Mountains of Dorne during Robert's Rebellion
  • Benjen Stark: "Ben" - Eddard Stark's younger brother; Jon Snow, Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran & Rickon Stark's uncle; First Ranger for the Night's Watch; Has been missing and is now believed dead since he went beyond the Wall to look for another missing ranger.
  • Ghost: An albino (white as snow with red eyes) direwolf with no voice, adopted by Jon Snow; Ghost is a litter-mate to the five (non-albino) direwolves belonging to Jon's five half-siblings (Grey Wind, Lady, Nymeria, Summer & Shaggydog)
  • Grey Wind: Robb Stark's direwolf; Litter-mate to the direwolves belonging to Robb's siblings (Ghost, Lady, Nymeria, Summer & Shaggydog); Lean and smoke-dark, with eyes like molten gold; Slain at the Twins during the Red Wedding
  • Lady: Sansa Stark's direwolf; Litter-mate to the direwolves belonging to Sansa's siblings (Ghost, Grey Wind, Nymeria, Summer & Shaggydog); The smallest of the litter, the prettiest, the most gentle and trusting; Had bright golden eyes and thick grey fur; Queen Cersei ordered her killed while at Castle Darry
  • Nymeria: Arya Stark's direwolf; Named after Queen Nymeria of Rhoynar; Litter-mate to the direwolves belonging to Arya's siblings (Ghost, Grey Wind, Lady, Summer & Shaggydog); Has dark golden eyes; Was set free near the Trident by Arya to avoid Queen Cersei having her killed; Is leading the largest pack of wolves ever seen all over the riverlands near the Trident
  • Summer: "Prince of the Green" - "Prince of the Wolfswood" - Bran Stark's direwolf; Saved Bran's life; Litter-mate to the direwolves belonging to Bran's siblings (Ghost, Grey Wind, Lady, Nymeria & Shaggydog); Has silver and smoke fur with eyes of yellow gold; Is limping on his hind leg since taking an arrow through it at Queenscrown
  • Shaggydog: "Shaggy" - Rickon Stark's direwolf; Litter-mate to the direwolves belonging to Rickon's siblings (Ghost, Grey Wind, Lady, Nymeria & Summer); Has black fur and green eyes; Has a lot of anger inside since he has been separated from his pack
  • Daenerys Targaryen: "Queen Daenerys" - "Dany" - "Daenerys Stormborn" - "The Unburnt" - "Mother of Dragons" - "Queen of Meereen" - "Queen of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men" - "Khaleesi of Great Grass Sea" - "Breaker of Shackles" - 15 years old; Sole heir to the Targaryen dynasty who ruled Westeros for 300 years until their deposition 15 years prior to the first novel; Daughter of King Aerys II and Queen Rhaella; Sister to Prince Rhaegar and Prince Viserys; Widow of Khal Drogo; Mother to Rhaego; Has silver-gold hair and violet eyes
  • Khal Drogo: Dany's "sun-and-stars" - Daenerys' deceased husband; A great khal of the Dothraki; Was never defeated in battle; Died of a wound that festered and was help along by Mirri Maz Duur
  • Rhaegar Targaryen: "Prince Rhaegar" - "Prince of Dragonstone" - Son of King Aerys II and Queen Rhaella; Heir to the Iron Throne; Older brother to Viserys and Daenerys; Husband to Princess Elia of Dorne; Father of Rhaenys and Aegon; Had silver-gold hair and purple eyes; Liked to play a silver-stringed harp and sing; Slain by King Robert on the Trident
  • Aegon V Targaryen: Rhaegar's son by Elia of Dorne; Murdered during the Sack of King's Landing
  • Rhaenys Targaryen: "Princess Rhaenys" - Rhaegar's daughter by Elia of Dorne; Murdered during the Sack of King's Landing
  • Viserys Targaryen: "The Beggar King" - Daenerys' older brother; Second son of King Aerys II and Queen Rhaella; Slain in Vaes Dothrak by Khal Drogo when he was crowned with molten gold
  • Aerys Targaryen II: "The Mad King" - Father to Rhaegar, Viserys and Daenerys; Husband to Rhaella; Had purple eyes; Slain by Ser Jaime Lannister, one of his Kingsguard
  • Tyrion Lannister: "The Imp" - "Yollo" - "Hugor Hill" - A dwarf son of Tywin Lannister; Brother of Cersei and Jaime Lannister; His height and appearance are scoffed at but his cunning and intelligence are difficult to equal; His head is too large for his body, with a brute's squashed-in face beneath a swollen shelf of brow; One green eye and one black one peer out from under a lank fall of hair so blond it seems white; Has a yellow and black, wiry beard covering his pushed-in face; Was acting Hand of the King under Joffrey; Was grievously wounded at the Battle of the Blackwater and now has a great gash that runs from above one eye down to his jaw, across what remains of his nose; Was forced to marry Sansa Stark but he never pressed the issue of consummating the marriage, even though he was ready and willing too do so; Recently escaped the black cells under the Red Keep and fled the Seven Kingdoms as he is a fugitive wanted for kinslaying and regicide
  • Lord Tywin Lannister: "Lord Tywin Lannister" - Was Hand of the King to three kings, Warden of the West, Lord of Casterly Rock; Father to Queen Cersei, Ser Jaime the Kingslayer and Tyrion the Imp; Grandfather to King Joffrey, King Tommen & Myrcella Baratheon; Had pale green eyes flecked with gold; Slain by Tyrion with a crossbow while sitting on the privy
  • Joanna Lannister: "Lady Joanna" - Mother to Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion; Died while birthing Tyrion
  • Jaime Lannister: "Ser Jaime Lannister" - "Kingslayer" - "The Lion of Lannister" - Younger twin to Cersei and older brother to Tyrion; Cersei's ex-lover; Biological father of Joffrey, Tommen & Myrcella Baratheon; Has golden hair and cat-green eyes; Lord Commander of the Kingsguard; A member of the king's small council
  • Myrcella Baratheon: "Princess Myrcella" - Joffrey & Tommen's sister; 10 almost 11 years old; A shy little girl; Has skin as pale as milk with a mop of golden curls and green eyes; Has been sent to Sunspear as a ward of Prince Doran Martell where she is to wed Prince Trystane Martell in a few years
  • King Tommen Baratheon: "King Tommen, the First of His Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men and Lord of the Seven Kingdoms" - "The Little King" - 9 years old; Joffrey Myrcella's younger brother; A plump little boy with golden curls and green eyes. Loves his cats.
  • Margery Tyrell: Married to Tommen Baratheon, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms
  • Joffrey Baratheon: "King Joffrey" - "Joff" - Was 13 years old; Thought to be the son and heir of King Robert Baratheon; Was very tall with a thick tangle of golden curls hanging down to his neck and deep green eyes; Married to Margaery Tyrell for a few hours; Was poisoned and choked to death at his wedding feast
  • Cersei Lannister: "Queen Dowager" - "Lady of Casterly Rock" - Mother of Joffrey, Tommen & Myrcella Baratheon; Jaime Lannister's older twin sister and ex-lover; Older sister to Tyrion; King Robert Baratheon's widow; Has golden hair and green eyes; Was a member of the king's small council; Currently imprisoned in a tower cell, awaiting trial
  • Ser Kevan Lannister: "Ser Kevan Lannister" - "Regent and Protector of the Realm" - Brother of Tywin Lannister; Uncle to Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion; A member of the king's small council; The king's master of laws; 55 years old; Is fair-skinned and blond though he has lost most of his hair; Thick of waist, round of shoulder, with a square jutting chin that his close-cropped yellow beard does little to conceal, he looks like some old mastiff
  • Gerion Lannister: "Gery" - The youngest and most reckless of Lord Tytos Lannister's four sons; Lord Tywin's brother; Lost at sea while seeking the lost Lannister greatsword, Brightroar some eight years past; Jaime & Tyrion's favorite uncle; Joy Hill's father
  • Lancel Lannister: Son of Ser Kevan. Knight of the Holy Order of the Warrior's Sons
  • Tygett Lannister: "Tyg" - Tyrek's father; Lord Tywin's brother; Uncle to Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion; Deceased
  • Oberyn Martell: "Prince Oberyn of Dorne" - "Oberyn Nymeros Martell" - "The Red Viper" - Prince Doran's brother; His face was lined and saturnine, with thin arched brows above large black eyes and a few streaks of silver marred the lustrous black hair that receded from his brow in a widow's peak as sharply pointed as his nose; Obara, Nymeria, Tyene, Sarella, Loreza & Dorea's father; His 8 bastard daughters are called the "Sand Snakes"; Was slain by Gregor Clegane in single combat during a trial by battle
  • Doran Martell: "Prince Doran of Dorne" - "Doran Nymeros Martell" - Is 52 years old and gouty; Father to Arianne, Quentyn and Trystane; Prince Oberyn's brother; The Prince of Dorne is known for his patience and prudence.
  • Quentyn Martell: "Prince Quentyn of Dorne" - 18 years old; Prince Doran's eldest son; Fostered by Lord Yronwood from a tender age, served him as a page, then a squire, even took knighthood at his hands in preference to the Red Viper's; Is traveling into the east on a secret mission for his father, posing as a common merchant. Is short-legged and stocky, thickly built, with hair the brownof new-turned earth. His forehead is too high, his jaw too square, his nose too broad; One of Queen Daenerys' suitors
  • Stannis Baratheon: "King Stannis" - "Lord of Dragonstone" - Younger brother of the late King Robert; Has dark blue eyes and only a fringe of thin black hair remaining on his head, circling behind his ears like the shadow of a crown; His close-cropped beard is spider webbed with grey hairs; After his loss on the Blackwater he has become skin and bones; At war for the crown of the seven kingdoms. His base on Dragonstone has been taken and he now resides on the Wall at Castle Black
  • Selyse Baratheon: "Selyse Florent" - "Queen Selyse" - Stannis' wife; Shireen's mother; Is as tall as her husband, thin of body and thin of face, with prominent ears, a sharp nose, and the faintest hint of a mustache on her upper lip
  • Shireen Baratheon: "Princess Shireen" - "Lady Shireen" - King Stannis & Queen Selyse's daughter and only child; 9 years old; Has blue eyes; A sad, sweet, gentle child but far from pretty; Has Stannis' square jaw and Selyse's Florent ears; One cheek and half her neck is grey, cracked and hard due to greyscale when she was in the cradle
  • Melisandre of Asshai: "Lady Melisandre" - "The Red Woman" - A mysterious sorceress, shadowbinder and devoted priestess to the red god R'hllor; Always wears red from head to heel, around her throat is a red gold choker ornamented with a single great ruby; Is young, full-bodied and strangely beautiful, with her heart-shaped face, long coppery hair and unearthly red eyes; Advisor to Stannis
