Pennytree is a large village in the riverlands, located north of the Red Fork in the disputed border area between Stone Hedge and Raventree Hall.[1] The surrounding lands have frequently changed hands in the ongoing conflict between House Bracken and House Blackwood.[2]
Layout
[edit]Pennytree is situated near the Widow's Wash between two grassy hills known as the Teats. The village is named for a huge old oak tree that grows by a duck pond, to which hundreds of copper pennies have been nailed. The village holdfast, as strong as any in the riverlands, has thick stone walls twelve feet high, behind which the people of Pennytree retreat at the sign of trouble.[2]
History
[edit]Pennytree was disputed between House Bracken and Blackwood.[2] The hills to either side of the village were historically known as the Teats or the Mother's Teats. King Aegon IV Targaryen dubbed them Barba's Teats in honor of his mistress, Barba Bracken. A few years later, however, Aegon renamed the hills for his new mistress, Melissa Blackwood. Blackwoods call the hills Missy's Teats, while Brackens still call them Barba's Teats.[2]
Ser Arlan of Pennytree was a hedge knight from the village.[3] His nephew and first squire, Roger, also came from Pennytree.[4][5] Arlan rarely spoke about Pennytree to his second squire, Dunk.[3] By 211 AC, Ser Duncan the Tall had never visited Pennytree and was not sure of its location.[4]
Pennytree became a royal fief about a century ago.[2]
Recent Events
[edit]A Dance With Dragons
[edit]During the War of the Five Kings, raiders claiming to be king's men take Pennytree's sheep. Later, other king's men burn the village and its orchards. Some of these raiders kill the villagers Harsley, Lacey, and Ser Ormond.[2]
After resolving the siege of Riverrun, Ser Jaime Lannister travels to Raventree Hall, which is besieged by House Bracken, on behalf of King Tommen I Baratheon. Lord Jonos Bracken shows Jaime a map of the lands he wishes to claim from his rival, Lord Tytos Blackwood. When Jaime asks about the village between the Teats, Jonos explains he is not asking for Pennytree since it has been a royal fief for a hundred years.[2]
Jaime decides to camp for the night at Pennytree after negotiating an end to the siege of Raventree. As Jaime's host travels to Pennytree, his new hostage, Hoster Blackwood, tells a bit of the history of the local area. When they reach the village, Jaime notes that Pennytree was burned in the war, but most of its houses have since been rebuilt. The inhabitants remain wary of visitors, however, and retreat to their holdfast. Jaime tells them they are king's men, but the villagers reply that it was king's men who harmed the village and its people before, and they will only open their gates after the army leaves. Though Ser Kennos of Kayce recommends attacking, Jaime decides it would be pointless. Jaime has his men shelter in Pennytree's houses, but orders them not to steal anything, as they have their own provisions.[2]
While eating supper, Jaime tries to count the pennies nailed to the oak and wonders about its origins, but decides not to ask Hoster about it. At midnight, Jaime's scouts apprehend Brienne of Tarth on the outskirts of the village. Upon meeting Jaime, Brienne pleads for him to help her save Sansa Stark from the Hound.[2] It is later reported to King's Landing that Jaime left his host and departed with a woman.[6]
Behind the Scenes
[edit]In the television adaptation A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Ser Arlan of Pennytree explains to his squire Dunk the tradition that the village of Pennytree is named for: when a lord calls his banners and sends the boys of Pennytree off to war, it's custom for each of them to nail a penny to the oak in the square, and if they return, to take it down; despite being a great tree, it's often hard to find a spare bit to pin a new coin.[7]
Quotes
[edit]Dunk had never seen the old man's Pennytree. Ser Arlan seldom spoke of it, no more than Dunk was wont to speak of Flea Bottom.[5]
—thoughts of Duncan the Tall
Pennytree proved to be a much larger village than he had anticipated. The war had been here too; blackened orchards and the scorched shells of broken houses testified to that. But for every home in ruins three more had been rebuilt. Through the gathering blue dusk Jaime glimpsed fresh thatch upon a score of roofs, and doors made of raw green wood. Between a duck pond and a blacksmith's forge, he came upon the tree that gave the place its name, an oak ancient and tall. Its gnarled roots twisted in and out of the earth like a nest of slow brown serpents, and hundreds of old copper pennies had been nailed to its huge trunk.[2]
—thoughts of Jaime Lannister
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, map of Westeros.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 48, Jaime I.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Hedge Knight.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Sworn Sword.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Mystery Knight.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 54, Cersei I.
- ↑ Wiki of Westeros: The Morrow