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:''This article is about the Valyrian steel sword. For the house founded by [[Daemon Blackfyre]], see '''[[House Blackfyre]]'''''.
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{{About|the sword|the family|House Blackfyre}}
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[[File:AEGON I.jpg|thumb|350px|[[Aegon I Targaryen]] with Blackfyre, by [http://en.amokanet.ru/gallery/martin/ Amok] ©]]
  
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'''Blackfyre''' is the fabled [[Bastard sword|hand-and-a-half longsword]] of [[Valyrian steel]], once wielded by [[Aegon I Targaryen|Aegon the Conqueror]]. It is the most famous of the two ancestral swords of [[House Targaryen]],<ref>[[So Spake Martin]]: [https://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Many_Questions2 Many Questions] (June 13, 2001)</ref> and provided the name for [[House Blackfyre]]. Another known Valyrian blade owned by the family was [[Dark Sister]], once wielded by Aegon's sister, [[Visenya Targaryen|Visenya]].{{Ref|FAB|Aegon's Conquest}}
  
'''Blackfyre''' is a fabled [[Armament|Greatsword]] of [[Valyrian steel]], wielded by [[Aegon the Conqueror]]. It was one of two Valyrian steel swords the Targaryens brought from [[Dragonstone]] after the Doom (the other is [[Dark Sister]]) and was passed from Targaryen king to king, until [[Aegon IV Targaryen|Aegon the Unworthy]] chose to bestow it on his bastard son [[Daemon Blackfyre|Daemon]] instead of his legitimate son.<ref>[http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/2999/ SSM:June 26, 2001]</ref>
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==History==
Some felt that the sword symbolized the monarchy, so the gift was the seed from which the [[Blackfyre Rebellion]] grew. During the Blackfyre Rebellion Daemon continued to wield the sword in battle, and fought an epic duel with Ser [[Gwayne Corbray]] of the Kingsguard at the [[Battle of the Redgrass Field]], pitted against Gwayne's own Valyrian blade [[Lady Forlorn]].  
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===Aegon the Conqueror===
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[[File:Blackfyre by Velvet Engine.png|thumb|150px|Blackfyre, by Rahedie Yudha Pradito © Velvet Engine]]
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In the aftermath of [[Aegon's Conquest]], King [[Aegon I Targaryen]] used Blackfyre to kill [[Qhorin Volmark]] during the [[invasion of the Iron Islands]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands: The Greyjoys of Pyke}} During the [[First Dornish War]], Aegon killed the champion of [[House Toland]] with Blackfyre, not knowing it was actually the fool of [[Ghost Hill]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|Dorne: Dorne Against the Dragons}}
  
After the death of Daemon Blackfyre and two of his sons on the Redgrass Fields, his half brother [[Aegor Rivers|Bittersteel]] took Blackfyre with him in exile to the [[Free Cities]], where Bittersteel and Daemon's surviving kin founded the mercenary force known as the [[Golden Company]]. The sword's whereabouts after the death of [[Maelys Blackfyre]] during the [[War of the Ninepenny Kings]] is unknown. It is believed to have been lost or may yet remain in the possession of the Golden Company.
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Even though Aegon the Conqueror was a great warrior with Blackfyre,{{Ref|FAB|Aegon's Conquest}} his sister, Queen [[Visenya Targaryen]], feared the blade was not enough to protect the new king from danger. Aegon was convinced to allow the formation of the [[Kingsguard]] in {{Date|10}}.{{Ref|FAB|Three Heads Had the Dragon - Governance Under King Aegon I}}{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Aegon I}}
  
