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 the rose of Winterfell and her son by Mel Rubi | ||||
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| Aliases | ||||
| Allegiance | House Stark | |||
| Culture | Northmen | |||
| Father | Brandon Stark | |||
| Lover | Bael the Bard | |||
| Issue | Lord Stark | |||
| Books |
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The rose of Winterfell, also called the rose o' Winterfell[1] or the winter rose, was the daughter and only child of a Brandon Stark, Lord of Winterfell, according to wilding songs. The legendary Bael the Bard supposedly tricked Lord Brandon and deflowered his daughter. According to the song, she and Bael had a son together, who succeeded his grandfather as Lord Stark.[2]
History
The rose of Winterfell was the subject of a song, supposedly written by the legend King-beyond-the-Wall, Bael the Bard. When he was still only a raider, Bael the Bard heard that Lord Brandon Stark of Winterfell called him a craven who preyed on the weak. Seeking to teach the lord a lesson, Bael scaled the Wall and travelled to Winterfell in the guise of a harpist named Sygerrik of Skagos. Lord Stark was so pleased by his singing that he offered to let him name his own reward. Bael asked only for the "fairest flower that blooms in the gardens o' Winterfell." Believing he meant a winter rose Stark granted the request, but the next morning Bael had vanished, along with Lord Brandon's maiden daughter. Her bed was found empty, with only a pale blue rose left on the pillow where her head had been.[2]
Her disappearance earned her father the epithet Brandon the Daughterless. He urged the Night's Watch to search by the hundreds for any sign of his daughter or Bael. After a year of searching without any sign of her, Brandon lost hope and took too his bed. Yet one night, as Lord Brandon lay waiting to die, he heard a child's crying. Following the sound, he found his daughter back in her bedchamber, sleeping with a baby at her breast. The rose of Winterfell and Bael had been hiding the entire time in Winterfell's crypts. According to the song penned by Bael, she loved him so dearly she bore him a son. Bael left the child to his grandfather in payment for the rose he plucked unasked.[2]
Thanks to the winter rose's son, the Starks and the wildings both share Bael's blood. However, thirty years later, Bael led an invasion south as King-beyond-the-Wall. In the battle that followed, Lord Stark unknowingly slew his own father, who would not harm his son, When his mother saw Bael's head upon her son's spear when he returned from battle, she threw herself from a tower in grief.[2]
Maester Yandel questioned the veracity of the tale of Bael deflowering the Stark maid and getting her with child, calling it an improbable story.[3]
Recent Events
A Clash of Kings
After Jon Snow takes her captive, Ygritte tells him the tale of Bael the Bard, Brandon the Daughterless, and Brandon's daughter, the rose of Winterfell. Ygritte says that the son of the rose of Winterfell grew up to be the next Lord Stark, so she and Jon both have Bael's blood.[2]
Jon admits to Qhorin Halfhand that he let Ygritte go unscathed and tells him that she claimed they were kin. Qhorin is familiar with the song because Mance Rayder would sing it when he was in the Night's Watch.[4]
A Storm of Swords
When Jon recognizes that Mance's tale of sneaking south to Winterfell to attend the feast for King Robert Baratheon as inspired by Bael the Bard, Mance points out that, unlike Bael, he never stole either of Jon's sisters.[5]
Ygritte tells Jon that when she told him the story of Bael the Bard and how he took the rose of Winterfell, she thought for certain that Jon would know to "pluck" her too, but he never did.[1]
Family
Quotes about the rose of Winterfell
All I ask is a flower, the fairest flower that blooms in the gardens o' Winterfell.[2]
And when I told you the tale o' Bael the Bard and how the plucked the rose o' Winterfell, I thought you'd know to pluck me then for certain, but you didn't.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 26, Jon III.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 51, Jon VI.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Wall and Beyond: The Wildlings.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 53, Jon VII.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 7, Jon I.