Knight of the Laughing Tree
The Knight of the Laughing Tree was a mystery knight who fought at the Tourney at Harrenhal. He defeated three knights whose squires had bullied Howland Reed, demanding that they chastise their squires in order to ransom back their horses and armor.
The Knight of the Laughing Tree's identity remains unknown. He was small of stature and wore ill-fitting, mismatched armor. The blazon on his shield was a smiling heart tree, hence the title Knight of the Laughing Tree.
History
Most of what is known about the Knight of the Laughing Tree comes from a story told by Meera Reed to Bran Stark.
According to Meera's tale, a crannogman - most likely her own father, Howland Reed - came to Harrenhal to attend the tourney and found himself bullied by three squires, who beat and mocked him. None were older than fifteen, but all were considerably larger than Reed himself. He was rescued by Lyanna Stark, who shouted indignantly that Reed was her father's bannerman and beat off his attackers with a tourney sword. Lyanna then sought medical care for Reed's injuries and introduced him to her brothers.
That evening Lyanna persuaded Reed to attend the feast marking the start of the tournament. There she identified the three squires who had attacked him as serving House Haigh, House Blount and House Frey. Benjen Stark offered Reed a horse and armor in order to avenge himself, but although the crannogman dearly wished to do so, he was totally inexperienced at jousting. That night Reed prayed to the old gods for help.
The tournament began the next day, and each of the knights whose squires had attacked Reed were victorious. On the second day, the Knight of the Laughing Tree appeared to enter the lists. He challenged each of the three knights and defeated them all. When they came to ransom their horses and armor, the mystery knight only charged them to "Teach your squires honor."
Many swore that evening to unmask the mystery knight, but he did not appear the next day. The paranoid King Aerys II, certain that the Knight of the Laughing Tree had to be an enemy conspiring against him, ordered Prince Rhaegar Targaryen to discover his identity, but all that could be found was the shield with the laughing weirwood, hanging from a tree.[1]
Theories
The Knight of the Laughing Tree's identity is currently unknown, but Meera's story contains several potential clues.
The mystery knight must have been someone who knew about Howland Reed's experience with the squires and was motivated to avenge him. The Knight of the Laughing Tree was significantly shorter than most men, and almost certainly did not have his own armor (as ill-fitting armor would be a significant disadvantage), but did have access to someone else's. He was a competent enough jouster to defeat three knights, but as none of them were particularly well-known, he need not have been unusually skilled. Meera was surprised that Bran had never heard the story before, which suggests that the Knight may have been either a Stark, or someone close to the family.
Strong possibilities include:
- Lyanna Stark. Lyanna was known to be a something of a tomboy, and is strongly implied to have had an interest in learning to fight; as she was an extremely skilled rider, the idea that she might have secretly practiced jousting is highly plausible. Her brother Ned described her as headstrong, hot-tempered and somewhat reckless, and we know that she was indignant on Reed's behalf. As a woman, she would most likely have been unusually short compared to most knights, and would not have had her own armor. Most intriguingly, this theory offers a possible answer to the mystery of why Rhaegar Targaryen, who eventually won the tournament, passed over his own wife to crown Lyanna his Queen of Love and Beauty; if Rhaegar succeeded in discovering that Lyanna was the Knight of the Laughing Tree, he might have seen it as a way to honor her valor without putting her in danger from King Aerys by revealing what she had done.
- Howland Reed himself. As Reed knew nothing of jousting, this theory requires the belief that the old gods answered his prayer by granting him supernatural skill. A related theory suggests that the Knight might have been a Child of the Forest, sent by the old gods to act as Reed's champion. Bran suggests both of these theories.
- Benjen Stark. As a male child of a Great House, he certainly would have been a trained fighter, and was still young enough to be shorter than most fully-grown men. It's unclear whether he would have had his own armor at this time, but he told Reed he knew where to find some, and he was the one who suggested the idea of seeking vengeance to Reed in the first place.
- Ashara Dayne. Dayne was present at the feast, where she spoke with Brandon Stark and danced with Ned. She might have learned of Reed's plight from one of them, and as she is rumored to have been in love with one or both brothers, could have planned to impress them by defending Reed. Whether Dayne was trained as a fighter is unknown, but it would not be terribly unusual for a Dornishwoman to do so, although jousting is not a Dornish tradition. Furthermore, Meera describes Dayne as having "laughing purple eyes," which resonates with the Knight's chosen sigil of a laughing weirwood.
- Eddard Stark. Ned was a close friend of Howland Reed in later years, took House Stark's responsibility to defend its bannermen very seriously, and certainly would have been a trained fighter. However, there is nothing to indicate that he was unusually short, and the image of a laughing weirwood seems at odds with Ned's somber personality.
References and Notes
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 24, Bran