==References and Notes==
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Aegon had his elder son, [[Aenys I Targaryen|Aenys Targaryen]], handle Blackfyre from time to time, but the prince was no more than an adequate swordsman. Aegon bestowed [[knight]]hood on his younger son, [[Maegor I Targaryen|Maegor Targaryen]], during a tourney at [[Riverrun]] in {{Date|28}}, dubbing the prince with Blackfyre.{{Ref|FAB|The Sons of the Dragon}}
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After Aegon died at [[Dragonstone]] in {{Date|37}}, the king's body was burned in a funeral pyre with his hands folded over the hilt of Blackfyre. Prince Maegor then retrieved Blackfyre, which had been made darker in color by the flames but was otherwise unharmed.{{Ref|FAB|The Sons of the Dragon}}
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===Aenys and Maegor===
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Aegon the Conqueror was succeeded by King [[Aenys I Targaryen]], but the new king granted Blackfyre to his more martial younger brother, Prince [[Maegor I Targaryen|Maegor Targaryen]]. Maegor henceforth only wielded Blackfyre and kept his previous [[Valyrian steel]] sword, [[Dark Sister]], at [[Dragonstone]]. When Maegor refused to put aside his second wife, [[Alys Harroway]], the polygamous prince chose exile in [[Pentos]] and refused Aenys' request to leave Blackfyre behind.{{Ref|FAB|The Sons of the Dragon}}
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Maegor flew to Dragonstone to claim the crown after Aenys died in {{Date|42}}. When Grand Maester [[Gawen]] insisted that the [[Iron Throne]] should pass to Aenys's son, Prince [[Aegon Targaryen (son of Aenys I)|Aegon]], Maegor beheaded Gawen with Blackfyre. Maegor wielded Blackfyre during his [[trial of seven]] against the [[Warrior's Sons]], with the new king slaying Ser [[Damon Morrigen]] and Ser [[Willam the Wanderer]]. Maegor later used Blackfyre to kill [[Myros]] when the Grand Maester spoke out against Maegor marrying [[Tyanna of Pentos]]. In [[Oldtown]], seven prominent Warrior's Sons who refused to join the [[Night's Watch]] were beheaded by Maegor with Blackfyre. After Tyanna confessed to [[poison]]ing the children of Maegor's other queens, the king used Blackfyre to cut out her heart and feed it to his dogs.{{Ref|FAB|The Sons of the Dragon}}
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When the realm began to unite against Maegor the Cruel, Queen [[Rhaena Targaryen (daughter of Aenys I)|Rhaena Targaryen]] stole the sword from the sleeping Maegor at the [[Red Keep]] for Aenys's surviving son, Prince [[Jaehaerys I Targaryen|Jaehaerys]], who had announced his own claim at [[Storm's End]]. Maegor was eventually found dead on the Iron Throne.{{Ref|FAB|The Sons of the Dragon}}
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===Jaehaerys I===
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King [[Jaehaerys I Targaryen]] bore Blackfyre on his swordbelt.{{Ref|FAB|A Time of Testing - The Realm Remade}} Jaehaerys used the sword to personally slay the rebel [[Borys Baratheon]] during the [[Third Dornish War]].{{Ref|FAB|The Long Reign - Jaehaerys and Alysanne: Policy, Progeny, and Pain}} Jaehaerys also killed Ser [[Braxton Beesbury]] in a [[trial by combat]] after Stinger had seduced the king's daughter, Princess [[Saera Targaryen|Saera]].{{Ref|FAB|The Long Reign - Jaehaerys and Alysanne: Policy, Progeny, and Pain}}{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Maegor I}}
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===Aegon II===
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[[Aegon II Targaryen]]'s possession of Blackfyre enhanced his legitimacy against his rival, [[Rhaenyra Targaryen]], during the [[Dance of the Dragons]].{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Blacks and the Greens}}
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When Aegon returned to [[King's Landing]] near the end of the Targaryen civil war, he allowed the condemned [[Trystane Truefyre]] to be granted knighthood before his death. Ser [[Marston Waters]] dubbed the youth Ser Trystane Fyre, and Ser [[Alfred Broome]] then beheaded the newly-made knight with Blackfyre.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Short, Sad Reign of Aegon II}}
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===The Young Dragon===
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[[Daeron I Targaryen]] wielded Blackfyre during his [[conquest of Dorne]], and he was eventually killed by [[Dornishmen]] with the sword in hand.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Daeron I}}
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While it is unknown when Blackfyre was returned to the possession of the Targaryens, it had been returned at least by the reign of King [[Aegon IV Targaryen]]. However, as, according to Ser [[Eustace Osgrey]], Blackfyre had been wielded by every Targaryen king since Aegon's Conquest,{{Ref|TSS}} the sword might have already been returned during the reigns of [[Baelor I Targaryen]] or [[Viserys II Targaryen]].
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===House Blackfyre===
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[[File:Marc Simonetti knightingson.jpg|thumb|350px|King [[Aegon IV Targaryen|Aegon IV]] knights [[Daemon I Blackfyre|Daemon Waters]] with Blackfyre.<br>As depicted by Marc Simonetti in ''[[The World of Ice & Fire]]''.]]
