The shaking sickness[1] is a condition similar to epilepsy.
Disease
The shaking sickness causes its sufferers to twitch,[2] tremble,[1] and have violent seizures.[3] Such seizures are often treated with dreamwine, to calm the sufferer, and leeching, per the belief that they are caused by rage from "bad blood".[3][4]
History
Member of House Targaryen have historically not been afflicted by diseases such as the shaking sickness.[5]
When people started to die of a mysterious sickness at Dragonstone, Maester Culiper determined it was not the shaking sickness. It turned out to be poisonings by Androw Farman.[6]
Recent Events
A Game of Thrones
Robert Arryn, the young Lord of the Eyrie, suffers from the shaking sickness.[1]
A Storm of Swords
When Edmure Tully, Lord of Riverrun, meets a Frey girl with a twitch, he wonders if she has the shaking sickness.[7]
In the godswood of the Eyrie, Robert uses his doll to destroy a snow castle replica of Winterfell made by his cousin, Sansa Stark, who is disguised as Petyr Baelish's bastard daughter, Alayne Stone. When Sansa rips the doll, Robert has a fit and is taken away by Maester Colemon.[3]
A Feast for Crows
During a shaking fit, Robert kicks Ser Lothor Brune in the face and wets himself.[4]
After Robert has a violent shaking fit, Petyr Baelish suggests to Maester Colemon that he should put a pinch of sweetsleep in Sweetrobin's milk, to calm him down and to stop the shaking. The maester agrees to one small pinch, not much and not too often. Littlefinger then tells him to give the boy a pinch before he meets the Lords Declarant later.[8]
Later, Alayne tells Maester Colemon to give Robert a cup of "sweetmilk" in order to keep him calm during the long descent from the Eyrie to the Gates of the Moon, but he objects, telling her that he had a cup less than three days ago. Alayne reminds him that Robert wanted a cup of sweetmilk the previous night, but Colemon had refused him. Maester Colemon explains that he has told Littlefinger that a pinch of sweetsleep will prevent shaking, but it does not leave the flesh. He tries to tell Alayne what the effects of sweetsleep will be on the boy over time, but she interrupts, telling him that Lord Robert must be kept calm at all costs. Maester Colemon asks her if Robert had a nosebleed, and when she says no, he agrees to a cup of sweetmilk before the descent, and a cup before the feast that is to be held when they arrive at the Gates of the Moon. He tells Alayne that this must be the last time they give him sweetsleep for at least six months, or longer. Alayne tells him to discuss the subject with Littlefinger.[9]
Alayne comforts Robert when the boy's hand starts shaking while they descend the Giant's Lance.[9]
The Winds of Winter
| Warning This information has thus far been released in a sample chapter for The Winds of Winter, and might therefore not be in finalized form. Keep in mind that the content as described below is still subject to change. |
At the Gates of the Moon, at the feast before the tourney for the Brotherhood of Winged Knights, Alayne Stone sees Robert Arryn staring at her while she dances with Harrold Hardyng. She worries that he may start to shake, even though she believes Maester Colemon would have given him a strong dose of sweetmilk before the feast.[10]
Quotes
Robert Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, stood in the doorway, clutching a ragged cloth doll and looking at them with large eyes. He was a painfully thin child, small for his age and sickly all his days, and from time to time he trembled. The shaking sickness, the maesters called it.[1]
—thoughts of Catelyn Stark
My lord, your blood needs thinning. It is the bad blood that makes you angry, and the rage that brings on the shaking.[3]
—Colemon to Robert Arryn
Perhaps a pinch of sweetsleep in his milk, have you tried that? Just a pinch, to calm him and stop his wretched shaking.[8]
—Petyr Baelish to Colemon
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 34, Catelyn VI.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 35, Catelyn IV.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 80, Sansa VII.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 10, Sansa I.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, The Long Reign - Jaehaerys and Alysanne: Policy, Progeny, and Pain.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Birth, Death, and Betrayal Under King Jaehaerys I.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 49, Catelyn VI.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 23, Alayne I.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 41, Alayne II.
- ↑ The Winds of Winter, Alayne I