Editing Tourney

[[File:Mark_Evans_tourney.jpg|thumb|350px|[[Knight]]s jousting during a tourney, by Mark Evans © Fantasy Flight Games]]
A '''tourney''' is a [[w:Tournament (medieval)|tournament]] popular in the [[Seven Kingdoms]]. They play a central role in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]''. Large parts of the plot are arranged around a number of major tourneys, and stylistically, they are used as an evocative medieval [[w:Trope (literature)#Literary use|trope]].

==Significance==
[[File:Tim Truman Tourney for the Hand.JPG|thumb|350px|[[Hand's tourney|Tourney for the Hand]], by Tim Truman © Fantasy Flight Games]]
The continent of [[Westeros]], where the largest parts of the books take place, has a culture and level of technology that is based on Northwestern Europe in the Middle Ages. The dozens of tourneys that are described or mentioned in the series are important social events, and form the background of many of the major plot developments. For the [[knight]]s, the tourney outcomes are an important part of their personal history.

[[George R. R. Martin]]'s descriptions of these tourneys vary wildly. Some, like [[the Hand's tourney]] in ''[[A Game of Thrones]]'' or the [[tourney at Ashford Meadow]] in ''[[The Hedge Knight]]'' are part of the basic plot and are narrated first hand. Martin describes their pageantry in detail that is characteristic of his style in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', often mentioning the heraldry and the armour of individual entrants and the results of every tilt. Other tourneys of pivotal significance, like the [[tourney at Harrenhal]], are described piecemeal in flashbacks by various characters, and the reader must assemble the information from numerous small fragments.

==Formats and rules==
[[File:Winona Nelson Tourney Lance.JPG|thumb|350px|A tourney lance, by Winona Nelson © Fantasy Flight Games]]
Tourneys in Westeros vary according to the region in which the tourney is held, the desires of the hosting [[lord]], and the rules devised by the lord's master of the games.<ref name=TR>[[So Spake Martin]]: [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Tourney_Rules Tourney Rules], April 29, 1999</ref> They may be held to celebrate a [[marriage]], such as the [[War for the White Cloaks]] at the [[Golden Wedding]].{{ref|FAB|The Year of the Three Brides - 49 AC}} Many forms of competition are known, including [[w:jousting|jousting]] (also called the lists), mock battles between teams of knights, archery competitions, or the [[melee]], in which many warriors fight individually in one large battle. Tourneys can be small events focusing on one competition held on a single day, or they can be large events that take several days and may include several different competitions.

The central event of many Westerosi tourneys is jousting, in which two armored knights aim to knock each other off their mounts with a [[w:jousting lance|jousting lance]], continuing on foot with a variety of blunted weapons. The loser of a joust must often forfeit his horse and armour to the winner, thus jeopardizing a considerable part of his possessions.

Many tourneys pit pairs of warriors in rounds, where the loser is eliminated and the winner proceeds to the next round. The winner of the last round is declared champion. This is similar to how many tournaments in real life were performed, with exception of the best-of-three rule. Some ladies allow contestants to wear their favors during a tourney. The [[queen of love and beauty]] can be chosen from the ladies by the competition's victor.

Another format was used at Ashford Meadow. This type of tourney starts with five champions who defend the honor of a woman, often a daughter of the lord who arranges the tournament. Other participants can challenge one of the champions to a joust, and if successful take his place. At the end of the tourney, the five remaining champions either confirm the original queen of love and beauty, or chose a new one.{{ref|THK}}

Some Westerosi tourneys are open only to anointed knights, whose privileges are jealously guarded; this forms an important plot element in ''[[The Hedge Knight]]''. Indeed, tourney culture is closely connected to chivalric tradition and its spiritual basis, the [[Andals]]' [[Faith of the Seven]]. These traditions dominate southern and central Westeros, especially in the [[Reach]], but they are uncommon in the [[North]], where many follow the [[old gods]]. However, the rules for entering tourneys vary with time and place, and there have been many events where [[freerider]]s, squires, or followers of the old gods have entered the lists.<ref name=TR/>

==Quotes==
[[File:Into the ListsScott Murphy.JPG|thumb|350px|A [[knight]] at a tourney, by Scott Murphy © Fantasy Flight Games]]
{{quote|In the days before [[Aegon's Conquest|the Conquest]], the [[Kings of the Reach]] and their queens presided over tourneys of love and beauty, where the greatest [[knight]]s of the [[Reach]] competed for the love of the fairest maids not only with feats of arms, but with song, poetry, and demonstrations of virtue, piety, and chaste devotion. The greatest champions, men as pure and honorable and virtuous as they were skilled at arms, were honored with invitations to join the [[Order of the Green Hand]].{{ref|TWOIAF|The Reach: Highgarden}}|writings of [[Yandel]]}}

{{quote|You are aware, that those vanquished in tourney forfeit their arms, armor, and horse to the victors, and must needs ransom them back?{{ref|THK}}|[[Plummer]] to [[Duncan the Tall]]}}

{{quote|There were a dozen different forms a tourney might follow, according to the whim of the [[lord]] who hosted it. Some were mock battles between teams of [[knight]]s, others wild melees where the glory went to the last fighter left standing. Where individual combats were the rule, pairings were sometimes determined by lot, and sometimes by the [[master of the games]].{{ref|THK}}|thoughts of [[Duncan the Tall]]}}

[[File:Tourney hbo.jpg|thumb|350px|[[The Hand's tourney]] from ''[[Game of Thrones]].'']]

{{quote|War should not be a game.{{ref|AGOT|30}}|[[Eddard Stark]] to [[Barristan Selmy]]}}

{{quote|These are tourney lances. They make them to splinter on impact, so no one is hurt.{{ref|AGOT|30}}|[[Eddard Stark]] to [[Sansa Stark]]}}

{{quote|King [[Robb Stark|Robb]] is warring, my lord, not [[Melee at Bitterbridge|playing at tourney]].{{ref|ACOK|22}}|[[Catelyn Stark]] to [[Randyll Tarly]]}}

{{quote|'''Jorah''': Swords win battles. And Prince [[Rhaegar Targaryen|Rhaegar]] knew how to use one.<br>
'''Arstan''': He did, ser, but ... I have seen a hundred tournaments and more wars than I would wish, and however strong or fast or skilled a [[knight]] may be, there are others who can match him. A man will win one tourney, and fall quickly in the next. A slick spot in the grass may mean defeat, or what you ate for supper the night before. A change in the wind may bring the gift of victory. Or a lady's favor knotted round an arm.{{ref|ASOS|8}}|[[Jorah Mormont]] and [[Arstan Whitebeard]]}}

{{quote|[[Mystery knight]]s would oft appear at tourneys, with helms concealing their faces, and shields that were either blank or bore some strange device. Sometimes they were famous champions in disguise.{{ref|ASOS|24}}|thoughts of [[Bran Stark]]}}

{{quote|Tis true, I am no tourney knight. I save my valor for the battlefield, woman.{{ref|AFFC|4}}|[[Shadrich]] to [[Brienne Tarth]]}}

==See also==
*[[History of tourneys in Westeros]]
*[[:Category:Images of tourneys|Images of tourneys]]
*[[Martial games]]

==References==
{{References}}

{{Games}}

[[Category:Tourneys| ]]

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