On Gendry's age and POVs about it

[Lady Dacey]

I just couldn't believe when I saw on the wiki page that it's "canon" that Gendry was born in 284 AC just because of one Arya line... that's absurd. 

First and foremost: I don't mean to state how old he actually is or when was he born. My point is preciselly that we DON'T KNOW, and can't know with the information we have so far. 

And why is that? Well let's go to textual evidence:

 

1) From Ned's POV: Ned meets him he thinks "he is probably as old as Robb"

- we know that's impossible because Robb was concieved just after Ned married Catelyn and Gendry must have been concieved after the sack of Kings Landing, for before that Robert was nowhere near the capital. So he is, at most, 13 when this meeting takes place.

- Ned has that thought BEFORE Mott says the boy is "strong for his age", impling that if Ned thought Gendry was then fourteen, he was sure younger than that, thirteen or even twelve... 

2)  From Arya's POV: now, this is a nine/ten year-old girl who's quite small, and we get to see Gendry through her eyes 

- we have her saying he's older and bigger than Hot Pie and Lommy, but we don't know how old these two are. They could easely be around ten/eleven and teasing Arya who is a small nine-year-old girl. Gendry would only have to be twelve to be older than they were. At that age an year might mean a lot.

- in a moment of danger, wishing her 'pack' were strong enough not to be captured, she states to herself that Gendry is "several inches taller and five years older" than herself. That's an assumpssion.

- She never again (or before) mentions Gendry's age, they don't talk about it at all to each other or anyone else that we readers know of.

- And we know he looks older than he actually is, even for gorwn-ups. Imagine from a ten-year-old perspective!

3) From Davos's POV: he never met Gendry, but he's got something to tell us about his genetics

- Davos compares Edric Storm with his own son Devan. He tells us Devan is currently eleven, "shy of twelve", and is the oldest kid in the room.

-That makes Edric either eleven and a few months younger, but I don't think it likely, he wouldn't say his son was older than Edric then, he'd probably say they were 'of age' - or ten years old, or maybe even less. Let us say he's ten. Yet he's "three inches taller and broader of chest and shoulders" then Devan, who by the way already has a "fuzz" around his jaw. One that would shame a peach, according to his father, but no less a sing he's closer to adolescence and the development of secundary sexual characteristcs. And we never hear anyone talk about Davos as a small man, he's probably pretty avarage.

- So, this half-brother to our Gendry is at the age of ten much bigger then another boy who's almost twelve. 

4) From Brienne's POV: we get more impressions of an adult about Gendry's sizs and age

- Before she ever see's Gendry, she hears the voice of a BOY. To me this is very telling, it means he hasn't fully grown yet. We all know how it works when a teen starts to change his "boy voice" into "adult voice". It's very interlinked with hormones and it varies from person to person. Gendry is BIG, but he's still a boy. 

- She states he's definetely YOUNGER than Renly was when she met him. Well, that would be his comming-of-age tour through the Stormlands, when he was sixteen. Ok, that could make Gendry fifteen, but...

- it's not really easy to tell a sixteen-year-old boy apart from a fifteen-year-old is it? Specially since she remarks Gendry is stronger and broader than Renly ever was (she describes him as "lithe").

- That makes me think he's probably around fourteen or he just turned fifteen when he meets Brienne. Which would make him twelve by the time Ned met him, which makes sense given how big Robert's sons seem to be... 

5) From real life: we know puberty is an awkard time. My own son is a really big boy - he was born with more than 4kg and has always been much taller than all his peers. My half-brother is actually 1,80m now, and he's twelve and still growing, and pretty much a boy. My own husband was already 1,86m (his current size) at thirteen. He had a beard at the same age! Not a full beard, but visible thick black hair on his jaws and mustache all the same. 

 

But all in all my point is: we can't know for sure. I DO know we can't rely on Arya's information. He could be any age between 11 and 14 when Ned met him in 298 AC, and any age between 13 and 16 when Brienne meets him in 300 AC. My guess is he's probably around three years Arya's senior, a year older than Sansa and two years younger than Robb/Jon. But that's just my impression. My guess goes to him being twelve in september 298 (according to the timeline, that's when Ned met him) and in the end of his fourteenth year or the begenning of his fifteenth when Brienne encounters him in May of 30. 

 

What do you think? 

[Vaedys Targaryen]

Well, wasn't Gendry born in King's Landing after Robert's Rebellion? Granted, Robert could've fathered Gendry on his mother right after the Sacking of King's Landing, as Robert and his troops would naturally celebrate that the Rebellion was pretty much over that very night and would of course engage in sex with someone, which would place his conceivement after Daenerys'.

It makes sense then, that Gendry is younger than Daenerys, which is to say 12-13 years old in Game.

[Lady Dacey]

1 hour ago, Vaedys Targaryen said:

 

It makes sense then, that Gendry is younger than Daenerys, which is to say 12-13 years old in Game.