  • Davos Seaworth: "Ser Davos" - "Lord Davos" - "Davos Shorthand" - "The Onion Knight" - "Lord of the Rainwood" - "Admiral of the Narrow Sea" - "Hand of the King" - Former smuggler; A liege lord and King's Hand to Stannis Baratheon; A slight man with brown hair and eyes; His small beard is well peppered with grey; Banner is a black ship on a pale grey field-with an onion on its sails; Father to Dale, Allard, Maric, Matthos, Devan, Stannis and Steffon; Lord Wyman Manderly's captive at White Harbor
  • King Robert Baretheon: Was King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm; Cersei Lannister's husband; Had black hair and blue eyes; Fathered no trueborn heirs; Fathered sixteen bastards, all with his black hair regardless of the mothers hair color; Was gutted by a wild boar while hunting when extremely drunk
  • Edric Storm: One of King Robert's bastards; Delena Florent's son; Has coal-black hair falling to his collar and deep blue eyes; Is tall and broad in the chest and shoulders just like his father; Has the same mouth, jaw, cheekbones, hair and eyes as Robert and Renly; Has the big Florent ears he inherited from his mother
  • Theon Greyjoy: "Theon Turncloak" - "Prince of Winterfell" (What Theon called himself when he took the castle) - "Reek" - A lean, dark youth with black hair; Son of recently deceased King Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Islands; He was taken by Lord Stark after Balon's Rebellion and was raised at Winterfell side-by-side with all of Eddard Stark's children; Is believed to have killed Bran & Rickon Stark; Presumed-dead after Winterfell was taken by Ramsay Snow; A captive of Ramsay Snow and now tortured, starved and barely sane; His hair has gone white
  • Balon Greyjoy: "Lord Balon Greyjoy" - "King of the Iron Islands" - "King of Salt and Rock" - "Son of the Sea Wind" - "Lord Reaper of Pyke" - "Balon the Brave" - Theon & Asha's father; Recently Deceased
  • Victarion Greyjoy: "Lord Commander the Iron Fleet" - Balon & Euron's younger brother; Theon & Asha's uncle; His ship is the Iron Victory; Though his hair is flecked with hoarfrost, he is as strong as he has ever been, with a bull's broad chest and a boy's flat belly
  • Euron Greyjoy: "Euron Crow's Eye" - "King of the Isles and the North" - Lord Balon Greyjoy's younger brother; Theon & Asha's uncle; His ship is the Silence; The most comely of Lord Quellon's sons; His hair is as black as a midnight sea and his face is smooth and pale beneath his neat dark beard; A black leather patch covers his left eye, but his right is as blue as a summer sky; Has blue lips. He claims to have sailed to the ruins of Valyria. Elected King of the Iron Islands at the moot
  • Lady Asha of House Greyjoy: Balon Greyjoy's only daughter and oldest living child.
  • Jon Arryn: "Lord of the Eyrie" - "Defender of the Vale" - "Warden of the East" - Lysa Tully's late husband; Robert Arryn's father; A second father to Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon; Was the "Hand of the King" to King Robert for fifteen years until his death
  • Lysa Arryn: "Lysa Tully" - "Lady Arryn" - "Lysa Baelish" - Younger sister of Lady Catelyn Stark and Ser Edmure Tully; Widow of former Hand of the King, Jon Arryn; Daughter of Lord Hoster Tully of Riverrun; Resided in the Eyrie with her only son, Robert Arryn; Had thick auburn tresses falling down past her waist and pale, watery blue eyes; Was thick of body with a pale and puffy face; Recently married the love of her life, Petyr Baelish; Was crazy and deranged; Pushed from the Moon Door to her death
  • Petyr Baelish: "Littlefinger" - "Lord of Harrenhal" - "Lord Paramount of the Trident" - "Lord Protector of the Eyrie and the Vale of Arryn" - Was a member of the king's small council; Was the king's master of coin; Childhood friend of Catelyn Stark and Lysa Arryn; Lysa Arryn's widow; A small man, slender and quick, with sharp features, laughing grey-green eyes, a little pointed chin beard and threads of silver in his dark hair; Sigil is a silver mockingbird
  • Mace Tyrell: "Lord of Highgarden" - "Warden of the South" - "Defender of the Marches" - "High Marshal of the Reach" - A member of the king's small council; The king's master of ships; Father to Willas, Garlan, Loras & Margaery; Husband to Lady Alerie; Son of Lady Olenna; A heavy, robust man with curling brown hair and a spadeshaped beard well salted with white
  • Loras Tyrell: Member of the Kingsguard. Known as The Knight of Flowers. Margaery brother
  • Roose Bolton: "Lord Roose Bolton of the Dreadfort" - The Iron Throne's "Warden of the North" - House sigil is a flayed man; His eyes are curiously pale, almost without color
  • Walda Frey Bolton: "Lady Walda Bolton" - Roose Bolton's new bride; Is short and very fat, with a round red face and three wobbling chins
  • Ramsay Bolton: "Bolton's Bastard" - "Ramsay Bolton" - "Lord of the Hornwood" - Roose Bolton's bastard; A sly and cruel creature; An ugly man, big-boned and slope-shouldered, with a fleshiness to him that suggests that in later life he will run to fat. His skin is pink and blotchy, his nose broad, his mouth small, his hair long and dark and dry. His lips are wide and meaty, but the thing men notice first about him are his eyes. He has his lord father's eyes—small, close-set, queerly pale. Ghost grey, some men call the shade, but in truth his eyes are all but colorless, like two chips of dirty ice. Is betrothed to an impostor Arya Stark in the hopes of claiming Winterfell and the North
  • Rhaegar Frey: Aenys' son; An envoy to White Harbor; A widower looking for a new wife; 30 years old; Is round shouldered and kettle-bellied
  • Walder Frey: "Lord Walder Frey of the Crossing" - In his 90's and unhealthy; A treacherous old man; Has outlived seven wives; Has many living sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, and numerous daughters, granddaughters, bastards and grandbastards; Was a bannerman to the Tullys; Banner bears twin towers, dark blue on a field of pale silver-grey
  • Big Walder Frey: 8 years old; Lord Walder's grandson; Was a ward of Lady Catelyn's; Older (by fifty-two days) but smaller of the two Walder's at the Dreadfort; Is sharp-faced and skinny and half a foot shorter than Little Walder; Little Walder's cousin; Son of Jammos, his father was Lord Walder's son by his fourth wife; Behind Little Walder in the line of succession even though he's older
  • Little Walder Frey: 8 years old; Lord Walder's grandson; Was a ward of Lady Catelyn's; Younger (by fifty-two days) but bigger of the two Walder's at the Dreadfort; Is tall and stout, with a red face and a big round belly; Big Walder's cousin; Son of Merrett, his grandmother was Lord Walder's third wife, the Crakehall; Ahead of Big Walder in the line of succession even though he's younger
  • Ser Hosteen Frey: "Ser Jared" - Son of Lord Walder Frey's by his second wife; Is lean, balding and pockmarked
  • Hosteen Frey: "Ser Hosteen" - Son of Lord Walder's by his third wife; His mother was a Crakehall
  • Aenys Frey: "Ser Aenys Frey" - Lord Walder's son; A grey stooped giant of a man with watery red eyes and huge gnarled hands
  • Varamyr Sixskins: "Lump" - Skinchanger; One of the surviving wildlings north of the Wall; A small mouse of a man whose steed was a savage white snow bear that stood thirteen feet tall on its hind legs; Wherever Varamyr goes, a bear, three wolves and a shadowcat come following
  • Mance Rayder: "The King Beyond the Wall" - Dalla's husband; A man of middling height, slender, sharp-faced with shrewd brown eyes and long brown hair that has gone mostly to grey; A singer and lute player; Wears a tattered cloak of black and red; Used to be a Sworn Brother of the Night’s Watch; King Stannis' prisoner at Castle Black
  • Harma the Dogshead: Wildling raider; A squat keg of a woman with cheeks like slabs of white meat; Hates dogs and kills one every fortnight to make a fresh head for her banner; Died at the Wall
  • Tormund Giantsbane: "Tall-talker" - "Horn-blower" - "Breaker of lce" - "Thunderfist" - "Husband to Bears" - "Mead-King of Ruddy Hall" - "Speaker to Gods" - "Father of Hosts" - A short but immensely broad man with a snow-white beard
  • The Weeper: Wildling
  • Mother Mole: Wildling; A woods witch
  • Orell: Wildling; Skinchanger; Killed by Jon; His eagle scratched Jon's face
  • Shae: Was Tyrion's whore; To keep her safe, Tyrion had Varys bring her to the Red Keep as Lollys Stokeworth's maidservant; Later became Sansa Stark's new maidservant after she was wed to Tyrion Lannister; Strangled by Tyrion when he found her in his fathers bed
  • Janos Slynt: Was shortly "Lord Janos of Harrenhal" - Was Commander of the City Watch; Had a seat on the king's small council; Jowly and balding; Was knighted by King Joffrey, who also granted him lordship of Harrenhal; Tyrion sent him to the Wall to become a Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch
  • Ser Gregor Clegane: "The Mountain That Rides" - "Ser" (by his men) - Older brother to Sandor Clegane; Well over seven feet tall with massive shoulders and arms thick as the trunks of small trees; Banner is three black dogs on a yellow field; Was poisoned by Prince Oberyn of Dorne in single combat during a trial by battle and died a very slow and painful death.
  • Sandor Clegane: "The Hound" - Was part of King Joffrey's Kingsguard; Younger brother of Gregor Clegane; A tall, muscled man with black hair, grey eyes and horrible burn scars on the left side of his face; After his refusal to fight at the fiery Battle of the Blackwater he leaves Kings Landing in shame; The last time Arya saw him he had been dying on the banks of the Trident, burning up with fever from a wound he received while slaying Polliver; Rumored to be riding with Beric Dondarrion and his Brotherhood without Banners
  • Ser Jorah Mormont: "The Old Bear" - 997th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch; A gruff old man with an immense bald head and a shaggy grey beard; Ser Jorah Mormont's father; Slain by turncloak's while at Craster's Keep
  • Lord Varys: "The Spider" - An eunuch; The king's master of whisperers; A member of the king's small council; A plump, perfumed and powdered man while at court but he can make himself blend in anywhere; Is missing since Tyrion's escape
  • Paxter Redwyne: "Lord Paxter Redwyne of the Arbor" - Is stoop-shouldered and thin; His bald head is fringed by tufts of orange hair; Father to Ser Horas, Ser Hobber & Desmera, a maid of sixteen
  • Magister Illyrio: "Magister Illyrio" - An old Pentoshi dealer in spices, gemstones, dragonbone and other, less savory things; A grotesque fat man with a forked yellow beard
  • Serra: Magister Illyrio's second wife and true love; Illyrio found her in a Lysene pillow house
