Ghost of High Heart
Ghost of High Heart | |
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Fan art by Paul Phillips©. | |
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Alias | The woods witch |
Books |
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The ghost of High Heart[1] is an old, stooped, very short woman who has visions of the future and the past. She lives at High Heart in the Riverlands.
Contents
Appearance
- See also: Images of the Ghost of High Heart
The ghost of High Heart walks with a gnarled black cane. She has white hair so long it almost touches the ground. Her flesh is very pale and she has red eyes.[2] She is no more than three feet tall.[3]
Recent Events
A Storm of Swords
Arya Stark and the brotherhood without banners camp overnight at High Heart to meet with the ghost of High Heart to hear her tell the future and to learn the whereabouts of Lord Beric Dondarrion. There she predicts the deaths of Lord Renly Baratheon[4] and King Balon Greyjoy,[5][6] in wording that suggests that Balon is killed by a Faceless Man contracted by someone among the ironborn. She also talks of the death[7][8] and resurrection[9] of Catelyn Stark. The woman is distressed when she meets Arya, insinuating the girl is associated with death.[3] The old woman requests that Tom of Sevenstreams play Jenny's song for her after each meeting.[3]
A Feast for Crows
Cersei Lannister receives a report that “Tyrion had become a hermit in the riverlands, living on some haunted hill.”[10] It's most likely that the report refers to the Ghost of High Heart.
A Dance with Dragons
Barristan Selmy reveals to Daenerys that her grandsire, King Jaehaerys II Targaryen, arranged the marriage between her parents, Prince Aerys II and Princess Rhaella. Jaehaerys did this after hearing a prophecy from a woods witch that the prince that was promised would be born from their line. While most people believed the woods witch to be a dwarf, her friend, Jenny of Oldstones, claimed she was one of the children of the forest. While Barristan believes the woods witch died at the Tragedy of Summerhall, the description fits the ghost of High Heart.[11]
While aboard the Selaesori Qhoran, Tyrion Lannister recalls what he considers to be a less reliable tale that had reached his ears, that of a dwarf witch who haunts a hill in the riverlands.[12]
Quotes by the ghost of High Heart
The old gods stir and will not let me sleep. I dreamt I saw a shadow with a burning heart butchering a golden stag, aye. I dreamt of a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed and swung. On his shoulder perched a drowned crow with seaweed hanging from his wings. I dreamt of a roaring river and a woman that was a fish. Dead she drifted, with red tears on her cheeks, but when her eyes did open, oh, I woke from terror. All this I dreamt, and more.[2]
– the ghost of High Heart, to Tom, Lem, and Greenbeard
I dreamt a wolf howling in the rain, but no one heard his grief. I dreamt such a clangor I thought my head might burst, drums and horns and pipes and screams, but the saddest sound was the little bells. I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow.[3]
– the ghost of High Heart, to Beric Dondarrion, Lem, and Thoros of Myr
I see you. I see you, wolf child. Blood child. I thought it was the lord who smelled of death ... You are cruel to come to my hill, cruel. I gorged on grief at Summerhall, I need none of yours. Begone from here, dark heart. Begone![3]
– the ghost of High Heart, to Arya Stark
Quotes about the ghost of High Heart
– Thoros of Myr, to Arya Stark
References and Notes
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Appendix.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 22, Arya IV.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 43, Arya VIII.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 33, Catelyn IV.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 45, Catelyn V.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 54, Davos V.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 51, Catelyn VII.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 65, Arya XII.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Epilogue.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 36, Cersei VIII.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 23, Daenerys IV.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 33, Tyrion VIII.