Great Hall

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Great Hall or great hall is a common designation for the largest halls of castles in Westeros.

Culture

The Hall of a Hundred Hearths is a cavernous and drafty room at Harrenhal, larger than even the Great Hall of the Red Keep.[1]

Great Halls can be used to host large feasts for his retainers,[2][3][4] but also for trivial meals.[5][6][1]

History

After King Aegon I Targaryen joined his sister Rhaenys at Sunspear in 4 AC, he gathered dignitaries to the Great Hall of Sunspear and declared that Dorne was now part of the realm ruled from the Iron Throne.[7]

Rogar Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, was in the Round Hall with his young son Boremund on his lap when Princess Rhaena Targaryen blamed him for the death of her mother, Alyssa Velaryon.[8]

In 58 AC, Queen Alysanne Targaryen visited White Harbor, where she was hosted by Lord Theomore Manderly, who organised a feast in her honor in the Merman's Court, the Great Hall of the New Castle. Days later, Alysanne held one of her women's courts in Theomore's own hall.[9]

On his way to the north to sway its lords to Rhaenyra's side at the start of the Dance of the Dragons, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, flying on his dragon Vermax, stopped at White Harbor and was received at the Merman's Court by Lord Desmond Manderly.[10] Both the blacks and the greens both sought the support of Lord Borros Baratheon, so Prince Aemond Targaryen and Prince Lucerys Velaryon were sent to represent their respective factions and were received by Borros in the Round Hall.[10]

During the tourney at Ashford Meadow in 209 AC, Ser Duncan the Tall was redirected to the Great Hall of Ashford by an Ashford guard when he was looking for Plummer. Ducan was later brought to the Great Hall when Prince Aerion Targaryen demanded a trial of seven.[11]

Recent history

When Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and his escort visited Griffin's Roost for a fortnight while returning from Dorne, Lord Armond Connington hosted a welcoming feast in the Great Hall of Griffin's Roost, where Rhaegar played a song on his harp which made women in the hall weep.[12]

During the opening night of the Great tourney at Harrenhal, the Hall of a Hundred Hearths held[13] a great feast for the lords from throughout the Seven Kingdoms, during which Lyanna Stark cried at the singing of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, Lord Robert Baratheon drank wine with Ser Richard Lonmouth, and a wandering crow sought recruits for the Night's Watch. Also, Lady Ashara Dayne danced with a knight of the Kingsguard, Prince Oberyn Martell, Lord Jon Connington, and then with the shy Eddard Stark.[14]

The family of Lord Eddard Stark often eats in the Great Hall of Winterfell, and Eddard always keeps an extra seat at his table for a servant or adviser to join him.[15]

Recent Events

A Game of Thrones

Lord Eddard Stark holds a welcoming feast for King Robert I Baratheon in the Great Hall of Winterfell.[16] When Yoren eats in the Great Hall of Winterfell with Robb Stark, a long trestle table is set up near the hearth.[17]

Jon Snow takes his meals in the common hall.[5][6] Jon introduces Samwell Tarly to Ghost in the hall.[6]

After Eddard's arrest in King's Landing, Robb Stark calls the northern banners to Winterfell. The Great Hall is not large enough to seat all of the visitors at the same time, so Robb hosts them in turn. When Lord Jon Umber challenges Robb's authority, the boy's direwolf, Grey Wind, bites off two of the Greatjon's fingers. A laughing Lord Umber then becomes Robb's strongest supporter.[18]

Catelyn Stark enters the Twins as Robb's envoy and meets with Lord Walder Frey in the Great Hall of the east castle, where they negotiate an alliance between Houses Stark and Frey, which includes Robb promising to marry one of Walder's daughters and Arya Stark to marry Elmar Frey.[19]

After the Battle of the Camps, Robb Stark holds a war council with northmen and river lords in the Great Hall of Riverrun, where the gathered nobles eventually proclaim Robb to be King in the North.[20]

A Clash of Kings

King Stannis Baratheon, Lord of Dragonstone, holds a quiet feast with his followers in the Great Hall of Dragonstone, during which Cressen attempts to poison Melisandre with the strangler while leading a toast to her Lord of Light. The red priestess survives the assassination attempt, however, and the maester chokes to death instead.[2]

In the Great Hall of Riverrun, King Robb publicly announces his peace offer to Ser Cleos Frey, who will deliver the message to Queen Regent Cersei Lannister in King's Landing.[21]

The harvest feast is held in Winterfell's Great Hall. After the attendees eat, the tables are clearing to allow space for dancing.[22]

After the melee at Bitterbridge, Lord Lorent Caswell hosts a farewell feast in the Great Hall of Bitterbridge for the departing King Renly Baratheon. Catelyn Stark is seated on the dais between Lord Mathis Rowan and Ser Jon Fossoway, and Catelyn's retinue are squeezed onto the crowded benches with Renly's knights.[3]

Balon Greyjoy, Lord of the Iron Islands, hosts a feast in the Great Hall of Pyke for the captains and bannermen who have mustered for his invasion of the north. The gathered guests laugh at Theon Greyjoy after he is mocked by his sister, Asha.[23]

Calling himself Prince of Winterfell, Theon Greyjoy claims the high seat during the capture of Winterfell by his ironborn. Theon has the servants gathered in the Great Hall so they can hear Bran Stark relinquish the castle.[24]