  • Ser Barristan Selmy: "Ser Barristan Selmy" - "Barristan the Bold" - "Arstan Whitebeard" - Lord Commander of Daenerys' Queensguard; Firstborn son of Ser Lyonel Selmy of Harvest Hall; Said to be the greatest living knight; Was Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and councilor to King Robert Baratheon and Aerys Targaryen II before him until King Joffrey dismissed him and then ordered him killed; An old man with white hair and pale blue eyes, yet he seems strong and graceful; As a boy he squired for Lord/Ser Manfred Swann; Banner is three stalks of wheat, yellow, on a brown field
  • Missandei: A little scribe; Former slave girl belonging to Kraznys mo Nakloz; Has big golden eyes
  • Irri: 15 years old; Daenerys' handmaid; A bride gift from Viserys; A copper-skinned Dothraki girl with black hair and almond shaped eyes
  • Jhiqui: 15 years old; Daenerys' handmaid; A bride gift from Viserys; A copper-skinned Dothraki with thick black hair and almond shaped eyes; Is bigger-boned than Irri, with wide hips and heavy breasts
  • Aggo: "Ko Aggo" - One of Daenerys' three Dothraki bloodriders; His weapon is the bow
  • Jhogo: "Ko Jhogo" - One of Daenerys' three Dothraki bloodriders; His weapon is the whip; 18 years old; Is whip-thin, fearless and quick to laugh, with mustachio on his upper lip
  • Rakharo: "Ko Rakharo" - One of Daenerys' three Dothraki bloodriders; His weapon is the arakh
  • Jorah Mormont: "Ser Jorah Mormont" - Was the first knight of Daenerys' Queensguard; Ex-commander of her army and most valued counselor; Jeor "Old Bear" Mormont's son; An exile knight from the Seven Kingdoms; Once was "Lord of Bear Island"; An older man, past forty and balding, but still strong and fit; Has a neck and shoulders like a bull, and coarse black hair cover his arms and chest so thickly that there is none left for his head; Is in love with Dany; Dany banished him for selling her secrets to the Iron Throne when he first met her
  • Strong Belwas: An eunuch; A fat brown man with a gleaming bald head and smooth cheeks; Is squat but broad, his great brown gut crisscrossed by faded white scars; An ex-slave from the Meereen fighting pits; Served Magister Illyrio; Carries a great curved arakh
  • Stalwart Shields: An Unsullied spearman; Slain by the Sons of the Harpy
  • Grey Worm: An eunuch; Commander of Daenerys' Unsullied army
  • Brown Ben Plumm: Captain & Commander of the Second Sons; Has a speckled grey-and-white beard; Has a broad brown face with a broken nose, a head of nappy grey hair and large, dark, almond-shaped eyes; He claims to be part Braavosi, part Summer Islander, part Ibbenese, part Qohorik, part Dothraki, part Dornish, part Westerosi and part Targaryen
  • Daario Naharis: Captain of the Stormcrows; A flamboyant Tyroshi sellsword; Has a great curving nose, a gold tooth, a trident beard dyed purple, deep blue, almost purple eyes and curly hair that falls to his collar; One of Queen Daenerys' suitors
  • Viserion: Daenerys' white-and-gold dragon; Named for Dany's brother, Viserys; Has eyes of molten gold, scales the color of fresh cream, his horns, wing bones and the scales that run down his back from head to tail are a dark gold that flashes bright as metal in the sun
  • Drogon: "The Winged Shadow" - Daenerys' shiny black dragon, the largest of the three, his scales are slashed with streaks of vivid scarlet to match his wings and horns; Is the largest of the three, the fiercest, the wildest, with scales as black as night and eyes like pits of fire; Named for Dany's husband, Khal Drogo
  • Rhaegal: Daenerys' green-and-bronze colored dragon; Has bronze eyes; Named for Dany's brother, Rhaegar who died on the green banks of the Trident
  • Reznak mo Reznak: Daenerys' seneschal; A small, bald and unctuous man
  • Skahaz mo Kandaq: "The Shavepate" - Has a shaven head; Commander of the Brazen Beasts; The vilest of traitors to the Sons of the Harpy and their ilk; Has an odious face - a beetled brow, small eyes with heavy bags beneath them, a big nose dark with blackheads, oily skin that looks more yellow than the usual amber of Ghiscari
  • Galazza Galare: "The Green Grace" - A priestess; A voice for peace, acceptance and obedience to lawful authority
  • Oznak zo Pahl: Was the hero of Meereen; His hair was shaped and teased and lacquered into two great curling ram's horns; His uncle was the richest man in Meereen and his father commanded the city guard; Was cut down by Strong Belwas in single combat
  • Mirri Maz Duur: A godswife or Maegi to the Great Shepherd; Killed Daenerys' husband, Khal Drogo and unborn son, Rhaego; deceased
  • Lord Ghael: Astapori envoy; A former slave; Has a mouth of brown and rotten teeth and the pointed yellow face of a weasel
  • Cleon the Great: "King Cleon" - King in Astapor; Was once owned by Grazdan mo Ullhor; Was a butcher in Grazdan's kitchen
  • Hizdahr zo Loraq: A wealthy merchant; A tall man, very slender, with flawless amber skin; Has wings of wiry red-black hair sprouting from his temples and a beard bound with rings of gold
  • Xaro Xhoan Daxos: A merchant prince of Qarth; Of the Thirteen; A bald man with jewels in his nose; Is a pale, lean, hawk-faced man; Prefers the company of men
  • Grazdan zo Galare: A cousin of the Green Grace
  • Ygritte: Was 19 years old; Wildling from the North; Jon Snows' lover; Had red hair and pretty blue-grey eyes; Had a round peasant face, a pug nose, slightly crooked teeth and her eyes were too far apart; Killed during the attack on Castle Black
  • Arya Stark: "Aemon Targaryen" - Maester at Castle Black; 102 years old and blind; Has clouded, milk-white eyes; His father was Maekar and his younger brother Aegon reigned in his stead; His grandfather named him for Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, who was his grandfathers uncle, or his father, depending on which tale you believe.
  • Samwell Tarly: "Sam" - "Ser Piggy" - "Sam the Slayer" - Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; Steward to Maester Aemon; Eldest son of Lord Randyll Tarly of Horn Hill; A self-proclaimed coward, grossly fat, timid and near as bad a rider as he is with a sword; Sam has shown a lot of courage recently even though he still calls himself craven
  • Randyll Tarly: "Lord Randyll Tarly of Horn Hill" - Samwell Tarly's father; A bannerman to the Tyrells of Highgarden; His greatsword is Heartsbane
  • Gilly: One of Craster's wives/daughters; Sam rescued her from Craster's Keep; Recently birthed a baby boy; Wet-nurse to Mance & Dalla's newborn baby boy; Is dark-haired and slender, with the big brown doe eyes
  • Val: "Wildling Princess" - Dalla's younger sister; A pretty blonde woman; Has thick honey-colored hair that falls to her waist and pale grey eyes; Is slender, full-breasted, graceful and has high sharp cheekbones; King Stannis' captive
  • Jarl: Wildling; A dark young man; Val's lover; Fell to his death while trying to climb the Wall
  • Dalla: Wildling Queen; Mance Rayder's wife; Perished giving birth to Mance's son
  • Pypar: "Pyp" - Sworn brother of the Night's Watch; Jon & Sam's friend; Has very large ears
  • Grenn: "Aurochs" - Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; Jon & Sam's friend; Has long hair and a thick brown beard; Is stocky, thick-necked and strong
  • Todder: "Toad" - Sworn brother of the Night's Watch; Jon & Sam's friend; Short and ugly, with an unpleasant voice
  • Halder: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; Jon & Sam's friend; Apprenticed as a stonemason before going to the Wall; 17-18 years old; Tall and muscular
  • Dolorous Edd Tollett: "Dolorous Edd" - Sworn Brother of the Night’s Watch. A dour, gray haired steward.
  • Three-Finger Hobb: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; Steward and chief cook at Castle Black
  • Donal Noye: Sworn brother of the Night's Watch; Armorer at Castle Black; Had a big gut and a barrel chest, a flat nose, bristly black jaw and a stump for a left arm; Deceased
  • Iron Emmett: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; A long, lanky young ranger whose endurance, strength and swordsmanship were the pride of Eastwatch; Castle Black's new master-at-arms
  • Cotter Pyke: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; Baseborn son of a tavern wench; Commands Eastwatch by the Sea; Is rough-tongued and bold to a fault; Is lean, hard and wiry strong; His eyes are small and close-set, his nose broken and has a widow's peak; The pox ravaged his face badly and the beard he’s grown to hide the scars is thin and scraggly
  • Ser Denys Mallister: "Ser Denys Mallister" - Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; Commander at the Shadow Tower for the last 33 years; Is courtly, cautious and as chivalrous as he is elderly; His beard is white as snow, his hair is largely gone, his face is deeply lined and he has blue-grey eyes
  • Garse: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; One of Jon Snow's guardsmen
  • Hareth: "Horse" - Recruit in training for the Night's Watch; Has the makings of a good fighter
  • Hop-Robin: Recruit in training for the Night's Watch; Has a clubfoot
  • Satin: 18 years old; Sworn brother of the Night's Watch; Boy whore from Oldtown; Was born and raised in a brothel; Is pretty as a girl with his dark eyes, soft skin and raven's ringlets
  • Ser Richard Horpe: "Deaf Dick" - Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; Ranger of the Night's Watch; He can read lips
  • Bowen Marsh: "Lord Steward" - Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; A man as round and red as a pomegranate
  • Othell Yarwyck: Sworn brother of the Night's Watch; First Builder at Castle Black
  • Craster: Marries all of his daughters and has 19 wives; Sacrifices all of his sons to the Others; A thick man made thicker by the ragged smelly sheepskins he wears day and night; Has a broad flat nose, a mouth that droops to one side and a missing ear; Has matted hair and a tangled grey beard that's going white; Deceased
  • Ser Alliser Thorne: "Ser Alliser Thorne" - Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; A compact, spare and hard man, with grey in his black hair and eyes like chips of onyx; Former master-at-arms at Castle Black; Was sent to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea by Lord Commander Mormont
  • Devan Seaworth: 12 years old; Davos' son; Brother to Dale, Allard, Maric, Matthos, Stannis and Steffon; King Stannis' squire; Looks like Dale did at his age; Has the same square plain face, the same forthright brown eyes, the same thin brown flyaway hair and his cheeks and chin are dusted with blond hair just as Dale's were.