Precisely my point. The wiki entry give's credit to Arya's line that he's "five year older" than herself, but that doesn't make sense. He's got to be younger than that. 

[Alexis-something-Rose]

Gendry is his father's son with his physique, same as Edric. And he seems imposing enough that people could mistake his age. Bella was openly flirting with him, so she too must have thought he was older than what he really was. I wonder if Gendry himself would know his own age. 

Arya places Edric Dayne's age as being 10 or 12 and he confirms himself that he is 12, so Gendry must be pretty large for someone his age. Arya may not be the best at telling the ages of people. 

As far as the wiki goes, I'm pretty sure the Domeric Bolton year of birth is off by years.

[Vaedys Targaryen]

57 minutes ago, Widow's Watch said:

Gendry is his father's son with his physique, same as Edric. And he seems imposing enough that people could mistake his age. Bella was openly flirting with him, so she too must have thought he was older than what he really was. I wonder if Gendry himself would know his own age. 

Arya places Edric Dayne's age as being 10 or 12 and he confirms himself that he is 12, so Gendry must be pretty large for someone his age. Arya may not be the best at telling the ages of people. 

As far as the wiki goes, I'm pretty sure the Domeric Bolton year of birth is off by years.

Well, Robert was known to be very tall and handsome in his youth, so Gendry might have inherited more than Robert's black hair. Also, Gendry has been working as a blacksmith; being a blacksmith is a very physically demanding job, especially with the upper-body, and many blacksmiths are described as being very strong. If Gendry is tall and has muscled arms and chest, it should comeas no wonder why people think he is older than he truly is.

[Megorova]

3 hours ago, Lady Dacey said:

From Ned's POV: Ned meets him he thinks "he is probably as old as Robb"

- we know that's impossible because Robb was concieved just after Ned married Catelyn and Gendry must have been concieved after the sack of Kings Landing, for before that Robert was nowhere near the capital. So he is, at most, 13 when this meeting takes place.

"The Peach is an inn and brothel located at the eastern side of Stoney Sept's main market square."

"During Robert's Rebellion, Lord Robert Baratheon hid at the Peach before the Battle of the Bells. According to Leslyn, Robert laid with all of the inn's prostitutes but his favorite was Bella's mother. "

The Battle of the Bells was first battle of 283. Before marriage of Ned and Jon Arryn.

"Jon wounded Hoster^[2] and killed Lord Jon Arryn's gallant cousin and heir,^[5] Ser Denys Arryn, with an axe.^[6] "

Jon Arryn married with Lysa, after his heir was killed by Jon Con. Ned married with Cat on the same day.

"Bella is a young prostitute at the Peach in Stoney Sept. She claims to a be a bastard of King Robert I Baratheon." <- she was born in 283.

Bella was conceived earlier than Robb. Could be that one of other prostitutes, with whom Robert had sex, while he was in Stoney Sept, was Gendry's mother. Could be that after the end of Rebellion, she came to live at King's Landing.

Robert was a horndog. Even during war, that started because of abduction of his fiancee, he wasn't holding back, and still had lots of fun with girls.

So even though Gendry was born in King's Landing, doesn't mean that his mother was originally from there, and didn't came there from some other place.

Example from 3rd Dunk & Egg story:

"Glendon's mother was a camp follower, known as Penny Jenny to those who visited her. Among her known lovers was Ser Quentyn Ball. The night before the battle of the Redgrass Field she lay with dozens of men, which earned her a new nickname, Redgrass Jenny. After the battle, Redgrass Jenny established herself in King's Landing at an establishment called the Pussywillows. There she raised her two children: her son, who would be known as Ser Glendon Flowers, and her daughter who would become a whore."

Could be that Gendry's mother did the same as Glendon's.

[wolfmaid7]

4 hours ago, Lady Dacey said:

I just couldn't believe when I saw on the wiki page that it's "canon" that Gendry was born in 284 AC just because of one Arya line... that's absurd. 

First and foremost: I don't mean to state how old he actually is or when was he born. My point is preciselly that we DON'T KNOW, and can't know with the information we have so far. 

And why is that? Well let's go to textual evidence:

 

1) From Ned's POV: Ned meets him he thinks "he is probably as old as Robb"

- we know that's impossible because Robb was concieved just after Ned married Catelyn and Gendry must have been concieved after the sack of Kings Landing, for before that Robert was nowhere near the capital. So he is, at most, 13 when this meeting takes place.

- Ned has that thought BEFORE Mott says the boy is "strong for his age", impling that if Ned thought Gendry was then fourteen, he was sure younger than that, thirteen or even twelve... 

