| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jeyne Westerling, by Eluas© | ||||
|
| ||||
| Titles |
| |||
| Allegiances | ||||
| Culture | Westermen | |||
| Born |
283 AC[2] the Crag[1] | |||
| Father | Lord Gawen Westerling | |||
| Mother | Lady Sybell Spicer | |||
| Spouse | King Robb Stark | |||
| Books |
| |||
Jeyne Westerling is the eldest daughter of Lord Gawen Westerling and Lady Sybell Spicer. In the television adaptation Game of Thrones, her character is replaced by Talisa Maegyr of Volantis, played by Oona Chaplin.
Appearance and Character
Jeyne is a pretty girl.[3] She has curly chestnut hair,[3][4] a heart-shaped face,[3] a shy smile,[3] and doe-like soft brown eyes.[4] Jeyne is slender[3] and willowy, with small, apple-sized breasts.[4] Catelyn Stark thinks that though Jeyne is slender, she has good hips, and should have no trouble bearing children.[3][N 1]
Although she is shy, Jeyne is polite and caring.[3][8][9] Kevan Lannister thought she was a sweet child,[10] and Jaime Lannister thinks that as an adolescent, Jeyne is more awkward than graceful.[4]
History
House Westerling is an old house who descend from the First Men.[3] Despite their ancient heritage and nobility, the family is not rich, as their mines have failed. Possibly to better his finances, Lord Gawen Westerling wed Sybell Spicer, the daughter of an ennobled family, House Spicer, who descend from a spice merchant and his wife, a maegi of Essos who provided potions to the people of Lannisport. Gawen once offered his daughter Jeyne to Ser Kevan Lannister as a match for one of his sons, Willem or Martyn, but Kevan rejected the offer because of the "doubtful blood" of the Spicers.[10] As the Crag is not far from Casterly Rock, Jeyne may have played with Willem Lannister and Tion Frey when they were children.[8]
Recent Events
A Game of Thrones
Robb Stark, the Young Wolf, agrees to marry a daughter of Lord Walder Frey as part of the alliance between Houses Stark and Frey at the start of the War of the Five Kings.[11] Jeyne's father, Lord Gawen Westerling, is captured by Robb's army during the battle in the Whispering Wood.[12] After the Battle of the Camps, Robb is proclaimed King in the North by the nobles assembled at Riverrun.[13]
A Clash of Kings
Gawen is held as a hostage at Seagard.[14]
Riverrun receives word that Robb is marching against the Crag, the ancestral keep of House Westerling, during his campaign in the westerlands.[15] The people of Riverrun later celebrate Ser Edmure Tully's victory in the Battle of the Fords and Robb's conquest of the Crag.[16]
While at Harrenhal, Robb's incognito sister, Arya, learns from Elmar Frey that his House has been dishonored.[17]
A Storm of Swords
King Robb was wounded by an arrow in the storming of the Crag, and Jeyne's mother, Sybell, and uncle, Ser Rolph Spicer, encouraged the girl to nurse him.[18] While recuperating at the Crag, Robb received a message that his younger brothers, Bran and Rickon, were killed by his former friend, Theon Greyjoy, who captured Winterfell. Jeyne comforted Robb in his grief, and they slept together. To protect her honor after taking her maidenhead, Robb married her the next day,[3] but the marriage ended Robb's alliance with Lord Walder.[17] Black Walder Frey threatened to kill Jeyne so that a widower Robb could then marry a Frey, but Jeyne begged her husband to be merciful, and Black Walder was spared.[3] The outraged Freys take their forces at the Crag[3] and Riverrun[19] back to the Twins.