Harrenhal is left nearly empty once Lord Tywin Lannister's army marches west to confront Robb Stark, so Ser Amory Lorch closes off the Hall of a Hundred Hearths.[25]

While in the House of the Undying in Qarth, Daenerys Targaryen has a vision of her late father, King Aerys II Targaryen, speaking to a man from atop the Iron Throne in a cavernous stone hall.[26]

While the rest of Riverrun celebrates Ser Edmure Tully's victory on the Battle of the Fords and Robb's conquest of the Crag, Catelyn Tully and Brienne of Tarth eat by themselves in the Great Hall.[27]

After the sack of Winterfell, Bran emerges from the crypt of Winterfell to find the Great Hall's doors charred and smoldering. Its rafters have given way, causing the roof to crash down.[28]

A Storm of Swords

When Lord Rickard Karstark kills two of Robb's prisoners, Willem Lannister and Tion Frey, Robb has the victims' bodies brought before him in the torch-lit Great Hall of Riverrun, where Rickard openly challenges his authority. Robb orders Rickard's conspirators to be hanged, and he beheads Lord Karstark the next day in Riverrun's godswood.[29]

When Bran Stark, Hodor, and Meera and Jojen Reed arrive at the Nightfort to go beyond the Wall, they find the castle's great hall to be filled with rats and with only one remaining wall.[30]

During the capture of Harrenhal by the Mountain's men, Ser Gregor Clegane finds a fevered Vargo Hoat sitting alone in the Hall of a Hundred Hearths.[31]

A Feast for Crows

While marching to Riverrun to resolve its siege, Ser Jaime Lannister and his chief knights have supper with Amerei Frey and Mariya Darry in the Great Hall of Darry.[32]

A Dance with Dragons

Since the common hall was burned to the ground by wildlings during the attack on Castle Black, the Night's Watch take their meals in one of the vaults of Castle Black, a stone cellar below the armory.[33]

After being released from the Dungeons of the Dreadfort, Big Walder and Little Walder Frey bring the mutilated Theon Greyjoy, now called "Reek", to the Great Hall of the Dreadfort, where Ramsay Bolton is feasting with Arnolf Karstark, Hother Umber.[4]

When Lord Davos Seaworth arrives in White Harbor to treat with Lord Wyman on behalf of Stannis Baratheon, the onion knight is brought before Wyman in the Merman's Court, where a large audience is present, including Ser Jared, Symond, and Rhaegar Frey, three envoys from the Twins. After Wyman hears Davos's plea to join Stannis's cause, he orders his cousin, Ser Marlon Manderly, to have Davos executed in the Wolf's Den.[34] Davos is secretly imprisoned, however, and another prisoner is executed instead.[35]

When Wyman's heir, Ser Wylis Manderly, safely returns to White Harbor, a feast is held in celebration in the Merman's Court, where fiddlers and pipers provide music, and Wynafryd Manderly dances with Rhaegar Frey. Lord Wyman excuses himself from the feast, but instead of going to the privy, he secretly meets with Robett Glover and the freed Davos in another room of the New Castle.[35]

Lord Roose Bolton, the new Warden of the North after the Red Wedding, holds the wedding feast of his son Ramsay to "Arya Stark" in the Great Hall of Winterfell, with Abel performing music and Lord Wyman Manderly providing food and drink. Raw planks have been raised to replace the original burned doors.[36] After several men are found dead at Winterfell, the nobles begin quarreling during their meals in the Great Hall.[37] When Little Walder Frey is found dead, Freys and Manderlys begin fighting each other in the hall.[38]

Known Great Halls

See also

  • Small Hall, a hall within the Tower of the Hand at the Red Keep in King's Landing.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 37, Jaime V.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 A Clash of Kings, Prologue.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 22, Catelyn II.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 12, Reek I.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 19, Jon III.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 26, Jon IV.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Fire & Blood, Reign of the Dragon - The Wars of King Aegon I.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Fire & Blood, Birth, Death, and Betrayal Under King Jaehaerys I.
  9. ↑ Fire & Blood, Jaehaerys and Alysanne - Their Triumphs and Tragedies.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - A Son for a Son.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Hedge Knight.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 61, The Griffin Reborn.
  13. ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Fall of the Dragons: The Year of the False Spring.
  14. ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 24, Bran II.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 22, Arya II.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 5, Jon I.
  17. ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 24, Bran IV.
  18. ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 53, Bran VI.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 59, Catelyn IX.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 71, Catelyn XI.
  21. ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 7, Catelyn I.
  22. ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 21, Bran III.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 24, Theon II.
  24. ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 46, Bran VI.
  25. ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 47, Arya IX.
  26. ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 48, Daenerys IV.
  27. ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 55, Catelyn VII.
  28. ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 69, Bran VII.
  29. ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 20, Catelyn III.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 56, Bran IV.
  31. ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 62, Jaime VII.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 30, Jaime IV.
  33. ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 10, Jon III.
  34. ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 19, Davos III.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 29, Davos IV.
  36. ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 37, The Prince of Winterfell.
  37. ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 46, A Ghost in Winterfell.
  38. ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 51, Theon I.
  39. ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 40, Tyrion IX.
  40. ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 55, Jon VII.
  41. ↑ Fire & Blood, A Surfeit of Rulers.
  42. ↑ The Winds of Winter, Alayne I
  43. ↑ The Winds of Winter, Arianne I
  44. ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 15, Davos II.
  45. ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 29, The Reaver.
  46. ↑ The Mystery Knight.
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