2)  From Arya's POV: now, this is a nine/ten year-old girl who's quite small, and we get to see Gendry through her eyes 

- we have her saying he's older and bigger than Hot Pie and Lommy, but we don't know how old these two are. They could easely be around ten/eleven and teasing Arya who is a small nine-year-old girl. Gendry would only have to be twelve to be older than they were. At that age an year might mean a lot.

- in a moment of danger, wishing her 'pack' were strong enough not to be captured, she states to herself that Gendry is "several inches taller and five years older" than herself. That's an assumpssion.

- She never again (or before) mentions Gendry's age, they don't talk about it at all to each other or anyone else that we readers know of.

- And we know he looks older than he actually is, even for gorwn-ups. Imagine from a ten-year-old perspective!

3) From Davos's POV: he never met Gendry, but he's got something to tell us about his genetics

- Davos compares Edric Storm with his own son Devan. He tells us Devan is currently eleven, "shy of twelve", and is the oldest kid in the room.

-That makes Edric either eleven and a few months younger, but I don't think it likely, he wouldn't say his son was older than Edric then, he'd probably say they were 'of age' - or ten years old, or maybe even less. Let us say he's ten. Yet he's "three inches taller and broader of chest and shoulders" then Devan, who by the way already has a "fuzz" around his jaw. One that would shame a peach, according to his father, but no less a sing he's closer to adolescence and the development of secundary sexual characteristcs. And we never hear anyone talk about Davos as a small man, he's probably pretty avarage.

- So, this half-brother to our Gendry is at the age of ten much bigger then another boy who's almost twelve. 

4) From Brienne's POV: we get more impressions of an adult about Gendry's sizs and age

- Before she ever see's Gendry, she hears the voice of a BOY. To me this is very telling, it means he hasn't fully grown yet. We all know how it works when a teen starts to change his "boy voice" into "adult voice". It's very interlinked with hormones and it varies from person to person. Gendry is BIG, but he's still a boy. 

- She states he's definetely YOUNGER than Renly was when she met him. Well, that would be his comming-of-age tour through the Stormlands, when he was sixteen. Ok, that could make Gendry fifteen, but...

- it's not really easy to tell a sixteen-year-old boy apart from a fifteen-year-old is it? Specially since she remarks Gendry is stronger and broader than Renly ever was (she describes him as "lithe").

- That makes me think he's probably around fourteen or he just turned fifteen when he meets Brienne. Which would make him twelve by the time Ned met him, which makes sense given how big Robert's sons seem to be... 

5) From real life: we know puberty is an awkard time. My own son is a really big boy - he was born with more than 4kg and has always been much taller than all his peers. My half-brother is actually 1,80m now, and he's twelve and still growing, and pretty much a boy. My own husband was already 1,86m (his current size) at thirteen. He had a beard at the same age! Not a full beard, but visible thick black hair on his jaws and mustache all the same. 

 

But all in all my point is: we can't know for sure. I DO know we can't rely on Arya's information. He could be any age between 11 and 14 when Ned met him in 298 AC, and any age between 13 and 16 when Brienne meets him in 300 AC. My guess is he's probably around three years Arya's senior, a year older than Sansa and two years younger than Robb/Jon. But that's just my impression. My guess goes to him being twelve in september 298 (according to the timeline, that's when Ned met him) and in the end of his fourteenth year or the begenning of his fifteenth when Brienne encounters him in May of 30. 

 

What do you think? 

Cudoes on catching the observation made by Brienne...That was indeed a nice find.Its one of those little hints scattered in this series that lets us know that things aren't what they seem.

You are right to question them.Arya's guess is just that,a misguided guess based on Gendry's size.

The statement by Gendry's handler was the red flag to doubt."He is strong for his age" was the indicator that Gendry's perceived age is not what most think.

However, there isn't anything wrong with Ned saying Gendry was of an age with Robb.The ambiguity of that statement is the point.He could be with a difference of about 3yrs and still be of an age if he's in his teens.

[wolfmaid7]

29 minutes ago, Megorova said:

"The Peach is an inn and brothel located at the eastern side of Stoney Sept's main market square."

"During Robert's Rebellion, Lord Robert Baratheon hid at the Peach before the Battle of the Bells. According to Leslyn, Robert laid with all of the inn's prostitutes but his favorite was Bella's mother. "

The Battle of the Bells was first battle of 283. Before marriage of Ned and Jon Arryn.

"Jon wounded Hoster^[2] and killed Lord Jon Arryn's gallant cousin and heir,^[5] Ser Denys Arryn, with an axe.^[6] "

Jon Arryn married with Lysa, after his heir was killed by Jon Con. Ned married with Cat on the same day.

"Bella is a young prostitute at the Peach in Stoney Sept. She claims to a be a bastard of King Robert I Baratheon." <- she was born in 283.

Bella was conceived earlier than Robb. Could be that one of other prostitutes, with whom Robert had sex, while he was in Stoney Sept, was Gendry's mother. Could be that after the end of Rebellion, she came to live at King's Landing.