  • Marya Seaworth: "Lady Marya" - Davos' wife; Mother to Dale, Allard, Maric, Matthos, Devan, Stannis and Steffon; Mistress of a small keep on Cape Wrath; A good-natured plump woman with sagging breasts and a kindly smile; Also was the name of Davos' ship before it was lost on the Blackwater
  • Steffon Baratheon: "Steff" - 6 years old; Davos' son; Brother to Dale, Allard, Maric, Matthos, Devan and Stannis
  • Stannis Seaworth: "Stanny" - 9 years old; Davos' son; Brother to Dale, Allard, Maric, Matthos, Devan and Steffon
  • Salladhar Saan: A pirate and sellsail from Lys; Master of the Valyrian and a fleet of galleys
  • Ser Godry Farring: "Ser Godry Farring" - "Godry the Giantslayer"
  • Lyanna Mormont: About 10 years old; Lady Maege's youngest daughter; She was named for Lyanna Stark
  • Maege Mormont: "Lady Maege Mormont of Bear Island" - "The She-Bear" - House sigil is a black bear; Sister of Jeor Mormont; Jeor "Old Bear" Mormont's daughter; Stout and grey-haired; Is short and stout and dresses in mail and leather
  • Dacey Mormont: Lady Maege's eldest daughter; Was tall and lean and dressed in mail and leather; Slain at the Red Wedding
  • Arnolf Karstark: "Lord Karstark" - Castellan of Karhold; The late Lord Rickard's uncle. , bent and crooked, with a left shoulder half a foot higher than his right, he had a scrawny neck, squinty grey eyes, and yellow teeth. Bald, with a forked, ragged grey beard. Has declared for Stannis.
  • Rickard Karstark: "Lord Rickard Karstark of Karhold" - Had a narrow face and a long ragged grey beard; Beheaded by the Young Wolf for murdering prisoners
  • Lord Wyman Manderly: "Lord White Harbor" - "Warden of the White Knife" "Shield of the Faith" - "Defender of the Dispossessed" - "Lord Marshal of the Mander" - "A Knight of the Order of the Green Hand" - "Lord Too-Fat-to-Sit-a-Horse" - A loyal bannerman to Eddard Stark; The richest of Lord Eddard's bannermen; Has pale blue eyes; A stout man with a massive belly and fingers as fat as sausages; Banner is a white merman with trident in hand, rising from a blue-green sea
  • Wendel Manderly: "Ser Wendel Manderly" - Lord Wyman's youngest son; A very fat man with an ostentatious walrus mustache and a bald head; Was loud and boisterous; Slain at the Red Wedding
  • Wylis Manderly: "Ser Wylis Manderly" - Lord Wyman's son; A very fat man with an ostentatious walrus mustache and a bald head; Is quiet and formal; A captive at Harrenhal
  • Leona Manderly: "Leona of House Woolfield" - Ser Wylis' wife; A plump pink lady with blonde hair
  • Wynafryd Manderly: Wylis & Leona's eldest daughter; Wears her brown hair bound in a long braid
  • Wylla Manderly: Wylis & Leona's younger daughter; 15 years old; Wears her long, green hair in a braid; Has blonde eyebrows; Is betrothed to Little Walder Frey against her will
  • Ser Marlon Manderly: "Ser Marlon Manderly" - Has slate-grey eyes and a haughty way of speaking; Lord Wyman's cousin and commander of his garrison
  • Hodor: Real name is "Walder" - Stableboy from Winterfell; A simple-minded, gentle but very strong giant with guileless brown eyes; Nearly seven feet tall; His arms are thick with muscle and matted with brown hair, might have giant blood in his veins; Old Nan's great-grandson; Only thing he ever says is "Hodor"; Carries Bran in a wicker basket on his back where ever he needs to go
  • Coldhands: Bran's guide beyond the Wall; His hands are black and cold as ice; Has a flock of ravens and rides an elk; Is clad in black, once perhaps a man of the Night's Watch, now a mystery
  • Meera Reed: "Lady Meera of House Reed of Greywater Watch" - 16 years old; Jojen's older sister; Lord Howland's daughter; Brown-haired, green-eyed, and flat as a boy; Bran's friend and travel companion
  • Jojen Reed: "Jojen of House Reed of Greywater Watch" - "Little Grandfather" - 13 years old; Meera's younger brother; Lord Howland's son; Is slight of build and has moss green eyes; Has green dreams; On his way north with Bran Stark and Meera
  • Griff: A Westerosi born sellsword late of the Golden Company; Young Griff's foster father; His clean-shaved face is leathery with wrinkles at the corners of his pale, ice blue eyes; Has dark blue hair with red roots and redder eyebrows
  • Young Griff: 18 years old; Griff's foster son; A lithe and well-made youth, with a lanky build and a shock of dark blue hair; Has dark blue eyes that seem black by lamplight and in the light of dusk they seem purple; His eyelashes are as long as any woman's; One of Queen Daenerys' suitors
  • Ser Gerris Drinkwater: "Ser Gerris Drinkwater" - 24 years old; Prince Quentyn's sworn shield and companion; Is tall and fair, with blue-green eyes, sandy hair streaked by the sun and a lean and comely body.
  • Cletus Yron-wood: "Ser Cletus Yronwood" - Lord Anders' son an heir; Was handsome despite his lazy eye, always randy and always laughing; Prince Quentyn's dearest friend, a brother in all but blood; Slain by corsairs while aboard the Meadowlark
  • Maester Kedry: Prince Quentyn's companion; Studied the Free Cities and fluent in all of their tongues; Slain by corsairs while aboard the Meadowlark
  • Willam Wells: Prince Quentyn's sworn shield and companion; Had freckles and crooked teeth; Was fearless with a lance; Slain by corsairs while aboard the Meadowlark
  • Ser Archibald Yronwood: "Ser Archibald Yronwood" - "The Big Man" - "Arch" - Prince Quentyn's sworn shield and companion; Cousin to Cletus; Is six-and-a-half-feet tall, broad of shoulder, huge of belly, with legs like tree trunks, hands the size of hams and no neck to speak of; Is bald due to a childhood malady
  • Anders Yronwood: "Lord of Yronwood" - "Warden of the Stone Way" - "The Bloodroyal" - Father of Ser Cletus
  • Cletus Yronwood: "Ynys Allyrion" - Lord Anders Yronwood's eldest daughter; Married to Ser Ryon Allyrion
  • Ryon Allyrion: "Ser Ryon Allyrion" - Married to Ynys Yronwood; Son and heir to Lady Delonne Allyrion of Godsgrace
  • Gwyneth Yronwood: 12 years old; ord Anders Yronwood's youngest daughter; A small, scrawny girl whose dark eyes and brown hair set her apart in a house of blue-eyed blondes; Is very clever; Wants to wed Prince Quentyn
  • The Tattered Prince: Commander of the Windblown
  • Lord of Bones: "Lord of Bones" - Wildling raider and leader of a war band; A malicious, treacherous man, as stupid as he is cruel; A small man with a knobby chin, thin mustache and sallow, pinched cheeks; His eyes are close-set, one eyebrow creeping all the way across his forehead and dark hair thinning back from a sharp widow's peak; Captive at Castle Black
  • Small Paul: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; Had a broad brutal face with a flat nose, small black eyes and a thicket of coarse brown beard; Slain by the Others
  • Clydas: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; In his 60's; Maester Aemon's half-blind steward; Short, bald, and chinless, with small pink eyes like a mole
  • Dareon: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; A handsome young singer with fair hair and hazel eyes; Was sent to the Wall accused of rape but he has always claimed he is innocent; Was sent to Eastwatch after taking his vows; Jon & Sam's friend; Jon named him a recruiter to replace Yoren who vanished on his way to the wall; He will travel the Seven Kingdoms, singing of the valor of the Night's Watch, and from time to time return to the Wall with new recruits; His singiing voice his like honey poured over thunder; He plays woodharp and fiddle too, and writes his own songs.
  • Ulmer: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; An archer; Is stooped and grey-bearded and loose of skin and limb; In his youth he had been an outlaw, a member of the infamous Kingswood Brotherhood
  • Maester Mullin: Maester at the Shadow Tower; Is more fighter than scholar
  • Maester Harmune: Maester at Eastwatch; Is drunk more than he's sober
  • Kedge Whiteye: 40-odd years old; Sworn brother of the Night's Watch; His left eye is blind, his right eye mean; A good ranger while alone but he doesn't get along well with the other men
  • Dywen: Sworn Brother of the Night’s Watch; Old forester with wooden teeth
  • Kegs: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; One of Jon Snow's guardsmen; A builder
  • Bedwyck: "Giant" - Sworn brother of the Night's Watch; A ranger; A fierce little man; Stands no more than five feet tall, but the grey streaks in his hair show his age; The smallest man in the Night's Watch
  • Black Jack Bulwer: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; First Ranger
  • Mully: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; A steward
  • Red Jack Crabb: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch
  • Ser Franklyn Flowers: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch
  • Owen the Oaf: Sworn brother of the Night's Watch; A steward; Is tall, towheaded and amiable; A tireless worker and surprisingly deft when it comes to working wood but his mother dropped him on his head when he was a baby and only has half his wits.
  • Richard Horpe: "Ser Richard Horpe" - King Stannis' second-in-command; A queen's man; A lean knight with a ravaged face; Banner is three death's-head moths on a field of ash and bone
  • Ser Justin Massey: "Ser Justin Massey" - One of King Stannis' knights and sworn swords; A queen's man and high in the king's councils; A loose-limbed, fleshy knight with a ready smile and a mop of flaxen hair.
  • Rolly Duckfield: "Ser Rolly Duckfield" - "Duck" - A brawny man with a shaggy beard and a shock of orange hair; Young Griff's companion, teacher and protector
  • Haldon Halfmaester: Is clean-shaved, with a lined ascetic face and cool grey eyes; Wears his hair pulled back and tied in a knot behind his head; Young Griff's tutor
  • Septa Lemore: Young Griff's companion and teacher; A handsome woman with dark brown hair; Past 40 years old
  • Ysilla Royce: Yandry's wife; A small, dark woman
  • Yandry: Master and captain of the Shy Maid; Ysilla's husband
  • Khal Motho: An old man; Is running scared from Khal Pono
  • Khal Zekko: Is running scared from Khal Pono
  • Khal Pono: Leads a khalasar of thirty thousand
  • Lorent Caswell: "Lord of Bitterbridge"
  • Harry Strickland: "Ser Harry Strickland" of the Golden Company
  • Godric Borrell: "Lord of Sweetsister" - "Shield of Sisterton" - "Master of Breakwater Castle" - "Keeper of the Night Lamp" - An ugly man, big and fleshy, with an oarsman's thick shoulders and no neck. Coarse grey stubble, going white in patches, covers his cheeks and chin. Above a massive shelf of brow he is bald. His nose is lumpy and red with broken veins, his eyes are black, his lips thick and he has a sort of webbing between the three middle fingers of his right hand; Banner is a white spider crab on a grey-green field
