The skull is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate.
Culture
The sigil of House Manwoody depicts a crowned skull,[1] and skulls are also included in the arms of House Lonmouth and House Qoherys.[2][3] The arms of House Bulwer depict a bull's skull.[4]
Bones and skulls are depicted on the round leathern shields of some wildlings warriors.[5][6] The Lord of Bones wears a giant's skull for a helm.[7]
The Bridge of Skulls crosses the Gorge near the Wall.[8]
Seven Skulls is a longship in the Iron Fleet.[9]
Some slaves in Volantis have skull tattoos.[10] Meereen has a monument called the Spire of Skulls,[11] and one of the tokars of Zahrina is fringed with tiny golden skulls.[12]
Many corsairs from the Basilisk Isles decorate their ships with severed heads dangling from hempen rope, and they deliver the skulls to Skull Isle once all the flesh is gone.[13][14]
History
In 46 AC during the Faith Militant uprising, King Maegor I Targaryen displayed two thousand skulls before the Iron Throne. They were claimed to be those of Warrior's Sons and Poor Fellows killed during the king's campaign, but many believed the slain had been innocent smallfolk.[15]
On his deathbed, Aegor Rivers commanded the men of the Golden Company to boil the flesh from his skull, dip it in gold, and carry it before them when they crossed the narrow sea to retake Westeros. The captains-general who have since led the Golden Company have followed Aegor's example.[16]
The skulls of the Targaryen dragons were kept in the Red Keep's throne room until their removal by King Robert I Baratheon.[17][18]
Recent Events
A Game of Thrones
Arya Stark finds the skulls of the Targaryen dragons in a cellar of the Red Keep.[19]
A Feast for Crows
The kindly man initially greets Arya with the visage of a yellowed skull.[20]
During the search for Tyrion Lannister in the secret passages of the Red Keep, a chamber full of skulls and yellow bones is found.[21]
A Dance with Dragons
Aegor Rivers's skull, along with those of successive captains-general, is still in possession of the Golden Company. All are kept in the tent of the current captain-general, Ser Harry Strickland, with Aegor's displayed in the center on a tall pike. Jon Connington sees Aegor's grinning skull when he meets with the Golden Company in Volon Therys.[16]
Melisandre sees a thousand skulls in one of her visions.[22]
After the death of Ser Gregor Clegane, the Mountain's skull is sent to Sunspear.[23]
Arya discovers that one of the tunnels beneath the House of Black and White has walls lined with human bones and columns of skulls.[24]
References
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 38, Tyrion V.
- ↑ The Citadel. Heraldry: Houses in the Stormlands
- ↑ The Citadel. Heraldry: Houses in the Riverlands
- ↑ The Citadel. Heraldry: Houses in the Reach
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 55, Jon VII.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 58, Jon XII.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 7, Jon I.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 69, Jon IX.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 63, Victarion I.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 6, The Merchant's Man.
- ↑ The Winds of Winter, Barristan I
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 60, The Spurned Suitor.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Basilisk Isles.
- ↑ George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Skull Island.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, The Sons of the Dragon.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 24, The Lost Lord.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 13, Tyrion II.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 54, Davos V.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 32, Arya III.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 6, Arya I.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 12, Cersei III.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 31, Melisandre I.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 38, The Watcher.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 64, The Ugly Little Girl.