Falcons are birds of prey similar to real-life falcons. Like hawks, captive falcons can be used for hunting by falconers[1] or be kept as pets.[2]
Culture
[edit]Falcons are especially prevalent near the Eyrie and the Giant's Lance.[3][4][5] The sigil of House Arryn, Lords of the Eyrie, is a sky-blue falcon outlined against a white moon on a sky-blue field.[6][7] Lord Jon Arryn's favorite bird was a falcon gifted to him by King Robert I Baratheon,[2] and his longsword has a falcon-head pommel.[8] Ser Vardis Egen, captain of the House Arryn guards, has falcon's wings on his helm, the visor of which resembles a beak.[8] The Falcon Tower is one of the towers of the Gates of the Moon.[9]
The mews of Harrenhal are said to be haunted by the spirits of dead falcons.[10]
History
[edit]
According to legend, the Winged Knight flew on a huge falcon to the top of the Giant's Lance, where he then defeated the Griffin King.[5] Archmaester Perestan suggests this to be a distorted memory of dragonriders, however.[6]
Falcon's wings decorated the silver warhelm of Ser Artys Arryn, the Falcon Knight.[11] The Kings of Mountain and Vale from House Arryn wore the Falcon Crown.[2] King Osgood Arryn was known as the Old Falcon.[12]
Isembard Arryn, a merchant from House Arryn of Gulltown, became known as the Gilded Falcon after men joked that the falcon on his sigil was made of gold.[13]
Young Robert Baratheon kept a gyrfalcon named Thunderclap.[14]
Recent Events
[edit]A Game of Thrones
[edit]A potboy tells Jory Cassel that Lord Jon Arryn had been considering commissioning plate wrought in pale silver with a blue jasper falcon and a mother-of-pearl moon on the breast. When Lord Eddard Stark asks Tobho Mott if he made a falcon helm for Lord Arryn, the smith explains that Jon and Lord Stannis Baratheon did not patronize his work, but instead were interested in one of his apprentices.[15]
In mourning for the death of her husband, Lady Lysa Arryn wears black silk with a moon-and-falcon sewn in pearls.[16]
A Storm of Swords
[edit]When they go hawking in the kingswood, Sansa Stark's merlin catches three ducks, and Margaery Tyrell's peregrine takes a heron in full flight.[17]
The wedding chalice given by Lord Mace Tyrell to King Joffrey I Baratheon has a falcon of blue jade to represent House Arryn.[18]
Lysa gives Jon's favorite falcon to Marillion.[19]
A Feast for Crows
[edit]While looking upon the Giant's Lance from the Eyrie, Sansa sees a blue-winged falcon soaring above the frozen waterfall of Alyssa's Tears.[2]
After the court of Lord Robert Arryn, the Young Falcon, departs the Eyrie for the Gates of the Moon, Mord butchers the winch oxen and leaves them for the falcons.[5]
The Winds of Winter
[edit]
| Warning This information has thus far been released in a sample chapter for The Winds of Winter, and might therefore not be in finalized form. Keep in mind that the content as described below is still subject to change. |
Each competitor in the tourney to choose the Brotherhood of Winged Knights receives a cloak of cloth-of-silver and a lapis brooch in the shape of a pair of falcon's wings. The eight victors are to receive warhelms decorated with falcon's wings.[9]
Quotes
[edit]And finally, up where the falcons soared, a flash of white in the moonlight. Vertigo washed over her as she stared upward at the pale towers, so far above.[4]
—thoughts of Catelyn Stark
References
[edit]- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 57, Sansa V.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 10, Sansa I.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Seven Kingdoms: The Vale (The Eyrie).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 34, Catelyn VI.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 41, Alayne II.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Seven Kingdoms: The Vale (House Arryn).
- ↑ So Spake Martin: The Arryns and the Hightower (May 9, 1999).
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 40, Catelyn VII.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Winds of Winter, Chapter , Alayne I.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 47, Arya IX.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Seven Kingdoms: The Vale.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 29, Davos IV.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, The Lysene Spring and the End of Regency.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 10, Davos I.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 27, Eddard VI.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 38, Tyrion V.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 16, Sansa II.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 59, Sansa IV.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 80, Sansa VII.