Dragonflame or dragonfire is the fire produced by a dragon. The dragon expels its fire from its gullet and out of its mouth.[1] The older and larger the dragon, the more devastating its fire.[2] The High Valyrian word for dragonfire is dracarys.[1]
Characteristics
[edit]The flames of a dragon grow hotter and fiercer as it ages. The flames of a hatchling can set straw aflame, whereas the flames of much older dragons are able to melt steel and stone.[2][3][4] A dragon's scales, which thicken and strengthen with age,[2] protect the dragon from fire,[5][6] although it is not entirely impervious to dragonflame (e.g., Moondancer's eyes being blinded by Sunfyre's fire during the Dance of the Dragons).[2]
Wildfire is said to be a close cousin of dragonflame,[7] though it does not burn as hot.[8]
Each dragon can breathe flames in a distinct color, potentially somewhat associated with the coloring of its body and eyes:
| Dragon | Color of body | Color of eyes | Flame |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrax | Arrax's body was pearlescent white, with a golden chest[9] | Golden[9] | Yellow flames[9] |
| Balerion | Balerion's scales[10] and wings[11][12][13] were black | Unknown | Black flames,[13] sometimes with swirls of red[11] |
| Drogon | Drogon's scales are black, his horns and spinal plates are blood red[10][14] | Red[10][14] | Black flames shot with red[15] |
| Quicksilver | Quicksilver's body was silvery (semi-canon)[16] | Unknown | Pale white fireballs[13] |
| Rhaegal | Rhaegal's scales[10][17] and wings[18] are jade-green | Bronze[17] | Either yellow flames,[19] yellow and red flames[20] or "orange-and-yellow fire shot through with veins of green".[17] |
| Seasmoke | Seasmoke's body was pale silver-grey[21] | Unknown | Uncertain, possibly blue flames[22][N 1] |
| Sheepstealer | Sheepstealer's body was muddy brown[22] | Unknown | Uncertain, possibly red or golden flames[22][N 1] |
| Silverwing | Silverwing's body was silvery[23][24] | Unknown | Uncertain, possibly blue flames[22][N 1] |
| Sunfyre | Sunfyre had gleaming gold scales, which shone like beaten gold in the sunlight,[2] and pale pink wing membranes[25] | Unknown | Golden flames[22][2] |
| Tessarion | Tessarion's wings were a dark cobalt, while the scales of her claws, crest, and belly were a bright beaten copper[25] | Unknown | Cobalt blue flames[22] |
| Tyraxes | Tyraxes's body was pale violet, with dark purple horns (semi-canon)[26][27] | Unknown | Purple flames (semi-canon)[26][27] |
| Vermax | Vermax's scales were olive green and his wing membranes were pale orange (semi-canon)[28][29] | Unknown | Uncertain, possibly orange flames[22][N 1] |
| Vermithor | Vermithor's body was bronze and his wings were tan[2] | Unknown | Uncertain, possibly red or golden flames[22][N 1] |
| Viserion | Viserion's scales are cream colored, while his horns, wing bones and spinal crest are gold[10][1] | Gold[19][17] | Pale gold flames shot through with red and orange[17] |
History
[edit]
The Valyrian Freehold used dragonflame to make Valyrian steel.[30][31] It was also employed in construction to melt and fuse stone to form dragonstone, as in the cases of the dragonroads and the Black Wall of Volantis.[32]
During Aegon's Conquest, Aegon I Targaryen used Balerion's dragonflame against Harrenhal and at the Field of Fire. Afterwards, the flames of Balerion were used to forge the Iron Throne.[33] Aegon and his sister-wife Visenya used the flames of their dragons Balerion and Vhagar to burn every Dornish stronghold at least once, with except Sunspear and its shadow city.[34]
King Maegor I Targaryen and his mother, Dowager Queen Visenya, used their dragons Balerion and Vhagar to burn several holdfasts in the Reach and westerlands in 43 AC.[13]
During the Dance of the Dragons, King Aegon II Targaryen is severely injured during the battle at Rook's Rest when dragonflame melts his armor into the flesh of his left arm.[22] While attempting to claim the dragon Sheepstealer during the Red Sowing, Alyn Velaryon was injured by burns that covered his back and legs.[22]
Silverwing, Sheepstealer, Seasmoke, Vermax and Vermithor descended upon the fleet of the Triarchy in the early days of 130 AC, and burned the ships by spitting balls of fire, "blue and orange, red and gold".[22] Prince Aemond Targaryen brought Vhagar to the riverlands, where he burned numerous villages and castles.[4]
Aegon II Targaryen and Sunfyre fought Lady Baela Targaryen and her dragon Moondancer on Dragonstone in 130 AC. During the battle, Moondancer was blinded by Sunfyre's flames, and shortly after succumbed to wounds received in battle. Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen was later executed by her brother, Aegon II, by being engulfed in Sunfyre's flames.[2]
The Targaryens practise the custom of cremating their deceased family members. The funeral pyre of Aegon I Targaryen was lit by the dragon Vhagar,[13] and the funeral pyre of Aenys I Targaryen by the dragons Quicksilver, Vermithor and Silverwing.[13]