  • Triston Sunderland: "Lord of the Three Sisters"
  • Rolland Longthorpe: "Lord of Longsister"
  • Alesandor Torrent: "Lord of Littlesister"
  • Ser Axell Florent: "Lord Alester Florent" - "Lord of Brightwater Keep" - Was hand of the King on Dragonstone; Queen Selyse's uncle; Axell's brother; Was very tall, very courtly and very rich; Sigil is a red gold fox poking its snout out through a circle of flowers; Was sacrificed in Lady Melisandre's fires
  • Donnel Hill: "Sweet Donnel Hill" - Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; A slender blond steward
  • Garth Greyfeather: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; A ranger
  • Bearded Ben: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; A ranger
  • Ser Clayton Suggs: "Ser Clayton Suggs" - A queen's man and fervent follower of the Lord of Light
  • Ser Corliss Penny: "Ser Corliss Penny" - A queen's man and fervent follower of the Lord of Light
  • Sigorn: Styr's son; New Magnar of Thenn; A younger, shorter version of his father - lean and balding
  • Alfyn Crowkiller: Wildling raider; Deceased
  • Halleck: Harma the Dogshead's brother
  • Mossador: Daenerys' Unsullied soldier; Missandei's brother; Slain by the Sons of the Harpy
  • Marselen: Daenerys' Unsullied soldier; Missandei's brother; of the Mother's Men
  • Willem Darry: "Ser Willem Darry" - Was master-at-arms at the Red Keep; A great grey bear of a man; Took Viserys & Daenerys Targaryen away from Dragonstone and to the safety of the free cities
  • Quaithe of the Shadow: A masked shadowbinder from Asshai; A strange woman in a lacquered wooden mask; Has given Dany some cryptic counsel
  • Khrazz: Fighter and freed slave
  • Barsena Blackhair: Fighter and freed slave
  • Camarron of the Count: Fighter and freed slave
  • Goghor the Giant: Fighter and freed slave
  • The Spotted Cat: Fighter and freed slave
  • Fearless Ithoke: Fighter and freed slave
  • Belaquo Bonebreaker: Fighter and freed slave
  • Hazzea: 4 years old
  • Kyra: 18 years old; A tavern wench from the town outside of Winterfell; A captive at the Dreadfort
  • Ben Bones: Kennelmaster at the Dreadfort; An old man
  • Damon Dance-for-Me: One of the Bastard's Boys; Is fair haired and boyish
  • Grunt: One of the Bastard's Boys; Lost his tongue for speaking carelessly in Lord Roose's hearing
  • Sour Alyn: One of the Bastard's Boys
  • Skinner: One of the Bastard's Boys
  • Yellow Dick: One of the Bastard's Boys
  • Old Nan: Storyteller and nurse to the children of Winterfell for many years; Hodor's great-grandmother
  • Bronn: "Ser Bronn of the Blackwater" - "Lord Stokeworth" - Was a sellsword working for Tyrion; Was knighted by Tywin Lannister for his part in the Battle of the Blackwater; His knightly sigil is a flaming chain, green, on a smokegrey field; Recently married to Lollys Stokeworth; Is bone thin with black eyes, coal-black hair and a stubble of beard; Names Lollys' bastard son Tyrion
  • Triarch Malaquo: Triarch of Volantis; A tiger
  • Nyessos Vhassar: Triarch of Volantis; An elephant
  • Doniphos Paenymion: Triarch of Volantis; An elephant
  • Yohn Royce: "Lord Yohn Royce" - "Bronze Yohn Royce" - "Lord of Runestone" - One of the six Lords Declarant; Nestor's cousin and the chief of the senior branch of House Royce; Has grey hair and his face is lined, but he still looks as though he could break most younger men like twigs in his huge gnarled hands; Has slate-grey eyes, half-hidden beneath extremely bushy eyebrows
  • Roro Uhoris: The Cobblecat's cranky old master
  • Maester Pylos: Maester on Dragonstone; 25 years old
  • Casso Mogat: Captain of the Merry Midwife; A mongrel of the narrow sea, fathered on a Sisterton whore by an Ibbenese whaler; Only five feet tall and very hirsute; Has mossy green hair and whiskers
  • Robett Glover: Of Deepwood Motte; Asha Greyjoy has his wife and children captive
  • Hother Umber: "Hother Whoresbane" - Greatjon's uncle; A gaunt old man with a white bear
  • Mors Umber: "Mors Crowfood" - Greatjon's uncle; A blustery old man with a white beard; A crow once took Mors for dead and pecked out his eye, so he wears a chunk of dragonglass in its stead.
  • Greatjon Umber: "Lord Umber" - The loudest of Robb's northern bannermen; Sigil is a roaring giant in shattered chains; A captive at the Twins
  • Axell Florent: "Ser Axell Florent" - Styles himself the "Queen's Hand" - Queen Selyse's uncle; Is short and muscular, with a barrel chest, thick arms, bandy legs and hair growing from his big Florent ears and nostrils, more sprouts in tufts and patches beneath his double chin; His nose is broad, his brow beetled, his eyes close-set and hostile; Served as castellan of Dragonstone for a decade; Lord Alester's brother
  • Pyat Pree: A Qartheen warlock; A pale man with blue lips
  • Captain Groleo: "Captain Groleo" - "Admiral Groleo" - of Pentos; Formerly captain of the great cog Saduleon aka Balerion; Now an admiral without a fleet.
  • Mezzara: A plump shy girl; Her father rules the pyramid of Merreq; Daenerys' hostage and cupbearer
  • Rommo: A wizened jaqqa rhan of the Dothraki; Squint-eyed and bowlegged
  • Mollono Yos Dob: Commander of the Stalwart Shields
  • Symon Stripeback: Commander of the Free Brothers
  • Egon Emeros the Exquisite: Pureborn of Qarth
  • Wick Whittlestick: Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch; A steward; Is tall and skinny as a spear
  • Lord Harwood Fell: "Lord Harwood Fell" - A queen's man
  • Lord Sweet: A queen's man
  • Torghen Flint: "Old Flint" - "The Flint" - of the First Flints; A chief of the mountain clans
  • Hugo Wull: "Big Bucket" - "The Wull" - A chief of the mountain clans; He has the biggest belly in the mountains and the most men. Aiding Stannis Baratheon in his war to retake the North from the Boltons.
  • Jon Connington: "Lord of Griffin's Roost" - "Hand of the King" - Prince Rhaegar's dear friend; Exiled by King Aerys II; Believed dead of drink
  • Maester Theomore: Maester at White Harbor; A fat rosy-cheeked man with thick lips and a head of golden curls
  • Prince Aegon: "Jinglebell" - Ser Stevron's halfwit son; A stooped thin man of 50; Wears a crown and collar ornamented with tiny brass bells; Slain by Catelyn Stark at the Red Wedding
  • Ralf Kenning: Victarion Greyjoy's man; Left to hold Moat Cailin
  • Helman Tallhart: One of Eddard Stark's northmen; Benfred's father; Sigil is three sentinel trees; Was castellan at Torrhen's Square; Killed in battle at Winterfell
  • Rodrik Ryswell: "Lord of the Rills"
  • Roger Ryswell: One of Lord Ryswell's quarrelsome cousins and bannermen
  • Rickard Ryswell: One of Lord Ryswell's quarrelsome cousins and bannermen
  • Jeyne Poole: The daughter of Winterfell's steward; Sansa's dearest friend; Is most likely dead
  • Qhorin Halfhand: Sworn brother of the Night's Watch from the Shadow Tower; Had grey eyes and a long grey braid; Deceased
  • Jarmen Buckwell: Sworn brother of the Night's Watch; Deceased
  • Hairy Hal: Sworn brother of the Night's Watch
  • Rory: Sworn brother of the Night's Watch
  • Qavo: Qavo Nogarys is a customs officer of Selhorys near Volantis
  • Benerro: "Flame of Truth" - "Light of Wisdom" - "First Servant of the Lord of Light" - "Slave of R'hllor" - High Priest of the red temple in Volantis
  • Thoros of Myr: "The Red Priest" - Warrior priest; A tall thin man with a droopy face and a full head of shaggy grey hair; Used to be fat with a smooth face and a shiny bald head; Favorite weapon is a flaming sword; Rides with Beric Dondarrion and his Brotherhood without Banners
  • Grand Maester Pycelle: Sits on King Tommen's small counsel.
  • Ser Meryn Trant: Member of the Kingsguard
  • Boros Blount: Member of the Kingsguard
  • Noho Dimittis: Envoy from the bank of Braavos. Resourceful gentleman.
  • Ser Osney Kettleblack: Chief accuser of Cersei. Brother of Ser Osmund and Ser Osfryd
  • Septa Unella: One of the gaolers of Queen Cersei
  • Septa Morelle: One of the gaolers of Queen Cersei
  • Septa Scolera: One of the gaolers of Queen Cersei
  • Patchface: Shireen's tattooed fool. Nearly drowned on his way to her service.
  • Narbert Gandison: Sworn knight of Queen Selyse
  • Benethon Scales: Sworn knight of Queen Selyse
  • Patrek of King's Mountain: Sworn knight of Queen Selyse
  • Dorden the Dour: Sworn knight of Queen Selyse
  • Malegorn of Redpool: Sworn knight of Queen Selyse
  • Lambert Whitewater: Sworn knight of Queen Selyse
  • Perkin Follard: Sworn knight of Queen Selyse
  • Ser Brus Buckler: Sworn knight of Queen Selyse
  • Tycho Nestoris: Emissary from the Iron Bank of Braavos
  • Lady Alyannys: Widow of Balon. Mother of Asha and Theon
  • Aeron Damphair: Known as Damphair, priest of the drowned god.
  • Abel: Singer at Winterell during its occupation by Bolton-Frey forces during the marriage of Ramsay Snow/Bolton to Arya Stark.
  • Qarl Quickaxe: Add a description of this character.
  • Lomas Longstrider: is a famous scribe and traveller who wrote two famous books Wonders and Wonders Made by Man, where he cataloged sixteen wonders he encountered in his travels
  • Ygon Oldfather: a Free Folk leader and a famed warrior. He has eighteen wives
  • Tysha: Tyrion's ex-wife; Was told by his father that she was a whore but she was really a crofter's daughter
  • Osmund Kettleblack: Altogether a nasty fellow, he's quite lewd and violent. He got made a knight by Cersei because she thought she could manipulate him. (shudder shudder)
  • Maester Caleotte: maester at Sunspear advisor to Prince Doran Martell
  • Obara Sand: The eldest of the Sand Snakes; Prince Oberyn of Dorne's daughter. Her mother was a whore in Oldtown.
  • Ellaria Sand: Prince Oberyn Martell's lover she bore him four daughters, they reside at Sunspear.
  • Lady Brienne: Lady Brienne is stedfast, brave and loyal, she never gives up and always keeps her promises.
  • Elia of Dorne: Married to Rhaegar Targaryen she was raped and murdered during the Sack of King's Landing
  • Magnar of Thenn: The leader to the Thenns - a tribe of fierce fighters living North of the Wall; Deceased - killed when the wildlings attacked the Wall. His son now hold the title and blames Jon Snow for his death
  • Wex: Theon Greyjoy's mute stewart
  • Edmure Tully: Catlyn Stark's Father; Deceases
  • Areo Hotah: Lord Doran Martell's bodyguard, a big man that carries a huge axe.
  • Arianne Martell: Princess of Dorne. Lord Doran Martell's daughter.
  • Nymeria Sand: "Lady Nym" - daughter of Oberyn Martell. Olive skinned with long black hair.
