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Snow is the second waycastle defending the Eyrie, the seat of House Arryn in the Vale of Arryn, and is the third line of the castle's defense following the Gates of the Moon and Stone.[1]
Layout
Snow consists of a single fortified tower, a timber keep, and a stable placed behind a low wall of unmortared rock. It is nestled into the Giant's Lance so as to command the entire pathway to it from Stone below, and the trail to Snow is steeper than the trail from the Gates of the Moon to Stone. The trail then continues up the mountain from Snow to Sky.[1]
History
According to Mya Stone's mother, the waycastle Snow was where snow began on the Giant's Lance hundreds of years ago.[1]
Queen Sharra Arryn tripled the size of the garrisons in Stone, Snow, and Sky in preparation for the imminent march of the Targaryen forces against the Vale of Arryn during Aegon's Conquest. Queen Visenya Targaryen evaded them, however, by flying Vhagar to the Eyrie's inner courtyard.[2]
Recent Events
A Game of Thrones
Catelyn Stark stops at Snow while traveling to the Eyrie. The waycastle is commanded by a young knight with a pockmarked face who offers bread and cheese, but Mya Stone has them continue on to Sky. Catelyn rides Whitey from Snow.[1]
A Feast for Crows
Sansa Stark and Lord Robert Arryn stop at Snow while descending from the Eyrie to the Gates of the Moon. They enjoy a hot meal of stewed goat and onions before receiving fresh mules for the journey to Stone.[3]
Quotes
Snow was smaller than Stone, a single fortified tower and a timber keep and stable hidden behind a low wall of unmortared rock. Yet it nestled against the Giant's Lance in such a way as to command the entire stone stair above the lower waycastle. An enemy intent on the Eyrie would have to fight his way from Stone step by step, while rocks and arrows rained down from Snow above.[1]
—thoughts of Catelyn Stark
My mother says that hundreds of years ago, this was where the snow began. It was always white above here, and the ice never melted. I can't remember ever seeing snow this far down the mountain, but maybe it was that way once, in the olden times.[1]
Above Snow, the wind was a living thing, howling around them like a wolf in the waste, then falling off to nothing as if to lure them into complacency. The stars seemed brighter up here, so close that she could almost touch them, and the horned moon was huge in the clear black sky.[1]
—thoughts of Catelyn Stark
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 34, Catelyn VI.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Aegon's Conquest.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 41, Alayne II.