Iron swords,[1] or Iron longswords, are traditionally placed by the Starks on the lap of each stone statue of the Kings in the North and Lords of Winterfell in their crypt, doing so to keep their restless spirits from wandering.[2]
Recent Events
A Game of Thrones
Shortly after arriving at Winterfell, King Robert I Baratheon visits the crypt with Lord Eddard Stark, who notices that the oldest longswords have rusted away to nothing.[2]
A Clash of Kings
Bran and Rickon Stark, Meera and Jojen Reed, Hodor, and Osha survive the sack of Winterfell by hiding within the crypts. Osha takes the sword from Eddard Stark's tomb before they leave, one of the last to come from Mikken's forge, while Meera takes Lord Rickard's sword and Bran takes that of his namesake, his uncle Brandon.[3]
A Storm of Swords
En route to the Wall, Bran recalls that, in addition to the aforementioned three, Hodor also took a much older rusted iron sword, with which he practices at the Tumbledown Tower.[4] During a storm at Queenscrown, Hodor becomes frightened by the lightning and thunder, shouting "Hodor!" loudly and grabbing at his sword as if to fight the storm, but the Reeds easily take the sword from him.[5]
At the Nightfort, Bran is alarmed when he hears sounds coming from the well in the ruined castle's kitchen, so he slips into the mind of the sleeping Hodor, forcing the unknowing stableboy to arm himself with the sword. However, the visitor turns out to be the peaceful Samwell Tarly of the Night's Watch.[6]
A Dance with Dragons
When Bran and his companions reach the cave of the three-eyed crow, they are ambushed by wights just outside the cave's entrance, so Bran enters Hodor's mind and uses his longsword to fight off the wights.[7]
Lady Barbrey Dustin has Theon show her the entrance to the crypts, where they notice one statue missing a rusted sword, as well as swords missing from those of Lord Rickard Stark and Brandon Stark.[8]
Quotes
The old Kings of Winter are down there, sitting on their thrones with stone wolves at their feet and iron swords across their laps, but it's not them I'm afraid of.[1]
Theon had never felt comfortable in the crypts. He could feel the stone kings staring down at him with their stone eyes, stone fingers curled around the hilts of rusted longswords. None had any love for ironborn.[8]
—thoughts of Theon Greyjoy
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 26, Jon IV.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 4, Eddard I.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 69, Bran VII.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 9, Bran I.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 40, Bran III.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 56, Bran IV.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 13, Bran II.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 41, The Turncloak.