Brightroar was the ancient Valyrian steel greatsword belonging to House Lannister.
History
Brightroar came into the possession of the Kings of the Rock from House Lannister in the century before the Doom of Valyria, and it is said that the weight in gold they paid for it would have been enough to raise an army.[1]
Lancel IV Lannister is said to have beheaded the ironborn king Harrald Halfdrowned with Brightroar,[1] and wielded his Valyrian sword against Ser Wilbert Osgrey.[2] However, it was probably a common steel sword of the same name, which has been conflated with the Valyrian blade.[N 1]
Brightroar was lost little more than a century after it was acquired, when King Tommen II Lannister carried it with him when he sailed with his great fleet to ruined Valyria, with the intention of plundering the wealth and sorcery he was sure still remained. The fleet never returned, nor Tommen, nor Brightroar.[1]
House Lannister has been searching for a replacement ever since Brightroar's disappearance. Lord Tywin Lannister attempted to buy a replacement from lesser, poorer houses on at least three occasions, but was always rebuffed.[6] Tywin's brother Gerion went in search of the sword circa 291 AC, but he never returned from Valyria.[6]
Known wielders
- King Lancel IV Lannister[1]
- King Tommen II Lannister[1]
Behind the Scenes
In an early draft of A Storm of Swords, the sword was named "Blackroar."[7]
Notes
- ↑ Lancel IV Lannister and Gyles III Gardener were contemporaries.[2][3] As stated by Maester Yandel, they participated in a war involving two kings from the riverlands and three from Dorne,[4] indicating an era prior to the riverlands being ruled by House Durrandon and Dorne being ruled by House Martell (centuries before Aegon's Conquest). Ser Eustace Osgrey says that Lancel IV or Lancel V wielded a Valyrian steel sword,[2] and Yandel writes that Lancel IV wielded the Valyrian steel sword Brightroar and that House Lannister had acquired the blade in the century before the Doom of Valyria (which occurred a century before the Conquest).[1] According to Elio García, before the Valyrian version of it, the Lannisters had probably wielded other swords named Brightroar, made instead of common steel, and the stories of their actions became merged with the last one (like with Ice or Lady Forlorn).[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 The World of Ice & Fire, The Westerlands.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Sworn Sword.
- ↑ George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Wilbert Osgrey.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Reach: Andals in the Reach.
- ↑ asoiaf.westeros.org: The ASOIAF wiki thread Comment by Ran (November 16, 2025)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 32, Tyrion IV.
- ↑ Secrets of the Cushing Library: the ACOK and ASOS drafts - gsteff on Reddit