When Robb Stark returns to Riverrun, he introduces his mother, Catelyn Stark, to the Westerlings and Spicers, and to his new wife, Jeyne. Catelyn learns how Robb and Jeyne met and married, and that this is the reason the Frey alliance has been broken. Though she approves of Jeyne personally, Catelyn is distraught at the news; however, because Robb has forgiven her for her own actions done in grief for the deaths of Bran and Rickon, freeing the hostage Jaime Lannister, she has no choice but to forgive him in turn. She welcomes Jeyne and her family to Riverrun.[3] Nevertheless, Catelyn worries that Robb no longer keeps Grey Wind with him because he makes Jeyne anxious, though Robb explains it is only because the direwolf killed a knight at the Crag whom Jeyne had known for years.[3]
At a meeting of the small council in the Red Keep in King's Landing, Lord Tywin Lannister informs his son Tyrion of the marriage of Robb and Jeyne. Tyrion is astonished that Robb would reject the Freys for the much smaller support of the Westerlings. Tyrion also wonders why the Westerlings do not fear Tywin's wrath, citing the example of the destruction of the Reynes and Tarbecks, and why Tywin does not seem to be enraged, but instead pleased at the news. Tywin only tells him that the Westerlings are very aware of Castamere, and that Tyrion must soon marry Sansa Stark, Robb's sister and current heir, hostage in the Red Keep.[10]
Jeyne and Robb are devoted to each other and frequently try to conceive an heir, which both Catelyn and Sybell agree is important. Sybell gives her daughter herbal possets to drink every morning, claiming it will help make her fertile.[8] Jeyne tells Catelyn that she thinks she will be pregnant very soon. Jeyne also tells her that she tries hard to be a good wife for Robb, although she is worried about the pressure he is under as king. On Catelyn's advice, Jeyne tries to be patient and understanding.[8] Robb, for his part, is able to smile and be temporarily without worries when he is in her company.[9]
After negotiations, Walder Frey agrees to ally again with the Starks in return for the marriage of Robb's uncle, Lord Edmure Tully, to Roslin Frey, and a personal apology from Robb.[9] When the Stark host leaves for the Twins, Robb chooses to keep Jeyne and most of her family at Riverrun, under the protection of Ser Brynden Tully, to avoid extra tension with the Freys. However, Jeyne is extremely reluctant to be separated from her husband. Robb and Jeyne say farewell three times, once in the godswood at Riverrun, once at the portcullis of the castle, and the third time an hour north of the Tumblestone, when Jeyne catches up with the army on a lathered horse. Though Robb is touched by her desire to accompany him, he sends Jeyne back to Riverrun with a dozen men to guard her.[20]
Outside of the wedding of Edmure and Roslin at the Twins, Arya is puzzled when she hears a feasting northman cheer the Young Wolf and Queen Jeyne.[21] Within the Twins, Houses Frey and Bolton betray and kill Robb, beginning the Red Wedding.[22] Ser Kevan Lannister later instructs King Tommen I Baratheon to pardon the Westerlings and grant the title of Lord of Castamere to Rolph.[23]
A Feast for Crows
Although most of the river lords submit to the Iron Throne, Riverrun remains under the control of Brynden Tully, who refuses to surrender the castle or the Westerlings to Lannister or Frey forces.[24] Jeyne goes into mourning for Robb, to the chagrin of her mother, who had been in secret negotiations with Lord Tywin Lannister. Jeyne refuses to give up the crown that Robb had given her, and when Sybell forcefully takes it away, Jeyne fights her mother, receiving a scratch on her forehead that eventually scabs over.[4]
The siege of Riverrun is settled peacefully by Ser Jaime Lannister in an agreement with the captive Edmure Tully. When Jaime interviews the Westerlings and asks if Jeyne is pregnant with Robb's child, Jeyne tries to flee, sobbing, while Sybell explains that she is not, as she had made sure of that per Lord Tywin's orders.[4] Unbeknownst to Jeyne, the daily potions given to her by Sybell actually prevented pregnancy.[1][18] Jaime agrees with Sybell that per her negotiations with Tywin Lannister, Jeyne and her sister, Eleyna, are to marry lords or heirs, but that Jeyne must remain unmarried for two years, to avoid tales that her dead husband Robb had given her a child and thus an heir to the north. Jaime tasks Ser Forley Prester with escorting Edmure and the Westerlings to the westerlands. Jaime tells Forley to have archers kill Jeyne if there is any attempt at escape. Before Jeyne leaves, Jaime notices that she has ripped her finely-made clothes in an act of mourning for Robb and rebellion against her mother.[4]
Quotes by Jeyne
Catelyn: I have a new daughter. Be welcome to our hall and hearth.
Jeyne: Thank you, my lady. I shall be a good and true wife to Robb, I swear. And as wise a queen as I can.[3]—Catelyn Stark and Jeyne
Jeyne: I want to be a good wife to him, I do, but I don't know how to help. To cheer him, or comfort him. I don't know what he needs. Please, my lady, you're his mother, tell me what I should do.
Catelyn: Sometimes, the best thing you can do is nothing. When I first came to Winterfell, I was hurt whenever Ned went to the godswood to sit beneath his heart tree. Part of his soul was in that tree, I knew, a part I would never share. Yet without that part, I soon realized, he would not have been Ned. Jeyne, child, you have wed the north, as I did ... and in the north, the winters will come. Be patient. Be understanding. He loves you and he needs you, and he will come back to you soon enough. This very night, perhaps. Be there when he does. That is all I can tell you.[8]—Jeyne and Catelyn Stark
Sybell: She would not give up the little crown the rebel gave her, and when I tried to take it from her the willful child fought me.
