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|---|---|---|---|---|
 King Tristifer IV is defeated Art by Roman Papsuev | ||||
| Monarch | ||||
| Full name | Tristifer of House Mudd, the Fourth of His Name | |||
| Title | King of the Rivers and the Hills | |||
| Successor | Tristifer V Mudd | |||
| Personal Information | ||||
| Alias | Hammer of Justice | |||
| Buried | Oldstones | |||
| Family | ||||
| Dynasty | House Mudd | |||
| Issue | Tristifer V Mudd | |||
| References | ||||
| Books |
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Tristifer IV Mudd, also known as the Hammer of Justice, was the fourth King of the Rivers and the Hills to bear that name. A monarch of the First Men from House Mudd, his crypt lies among the ruins of Oldstones.[1]
Appearance and Character
Tristifer, the Hammer of Justice, is remembered as the greatest of the river kings who fought the Andals.[2]
Tristifer's's worn sepulcher at Oldstones depicts him with a beard and bearing a warhammer.[1]
History
Art by onionjulius
Tristifer ruled from the Trident to the Neck in the era when the First Men were being attacked and overrun during the coming of the Andals to the riverlands. According to Hoster Tully, he raised the castle that became known as Oldstones, the strongest in Westeros at the time of its construction.[1]
Tristifer was the last truly great king of the First Men in the riverlands. When Roland II Arryn, the King of Mountain and Vale, invaded the riverlands, Tristifer smashed his forces and forced the Valemen into retreat. One of Roland's allies then betrayed him to the river king, and Tristifer beheaded Roland at Oldstones.[3]
Tristifer is said to have fought one hundred battles, winning ninety-nine and losing one. The Tullys fought alongside him in many of his campaigns. The one battle Tristifer lost was his last, where seven Andal kings attacked simultaneously; the greatest of the conquerors was Armistead Vance.[4] Some maesters are skeptical of the story, suggesting that the inclusion of seven kings was added by septons.[2]
Tristifer was succeeded by his son and heir, Tristifer V Mudd, the last of House Mudd.[1]
Hoster, Lord Paramount of the Trident, once told the story of Tristifer IV to his daughter Catelyn.[1]
Recent Events
A Storm of Swords
Catelyn Stark shows Tristifer IV's tomb to her son Robb, King in the North, when they stop at Oldstones. Robb worries about his own lack of an heir after hearing of the failures of Tristifer V Mudd.[1]
Merrett Frey travels to Oldstones to ransom Petyr Frey from the brotherhood without banners. Merrett arrives to find Tom of Sevenstreams singing a song while sitting on Tristifer's sepulcher.[5]
Quotes
The lid of the sepulcher had been carved into a likeness of the man whose bones lay beneath, but the rain and the wind had done their work. The king had worn a beard, they could see, but otherwise his face was smooth and featureless, with only vague suggestions of a mouth, a nose, eyes, and the crown about the temples. His hands folded over the shaft of a stone warhammer that lay upon his chest. Once the warhammer would have been carved with runes that told its name and history, but all that the centuries had worn away. The stone itself was cracked and crumbling at the corners, discolored here and there by spreading white splotches of lichen, while wild roses crept up over the king's feet almost to his chest.[1]
—thoughts of Catelyn Stark
The Hammer of Justice, they called him. He fought a hundred battles and won nine-and-ninety, or so the singers say, and when he raised this castle it was the strongest in Westeros.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 45, Catelyn V.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Riverlands.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Vale: The Eyrie.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Riverlands: House Tully.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 A Storm of Swords, Epilogue.