King of the Rock was the title used by the monarchs from House Lannister who ruled the western hills and valleys of Westeros that is now the westerlands. The capital of the Kingdom of the Rock was Casterly Rock near Lannisport.[1]
History
[edit]The Lannisters trace their descent back to Lann the Clever, a trickster from the Age of Heroes who allegedly tricked the Casterlys out of Casterly Rock.[2] There is no record of Lann calling himself king, although some have granted him the title posthumously. The first recorded King of the Rock was Loreon the Lion, who added the lands of House Reyne to his land and defeated House Banefort.[1]
While King Tybolt Lannister defended against the initial coming of the Andals to the westerlands, Kings Tyrion III and Gerold II allowed the Andals to marry into westermen nobility. An Andal knight, Joffrey Lydden, married into the Lannisters and, as King Joffrey Lannister, was the first Andal King of the Rock.[1]
The Kings of the Rock expanded their realm with Andal support. King Cerion conquered the land near the Golden Tooth, and King Tommen I added Fair Isle to the kingdom. Many Kings of the Rock, including Lancel I, Gerold the Great, and Lancel IV, warred with neighboring realms, including the Kingdom of the Reach, the ironborn kings of the Iron Islands, the river kings of the Trident,[1] and the Kings of the Isles and the Rivers.[3]
The last King of the Rock was Loren I, who bent the knee to Aegon the Conqueror after being defeated at the Field of Fire.[1] While House Gardener was extinguished and replaced with House Tyrell during Aegon's Conquest, the Lannisters remained in control of the westerlands and became House Targaryen's Wardens of the West.[1]
Known Kings of the Rock
[edit]
- Lann the Clever, legendary founding ancestor of House Lannister during the Age of Heroes. Posthumously considered King of the Rock.[1]
- King Loreon Lannister, "the Lion", the first true known Lannister king.[1]
- King Tybolt Lannister, "the Thunderbolt", who made sure that the first Andal warlords in the westerlands met a bloody end.[1]
- King Tyrion III Lannister, who instead of fighting the Andals, took their sons and daughters for wards and fosterlings.[1]
- King Gerold II Lannister, son of King Tyrion III, who took the same approach as his father regarding the Andal invaders.[1]
- King Gerold III Lannister, died without male issue. His only daughter's husband, Ser Joffrey Lydden, took the Lannister name and became the first Andal to rule the Rock.[1]
- King Joffrey Lannister, married into the House, took his wife's name, and was the first Andal to rule the Rock.[1]
- King Cerion Lannister, extended his rule as far east as the Golden Tooth.[1]
- King Tommen I Lannister, built a great fleet and brought Fair Isle into the realm.[1]
- King Loreon II Lannister, held the first tourney ever seen in the westerlands.[1]
- King Tywell II Lannister, who was identified by some as being the king in the tale of the Rat Cook.[4]
- King Lancel I Lannister, "the Lion", rode to war against the Gardener kings and conquered the Reach as far south as Old Oak.[1]
- King Loreon III Lannister, "the Limp", son of King Lancel I, lost all his father gained.[1]
- King Gerold Lannister, "the Great", sailed to the Iron Islands and returned with a hundred hostages.[1]
- King Lancel IV Lannister, is said to have beheaded the ironborn king Harrald Halfdrowned and his heir with the House's Valyrian steel sword, Brightroar, in one swing.[N 1] Invaded the Reach during the reign of Gyles III Gardener. He was killed by Ser Wilbert Osgrey at Red Lake.[1]
- King Norwin Lannister, "the Niggardly", who was not known for his openhandedness.[1]
- King Loreon IV Lannister, "the Lackwit", one of Casterly Rock's many weak, cruel and feeble kings.[1]
- King Loreon V Lannister, known as "Queen Lorea", for he was fond of dressing in his wife's clothing and walking the docks of Lannisport in the guise of a common whore. One of Casterly Rock's many weak, cruel and feeble kings.[1]
- King Tyrion II Lannister, "the Tormentor", a strong king, famed for his prowess with a battle-axe, his true delight was torture.[1] His regnal number and the era in which he lived are uncertain.[N 2]
- King Lancel V Lannister[5]
- King Tommen II Lannister, "the Lion King", disappeared with Brightroar during an expedition to Valyria.[1]
- King Loren I Lannister, "the Last", last King of the Rock
Notes
[edit]- ↑ Lancel IV Lannister and Gyles III Gardener were contemporaries).[5][6] As stated by Maester Yandel, they participated in a war involving two kings from the riverlands and three from Dorne,[7] indicating an era prior to the riverlands being ruled by House Durrandon and Dorne being ruled by House Martell (centuries before Aegon's Conquest). Ser Eustace Osgrey says that Lancel IV or Lancel V wielded a Valyrian steel sword,[5] and Yandel writes that Lancel IV wielded the Valyrian steel sword Brightroar and that House Lannister had acquired the blade in the century before the Doom of Valyria (which occurred a century before the Conquest).[1] According to Elio García, before the Valyrian version of it, the Lannisters had probably wielded other swords named Brightroar, made instead of common steel, and the stories of their actions became merged with the last one (like with Ice or Lady Forlorn).[8]
- ↑ In The World of Ice & Fire, Tyrion II is referred to as a monarch who lived in a fairly late Andal era, which gives rise to a contradiction, since King Tyrion III Lannister lived in the time of the invasion of the Andals.[1] According to Elio García, one of the following two corrections should be incorporated: removing the reference about Tyrion II being a "late" king, or changing "II" to "IV".[9]
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 The World of Ice & Fire, The Westerlands.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 27, Eddard VI.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Iron Islands: The Black Blood.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The North.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The Sworn Sword.
- ↑ George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Wilbert Osgrey.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Reach: Andals in the Reach.
- ↑ asoiaf.westeros.org: The ASOIAF wiki thread Comment by Ran (November 16, 2025)
- ↑ Reddit: (Spoilers Extended) Politics of the Seven Kingdoms: The Westerlands, Part II: Comment by u/Elio_Garcia (December 20, 2016)