Recent Events
[edit]A Clash of Kings
[edit]In the House of the Undying, Drogon destroys the indigo heart that stands at the center of the room, and he burns the Undying Ones after they attempt to drain Daenerys Targaryen's life.[35]
A Storm of Swords
[edit]
Daenerys teaches her fledgling dragons—Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion—to loose their flame upon her command of dracarys, the High Valyrian word for "dragonfire".[1]
At the start of the fall of Astapor, Daenerys commands Drogon to burn Kraznys mo Nakloz; Viserion and Rhaegal are also unleashed. During the battle all three dragons are airborne, loosing their flames.[36]
A Dance with Dragons
[edit]Prince Quentyn Martell is mortally burned by Rhaegal while attempting to tame Viserion within the Great Pyramid of Mereen.[17]
Quotes
[edit]Inns, guild halls, storehouses, the homes of the mean and the mighty, dragonflame consumed them all.[4]
—writings of Yandel
Drogon. Dracarys.[36]
Marwyn: Call it dragonglass. It burns but is not consumed.
Samwell: What feeds the flame?
Marwyn: What feeds a dragon's fire? All Valyrian sorcery was rooted in blood or fire.[37]—Marwyn and Samwell Tarly
Longclaw had been forged in the fires of old Valyria, forged in dragonflame and set with spells.[31]
—thoughts of Jon Snow
Then the dragon opened its mouth, and light and heat washed over them. Behind a fence of sharp black teeth he glimpsed the furnace glow, the shimmer of a sleeping fire a hundred times brighter than his torch.[17]
—thoughts of Quentyn Martell
The dragon caught one burning body just as it began to fall, crunching it between his jaws as pale fires ran across his teeth.[38]
—thoughts of Tyrion Lannister
Notes
[edit]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The fireballs spit by Seasmoke (a silver-grey dragon), Sheepstealer (a muddy brown dragon), Silverwing (a silvery dragon), Vermax (a green and orange dragon) and Vermithor (a bronze and tan dragon) during the battle of the Gullet are described as "blue and orange, red and gold".[22]
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 8, Daenerys I.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Aegon’s Conquest.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Triumphant.
- ↑ So Spake Martin: Comic-Con (New York City, NY; February 23-25) (February 25, 2007).
- ↑ "Interview with the Dragon" Copyright © 2003 Robert Shaw.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aerys II.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 12, Cersei III.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Twitter: Sam Hogg, Arrax Color
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 12, Daenerys I.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Fire & Blood, Aegon's Conquest.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 Fire & Blood, The Sons of the Dragon.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 52, Daenerys IX.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 42, Daenerys IV.
- ↑ The Rise of the Dragon, The Reign of Maegor I.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 68, The Dragontamer.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 40, Daenerys III.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 11, Daenerys II.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 50, Daenerys VIII.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon - A Question of Succession.
- ↑ 22.00 22.01 22.02 22.03 22.04 22.05 22.06 22.07 22.08 22.09 22.10 22.11 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Red Dragon and the Gold.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Birth, Death, and Betrayal Under King Jaehaerys I.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Short, Sad Reign of Aegon II.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Blacks and the Greens.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 westeros.org: 10 Years of the World of Ice and Fire: Day 5 (October 18, 2024)
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Instagram: himarudolf: Tyraxes, October 19, 2024
- ↑ The Rise of the Dragon, The Reign of Aegon II.
- ↑ HBO Official Dragon Index: Vermax
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 72, Daenerys X.
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 58, Jon XII.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Seven Kingdoms: The Reach: Oldtown.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 43, Eddard XI.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, Dorne: Dorne Against the Dragons.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 48, Daenerys IV.
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 27, Daenerys III.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 45, Samwell V.
- ↑ The Winds of Winter, Tyrion II