Red Fork

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The riverlands and the location of the Red Fork
The riverlands and the location of the Red Fork
Red Fork
The riverlands and the location of the Red Fork

The Red Fork is one of the three main rivers of the Trident in the riverlands, the other two being the Blue Fork and the Green Fork. It is named after the mud and silt from the western mountains;[1] Ser Brynden Tully considers the red mud to be colored Tully red.[2]

Course

The Red Fork's headwaters are in the hills near Hornvale and Deep Den in the westerlands. It then flows northeast past Pinkmaiden, the Mummer's Ford, Sherrer, and the Stone Mill. Upstream from Riverrun, the river makes a wide loop and the waters become shallower and muddier.[3] The west bank of this stretch is higher and more wooded than the east bank.[4]

The Red Fork is joined by the swifter Tumblestone at Riverrun. The Tullys are able to open sluice gates on the third side of their castle, turning it into an island.[5] While the deeper and faster Tumblestone is blue and white in color, the placid and wider Red Fork is muddy red and brown.[6]

From Riverrun the Red Fork continues east; the southern shore has red clay, while the northern shore has rocky cliffs with beech, oak, and chestnut trees.[7] Watchtowers, towerhouses, villages, and inns are located by the river, which meanders with loops and bends, islands and sandbars.[7] Stone Hedge is located south of the Red Fork and east of Riverrun, while Raventree Hall is north of the river and south of the Blue Fork.[8] East of the Inn of the Kneeling Man, the river is broad but shallow and its banks are all mud and reeds. Ser Warren's towerhouse is located a few miles from the inn.[9] Small streams and brooks flow into the river.[7][10]

The Red Fork continues east past the Skipping Stones and Red Deer Island[9] until it meets the Trident north of Lord Harroway's Town.[11] The Trident then continues east to the Bay of Crabs.[11] Sallydance is also located somewhere on the Red Fork.[12]

The river road follows much of the course of the Red Fork.[13]

History

Torrhen Stark kneels to Aegon I Targaryen, by Chase Stone ©

During the coming of the Andals to the riverlands, Axel Tully constructed Riverrun at the confluence of the Tumblestone and the Red Fork on land granted to him by Armistead Vance, the mightiest of the Andal warlords.[14]

During Aegon's Conquest, Torrhen Stark, the King in the North, submitted to Aegon the Conqueror along the shores of the Trident.[15] The Inn of the Kneeling Man on the southern shore of the Red Fork is said to be where Aegon accepted Torrhen's surrender.[9]

During the Dance of the Dragons, Lord Jason Lannister was slain by Pate of Longleaf in the Battle at the Red Fork.[16] Sallydance on the Red Fork was attacked by Prince Aemond Targaryen and his dragon Vhagar during the civil war.[12]

Recent Events

A Game of Thrones

Riders of the Red Fork, by Lin Bo © Fantasy Flight Games

Ser Gregor Clegane raids Wendish Town, Sherrer, and Mummer's Ford, and he retreats across the Red Fork back to the westerlands before Ser Raymun Darry can respond. The Hand of the King, Lord Eddard Stark, sends Lord Beric Dondarrion to bring Gregor to justice.[17]

After crossing the Red Fork, Beric's force is attacked by House Lannister. While retreating, they are then ambushed by the Mountain's men in the battle at the Mummer's Ford.[18] As the Lannisters invade the riverlands, Gregor burns out Pinkmaiden.[19] Ser Jaime Lannister divides his host into three camps while besieging Riverrun.[5] Ser Marq Piper and Lord Karyl Vance retaliate by raiding lands of the westermen across the Red Fork.[19]

After capturing Jaime in the battle in the Whispering Wood,[20] the army of Robb Stark continues south and defeats the westermen outside Riverrun in the Battle of the Camps.[5] Ser Forley Prester retreats from the camp south of the Red Fork.[5]

A Clash of Kings

Returning from Storm's End, Catelyn Stark crosses the Red Fork at a ford south of Riverrun. Her brother, Ser Edmure Tully, fortifies the river to prevent Lord Tywin Lannister from crossing.[3] The rivermen defeat Tywin's attempted crossing in the Battle of the Fords, and Lord Leo Lefford drowns during the fighting.[4]

A Storm of Swords

Hoster Tully's funeral, by Jauma ©

Brienne of Tarth, Ser Cleos Frey, and Ser Jaime Lannister travel along the Red Fork east from Riverrun in a skiff. While in the lands of House Bracken, they see a burned inn and tavern wenches hanged for having slept with Lannister soldiers.[7] The trio are pursued from Riverrun by Ser Robin Ryger, but Brienne sinks his river galley with a boulder.[7]

At the Inn of the Kneeling Man, the inn's cook explains that outlaws have been preying where the channel has been silting up by a couple of sunken boats, as well as further downstream around the Skipping Stones and Red Deer Island. Ser Warren has died, and the brotherhood without banners are active in the area, crossing the Red Fork at will. Brienne's party departs the river and heads inland.[9]

Arya Stark, Gendry, and Hot Pie are caught by the brotherhood at a burned cottage along the Red Fork, and the outlaws bring them to the Inn of the Kneeling Man about two miles away.[10]

After Lord Hoster Tully dies, his body is burned in a funeral pyre in the Red Fork.[6]

A Feast for Crows

While traveling toward Riverrun, Jaime practices his swordsmanship with Ser Ilyn Payne in a burned village along the Red Fork. Jaime slips on mud and lands in reeds by the riverside.[21]

Ser Emmon Frey and Forley Prester are encamped south of the Red Fork during the siege of Riverrun. To prevent escape, the besiegers throw a boom across the river downstream of the castle, with Ser Manfryd Yew and Ser Raynard Ruttiger defending the boom.[21] Ser Brynden Tully swims under Riverrun's Water Gate in the night and presumably escapes down the Red Fork.[22]

Quotes

The Red Fork was wide and slow, a meandering river of loops and bends dotted with tiny wooded islets and frequently choked by sandbars and snags that lurked just below the water's surface.[23]

—thoughts of Jaime Lannister

Beneath her, the swift wild Tumblestone plunged like a spear into the side of the broad Red Fork, its blue-white current churning the muddy red-brown flow of the greater river. A morning mist hung over the water, as thin as gossamer and the wisps of memory.[6]

—thoughts of Catelyn Stark

References

  1. The World of Ice & Fire, The Riverlands.
  2. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 7, Catelyn I.
  3. 3.0 3.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 39, Catelyn V.
  4. 4.0 4.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 45, Catelyn VI.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 69, Tyrion IX.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 35, Catelyn IV.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 1, Jaime I.
  8. George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Raventree Hall pin on Westeros map.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 11, Jaime II.
  10. 10.0 10.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 13, Arya II.
  11. 11.0 11.1 The Lands of Ice and Fire, Westeros.
  12. 12.0 12.1 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Triumphant.
  13. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 37, Brienne VII.
  14. The World of Ice & Fire, The Riverlands: House Tully.
  15. The World of Ice & Fire, The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest.
  16. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Red Dragon and the Gold.
  17. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 43, Eddard XI.
  18. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 55, Catelyn VIII.
  19. 19.0 19.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 56, Tyrion VII.
  20. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 63, Catelyn X.
  21. 21.0 21.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 33, Jaime V.
  22. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 44, Jaime VII.
  23. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 33, Samwell II.