  • Lord Ramsay: Roose Bolton's bastard son, aslo known as Rmsay Snow, taken the Dreadfort as his seat. Enjoys torturing and flaying men. Captures women and sets them free in the woods, only to hunt them down and murder them.
  • Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun: "Wun Wun" - A giant
  • Lord Brynden Tully: Catlyn Stark's uncle and Edmure Tully's younger brother. Now holds the seat in Riverrun
  • Lord of Light: R'hllor, the God worshipped by the Red Priests/Priestesses
  • Toad: Knick name of Todder - one of the brothers of the Nights Watch, a friend to Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly
  • Lord Daario: Sellsword captain of the Stormcrows. Fighting for Queen Deanerys.
  • Reek Ramsay: clothed in rags, sleeps with dogs, fearful, stinking, crippled plaything of the twisted Lord Ramsey
  • Lord Wobblecheeks: A slaver and grand master of Yunkai
  • Leaf: One of the Children of the Forest
  • Brynden Rivers: Bloodraven - One of the Great Bastards, the son of king Aegon IV and his mistress. Formerly Hand of the King to Aerys I and Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
  • Lady Melisandre
  • Artos Flint
  • Homeless Harry
  • Tom Barleycorn
  • Maester Luwin
  • Glendon Hewett
  • Black Balaq
  • Steward
  • Sybelle Glover
  • Danny Flint
  • Alf of Runnymudd
  • Wyk
  • Ser Brendel Byrne
  • Horn
  • Ronnet Connington
  • Gorys Edoryen
  • Frenya
  • Robert Baratheon
  • Septon Cellador
  • King Aegon
  • Longwater Pyke
  • Miklaz
  • Lord Peasebury
  • Terrence Toyne
  • Theon Stark
  • Steelshanks Walton
  • Fowler
  • Malo Jayn
  • Merman
  • Septon Barth
  • Rolfe
  • Bill Bone
  • Elza
  • Lord Norrey
  • Serry
  • Groat
  • Big Bucket
  • Lady Lu
  • Myrtle
  • Grey Jeyne
  • Laswell Peake
  • Roggon Rustbeard
  • Gerold Dayne
  • Grazhar
  • Maester Kerwin
  • Jonos Bracken
  • Borroq
  • Daryn Hornwood
  • Rowan
  • Lord Locke
  • Crone
  • R'hllor
  • Hoster Blackwood
  • Barba Bracken
  • Inkpots
  • Duskendale
  • Ronald Connington
  • Morna White Mask
  • Tyene
  • Zhak
  • Bloodbeard
  • Ser Humfrey Clifton
  • Hildy
  • Triarch Nyessos
  • Frog
  • Ser Aenys Frey
  • Ralf the Limper
  • Fulk
  • Joramun
  • Lysono Maar
  • Dunsen
  • Marq Mandrake
  • Taena Merryweather
  • Peck
  • Euron Crow
  • Pynto
  • Garin
  • Ser Wylis
  • Ser Oswell Whent
  • Six-Toed Harl
  • Rhodry Lord Cerwyn
  • Kezmya
  • Rylona Rhee
  • Margaery Tyrell
  • Yezzan
  • Holly
  • Mhysa
  • Prince Trystane
  • Daemon Blackfyre
  • Little Pigeon
  • Stepstones
  • Coles
  • Maester Munkun
  • Smith
  • Brandon Norrey
  • Lord Randyll Tarly
  • Meris
  • Lord Yronwood
  • Ser Myles Toyne
  • Rodrik Stark
  • Alys Karstark
  • Lord Rickard Stark
  • Greenguts
  • Arthor Karstark
  • Old Flint
  • Marghaz zo Loraq
  • Erik Ironmaker
  • Balon Swann
  • Stalwart Shield
  • Dagon Greyjoy
  • Big Liddle
  • Illyrio Mopatis
  • Talea
  • Kem
  • Wulfe One-Ear
  • Hagen
  • Morgo
  • Yurkhaz zo Yunzak
  • Lord Blackwood
  • Moqorro
  • Larraq
  • Harwood Stout
  • Steelskin
  • Umma
  • Zahrina
  • Missy
  • Lady Barbrey Dustin
  • King Daeron
  • Huntsman
  • Dick Straw
  • Brusco
  • Hazkar
  • Ser Harys Swyft
  • Morgan Liddle
  • Howd Wanderer
  • Toregg
  • Alysane Mormont
  • Ghoyan Drohe
  • Tristifer Botley
  • Lord Dustin
  • Ser Jared
  • Lady Nym
  • Catelyn Tully
  • Emrick
  • Dannel
  • Merreq
  • Arron
  • Jory
  • Ser Benethon
  • Dagon Codd
  • Green Grace of Astapor
  • Blackheart
  • Ezzara
  • Denzo D'han
  • Brogg
  • Caggo Corpsekiller
  • Jenny
  • Lady Leona
  • Azzak Ghazeen
  • Ser Lancel
  • Tytos Blackwood
  • Azor Ahai
  • Grimtongue
  • Ser Orson Stone
  • Ser Malegorn
  • Mad Aerys
  • Dryn
  • Cromm
  • Yollo
  • Maester Aemon
  • Ser Robert Strong
  • Raymun Redbeard
  • Ashara Dayne
  • Quenton Greyjoy
  • Mikken
  • Ser Bartimus
  • Kasporio
  • Ser Rodrik Cassel
  • Cregan Karstark
  • King Jaehaerys
  • Lord Brynden
  • Septa Moelle
  • Hugh Hungerford
  • Sealord
  • Draqaz
  • Pyp
  • King Aerys
  • Lucas Codd
  • Dornish Gerrold
  • Ser Patrek
  • Symond
  • Willow
  • Harry Merrell
  • Harle
  • Bittersteel
  • Dagmer Cleftjaw
  • Ser Narbert
  • Lord Qyburn
  • Haggon
  • Squirrel
  • Salladhor Saan
  • Theon Kinslayer
  • Maester Medrick
  • Qezza
  • Daena
  • Lewyn Martell
  • Ned Woods
  • Gerrick Kingsblood
  • Lorren Longaxe
  • Soren Shieldbreaker
  • Galbart Glover
  • Rattleshirt
Show all 530 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “There has never been a slave who did not choose to be a slave. Their choice may be between bondage and death, but the choice is always there.”
    Tyrion Lannister
  • “Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.”
    Night's Watch vow
  • “...but both of them were dead and burned. Gone into the trees and streams, gone into the rocks and earth. Gone to dirt and ashes.”
  • “Even in his dying, he found a way to shit on me.”
    Tyrion Lannister
  • “Never trust a cook, my lord. They'll prune you when you least expect it.”
    Eddison Tollett
  • “The night is dark and full of turnips.”
    Pypar
  • “Words are wind.”
    Multiple
  • “Hear me, Daenerys Targaryen. The glass candles are burning. Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others. Kraken and dark flame, lion and griffin, the sun's son and the mummer's dragon. Trust none of them. Remember the Undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal.”
    Quaithe of the Shadow
  • “I remember the way. I go north to go south, east to go west, back to go forward. And to touch the light I have to pass beneath the shadow.”
    Daenerys Targaryen
  • “You are the blood of the dragon, you can make a hat.”
    Daenerys Targaryen
  • “Give me priests who are fat and corrupt and cynical, the sort who like to sit on soft satin cushions, nibble sweetmeats and diddle little boys. It's the ones who believe in gods who make the trouble.”
    Tyrion Lannister
  • “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”
    Jojen Reed
  • “For men, time is a river. We are trapped in its flow, hurtling from past to present, always in the same direction. The lives of trees are different. They root and grow and die in one place, and that river does not move them.”
    Brynden
  • “Prophecy is like a half-trained mule. It looks as though it might be useful, but the moment you trust in it, it kicks you in the head.”
    Jorah Mormont
  • “The most insidious thing about bondage was how easy it was to grow accustomed to it.”
    Tyrion Lannister
  • “Naked men felt vulnerable and were less inclined to acts of suicidal heroism.”
    Barristan Selmy
  • “The past remains the past. We can learn from it, but we cannot change it.”
    Brynden
  • “Sweetness cloys. Tart fruit and tart women give life its savor.”
    Xaro Xhoan Daxos
  • “"A book can be as dangerous as a sword in the right hands" said Haldon.”
    Haldon to Tyrion
  • “"Men's lives have meaning, not their deaths."”
    Gerris Drinkwater
  • “The gods gave us long lives but not great numbers, lest we overrun the world as deer will overrun a wood where there are no wolves to hunt them. That was in the dawn of days, when our sun was rising. Now it sinks, and this is our long dwindling. The giants are almost gone as well, they who were our bane and our brothers. The great lions of the western hills have been slain, the unicorns are all but gone, the mammoths down to a few hundred. The direwolves will outlast us all, but their time will come as well. In the world that men have made, there is no room for them , or us.”
    Leaf
  • “Perhaps you should be the fool instead of me. Trust no one, my prince. Not your chinless maester, not your false father, not the gallant Duck nor the lovely Lemore nor these other fine friends who grew you from a bean. Above all, trust not the cheesemonger, nor the Spider, nor this little dragon queen you mean to marry. All that mistrust will sour your stomach and keep you awake by night, ‘tis true, but better than than the long sleep that does not end.”
    Tyrion Lannister
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  • “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies,” said Jojen. “The man who never reads lives only one.
    Highlighted by 1098 Kindle customers
  • “No. Hear me, Daenerys Targaryen. The glass candles are burning. Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others. Kraken and dark flame, lion and griffin, the sun’s son and the mummer’s dragon. Trust none of them. Remember the Undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal.”
    Highlighted by 337 Kindle customers
  • The fisherman drowned, but his daughter got Stark to the Sisters before the boat went down. They say he left her with a bag of silver and a bastard in her belly. Jon Snow, she named him, after Arryn.
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  • You could make a poultice out of mud to cool a fever. You could plant seeds in mud and grow a crop to feed your children. Mud would nourish you, where fire would only consume you, but fools and children and young girls would choose fire every time.
    Highlighted by 293 Kindle customers
  • I pray for a glimpse of Azor Ahai, and R’hllor shows me only Snow.
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  • It was never wise for a ruler to eschew the trappings of power, for power itself flows in no small measure from such trappings.
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  • There has never been a slave who did not choose to be a slave, the dwarf reflected. Their choice may be between bondage and death, but the choice is always there.
    Highlighted by 201 Kindle customers
  • “Give me priests who are fat and corrupt and cynical,” he told Haldon, “the sort who like to sit on soft satin cushions, nibble sweetmeats, and diddle little boys. It’s the ones who believe in gods who make the trouble.”
    Highlighted by 169 Kindle customers
  • Who better to raise Prince Rhaegar’s infant son than Prince Rhaegar’s dear friend Jon Connington, once Lord of Griffin’s Roost and Hand of the King?”
    Highlighted by 161 Kindle customers
  • Kill the boy within you, I told him the day I took ship for the Wall. It takes a man to rule. An Aegon, not an Egg. Kill the boy and let the man be born.” The old man felt Jon’s face. “You are half the age that Egg was, and your own burden is a crueler one, I fear. You will have little joy of your command, but I think you have the strength in you to do the things that must be done. Kill the boy, Jon Snow. Winter is almost upon us. Kill the boy and let the man be born.”
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Setting & Locations edit see section history

