Brienne the Legendary Warrior?

[Seaworth'sShipmate]

I just wonder, how skilled of a swordswoman is Brienne of Tarth?

She is one of the few female fighters in all of Westeros. How does she rank compared to other warriors in the Seven Kingdoms? Is she one of the best?

Her fans seem to  play her up as this incredibally skilled warrior, in league with Robert Baratheon, Robb Stark, the Hound, and Bronn ( who is definitly above average!)

Is this a correct perception? Her show hype aside, she doesn't seem like that incredibly strong or skilled. She might be good, definitely above average, but does anything really set her apart from most of the warriors and soldiers in the realm? She has killed a fair number of people, but apart from Ser Loras in the mock Tourney I haven't really seen her clean anyone's clock (yet).

[Jon's Queen Consort]

I think that Bronn is more cunning than legendary skilled and I think that Robb wasn't so legendary skilled either. I would say that Brienne is in the same league with Garlan, very good maybe even great but not legendary.

[Winter Blues]

I hope so. I like how Jaime gave her mention in the White Book and perhaps that will be significant. I don't like her as a character, but if we're looking for an Age of Heroes 2.0, I'd like to see her as one

[Butterfreak]

Well she held her own against (an admittedly weakened) Jaime and defeated Loras, so she's definitely a very skilled fighter.  Maybe not on the same level as some of the "greats", but she's up there.

[Sullen]

I just wonder, how skilled of a swordswoman is Brienne of Tarth?

She is one of the few female fighters in all of Westeros. How does she rank compared to other warriors in the Seven Kingdoms? Is she one of the best?

Her fans seem to  play her up as this incredibally skilled warrior, in league with Robert Baratheon, Robb Stark, the Hound, and Bronn ( who is definitly above average!)

Is this a correct perception? Her show hype aside, she doesn't seem like that incredibly strong or skilled. She might be good, definitely above average, but does anything really set her apart from most of the warriors and soldiers in the realm? She has killed a fair number of people, but apart from Ser Loras in the mock Tourney I haven't really seen her clean anyone's clock (yet).

There's nothing too impressive about being a better warrior than Robb or Bronn (which she definitively is)... I mean, hell, Robb struggled against Joffrey in AGoT.

While she's not legendary, she is very good. I'd put her about at the same level as Bronze Yohn, lower than the Tyrell brothers and the Clegane brothers, but still a fantastic warrior.

[Swordofmorning]

Firstly, Robb and Bronn don't belong in that list.

Robb is a great battle commander and Bronn has wits but none of them are great warriors.

Now, regarding Brienne, IMO, she's a great fighter but not as great to be in league with the likes of Robert, Jaime, Hound, Ser Arthur, etc.

[7-KG]

Robb? Bronn? Ok, i'll just assume you're kidding there.

And to the question:

I think she is a great warrior, not in the same level as, let's say, AGOT's Jaime or Robert in his prime, but still great.

[aryagonnakill#2]

Her fight against Jaime is telling.  He was chained at the wrists, had a 1 handed sword and no shield, compared to her 2 handed sword, and had been confined and barely allowed to move for months and months.  She is not top level or else she would have made short work of him in that state, but she beat Loras and Rorge, and was targeted by tons of people during the mock tourney.  Before she beat Loras she was fighting 2 people at once while Loras just sat around waiting.

[Lord Lannister]

I hear she beat the Hound.

[Swordofmorning]

I hear she beat the Hound.

Thats just the show..........which is dark and full of crap.

[SevasTra82]

Thats just the show..........which is dark and full of crap.

Agreed.

Though in a way, i did enjoy that scene in the show and much prefer it to what happened to the Hound in the Books (who was mortally wounded by a bunch of scrubs simply because he was drunk).  At least Brienne (barely) beating a drunk Hound makes more sense, IMO.

[Sullen]

Agreed.

Though in a way, i did enjoy that scene in the show and much prefer it to what happened to the Hound in the Books (who was mortally wounded by a bunch of scrubs simply because he was drunk).  At least Brienne (barely) beating a drunk Hound makes more sense, IMO.

Polliver wasn't exactly a scrub though, he was one of the Mountain's top men.

[SevasTra82]

Polliver wasn't exactly a scrub though, he was one of the Mountain's top men.

True, but nowhere near being able to handle The Hound, at least in my opinion.  Idk, the books did a great job building up Sandor Clegane into this tough fighting beast...I just never sat well with me how his end came.  Didn't seem fitting for how the books built him into being.

[Sullen]

True, but nowhere near being able to handle The Hound, at least in my opinion.  Idk, the books did a great job building up Sandor Clegane into this tough fighting beast...I just never sat well with me how his end came.  Didn't seem fitting for how the books built him into being.

Well, I suppose it also fits Barry's speech as to how a blade of grass can make all the difference in a fight.

Sandor being completely hammered was his blade of grass, one that fit his character too, I'd say.

I do understand how a relative nobody like Polliver ending the Hound could feel anti-climatic though.

[The Mountain That Flies]

If we're ranking fighters on a 1-10 scale (10 being legends like Arthur Dayne, Robert in his prime, etc), Brienne is probably a 7.5.

