Editing Reading and writing (section)

==History==
===Dawn Age and Age of Heroes===
In the [[Dawn Age]], men were not lettered. The now-old [[Andals|Andal]], [[Valyrians|Valyrian]], [[Ghiscari]], and [[Asshai|Asshai'i]] cultures were all lettered and wrote accounts of past eras. However, because they lived long after the Dawn Age, it is difficult to discern what truths their tales contain.{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Dawn Age}} Around ten thousand years ago in [[Essos]], [[humans|human]] civilization was born in the Dawn Age. The first true towns arose along the banks of the river [[Sarne]] and her tributaries. However, these kingdoms of the [[Dothraki sea|grasslands]] came and went largely before humans became literate.{{Ref|TWOIAF|Beyond the Free Cities: The Grasslands}}

The [[First Men]] of the [[Age of Heroes]] left only [[rune]]s carved on rocks.{{Ref|AFFC|5}} While written tales of the Age of Heroes are largely the work of [[septon]]s and [[maester]]s writing thousands of years later, their runes can still be found on stone monuments and barrow fields in ruins and ancient castles. From these written remnants, some legends can be corroborated.{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Age of Heroes}} However, even the meanings of these surviving runes are debated by maesters at the Citadel.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Riverlands}} Nn much of the Seven Kingdoms, runes of the First Men were chiseled into cave walls, standing stones, and the ruins of fallen strongholds. However, he First Men of the [[stormlands]] typically carved their tales into the trunks of trees that have long since rotted away.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Stormlands: House Durrandon}}

The [[children of the forest]], who inhabited [[Westeros]] during the Dawn Age{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Dawn Age}} and the Age of Heroes,{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Age of Heroes}} had no books, ink, parchment, or written language. Instead, they relied on the trees, especially the [[weirwood]]s, which kept all their songs, spells, histories, prayers, and even children themselves when they died.{{Ref|ADWD|34}}

===Individual cultures===
[[File:Rodrik and Alannys Harlaw by gotheyjoy.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Rodrik Harlaw]], nicknamed "the Reader" for his love of reading, with his sister [[Alannys Harlaw|Alannys]] by gotheyjoy]]
The [[Mazemakers]], an ancient people who lived on the islands of [[Lorath]], left no written record.{{Ref|TWOIAF|Lorath}}

[[Yi Ti]] was one of the first places where men achieved civilization and literacy. The wise men of Yi Ti were reading and writing for many thousands of years. They kept ancient records that are cherished and venerated but also jealously guarded by their scholars. Some scattered texts have escaped Yi Ti and reached the [[Citadel]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Bones and Beyond: Yi Ti}}

The people of the [[Iron Islands]] did not learn how to write until thousands of years after the time of [[Balon Blackskin]], who supposedly lived during the [[Age of Heroes]]. Even after [[Ironborn|ironmen]] first learned to write, literacy remained rare in the Iron Islands. Those who possess the ability to write are often mocked as weaklings or feared as [[sorcerer]]s. Thus, much of the written history of their people comes from the victims of ironborn raids and was written in the [[Old Tongue]] or the runes of the First Men. However, their [[Priest of the Drowned God|priests]] of the [[Drowned God]] have oral traditions, passing knowledge from elder to younger. Those taken as [[thrall]]s who could read and write would serve their masters as [[steward]]s, [[tutor]]s, and [[scribe]]s.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands}} [[Harmund I Hoare]], known as Harmund the Host, was the first [[King of the Iron Islands]] known to be literate, and he treasured books. His son [[Harmund II Hoare]], called Harmund the Haggler, shared his father's love of reading.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Black Blood}} Even in the present day, a great many ironborn still consider reading unmanly and perverse.{{Ref|AFFC|11}}

The priestesses of [[Tall Trees Town]] on [[Walano]] in the [[Summer Isles]] carve songs and stories into the trunks of the enormous tower tree that shade the town. The carvings on the [[Talking Trees]] record the whole history of the Summer Islanders, as well as the commandments of their gods and the laws by which they live.{{Ref|TWOIAF|Beyond the Free Cities: The Summer Isles}}

