Lord Toad
| Lord Toad | |
|---|---|
| Alias | Lord Toad |
| Allegiance | House Lannister |
| Culture | Westermen |
| Book | The World of Ice & Fire (mentioned) |
Lord Toad was a fool at Casterly Rock during the time of Lord Gerold the Golden.[1] His real name is unknown.
Contents
Appearance
Lord Toad was a hunchback. He was old, and had a scathingly acidic wit.[1]
History
When the grieving Lord Gerold Lannister retreated into his books and bedchamber, Lady Ellyn Reyne, the wife of Lord Gerold's heir, Ser Tion, held sway at the court of Casterly Rock. Ellyn hosted splendid tournaments and balls, and used her new position to empower her own house. Her brothers Roger and Reynard were ever at her side, and Ellyn lavished them with offices, honors, and lands. She did similar with her cousins, uncles, and other kin. Lord Toad, Gerold's fool, was heard to say, "Lady Ellyn must surely be a sorceress, for she has made it rain inside the Rock all year."[1] According to a semi-canon source, when Ellyn heard the jape, she commanded that Lord Toad be whipped. As Lord Gerold was too sick to interfere, and Ser Tion was too in love to refuse his wife anything, it was done.[2]
After Ser Tion was killed in the Fourth Blackfyre Rebellion, his younger brother Tytos Lannister became Lord Gerold's new heir.[1] According to a semi-canon source, Lord Toad rejoiced that the "Reign of the Reynes" was over.[2] Per that same source, Lady Ellyn made an attempt to cling to her position, claiming to be pregnant by Ser Tion, but as months passed, she was seen to be a liar. Lord Toad was merciless in his mockery of Ellyn, angering Roger Reyne,[2] who soon departed Casterly Rock for Castamere, accompanied by his brother and many of the other Reynes.[1]
After Ellyn unsuccessfully attempted to seduce Tytos to convince him to set aside his wife, Lady Jeyne Marbrand, Lord Gerold Lannister had Ellyn hastily wed to the widowed Walderan Tarbeck, the fifty-five-year-old Lord of Tarbeck Hall,[1] an extremely fat man who Lord Toad described as a "walrus".[2]
Lord Toad later called the bitter and ugly rivalry between Lady Ellyn Tarbeck and Lady Jeyne Lannister the "War of the Wombs", as they competed to provide their husbands with heirs.[1]
According to a semi-canon source, it was Lord Toad who dubbed Lord Tytos Lannister as "the Laughing Lion" for his jovial nature. Years after both Tytos's and Lord Toad's deaths, Gerold Lannister, Tytos's youngest son, observed that Lord Toad would have been a better lord than his father.[2]
Quotes
—Lord Toad
A wallowing walrus of a man. If bellies were brains, he might have been the wisest man in all the west.[2]
—Lord Toad, about Walderan Tarbeck
My lord father would have made a splendid innkeep, but old Toad would have been a better lord.[2]