Driftwood is wood that has washed up on the shore of a body of water.
Culture
The Grey King is said to have worn a crown of driftwood, symbolizing that his rule came from the sea and the Drowned God.[1] Drowned men, acolytes of the Drowned God, wield driftwood cudgels and build shelters out of driftwood.[2]
The isle of Driftmark is named for the driftwood brought to its shores from the daily tides.[3] According to legend, the ancient Driftwood Throne of House Velaryon of Driftmark was given to them by the Merling King to conclude a pact.[3][4]
The brothers at the Quiet Isle make their furniture and cups out of carved and polished driftwood.[5]
Smoky fires can be made from driftwood.[6][7][8]
History
During the era of kingsmoots, the rock kings and salt kings of the ironborn wore driftwood crowns. The High King of the Iron Islands was eventually chosen through kingsmoots held on Old Wyk. Whenever a king died, his driftwood crown was broken into pieces and returned to the sea. His successor would then don a new crown of driftwood freshly washed up on the shores of his home island.[1] When House Greyiron began hereditary rule of the ironborn as Kings of the Iron Islands, however, they replaced the driftwood crowns with crowns of black iron.[9]
When Balon Greyjoy named himself king at the Grey King's Hall during Greyjoy's Rebellion, Tarle the Thrice-Drowned placed a driftwood crown upon his head.[10]
Recent Events
A Storm of Swords
Ser Davos Seaworth, marooned in Blackwater Bay, unsuccessfully attempts to start a fire from rotting driftwood.[11]
The funerary boat of Lord Hoster Tully at Riverrun is filled with driftwood, kindling, and scraps of parchment so it can be set afire.[12]
A Feast for Crows
Erik Ironmaker attends the kingsmoot on Old Wyk in a carved driftwood chair.[13] Euron Greyjoy is given a driftwood crown after being chosen at the kingsmoot on Old Wyk.[14]
Since Stranger, the horse of Sandor Clegane, was found by the Trident, the brothers of the Quiet Isle rename him Driftwood. Brienne of Tarth is impressed with the driftwood furnishings at the isle's septry.[5]
Quotes
Pebbleton was home to several thousand fisherfolk, whose hovels huddled round the base of a square towerhouse with a turret at each corner. Twoscore of Aeron's drowned men there awaited him, camped along a grey sand beach in sealskin tents and shelters built of driftwood. Their hands were roughened by brine, scarred by nets and lines, callused from oars and picks and axes, but now those hands gripped driftwood cudgels hard as iron, for the god had armed them from his arsenal beneath the sea.[2]
—thoughts of Aeron Greyjoy
When the kingsmoot speaks, we shall see who wears the driftwood crown.[10]
The furnishings were strange but simple; a long table, a settle, a chest, several tall cases full of books, and chairs. All were made from driftwood, oddly shaped pieces cunningly joined together and polished till they shone a deep gold in the candlelight.[5]
—thoughts of Brienne Tarth
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Iron Islands: Driftwood Crowns.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 1, The Prophet.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon - A Question of Succession.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Jaehaerys I.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 31, Brienne VI.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 11, Theon I.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 57, Daenerys V.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 20, Brienne IV.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Iron Islands: The Iron Kings.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 18, The Iron Captain.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 5, Davos I.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 35, Catelyn IV.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 19, The Drowned Man.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 29, The Reaver.