Howland Reed
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Howland Reed, by Sir Heartsalot © | ||||
|
| ||||
| Alias | The little crannogman[1][2][3] | |||
| Title | Lord of Greywater Watch | |||
| Allegiance | House Reed | |||
| Culture | Crannogmen | |||
| Born |
260–265 AC[4] Greywater Watch, the North[5] | |||
| Spouse | Jyana | |||
| Issue | ||||
| Books |
| |||
|
| ||||
| Played by | Leo Woodruff | |||
| TV series | Game of Thrones: Season 6 | |||
Howland Reed is the Lord of Greywater Watch and the head of House Reed,[6] holding dominion over the crannogmen of the Neck.[7] Howland's children with his wife, Jyana, are Meera and Jojen. He is a close friend of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell.[8]
In the television adaptation Game of Thrones, Howland Reed is portrayed by Leo Woodruff.
Contents
Appearance and Character
Howland is a small man,[9] like all crannogmen. Meera Reed describes her father as having been brave, strong, and smart in his youth.[2] He is a great friend of Lord Eddard Stark,[7][8] who considered Howland a worthy man.[10]
Young Howland wore a shirt of bronze scales and wielded a three-pronged spear and a leather shield.[2]
History
Youth
According to a tale told by his daughter Meera, Howland grew up hunting, fishing, climbing trees, and learning the magic of the crannogmen.[2]
Isle of Faces and Harrenhal
After he reached the age of majority, Howland sought additional knowledge. He boldly paddled a small skin boat down the Green Fork, evaded the Twins at night, and visited the Isle of Faces in search of the green men. He stayed at the island all winter.[2]
Howland left the Isle of Faces in 281 AC, the year of the false spring, to observe the great tourney at Harrenhal held by Lord Walter Whent. As Howland walked across the tourney field, he was attacked by three squires, younger but taller. Lyanna Stark came to his rescue, however, as the crannogman was a vassal of her father, Lord Rickard Stark of Winterfell, and the girl chased the three squires away with a tourney sword. Afterwards, she brought him to her tent, where she bound up his wounds and he was introduced to her three brothers, Brandon, Eddard, and Benjen. Lyanna insisted he attend the feast held that evening at Harrenhal to mark the start of the tourney, and so Howland accompanied the four Stark siblings, dressed in clothing Benjen had found to suit his high birth. When they recognized the three squires who had attacked him earlier, Benjen offered to find Howland a horse and armor to he could avenge himself, but Howland gave no answer. Although he wanted to take revenge, he feared making a fool of himself as he was no knight. Howland prayed at the Gods Eye to the old gods, and was given a place in Eddard's tent for the night.[2]
On the second day of jousting, a short mystery knight, dubbed the Knight of the Laughing Tree, entered the joust and challenged the three knights whose squires who had attacked the crannogman. The three knights were defeated, but for a ransom, the mystery knight only demanded that the knights teach their squires honor.[2] King Aerys II Targaryen was convinced the mystery knight was Ser Jaime Lannister, newly of the Kingsguard.[11] Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and other nobles went in search of the Knight of the Laughing Tree, but the mystery knight's identity was never revealed.[2]
Robert's Rebellion
The abduction of Lyanna Stark by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen led to the imprisonment and executions of Lord Rickard and Brandon Stark by King Aerys II Targaryen. Howland joined the northern host during the ensuing war, Robert's Rebellion,[12] and was one of Lord Eddard Stark's staunch companions.[9][8]
After the Sack of King's Landing and the siege of Storm's End, Howland and five other northmen accompanied Ned Stark south to the Red Mountains in search of Lyanna.[9] Howland and Eddard were the only survivors of the combat at the tower of joy between the seven northmen and three knights of the Kingsguard.[9] Ned later told his second son, Bran Stark, that Howland had saved his life from Ser Arthur Dayne.[8] Eddard found Lyanna and was with his sister when she died. Howland was among those who found Ned, still holding Lyanna, silent with grief, and he was the person who took Lyanna's hand from Eddard's.[1]
Baratheon Era
Howland returned to the north and has not departed the swamps of the Neck since.[5] Lord Eddard Stark has periodically sent letters to his friend, but Bran cannot recall crannogmen having visited Winterfell.[8] Howland taught net-fighting to his daughter, Meera Reed.[13] It is unknown when Howland became Lord of Greywater Watch, whether before or after Robert's Rebellion.
