Elinor Costayne
    QueenElinor Costayne | |
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 Elinor Costayne, as depicted by Magali Villeneuve in The World of Ice & Fire | |
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| Culture | Reach |
| Born | 28 AC[1] |
| Father | Lord Costayne |
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Elinor Costayne was a noblewoman from House Costayne and one of the many brides of King Maegor I Targaryen. Along with Lady Jeyne Westerling and Princess Rhaena Targaryen, she was one of the so-called "Black Brides".[3]
History
Elinor enjoyed a quiet life[4] with her three children by her first husband, Ser Theo Bolling. However, in 47 AC, Theo was arrested by knights of the Kingsguard, accused of conspiring with Queen Alyssa Velaryon to place her son, Prince Jaehaerys, on the Iron Throne, and was executed. After seven days of mourning, Elinor was summoned to wed King Maegor I Targaryen, who sought to marry three women of proven fertility. Her sons' presence at the wedding ensured she would play her part in the ceremony. According to one tale, Elinor scratched Maegor's back to bloody ribbons as they coupled.[2]
Elinor's sons were sent away from her after her wedding to Maegor; her eldest was fostered at the Eyrie, her second son at Highgarden, and her youngest was given to a wet nurse.[2]
In 48 AC, When Queen Tyanna of the Tower admitted to poisoning Queen Alys Harroway during her pregnancy, Tyanna promised the same would happen to the pregnant Elinor. Two months later, Tyanna was proven correct when Elinor gave birth to a stillborn abomination said to have been born eyeless and with small wings.[2]
That year, Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen pressed his claim to the Iron Throne. Maegor's response was sluggish and confused, but though he was heavily outnumbered, he refused to surrender. At the end of his war council, Maegor remained behind alone in the throne room to brood. He was found the next morning by Queen Elinor, dead upon the Iron Throne with his wrists cut and one of the swords pointing through his neck. His death remains a mystery; some say he was killed by Queen Elinor, others that he had been killed by a knight of his own Kingsguard, yet others say he was killed by a builder who escaped the massacre the king had ordered three years prior and desired revenge, and many believe that Maegor had been killed by the throne itself for his unworthiness. Others believe that Maegor killed himself by opening his wrists on the blades of the Iron Throne.[2][3][5]
Elinor was one of two wives who survived the king, the other being Queen Rhaena Targaryen.[3][2]
After King Maegor's death, Lord Daemon Velaryon proposed that King Jaehaerys I Targaryen marry Queen Elinor to reconcile with Maegor's supporters when a bride was being considered for the king, but nothing came of the proposal.[6] After Jaehaerys's ascent, Elinor departed King's Landing dressed in the robes of a penitent. She visited her two elder sons at the Eyrie and Highgarden before retiring to her father's seat at the Three Towers with her youngest son.[7]
In 51 AC, King Jaehaerys commanded Elinor to be one of his Seven Speakers, three men and four women he sent out to spread his Doctrine of Exceptionalism to the peoples of the Seven Kingdoms. Elinor dressed in queenly raiment, which became shabbier and more threadbare each day she traveled through the Reach, but she eloquently testified to the evils of her late husband Maegor and the goodness of Jaehaerys and Alysanne.[8]
Years later, Elinor gave up all claims to nobility, becoming Mother Elinor at the great motherhouse in Lannisport.[8]
Family
| Lord Costayne | Unknown wife | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Theo Bolling | Elinor Costayne | Maegor I Targaryen | Son(s) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Three sons | Stillborn son | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- ↑ See the Elinor Costayne calculation.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Fire & Blood, The Sons of the Dragon.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Maegor I.
- ↑ The Rise of the Dragon, The Reign of Jaehaerys I: The Early Reign.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 36, Davos IV.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, The Year of the Three Brides - 49 AC.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, A Surfeit of Rulers.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Fire & Blood, A Time of Testing - The Realm Remade.
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