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In {{Date|182}}, King [[Aegon IV Targaryen]] chose to bestow Blackfyre on his [[bastard]] son [[Daemon I Blackfyre|Daemon]], a born warrior, instead of his scholarly legitimate son, the future [[Daeron II Targaryen]]. Ser Daemon, who had been known by the bastard surname Waters until then, took the name "Blackfyre" thereafter, creating [[House Blackfyre]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Aegon IV}} Some felt that the Conqueror's sword symbolized the monarchy, so the gift was one of the seeds from which rebellion grew.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Daeron II}}<ref>[[So Spake Martin]]: [https://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/2999/ SF, Targaryens, Valyria, Sansa, Martells, and More] (June 26, 2001)</ref>
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Daemon I Blackfyre wielded the sword during the [[First Blackfyre Rebellion]] in {{Date|196}}, and he fought an epic duel with Ser [[Gwayne Corbray]] of the [[Kingsguard]] at the [[Battle of the Redgrass Field|Redgrass Field]], pitted against Gwayne's own Valyrian blade, [[Lady Forlorn]]. [[Aemon Blackfyre]] briefly wielded the sword after the [[Raven's Teeth]] slew Daemon, but Aemon was also killed in the battle.{{Ref|TSS}} Daemon's half brother, [[Aegor Rivers]], known as Bittersteel, attempted to rally the rebels with Blackfyre in hand, but Bittersteel withdrew after dueling another half brother, [[Brynden Rivers]], a rival called Bloodraven.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Daeron II}}
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With Daemon and his twin sons dead at the Redgrass Field, Bittersteel took Blackfyre with him in exile to the [[Free Cities]], where he eventually founded the sellsword [[Golden Company]]. Aegor refused to give the Valyrian sword to [[Daemon II Blackfyre]] for the ill-fated [[Second Blackfyre Rebellion]], and Lord [[Ambrose Butterwell]] doubted Daemon's potential after learning he lacked Blackfyre.{{Ref|TMK}}
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Possession of Blackfyre after Bittersteel is unknown, although [[maesters]] consider the [[Blackfyre Pretenders]] to have ended with the death of [[Maelys Blackfyre]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Jaehaerys II}}
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==Known wielders==
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[[File:Blackfyre book.jpg|thumb|450px|Blackfyre from the Valyrian Steel ® Collection]]
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*King [[Aegon I Targaryen]]{{Ref|FAB|Aegon's Conquest}}
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*King [[Aenys I Targaryen]]{{Ref|FAB|The Sons of the Dragon}}
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*King [[Maegor I Targaryen]]{{Ref|FAB|The Sons of the Dragon}}
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*King [[Jaehaerys I Targaryen]]{{Ref|FAB|A Time of Testing - The Realm Remade}}
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*Ser [[Alfred Broome]] (briefly){{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Short, Sad Reign of Aegon II}}
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*King [[Daeron I Targaryen]]{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Daeron I}}
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*Ser [[Daemon I Blackfyre]]{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Aegon IV}}
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*[[Aemon Blackfyre]] (briefly){{Ref|TSS}}
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*Ser [[Aegor Rivers]]{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Daeron II}}
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==Quotes==
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{{Quote|You are more fit to bear this blade than me. Wield it in my service, and I shall be content.{{Ref|FAB|The Sons of the Dragon}}|[[Aenys I Targaryen]] to [[Maegor I Targaryen|Maegor Targaryen]]}}
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{{Quote|Even sheathed, the blade could be mistaken for no other.{{Ref|FAB|A Time of Testing - The Realm Remade}}|writings of [[Benifer]]}}
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{{Quote|'''Eustace''': Because [[Daemon I Blackfyre|Daemon]] was the better man. [[Aegon IV Targaryen|The old king]] saw it, too. He gave the sword to Daemon. Blackfyre, the sword of [[Aegon I Targaryen|Aegon the Conqueror]], the blade that every [[House Targaryen|Targaryen]] king had wielded since [[Aegon's Conquest|the Conquest]] ... he put that sword in Daemon's hand the day he [[knight]]ed him, a boy of twelve.<br>
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'''Egg''': [[Maekar I Targaryen|My father]] says that was because Daemon was a swordsman, and [[Daeron II Targaryen|Daeron]] never was. Why give a horse to a man who cannot ride? The sword was not [[Seven Kingdoms|the kingdom]], he says.<br>
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'''Eustace''': Your father is a [[fool]].{{Ref|TSS}}|[[Eustace Osgrey]] and [[Aegon V Targaryen|Egg]]}}
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==See also==
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*[[:Category:Images of Blackfyre|Images of Blackfyre]]
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*[[:Category:Characters killed with Blackfyre|Characters killed with Blackfyre]]
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==References==
 