===After the Conquest===
When the [[Faith of the Seven]] condemned the [[marriage]] between [[Prince]] [[Aegon Targaryen (son of Aenys I)|Aegon Targaryen]] and Princess [[Rhaena Targaryen (daughter of Aenys I)|Rhaena Targaryen]], the [[High Septon (Aenys I)|High Septon]] sent a blistering declaration that was read by ten thousand [[septon]]s throughout the [[Seven Kingdoms]].{{Ref|FAB|The Sons of the Dragon}}

Septon [[Moon (septon)|Moon]], a rival claimant to the office of [[High Septon]], boasted that ''[[The Seven-Pointed Star]]'' was the only book he had ever read. However, many questioned this boast, as he never quoted from the holy book nor had anyone ever seen him read or write.{{Ref|FAB|Prince into King - The Ascension of Jaehaerys I}}

Because of her intelligence, many [[Alysanne Targaryen]] japed that she learned to read before she was weaned and the court [[fool]] made jests about her reading at her [[wet nurse]]'s breast. It was said that she might have become a [[maester]] had she been born a man.{{Ref|FAB|The Year of the Three Brides - 49 AC}} After becoming Queen, Alysanne later said she might have liked to become a maester if she hadn't been queen to an assembly of [[archmaester]]s, and tried to convince them to admit women to the [[Citadel]], as surely there were other girls who felt the same.{{Ref|FAB|Birth, Death, and Betrayal Under King Jaehaerys I}}

[[Androw Farman]], second son of Lord [[Marq Farman]], could hardly read or write.{{Ref|FAB|A Surfeit of Rulers}}

Prince [[Vaegon Targaryen]] was bookish and loved reading over playing. By contrast, his younger sister [[Daella Targaryen (daughter of Jaehaerys I)|Daella Targaryen]] struggled with learning to read and could do so only haltingly and without full comprehension. This led Vaegon to dislike Daella and consider her stupid.{{Ref|FAB|The Long Reign - Jaehaerys and Alysanne: Policy, Progeny, and Pain}}

In the twilight of [[Jaehaerys I Targaryen]]'s life, the young [[Alicent Hightower]] would read to him. She was reading at his bedside from [[Barth]]'s ''[[Dragons, Wyrms, and Wyverns: Their Unnatural History|Unnatural History]]'' when the king died in {{Date|103}}.{{Ref|FAB|Heirs of the Dragon - A Question of Succession}}

After the [[Dance of the Dragons]], the boy king [[Aegon III Targaryen]] did not show interest in any hobby, including reading.{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}} Around this time period, the former [[Grand Maester]] [[Orwyle]] took refuge at a brothel on the [[Street of Silk]] called [[Mother's (brothel)|Mother's]]. He lived there unnoticed until he began to teach the younger girls at the brothel how to read, which drew the suspicions of the [[City Watch of King's Landing|gold cloaks]] after one of the girls demonstrated her new skill to a [[serjeant]].{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}}

[[Racallio Ryndoon]] asked Lord [[Alyn Velaryon]] for an alliance written on [[sheep]]skin and signed in blood. Lord Alyn gave him an alliance written in parchment and signed with [[maester]]'s ink instead.{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Voyage of Alyn Oakenfist}}

King [[Baelor I Targaryen]] convinced the [[Most Devout]] to name a [[Lackwit|simple]] stonemason as [[High Septon]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Baelor I}} The man could not read or write nor even remember the simplest of prayers.{{Ref|AFFC|28}}

Although [[Duncan the Tall|Dunk]] never learned the "magic" of reading or writing, his master Ser [[Arlan of Pennytree|Arlan]] of [[Pennytree]] was relentless in teaching him [[heraldry]].{{Ref|THK}} Although his [[squire]] [[Aegon V Targaryen|Egg]] tried to teach him to read, after a couple of years together reading still remained a mystery to him. However, by this time he could make out the letters that form the names "Daeron" and "[[Daemon I Blackfyre|Daemon]]."{{Ref|TMK}} Since it is the duty of the [[Lord Commander of the Kingsguard]] to keep the entries about the deeds of the [[Kingsguard]] in the [[White Book]] up to date,{{Ref|ASOS|67}} he may have eventually learned how to read and write.