Grumkin

Grumkins are fabled creatures that appear in Westerosi folktales.^[1]

Folklore

Grumkins are implied to be of short stature^[2] or otherwise of very small size^[3] and may also steal and replace children.^[4]

Grumkins are associated with granting wishes, either by crafting magical objects which make wishes come true,^[5] or by directly giving people a number of wishes, of which the third wish is the last and must be used carefully.^[6] Grumkins can apparently enchant objects like swords.^[3]

Adults no longer believe in grumkins and consider them imaginary beings,^[7] comparable to legendary animals and supernatural entities^[8] or the monsters that children's wet nurses warn them against.^[2]

History

Old Nan has told stories about grumkins to the children of Lord Eddard Stark.^[6] Since Arya Stark looks more like her half brother Jon Snow than her trueborn siblings, her sister Sansa once asked their mother, Lady Catelyn Stark, if the real Arya had been taken by grumkins.^[4]

Recent Events

A Game of Thrones

Tyrion Lannister jokes about grumkins and snarks to Jon Snow.^[2]^[9]

A Clash of Kings

Lord Varys disbelieves Ser Alliser Thorne's story of wights, thinking them as non-existent as grumkins and snarks.^[10]

A Feast for Crows

The small council of King Tommen I Baratheon mocks the mission of the Night's Watch, with Qyburn saying they defend against grumkins and snarks.^[11]

Quotes

Tyrion: Why did he attack me?

Jon: Maybe he thought you were a grumkin.

Tyrion: Oh, gods, I suppose I do rather look like a grumkin.^[2]
—Tyrion Lannister and Jon Snow

I hear that a good many rangers have vanished of late. Perhaps the grumkins are hungry this year.^[9]
—Tyrion Lannister to Jon Snow

In Old Nan's stories the grumkins crafted magic things that could make a wish come true. Did I wish him dead? she wondered, before she remembered that she was too old to believe in grumkins.^[5]
—thoughts of Sansa Stark

What if we should find the queen and discover that this talk of dragons was just some sailor's drunken fancy? This wide world is full of such mad tales. Grumkins and snarks, ghosts and ghouls, mermaids, rock goblins, winged horses, winged pigs ... winged lions.^[8]
—Tyrion Lannister to Griff

This southron king seemed to be one of those men to whom women are another race, as strange and unfathomable as giants and grumkins and the children of the forest.^[12]
—thoughts of Asha Greyjoy

References

↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Bones and Beyond: Yi Ti.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 13, Tyrion II.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 70, Jon IX.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 15, Sansa I.
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 61, Sansa V.
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 47, Arya IX.
↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 51, Catelyn VII.
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 8, Tyrion III.
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 19, Jon III.
↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 25, Tyrion VI.
↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 17, Cersei IV.
↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 42, The King's Prize.

[Rtwoiafthe_bones_and_beyond:_yi_ti{{{3}}}{{{4}}}-1] The World of Ice & Fire, The Bones and Beyond: Yi Ti.

[Ragot13{{{3}}}{{{4}}}-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 13, Tyrion II.

[Ragot70{{{3}}}{{{4}}}-3] 3.0 ^3.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 70, Jon IX.

[Ragot15{{{3}}}{{{4}}}-4] 4.0 ^4.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 15, Sansa I.

[Rasos61{{{3}}}{{{4}}}-5] 5.0 ^5.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 61, Sansa V.

[Racok47{{{3}}}{{{4}}}-6] 6.0 ^6.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 47, Arya IX.

[Rasos51{{{3}}}{{{4}}}-7] A Storm of Swords, Chapter 51, Catelyn VII.

[Radwd8{{{3}}}{{{4}}}-8] 8.0 ^8.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 8, Tyrion III.

[Ragot19{{{3}}}{{{4}}}-9] 9.0 ^9.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 19, Jon III.

[Racok25{{{3}}}{{{4}}}-10] A Clash of Kings, Chapter 25, Tyrion VI.

[Raffc17{{{3}}}{{{4}}}-11] A Feast for Crows, Chapter 17, Cersei IV.

[Radwd42{{{3}}}{{{4}}}-12] A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 42, The King's Prize.

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