Jeyne: It was mine. You had no right. Robb had it made for me. I loved him.[4]—Sybell Spicer and Jeyne, to Jaime Lannister
Quotes about Jeyne
Queen. Yes, this pretty little girl is a queen, I must remember that. She was pretty, undeniably, with her chestnut curls and heart-shaped face, and that shy smile. Slender, but with good hips, Catelyn noted. She should have no trouble bearing children, at least.[3]
—thoughts of Catelyn Stark
Robb: Jeyne is bright as well as beautiful. And kind as well. She has a gentle heart.
Catelyn: Tell me how this came to be.
Robb: I took her castle and she took my heart.[3]—Robb Stark and Catelyn Stark
Tywin: The Young Wolf has taken Gawen Westerling's eldest daughter to wife.
Tyrion: He broke his sworn word? He threw away the Freys for...
Kevan: A maid of sixteen years, named Jeyne.[10]
And Jeyne seemed a sweet child, I'll grant you, though I only saw her once. But with such doubtful blood...[10]
Jeyne Westerling is her mother's daughter, and Robb Stark is his father's son.[10]
Walder: And where's your bride, Your Grace? The fair Queen Jeyne. A Westerling of the Crag, I'm told, heh.
Robb: I left her at Riverrun, my lord. She was too weary for more travel, as we told Ser Ryman.
Walder: That makes me grievous sad. I wanted to behold her with mine own weak eyes. We all did, heh. Isn't that so, my lady?
Joyeuse: Y-yes, my lord. We all so wanted to pay homage to Queen Jeyne. She must be fair to look on.
Robb: She is most fair, my lady.[25]
Jaime: Will you exchange the Westerlings for Edmure?
Brynden: No. My king entrusted his queen to my keeping, and I swore to keep her safe. I will not hand her over to a Frey noose.[26]
She did not look dangerous. Jeyne was a willowy girl, no more than fifteen or sixteen, more awkward than graceful. She had breasts the size of apples, a mop of chestnut curls, and the soft brown eyes of a doe. Pretty enough for a child, Jaime decided, but not a girl to lose a kingdom for.[4][N 1]
—thoughts of Jaime Lannister
Jaime: Best keep some archers near Lord Westerling's daughter as well.
Forley: Gawen's girl? She's—
Jaime: —the Young Wolf's widow, and twice as dangerous as Edmure if she were ever to escape us.[4]
Family
Jeyne has two brothers, Ser Raynald and Rollam, and a younger sister, Eleyna. Her elder brother Raynald was present at the Red Wedding, at which he freed Grey Wind and tried to escape the Freys by jumping in the Green Fork. However, he is presumed dead.[4] Her younger brother Rollam served as Robb's squire.[3]
Behind the Scenes
Due to the original discrepancy in the descriptions of Jeyne from Catelyn Stark in A Storm of Swords[3] and Jaime Lannister A Feast for Crows,[4] readers once speculated that the Jeyne presented to Jaime was an imposter, perhaps her sister Eleyna, perhaps to protect the fact that the real Jeyne was pregnant; however, since George R. R. Martin has confirmed that discrepancy was an error[5][6] and current editions of A Feast for Crows have corrected it,[7] the theory is baseless.
Martin has teased the fact that Jeyne would make an appearance in the prologue chapter of The Winds of Winter.[27]
External links
- Talisa Maegyr on the Wiki of Westeros
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 In the original edition of A Feast for Crows, Jaime Lannister describes Jeyne as having "narrow hips".[4] However, George R. R. Martin confirmed this was an error,[5][6] and later editions of the book (as of 2014) have removed Jaime's hips description entirely.[7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Jeyne Westerling.
- ↑ See the Jeyne Westerling calculation.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 14, Catelyn II.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 44, Jaime VII.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 So Spake Martin: Union Square Signing (July 14, 2011).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Influential Fan Portrait: Elio García and Linda Antonsson, Webmasters of Game of Thrones’ Westeros.org (October 19, 2012)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 2014 screenshot of recent A Feast for Crows edition
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 20, Catelyn III.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 35, Catelyn IV.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 19, Tyrion III.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 59, Catelyn IX.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 63, Catelyn X.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 71, Catelyn XI.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Appendix.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 45, Catelyn VI.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 55, Catelyn VII.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 64, Arya X.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Sybell Spicer.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 2, Catelyn I.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 45, Catelyn V.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 50, Arya X.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 51, Catelyn VII.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 72, Jaime IX.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 17, Cersei IV.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 49, Catelyn VI.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 38, Jaime VI.
- ↑ George R.R. Martin teases the prologue and plotlines of ‘The Winds of Winter’ (July 28, 2014)