House Gardener
From A Wiki of Ice and Fire
| House Gardener of Highgarden | |
|---|---|
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| Coat of arms | Argent, a hand displayed vert |
| Seat | Highgarden |
| Current Lord | Extinct |
| Region | the Reach |
| Title | Kings of the Reach |
| Cadet Branch | House Tyrell House Florent House Rowan House Oakheart House Oldflowers possibly more houses from The Reach |
| Founder | Garth Greenhand |
| Founded | Age of Heroes |
| Died out | 1 AL in the War of Conquest |
House Gardener of Highgarden is the extinct house of the old and famed Kings of the Reach. Their blazon was a green hand over a white field.[1][2] It was founded by Garth Greenhand.
Contents |
History
The house died out in the War of Conquest. When the Targaryens invaded, Mern IX the last of his line, joined forces with King Loren of the Rock. A major battle was fought at the Field of Fire. The forces of the two kings met the Targaryen army and their dragons. The Targaryen host broke, but the dragons killed 4,000 men of the combined Lannister-Gardener army, among them King Mern.[3]
His steward, Harlen Tyrell, surrendered Highgarden to Aegon and was named Lord of the Reach in exchange for his submission to the Iron Throne.[4]
The first reference to their rule dates two thousand years before the events described in A Song of Ice and Fire, when they armed the inhabitants of the Shield Islands to protect the Reach from the attacks of the ironborn.[5] That establishes a rule of at least 1700 years.
Known members of House Gardener
- Garth Greenhand, the mythical first King of the Reach
- Gyles the Third, King of the Reach.
- Garth the Twelfth, King of the Reach.
- Mern IX of the Reach, the last of his line
References in the books
A Song of Ice and Fire
- The best known member of the house is the mythical king of the First Men Garth Greenhand. According to legend, he wore a crown of vines and flowers and made the land bloom.
- There were at least eleven more Garths on the house, since the money that was found in Rugen's cell at King's Landing had been minted by Garth XII.
- Gyles III was a king that went to war against the Storm King, and was attacked by the King of the Rock while he was with his army at the east.
- The last member of the line was King Mern IX, who died at the Field of Fire.
- Golden currency from the time of the Gardeners is still in use, albeit rare.[6][7] The coins are named Hands, each worth roughly half a Gold Dragon,[7] and feature the Hand sigil of House Gardener on one side and the likeness of the current King on the other side. They are known to have been made with Garth XII's effigy.[6]
Descent
Many of the houses from the Reach can trace their descent back to Garth Greenhand, a fact that is often used to boast of a better claim than the Tyrells as the rightful rulers of the Reach (the Tyrells are descendants of the Gardeners only through the female line). Among the houses with Garth as an ancestor are the Florents, the Rowans, the Oakhearts, and many others. Apparently Garth had many sons himself.[8]
References and Notes
- ↑ The Sworn Sword, page 21
- ↑ The Citadel. Heraldry: Houses in the Reach
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 13, Tyrion
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Appendix
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 29, The Reaver
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 7, Cersei.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 16, Jaime.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 6, Sansa
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