A trebuchet is a type of catapult used in siege warfare to hurl large stones or other missiles.[1] Mangonels are a type of trebuchet.[2]
Culture
The top of the wall is studded with catapults, cranes,[3] trebuchets,[4] and scorpions,[4] but they are immobile.[4] Additionally, some catapults and trebuchets have been dismantled for repair and never reassembled after being frozen in ice.[5]
Trebuchets are also used as game pieces in cyvasse, which are capable of removing a dragon from the board.[6]
History
When Will, a peasant in service to House Osgrey, said he was good at throwing rocks, Ser Bennis of the Brown Shield laughed and said they now had a trebuchet, so Will was called Treb by everyone afterwards.[7]
During the Reyne-Tarbeck revolt, Lady Ellyn Tarbeck closed the gates of Tarbeck Hall and refused to surrender to the Lannisters,[8] expecting a long siege due to the castle's rebuilt walls, but Ser Tywin Lannister had siege engines prepared in less than a day, using a trebuchet to throw a great boulder over the walls onto Tarbeck Hall's aged keep, bringing the castle down upon Ellyn and her son, Tion. It is said that Tywin gave one of his rare smiles when the castle collapsed.[9]
Recent events
A Clash of Kings
During the Battle of the Blackwater, Ser Arneld commands the Three Whores, the three enormous trebuchets in King's Landing.[10]
A Feast for Crows
Ser Jaime Lannister threatens Lord Edmure Tully with using a trebuchet to throw his child into Riverrun once it is born.[11]
A Dance with Dragons
The Yunkai'i ships bring lumber and hides up from the south, enough to raise six huge trebuchets outside of the city of Meereen,[12] which are later used to fling not rocks, but corpses into Meereen.[13]
Named trebuchets
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 49, Tyrion XI.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 22, Catelyn II.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 19, Jon III.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 64, Jon VIII.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 21, Tyrion III.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 14, Tyrion IV.
- ↑ The Sworn Sword.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire: The Westerlands (unabridged). georgerrmartin.com
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 33, Jaime V.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 59, Tyrion XIII.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 38, Jaime VI.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 43, Daenerys VII.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 70, The Queen's Hand.
- ↑ Tyrion II (The Winds of Winter)