{{References}}
 
{{References}}
  
[[Category:Swords]]
 
 
[[Category:House Targaryen]]
 
[[Category:House Targaryen]]
 
[[Category:House Blackfyre]]
 
[[Category:House Blackfyre]]
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[[Category:Swords]]
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[[Category:Valyrian steel blades]]
  
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[[es:Fuegoscuro]]
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[[fa:بلک فایر]]
 
[[fr:Feunoyr]]
 
[[fr:Feunoyr]]
[[Zh:黑火]]
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[[nl:Zwartvier]]
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[[pt:Blackfyre]]
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[[ru:Чёрное Пламя (меч)]]
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[[zh:黑火]]

Latest revision as of 10:33, 15 June 2023

Aegon I Targaryen with Blackfyre, by Amok ©

Blackfyre is the fabled hand-and-a-half longsword of Valyrian steel, once wielded by Aegon the Conqueror. It is the most famous of the two ancestral swords of House Targaryen,[1] and provided the name for House Blackfyre. Another known Valyrian blade owned by the family was Dark Sister, once wielded by Aegon's sister, Visenya.[2]

History

Aegon the Conqueror

Blackfyre, by Rahedie Yudha Pradito © Velvet Engine

In the aftermath of Aegon's Conquest, King Aegon I Targaryen used Blackfyre to kill Qhorin Volmark during the invasion of the Iron Islands.[3] During the First Dornish War, Aegon killed the champion of House Toland with Blackfyre, not knowing it was actually the fool of Ghost Hill.[4]

Even though Aegon the Conqueror was a great warrior with Blackfyre,[2] his sister, Queen Visenya Targaryen, feared the blade was not enough to protect the new king from danger. Aegon was convinced to allow the formation of the Kingsguard in 10 AC.[5][6]

Aegon had his elder son, Aenys Targaryen, handle Blackfyre from time to time, but the prince was no more than an adequate swordsman. Aegon bestowed knighthood on his younger son, Maegor Targaryen, during a tourney at Riverrun in 28 AC, dubbing the prince with Blackfyre.[7]

After Aegon died at Dragonstone in 37 AC, the king's body was burned in a funeral pyre with his hands folded over the hilt of Blackfyre. Prince Maegor then retrieved Blackfyre, which had been made darker in color by the flames but was otherwise unharmed.[7]

Aenys and Maegor

Aegon the Conqueror was succeeded by King Aenys I Targaryen, but the new king granted Blackfyre to his more martial younger brother, Prince Maegor Targaryen. Maegor henceforth only wielded Blackfyre and kept his previous Valyrian steel sword, Dark Sister, at Dragonstone. When Maegor refused to put aside his second wife, Alys Harroway, the polygamous prince chose exile in Pentos and refused Aenys' request to leave Blackfyre behind.[7]

Maegor flew to Dragonstone to claim the crown after Aenys died in 42 AC. When Grand Maester Gawen insisted that the Iron Throne should pass to Aenys's son, Prince Aegon, Maegor beheaded Gawen with Blackfyre. Maegor wielded Blackfyre during his trial of seven against the Warrior's Sons, with the new king slaying Ser Damon Morrigen and Ser Willam the Wanderer. Maegor later used Blackfyre to kill Myros when the Grand Maester spoke out against Maegor marrying Tyanna of Pentos. In Oldtown, seven prominent Warrior's Sons who refused to join the Night's Watch were beheaded by Maegor with Blackfyre. After Tyanna confessed to poisoning the children of Maegor's other queens, the king used Blackfyre to cut out her heart and feed it to his dogs.[7]

When the realm began to unite against Maegor the Cruel, Queen Rhaena Targaryen stole the sword from the sleeping Maegor at the Red Keep for Aenys's surviving son, Prince Jaehaerys, who had announced his own claim at Storm's End. Maegor was eventually found dead on the Iron Throne.[7]

Jaehaerys I

King Jaehaerys I Targaryen bore Blackfyre on his swordbelt.[8] Jaehaerys used the sword to personally slay the rebel Borys Baratheon during the Third Dornish War.[9] Jaehaerys also killed Ser Braxton Beesbury in a trial by combat after Stinger had seduced the king's daughter, Princess Saera.[9][10]

Aegon II

Aegon II Targaryen's possession of Blackfyre enhanced his legitimacy against his rival, Rhaenyra Targaryen, during the Dance of the Dragons.[11]