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Organizations edit see section history

  • House Stark: "Starks of Winterfell" - The Starks trace their descent from Brandon the Builder and the ancient Kings of Winter. For thousands of years, they ruled from Winterfell as Kings in the North, until Torrhen Stark, the King Who Knelt, chose to swear fealty to Aegon the Dragon rather than give battle. Their blazon is a grey direwolf on an ice-white field. The Stark words are "Winter Is Coming". The principal houses sworn to Winterfell are Karstark, Umber, Flint, Mormont, Hornwood, Cerwyn, Reed, Manderly, Glover, Tallhart, Bolton.
  • House Tully: "Tullys of Riverrun" - The Tullys never reigned as kings, though they held rich lands and the great castle at Riverrun for a thousand years. During the Wars of Conquest, the riverlands belonged to Harren the Black, King of the Isles. Harren’s grandfather, King Harwyn Hardhand, had taken the Trident from Arrec the Storm King, whose ancestors had conquered all the way to the Neck three hundred years earlier, slaying the last of the old River Kings. A vain and bloody tyrant, Harren the Black was little loved by those he ruled, and many of the river lords deserted him to join Aegon’s host. First among them was Edmyn Tully of Riverrun. When Harren and his line perished in the burning of Harrenhal, Aegon rewarded House Tully by raising Lord Edmyn to dominion over the lands of the Trident and requiring the other river lords to swear him fealty. The Tully sigil is a leaping trout, silver, on a field of rippling blue and red. The Tully words are "Family, Duty, Honor". Lesser houses sworn to Riverrun include Darry, Frey, Mallister, Bracken, Blackwood, Whent, Ryger, Piper, Vance.
  • House Baratheon: "Baratheons of Storm's End" - The youngest of the Great Houses, born during the Wars of Conquest. Its founder, Orys Baratheon, was rumored to be Aegon the Dragon’s bastard brother. Orys rose through the ranks to become one of Aegon’s fiercest commanders. When he defeated and slew Argilac the Arrogant, the last Storm King, Aegon rewarded him with Argilac’s castle, lands, and daughter. Orys took the girl to bride, and adopted the banner, honors, and words of her line. The Baratheon sigil is a crowned stag, black, on a golden field. Their words are "Ours is the Fury". The principal houses sworn to Storm’s End are Selmy, Wylde, Trant, Penrose, Errol, Estermont, Tarth, Swann, Dondarrion, Caron. The principal houses sworn to Dragonstone are Celtigar, Velaryon, Seaworth, Bar Emmon, and Sunglass.
  • House Lannister: "Lannisters of Casterly Rock" - Fair-haired, tall, and handsome, the Lannisters are the blood of Andal adventurers who carved out a mighty kingdom in the western hills and valleys. Through the female line they boast of descent from Lann the Clever, the legendary trickster of the Age of Heroes. The gold of Casterly Rock and the Golden Tooth has made them the wealthiest of the Great Houses. Their sigil is a golden lion upon a crimson field. The Lannister words are "Hear Me Roar"! Principal houses sworn to Casterly Rock are Payne, Swyft, Marbrand, Lydden, Banefort, Lefford, Crakehall, Serrett, Broom, Clegane, Prester, and Westerling.
  • House Targaryen: "The Old Dynasty House Targaryen" - The Targaryens are the blood of the dragon, descended from the high lords of the ancient Freehold of Valyria, their heritage proclaimed in a striking (some say inhuman) beauty, with lilac or indigo or violet eyes and hair of silver-gold or platinum white. Aegon the Dragon’s ancestors escaped the Doom of Valyria and the chaos and slaughter that followed to settle on Dragonstone, a rocky island in the narrow sea. It was from there that Aegon and his sisters Visenya and Rhaenys sailed to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. To preserve the blood royal and keep it pure, House Targaryen has often followed the Valyrian custom of wedding brother to sister. Aegon himself took both his sisters to wife, and fathered sons on each. The Targaryen banner is a three-headed dragon, red on black, the three heads representing Aegon and his sisters. The Targaryen words are "Fire and Blood".
  • House Greyjoy: The "Greyjoys of Pyke" claim descent from the Grey King of the Age of Heroes. Legend says the Grey King ruled not only the western isles but the sea itself, and took a mermaid to wife. For thousands of years, raiders from the Iron Islands—called “ironmen” by those they plundered—were the terrors of the seas, sailing as far as the Port of Ibben and the Summer Isles. They prided themselves on their fierceness in battle and their sacred freedoms. Each island had its own “salt king” and “rock king.” The High King of the Isles was chosen from among their number, until King Urron made the throne hereditary by murdering the other kings when they assembled for a choosing. Urron’s own line was extinguished a thousand years later when the Andals swept over the islands. The Greyjoys, like other island lords, intermarried with the conquerers. The Iron Kings extended their rule far beyond the isles themselves, carving kingdoms out of the mainland with fire and sword. King Qhored could truthfully boast that his writ ran “wherever men can smell salt water or hear the crash of waves.” In later centuries, Qhored’s descendents lost the Arbor, Oldtown, Bear Island, and much of the western shore. Still, come the Wars of Conquest, King Harren the Black ruled all the lands between the mountains, from the Neck to the Blackwater Rush. When Harren and his sons perished in the fall of Harrenhal, Aegon Targaryen granted the riverlands to House Tully, and allowed the surviving lords of the Iron Islands to revive their ancient custom and chose who should have the primacy among them. They chose Lord Vickon Greyjoy of Pyke. The Greyjoy sigil is a golden kraken upon a black field. Their words are "We Do Not Sow". Lesser houses sworn to Pyke include Harlaw, Stonehouse, Merlyn, Sunderly, Botley, Tawney, Wynch, Goodbrother.
  • House Arryn: The Arryns are descended from the Kings of Mountain and Vale, one of the oldest and purest lines of Andal nobility. Their sigil is the moon-and-falcon, white, upon a sky blue field. The Arryn words are "As High As Honor". The principal houses sworn to the Eyrie are Royce, Baelish, Egen, Waynwood, Hunter, Redfort, Corbray, Belmore, Melcolm, and Hersy.
  • The Night's Watch: “Night's Watch at The Wall” - Dedicated to defending the realms of Westeros; The Night's Watch guards the Wall. The Wall is also embued with mystical defenses which keep the Others from crossing into the realms of men so long as the Wall stands. However, at the time of the series' events the severely reduced numbers of the Night's Watch necessitate limited, irregular maintenance duty and complete ignorance of the Wall's magical qualities. Along (and perhaps in conjunction) with the Watch's ignorance of its greatest defense, the Brothers of the Watch seem to have forgotten that their greatest antagonists are the Others, leading them to focus on defense against unorganized bands of human wildlings inhabiting the lands beyond the Wall. For the vast majority of the Watch's recent history, it has served as a practical penal colony, filled with petty and violent criminals, political exiles, and vanquished nobility. Although their numbers are dwindling and the title of Brother of the Night's Watch no longer holds the honor and prestige it once did, the core of the Watch remains composed of capable and dedicated men. These men now serve the Watch and the Realm of Men by helping ensure that the barbarian human settlers of the areas north of the Wall, known as wildlings, are not allowed to raid south of the Wall, with their ancient task all but forgotten by time and mostly replaced by practical, modern concerns.
  • House Tyrell: "Tyrells of Highgarden" - The Tyrells rose to power as stewards to the Kings of the Reach, whose domain included the fertile plains of the southwest from the Dornish marches and Blackwater Rush to the shores of the Sunset Sea. Through the female line, they claim descent from Garth Greenhand, gardener king of the First Men, who wore a crown of vines and flowers and made the land bloom. When King Mern, last of the old line, perished on the Field of Fire, his steward Harlen Tyrell surrendered Highgarden to Aegon Targaryen, pledging fealty. Aegon granted him the castle and dominion over the Reach. The Tyrell sigil is a golden rose on a grass-green field. Their words are "Growing Strong". Principal houses sworn to Highgarden are Vyrwel, Florent, Oakheart, Hightower, Crane, Tarly, Redwyne, Rowan, Fossoway, and Mullendore.
  • House Martell: "Martells of Dorne" - Nymeria, the warrior queen of the Rhoyne, brought her ten thousand ships to land in Dorne, the southernmost of the Seven Kingdoms, and took Lord Mors Martell to husband. With her help, he vanquished his rivals to rule all Dorne. The Rhoynar influence remains strong. Thus Dornish rulers style themselves “Prince” rather than “King.” Under Dornish law, lands and titles pass to the eldest child, not the eldest male. Dorne, alone of the Seven Kingdoms, was never conquered by Aegon the Dragon. It was not permanently joined to the realm until two hundred years later, and then by marriage and treaty, not the sword. Peaceable King Daeron II succeeded where the warriors had failed by wedding the Dornish princess Myriah and giving his own sister in marriage to the reigning Prince of Dorne. The Martell sigil is a red sun pierced by a golden spear on an orange banner. Their words are "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken". The principal houses sworn to Sunspear include Jordayne, Santagar, Allyrion, Toland, Yronwood, Wyl, Fowler, and Dayne.
  • The Sand Snakes: Prince Oberyn Martell's 8 bastard daughters
  • Wildlings: "The Free Folk" - Barbarian human settlers of the areas north of the Wall
  • Queensguard: Daenerys' version of a Kingsguard
  • Unsullied: A company of eunuch infantry; They wear spiked bronze hats
  • Sons of the Harpy: Add a description of this organization.
  • The Blue Graces: The healer priestesses of Meereen.
  • The Second Sons: A company of sellswords; Five hundred horse-riders, sworn to Queen Daenerys
  • Stormcrows: A company of sellswords
  • Brazen Beasts: Daenerys' city watch in Meereen
  • The Undying of Qarth: The famous warlocks of the city of Qarth. They are easily recognizable by their blue lips which they obtain by drinking shade-of-the-evening.
  • The Mother's Men: Queen Daenerys' soldiers
  • The Others
  • The Golden Company: Reputedly the finest of the free companies, founded a century ago by Bittersteel, a bastard son of Aegon the Unworthy. A brotherhood of exiles and the sons of exiles, united by the dream of Bittersteel. It's home they want, as much as gold. Their words are, "Our word is good as gold."
  • The Ragged Standard: A company of sellswords
  • Maiden's Men: A company of sellswords
  • The Long Lances: A company of sellswords
  • The Windblown: A company of sellswords
  • Company of the Cat: A company of sellswords
  • The Children of the Forest: "woh dak nag gran" - "the squirrel people" - "those who sing the song of earth" They are smaller than humans they have nut-brown skin, dappled like a deer's with paler spots, and large ears that can hear things that no man can hear. Their eyes are big, golden cat's eyes that can see in darkness. Their hands have only three fingers and a thumb with sharp black claws instead of nails.
  • City Watch: "The Gold Cloaks"
  • The Lamb Men: "The Lhazarene"
  • The Free Brothers: Queen Daenerys' soldiers
  • The Stalwart Shields: Queen Daenerys' soldiers
  • The Bastard's Boys: Ramsay's men-at-arms
  • The Thirteen
  • The Pureborn
  • Silent Sisters
  • Iron Fleet
Show all 38 organizations