She's able to leverage a good combination of strength and technique, and seems to be good at adjusting her plans to her opponents weaknesses. Her fighting Garlan Tyrell would probably be the best test of her skill since he seems much smarter than the average fighter she's gone up against, but I'd wager they'd be dead even.

[talvikorppi]

I wouldn't say she's "legandary", except maybe in the women's league, which is admittedly very small (Brienne, Mormont women, Asha...who else?)

She won the tourney melee in Bitterbridge, defeating the last man standing, Ser Loras (who is acknowledged as a good fighter, though better with the lance, jousting, while his brother Garlan is the better with the sword), so obviously she must be fairly good even against men. (How good was the opposition? How good are e.g. Ser Hyle Hunt or Red Ronnet Connington?)

She's described as freakishly strong for a woman so it's fair to assume that she's stronger than many men as well - not the likes of the Hound etc. but average men. Even Jaime thinks she's stronger than he is when they fight, though that's (partly?) due to Jaime's imprisonment (malnutrition, lack of physical practice).

She seems to have certain skill and speed and also tactical knowledge. Her master-at-arms used to tell her men will always underestimate her, and always go for the quick win because they don't want to be seen to fight a woman for long, and Brienne uses this knowledge. Still, she's nowhere as skilled as Jaime, who, chained at the wrists, malnourished, weak, out of practice, still gives her a run for her money.

Most fighters are sort of average, with their strengths and weaknesses, some are below average and some downright poor. At the other end, we've got above average fighters and then the cream of the crop. Jaime with two hands and in his prime was definitely one of the cream of the crop. I'd place Brienne somewhere along the above average group.

One thing that I found important in AFFC is that her first serious fight - kill or to be killed - doesn't come until the Whispers. (Her fight with Jaime is different, she wanted to bring him alive and well to King's Landing, not kill him.) It's at the Whispers that she realises this isn't just a chivalric song, this is for real. She has to kill people. She remembers the advice of her old master-at-arms, not to hesitate etc. and does it. But she doesn't feel comfortable about it. Ser Hyle wants to bring the heads of the Bloody Mummers (=outlaws) to Randyll Tarly but Brienne basically has nightmares about these first three she killed. (As a sidenote, it was well done of Ser Hyle to give credit to Brienne and stand up for her agaist Randyll Tarly.)

Brienne is learning the true nature of knighthood. Basically, knights are the the crack troops of the time, the best killers. It's all dressed up in flowery language of chivalry and vows and oaths and honour to hide the ugly truth: knights are there to kill. Brienne has learned about conflicting vows from Jaime, and we readers see the Hound forsaking his vows to do the right thing. GRRM wants us to question the whole concept of chivalry, Brienne, Jaime, Sandor Clegane, the Mountain etc., they're illustrations of this point.

A final note. I know the show should not be discussed here, but I'd like to say this. In the show, Brienne is a "badass" fighter and killer from the start. Doesn't she kill some of Renly's bodyguards? She definitely kills the three northmen she and Jaime encounter. Killing is a day in the job for show!Brienne. It isn't for book!Brienne. Book!Brienne has a very soft, compassionate heart. She dislikes killing but fights Rorge & co for the orphans, she felt compelled to fight as it would be a knight's duty, even though she knew the odds were stacked against her. To quote Jaime, a stupid, brave, stubborn wench.

[Light a wight tonight]

I'd say that Brienne is a better fighter than most men, but short of top-tier. By top-tier I mean a healthy two-handed Jaime, Barristan, the Hound, people on that level. Short of Garlan with a sword, but on a level with Loras. 

Bronn is underrated, IMO. He has strengths that may not be appreciated, among them the ability to see an opponent's weaknesses. Real fighting isn't hack and slash; it involves tactics and technique as well. 

[Good Guy Garlan]

Victarion in aFfC keeps hyping up Jaime and Loras, and Brienne beat them both. 

[Sullen]

Victarion in aFfC keeps hyping up Jaime and Loras, and Brienne beat them both. 

Brienne beat an overconfident Loras, who arguably wasn't fighting seriously, and a starved, withered Jaime with his hands tied up.

It's telling that when George listed the best warriors alive in Westeros, he listed the Tyrell bros, the Cleganes, Barry, but not Brienne.

[The Great and Mighty Poo]

Her fight against Jaime is telling.  He was chained at the wrists, had a 1 handed sword and no shield, compared to her 2 handed sword, and had been confined and barely allowed to move for months and months.  She is not top level or else she would have made short work of him in that state, but she beat Loras and Rorge, and was targeted by tons of people during the mock tourney.  Before she beat Loras she was fighting 2 people at once while Loras just sat around waiting.

I think that fight is very telling but not in the way you're thinking. Basically Jamie IS that fictional swordsman trope. People like to humanize him and over look or pretend this isn't so. But when the writer(Grrm) tells us Jamie could be The Dragon Reborn hands down, among other things, you can't deny that was his intent. Also it makes it so much better when he looses his sword hand. You know taking a trope and flipping it on its head.

 

Then brienne, a woman, fights a undefeated large human cage fighter with sharpened teeth ever see the movie unleashed? Well times that by 100... maybe 9. 

 

Butthe bottom line of brienne is she is mirroring dunks tale. In the laziest write up:A (non)knight travel story.