Recent Events
A Game of Thrones
Lord Eddard Stark recalls his sister Lyanna's death, and how Howland had found him still holding her body and taken her hand from his.[1]
During a fever dream, Eddard recalls Howland and his other former companions at the tower of joy.[9]
Robb Stark calls the northern banners to rescue his father, Eddard, from imprisonment in King's Landing, and sends word to Howland to have the crannogmen bleed the Lannisters if they march up the causeway through the Neck.[7]
A Clash of Kings
Howland learns that his son Jojen has had a green dream of a winged wolf bound in chains, and sends his children from Greywater Watch to Winterfell.[13] Jojen and his elder sister, Meera, recite an oath of fealty to King Robb's younger brother, Prince Bran Stark, during the harvest feast.[8]
After Winterfell is captured by Theon Greyjoy and his ironborn. The Reed siblings escape with Bran and Rickon Stark, and Theon hunts them in the wolfswood. Maester Luwin convinces Theon not to harm Meera and Jojen, but to hold them as hostages to prevent Howland from attacking the ironborn of Lord Captain Victarion Greyjoy at Moat Cailin.[14] However, the Reeds and their companions escape from Theon, and hide in the crypt of Winterfell.[15]
A Storm of Swords
While traveling in the northern mountains, Meera tells Bran the story of her father's journey to the Isle of Faces and the tourney at Harrenhal, and of the knight of the Laughing Tree. Though Jojen thinks Bran must have heard the story a hundred times from Eddard, Bran cannot recall ever hearing it before.[2]
At Hag's Mire, King Robb tasks Galbart Glover and Maege Mormont with sailing into the Neck to inform Howland of his plan to recover Moat Cailin from Victarion's ironborn.[10] However, Robb is killed in the Red Wedding before the plan can be put into action.[16]
A Feast for Crows
Attacks by crannogmen weaken the ironborn garrison at Moat Cailin.[17][18]
Outlaws led by Lady Stoneheart are said to have vanished into the Neck, with Ser Danwell Frey thinking they are being sheltered by crannogmen.[19]
A Dance with Dragons
Theon resolves the siege of Moat Cailin, with the meager ironborn garrison surrendering to Ramsay Bolton.[20] Lord Roose Bolton utilizes a decoy in case of an assassination attempt by crannogmen.[20]
Quotes
In the dream his friends rode with him, as they had in life. Proud Martyn Cassel, Jory's father; faithful Theo Wull; Ethan Glover, who had been Brandon's squire; Ser Mark Ryswell, soft of speech and gentle of heart; the crannogman, Howland Reed; Lord Dustin on his great red stallion. Ned had known their faces as well as he knew his own once, but the years leech at a man's memories, even those he has vowed never to forget. In the dream they were only shadows, grey wraiths on horses made of mist.[9]
—thoughts of Eddard Stark
They had been seven against three, yet only two had lived to ride away; Eddard Stark himself and the little crannogman, Howland Reed.[9]
—thoughts of Eddard Stark
Howland Reed was a great friend to your father.[8]
—Rodrik Cassel, to Bran Stark
The finest knight I ever saw was Ser Arthur Dayne, who fought with a blade called Dawn, forged from the heart of a fallen star. They called him the Sword of the Morning, and he would have killed me but for Howland Reed.[8]
—Eddard Stark, to Bran Stark
Bran: Did he have green dreams like Jojen?
Meera: No, but he could breathe mud and run on leaves, and change earth to water and water to earth with no more than a whispered word. He could talk to trees and weave words and make castles appear and disappear.[2]—Bran Stark and Meera Reed
In his head, the crannogman looked like Jojen, only older and stronger and dressed like Meera.[2]
—thoughts of Bran Stark
—Robb Stark, to Galbart Glover
Family
Behind the Scenes
Howland Reed and his moving castle, Greywater Watch, may be a reference to Diana Wynn Jones's 1986 novel Howl's Moving Castle.[21]
George R. R. Martin has stated that Howland would not be a POV character because he knows too much.[22]
In an early draft of A Storm of Swords, Howland was rescued by Brandon Stark ("the wild wolf"), not Lyanna ("the she-wolf").[23]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 4, Eddard I.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 24, Bran II.
- ↑ "The Citadel: FAQ, entry 6.2.6- Who were the different people in Meera's story?" (2007
- ↑ See the Howland Reed calculation.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Howland Reed.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Appendix.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 55, Catelyn VIII.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 21, Bran III.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 39, Eddard X.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 45, Catelyn V.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Fall of the Dragons: The Year of the False Spring.
- ↑ So Spake Martin: Concerning Howland Reed (August 16, 2002).
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 28, Bran IV.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 50, Theon IV.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 69, Bran VII.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 51, Catelyn VII.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 11, The Kraken's Daughter.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 18, The Iron Captain.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 30, Jaime IV.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 20, Reek II.
- ↑ Homages in ASOIAF - zionius on Reddit
- ↑ So Spake Martin: Torcon (Toronto, Canada; August 28-September 1) (August 28, 2003).
- ↑ Secrets of the Cushing Library: the ACOK and ASOS drafts - gsteff on Reddit