First Sentence edit see section history

The night was rank with the smell of man.

Table of Contents edit see section history

A Cavil on Chronology
Prologue
1. Tyrion
2. Daenerys
3. Jon
4. Bran
5. Tyrion
6. The Merchant's Man
7. Jon
8. Tyrion
9. Davos
10. Jon
11. Daenerys
12. Reek
13. Bran
14. Tyrion
15. Davos
16.Daenerys
17. Jon
18. Tyrion
19. Davos
20. Reek
21. Jon
22. Tyrion
23. Daenerys
24. The Lost Lord
25. The Windblown
26. The Wayward Bride
27. Tyrion
28. Jon
29. Davos
30. Daenerys
31. Melisandre
32. Reek
33. Tyrion
34. Bran
35. Jon
36. Daenerys
37. The Prince of Winterfell
38. The Watcher
39. Jon
40. Tyrion
41. The Turncloak
42. The King's Prize
43. Daenerys
44. Jon
45. The Blind Girl
46. A Ghost in Winterfell
47. Tyrion
48. Jaime
49. Jon
50. Daenerys
51. Theon
52. Daenerys
53. Jon
54. Cersei
55. The Queensguard
56. The Iron Suitor
57. Tyrion
58. Jon
59. The Discarded Knight
60. The Spurned Suitor
61. The Griffin Reborn
62. The Sacrifice
63. Victarion
64. The Ugly Little Girl
65. Cersei
66. Tyrion
67. The Kingbreaker
68. The Dragontamer
69. Jon
70. The Queen's Hand
71. Daenerys
Epilogue
Appendix

Glossary edit see section history

  • The Iron Throne: A massive iron throne sitting the King of Westeros. Made of the fused swords of loyalists.
  • The Seastone Chair: The throne of the Iron Islands.
  • Warg: "Shapechanger" - "Beastling" - Someone who shares their soul with an animal and at times can see and feel through the animal and vice versa.
  • Direwolf: A close relative of the wolf, but larger and stronger. A grey direwolf in a white field is the banner of House Stark.
  • Longclaw: A greatsword forged of Valyrian steel; The original pommel was a silver bear’s head; The Mormonts carried it for five centuries; Lord Jeor changed the pommel to a hunk of pale stone weighted with lead to balance the long blade, carved into the likeness of a snarling wolf’s head, with chips of garnet set into the eyes and gave it to Jon Snow for saving his life from a wight.
  • Lightbringer: The Red Sword of Heroes; King Stannis' sword
  • Green Dreams: Prophetic dreams
  • Greenseer: A warg that has green dreams
  • Wight: Zombies; What men turn into when killed by the Others; Living dead men with black hands and bright blue eyes
  • The Horn of Winter: "Horn of Joramun" - This legendary, magical horn is supposed to bring The Wall crumbling down if it is ever blown. Is black and banded with old gold, eight feet long from end to end. Runes are carved into the golden bands, the writing of the First Men.
  • Adventure: A small ship with sixty oars, a single sail, and a long lean hull that promises speed.
  • Meadowlark: A ship
  • Melantine: A ship
  • Triarch's Daughter: A ship
  • Mermaid's Kiss: A ship
  • Bold Voyager: A ship
  • Dolphin: A ship
  • Seventh Son: A ship
  • Fawn: A ship
  • Goddess: A ship
  • Blackbird: The largest of the Night's Watch's galleys; Captained by Old Tattersalt
  • Shy Maid: An old ramshackle single-masted poleboat. She has a broad beam and a shallow draft, ideal for making her way up the smallest of streams and crabwalking over sandbars.
  • Valar Dohaeris: Bravosi saying. Translates to "all men most serve."
  • Oledo: A galley
  • Old Motheras Son: A galley
  • Saathos Saan: A great cog
  • Bountiful Harvest: A ship
  • Valyrian: Salladhor Saan's flagship
  • Lionstar: A warship with crimson sails and a gold lion on her prow. Her hull is black and gold, her figurehead a lion with an upraised paw.
  • Balerion: "Saduleon" - A great cog sent by Magister Illyrio for Daenerys
  • Merry Midwife: An old cog; Captained by Casso Mogat; Her figurehead shows a laughing woman holding an infant by one foot, but the woman's cheeks and the babe's bottom are both pocked by wormholes. Uncounted layers of drab brown paint cover her hull; Her sails are grey and tattered
  • Cobblecat: Roro Uhoris' ship; A ship from Davos' youth
  • Storm Dancer: A trading galley
  • Brave Magister: A cog
  • Horn of Plenty: A cog
  • Sloe-Eyed Maid: A trader
  • Pureborn Princess: One of the thirteen ships Xaro Xhoan Daxos left in Meereen
  • Narraqqa: One of the thirteen ships Xaro Xhoan Daxos left in Meereen
  • Banded Lizard: One of the thirteen ships Xaro Xhoan Daxos left in Meereen
  • Kingfisher: A poleboat
  • Storm Crow: One of the Night's Watch's ships
  • greyscale: Greyscale is a disease that can leave flesh stiff and dead and the skin cracked and flaking, mottled black and grey and stone-like to the touch. The tongue and lips turn to stone. It generally affects children especially in cold damp climes. The victims are disfigured but could not be touched by the rarer mortal form of the affliction or the grey plague. The wildlings consider people who survive Greyscale unclean.
  • True Tongue: The Language of the Children of th eForest
  • Seneschal: Describe this term.
Show all 44 glossary entries

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 5 of 12 in A Song of Ice and Fire. (standard series)

Preceded by A Feast for Crows, and followed by The Winds of Winter.

This is book 14 of 14 in New York Times Bestsellers - Hardcover Fiction (Current). (authoritative list)
This is book 1 of 5 in NPR Best Science Fiction - Fantasy 2011. (authoritative list)
This book is in 2011 Published Books. (community list)
This book is in Hopeless Romantic. (community list)
This book is in Amazon.com Best Books of 2011. (authoritative list)
This book is in 2011 Locus Recommended Reading List: Fantasy. (authoritative list)
This is book 5 of 10 in Publishers Weekly Bestselling Novels in 2011. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. George R. R. Martin (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Roy Dotrice (Narrator)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Bantam Books
Country: USA
Publication Date: July 12, 2011
ISBN: 978-0553801477
Page Count: 1040

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3563.A7239 D36 2011
  • Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Adults

Sexual content, violence, language

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

  • Tower of the Hand: Ice and Fire Book/Chapter summaries, character lists, maps etc.
  • Westeros: Westeros is the premier fansite for George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. Discuss the series on the forums, browse our resource collections, read about the TV series from HBO and play the MUSH, to name just a few of the things we offer.
  • Wikipedia: A Dance with Dragons: synopsis and character descriptions, information about publication

Movie Connections edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Gardens of the Moon
  • Before They Are Hanged
  • Last Argument of Kings
  • The Heroes
  • The Blade Itself
  • Best Served Cold
  • The King of Blades

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • A Game of Thrones
  • A Clash of Kings
  • A Storm of Swords
  • A Feast for Crows
  • Warriors

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