Knight of the Laughing Tree

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Knight of Laughing Tree Shield

The Knight of the Laughing Tree was a mystery knight who fought at the Tourney at Harrenhal. He defended the honor of Howland Reed by challenging and defeating three knights whose squires had bullied him, demanding that they chastise the squires in order to ransom back their horses and armor.

The Knight of the Laughing Tree is so called because of the blazon on his shield, a smiling heart tree. His true identity remains unknown.

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 mocked and beat him. Although they were boys in their early teens, 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 had little experience with riding horses and none whatsoever with actual jousting. With no idea how to seek his revenge, Reed prayed that night 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, a mystery knight appeared to enter the lists. He was short of stature and clad in ill-fitting, mismatched armor, his shield blazoned with the image of a laughing heart tree. In a booming voice 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 their squires honor.

That evening many swore to unmask the Knight of the Laughing Tree, but he did not appear the next day. The paranoid King Aerys II, certain that the mystery knight 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 smiling 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. He was significantly shorter than most knights, and had access to someone else's armor. He was competent enough at the joust to defeat three knights who had made it through the first day of the tourney, 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 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 the story makes it clear that she was indignant on Reed's behalf. As a woman, it is likely that she would have been unusually short compared to most knights, and Benjen could have helped her find 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 by revealing what she had done.
  • Howland Reed himself. Like most crannogmen, he is known to have been short of stature. 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 son of House Stark, he certainly would have been a trained fighter, and was still young enough to be shorter than most fully-grown men. He was the one who suggested the idea of seeking vengeance to Reed in the first place, and claimed that he knew where to find armor to borrow.
  • 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 was certainly a well-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.
  • Ashara Dayne. Dayne was present at the feast, where she spoke with both Ned and Brandon Stark. 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 had trained to fight 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.

References and Notes