When Aegon returned to King's Landing near the end of the Targaryen civil war, he allowed the condemned Trystane Truefyre to be granted knighthood before his death. Ser Marston Waters dubbed the youth Ser Trystane Fyre, and Ser Alfred Broome then beheaded the newly-made knight with Blackfyre.[12]

The Young Dragon

Daeron I Targaryen wielded Blackfyre during his conquest of Dorne, and he was eventually killed by Dornishmen with the sword in hand.[13]

While it is unknown when Blackfyre was returned to the possession of the Targaryens, it had been returned at least by the reign of King Aegon IV Targaryen. However, as, according to Ser Eustace Osgrey, Blackfyre had been wielded by every Targaryen king since Aegon's Conquest,[14] the sword might have already been returned during the reigns of Baelor I Targaryen or Viserys II Targaryen.

House Blackfyre

King Aegon IV knights Daemon Waters with Blackfyre.
As depicted by Marc Simonetti in The World of Ice & Fire.

In 182 AC, King Aegon IV Targaryen chose to bestow Blackfyre on his bastard son Daemon, a born warrior, instead of his scholarly legitimate son, the future Daeron II Targaryen. Ser Daemon, who had been known by the bastard surname Waters until then, took the name "Blackfyre" thereafter, creating House Blackfyre.[15] Some felt that the Conqueror's sword symbolized the monarchy, so the gift was one of the seeds from which rebellion grew.[16][17]

Daemon I Blackfyre wielded the sword during the First Blackfyre Rebellion in 196 AC, and he fought an epic duel with Ser Gwayne Corbray of the Kingsguard at the Redgrass Field, pitted against Gwayne's own Valyrian blade, Lady Forlorn. Aemon Blackfyre briefly wielded the sword after the Raven's Teeth slew Daemon, but Aemon was also killed in the battle.[14] Daemon's half brother, Aegor Rivers, known as Bittersteel, attempted to rally the rebels with Blackfyre in hand, but Bittersteel withdrew after dueling another half brother, Brynden Rivers, a rival called Bloodraven.[16]

With Daemon and his twin sons dead at the Redgrass Field, Bittersteel took Blackfyre with him in exile to the Free Cities, where he eventually founded the sellsword Golden Company. Aegor refused to give the Valyrian sword to Daemon II Blackfyre for the ill-fated Second Blackfyre Rebellion, and Lord Ambrose Butterwell doubted Daemon's potential after learning he lacked Blackfyre.[18]

Possession of Blackfyre after Bittersteel is unknown, although maesters consider the Blackfyre Pretenders to have ended with the death of Maelys Blackfyre.[19]

Known wielders

Blackfyre from the Valyrian Steel ® Collection

Quotes

You are more fit to bear this blade than me. Wield it in my service, and I shall be content.[7]

Even sheathed, the blade could be mistaken for no other.[8]

—writings of Benifer

Eustace: Because Daemon was the better man. The old king saw it, too. He gave the sword to Daemon. Blackfyre, the sword of Aegon the Conqueror, the blade that every Targaryen king had wielded since the Conquest ... he put that sword in Daemon's hand the day he knighted him, a boy of twelve.

Egg: My father says that was because Daemon was a swordsman, and Daeron never was. Why give a horse to a man who cannot ride? The sword was not the kingdom, he says.

Eustace: Your father is a fool.[14]

See also

References

  1. So Spake Martin: Many Questions (June 13, 2001)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Fire & Blood, Aegon's Conquest.
  3. The World of Ice & Fire, The Iron Islands: The Greyjoys of Pyke.
  4. The World of Ice & Fire, Dorne: Dorne Against the Dragons.
  5. Fire & Blood, Three Heads Had the Dragon - Governance Under King Aegon I.
  6. The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon I.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Fire & Blood, The Sons of the Dragon.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Fire & Blood, A Time of Testing - The Realm Remade.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Fire & Blood, The Long Reign - Jaehaerys and Alysanne: Policy, Progeny, and Pain.
  10. The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Maegor I.
  11. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Blacks and the Greens.
  12. 12.0 12.1 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Short, Sad Reign of Aegon II.
  13. 13.0 13.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Daeron I.
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 The Sworn Sword.
  15. 15.0 15.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon IV.
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Daeron II.
  17. So Spake Martin: SF, Targaryens, Valyria, Sansa, Martells, and More (June 26, 2001)
  18. The Mystery Knight.
  19. The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Jaehaerys II.