Jump to content

What are the best/worst House Words?


Fanless Mace

Recommended Posts

What are the best/worst House Words?

My fave: "We do not sow"!

Dumbest: "Winter is coming" -- yeah, it's cool and catchy, but doesn't really inspire or terrify.

I like "We Do Not Sow"

"Winter is Coming" seems to terrify people when they say the words, even Bran.

I also like "Ours is the Fury"

The worst: "Hear Me Roar" and "Our Blades Are Sharp."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We Do Not Sow is being my personal favourite, closely followed by the Mormonts' Here We Stand.



Worst... well, I have never been overly fond of Hear Me Roar! - while it is probably the most realistic motto, it is also being the most generic and as such I am not liking it.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dumbest: "Winter is coming" -- yeah, it's cool and catchy, but doesn't really inspire or terrify.

Quote from the wiki: "[T]heir words are "Winter Is Coming", one of only a few house mottoes to be a warning rather than a boast."

So I actually wouldn't agree that it's necessarily "dumb". I'd rather have an ominous and true motto that's full of foreboding than an impressive but shallow boast.

My personal favourite: "Winter is Coming" :P

And I also really like the Greyjoy's "We Do Not Sow."

This is a great collection of mottoes, BTW.

Edit: typo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Hear Me Roar" is pretty bad; so bad that the Lannisters have tried their best to change it to something better.



The Codds' "Though All Men Do Despise Us" is pretty bad too. It's generally a mistake to emphasize how much of a loser you are in your battle cry; if other people are going to look down on you, fine, but don't include an insult to yourself in your motto.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote from the wiki: "[T]heir words are "Winter Is Coming", one of only a few house mottoes to be a warning rather than a boast."

So I actually wouldn't agree that it's necessary "dumb". I'd rather have an ominous and true motto that's full of foreboding than an impressive but shallow boast.

My personal favourite: "Winter is Coming" :P

And I also really like the Greyjoy's "We Do Not Sow."

This is a great collection of mottoes, BTW.

To be honest, I wasn't sure if I wanted to say Winter Is Coming was my most or least favorite. For the sake of the question, I chose the more controversial and thought-provoking route. Shhh! :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"

The Codds' "Though All Men Do Despise Us" is pretty bad too. It's generally a mistake to emphasize how much of a loser you are in your battle cry; if other people are going to look down on you, fine, but don't include an insult to yourself in your motto.

Yeah, that's the kind of motto that probably sounded a lot cooler in High Valeryian.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Hear Me Roar" is pretty bad; so bad that the Lannisters have tried their best to change it to something better.

The Codds' "Though All Men Do Despise Us" is pretty bad too. It's generally a mistake to emphasize how much of a loser you are in your battle cry; if other people are going to look down on you, fine, but don't include an insult to yourself in your motto.

I am rather liking the Codd words, actually. It puts me in mind of the American Revolutionaries' use of "Yankee Doodle" (a song originally written to mock them) as a sort of "fuck you" to the enemies. Like the Codds are embracing the fact that nobody is liking them. They just don't care.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Edit: And ninja'ed...

I am thinking you mean reaved. ;)

Another house's words that I am finding laughably weak are House Beesbury's Beware Our Sting. It is just seeming to me like trying to make the best of a shockingly bad situation (being associated with bees).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I laughed out loud when I first heard Hear Me Roar because it sounds so childish.



A lot of the Houses of Westeros are pretty childish in their design though, with their animal sigils and silly sayings. It's almost like GRRM allowed one of his child relatives to design parts of Westeros. Essos isn't much better thinking about it, with Dany visiting a red city, a yellow city, and then a multicoloured city.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of the Houses of Westeros are pretty childish in their design though, with their animal sigils and silly sayings. It's almost like GRRM allowed one of his child relatives to design parts of Westeros. Essos isn't much better thinking about it, with Dany visiting a red city, a yellow city, and then a multicoloured city.

Just you be waiting until book 7 when it is revealed that Asshai is made of gumdrops and lollipops.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also consider "Though All Men Do Despise Us" to be one of the best words. Hate us all you like, you'll still get not rid of us...



"Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken" is also very badass, even though I would only consider last of these claims to still be true.



And, yeah, I belong to the faction that likes the ominous feeling of "Winter is Coming".




I'm of the opinion that the Lannisters should change their words to something like "We Always Pay Our Debts", because "Hear Me Roar" is pretty dumb. I mean come on, "I can make a lot of noise"? Yeah, I'm so afraid... *yawn* (gods, "Hear Me Yawn" would make better words!). And while it is about a lion roaring, it reminds me of a german proverb that translates to "Dogs that bark do not bite." So to me their words indicate that they boast a lot but there's nothing behind it. A Lannister always pays his debts, on the other hand? Serve us well and you'll be richly rewarded, go against us and you'll pay a bitter price. So much cooler.



House Beesbury's words "Beware Our Sting" are also a rather studid pun on their name.



"Touch Me Not" sounds like a plea...




edit: To mention something that didn't come up before, I think House Waxley's "Light in Darkness" is a really beatiful pun. Although they then take it a bit to far with the candles on their coat-of-arms.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...