Robert was a horndog. Even during war, that started because of abduction of his fiancee, he wasn't holding back, and still had lots of fun with girls.

So even though Gendry was born in King's Landing, doesn't mean that his mother was originally from there, and didn't came there from some other place.

Example from 3rd Dunk & Egg story:

"Glendon's mother was a camp follower, known as Penny Jenny to those who visited her. Among her known lovers was Ser Quentyn Ball. The night before the battle of the Redgrass Field she lay with dozens of men, which earned her a new nickname, Redgrass Jenny. After the battle, Redgrass Jenny established herself in King's Landing at an establishment called the Pussywillows. There she raised her two children: her son, who would be known as Ser Glendon Flowers, and her daughter who would become a whore."

Could be that Gendry's mother did the same as Glendon's.

Bella claims to be Robert's bastard based on a rumor that while he was running for his life and injured he slept with an entire brothel.

I don't believe Robert slept around on Lyanna while believing she was missing.There is no indication that he disrespected "her" in that way at all.His love for her and for Ned would have ensured that.

IMO when Bobby B found out about Lyanna being dead Gendry's mom was the first in a line of many consolidating moments.

Given that she was a tavern wench in KL and Robert was in the capital after the sack.Probably there when he heard the news...perfect storm.

[John Suburbs]

4 hours ago, Lady Dacey said:

I just couldn't believe when I saw on the wiki page that it's "canon" that Gendry was born in 284 AC just because of one Arya line... that's absurd. 

First and foremost: I don't mean to state how old he actually is or when was he born. My point is preciselly that we DON'T KNOW, and can't know with the information we have so far. 

snip

 

What do you think? 

Just because it is canon does not mean it is absolute truth, just that it is stated as such in the agreed upon text.

It is also "canon" that Jon is Ned's bastard son, but few people believe that.

 

[Lady Dacey]

8 minutes ago, John Suburbs said:

Just because it is canon does not mean it is absolute truth, just that it is stated as such in the agreed upon text.

It is also "canon" that Jon is Ned's bastard son, but few people believe that.

 

My point is more like: i see most people sharing the assumption that Gendry was indeed 15 while Arya was 10. I find that quite absurd. He was probably around 13 then. Yet in most discussions people will bring up this alleged "five year age difference" as if it were a fact. There might be five years between them, there might be less. We don't really know from any realiable source how old he actually is. That's my point. 

[RhaegoTheUnborn]

23 minutes ago, wolfmaid7 said:

Bella claims to be Robert's bastard based on a rumor that while he was running for his life and injured he slept with an entire brothel.

I don't believe Robert slept around on Lyanna while believing she was missing.There is no indication that he disrespected "her" in that way at all.His love for her and for Ned would have ensured that.

IMO when Bobby B found out about Lyanna being dead Gendry's mom was the first in a line of many consolidating moments.

Given that she was a tavern wench in KL and Robert was in the capital after the sack.Probably there when he heard the news...perfect storm.

Even Lyanna doubts Robert would ever be faithful.

[Lady Dacey]

I don't know many males tall and musculed and bearded that at 16 still have a "boy's voice" as Brienne stated. If he was already 15 before being captured by the BwB, he must 16 by the time Brienne runs into him.

Now, a fourteen year-old with a boy's voice? That's more commom, in real life, says my experience. Even if said boy is fast developing, he still could have a boy's voice at 14. At 16 that's less likely, specially considering that three years prior he already looked adolescent (Ned's POV), so no recent growth sprout. 

 

 

[Daenerys Targaryen's slave]

15 minutes ago, RhaegoTheUnborn said:

Even Lyanna doubts Robert would ever be faithful.

Well, she is not really a good judge of character, considering she ran off with a married man.

[wolfmaid7]

59 minutes ago, John Suburbs said:

Just because it is canon does not mean it is absolute truth, just that it is stated as such in the agreed upon text.

It is also "canon" that Jon is Ned's bastard son, but few people believe that.

 

I think what the OP is getting at is there seems to be a disconnect when people debate ;stuff gets thrown out as fact instead of thrown out as assumption.Especially where characters are concerned.OP is correct.One can't state character guesses as fact.

47 minutes ago, Lady Dacey said:

My point is more like: i see most people sharing the assumption that Gendry was indeed 15 while Arya was 10. I find that quite absurd. He was probably around 13 then. Yet in most discussions people will bring up this alleged "five year age difference" as if it were a fact. There might be five years between them, there might be less. We don't really know from any realiable source how old he actually is. That's my point. 

You are indeed correct.I am with you he most likely is younger.

44 minutes ago, RhaegoTheUnborn said:

Even Lyanna doubts Robert would ever be faithful.

Lyanna's initial doubt doesn't equate fact as to how Robert would treat her and why.

Don't get me wrong she had every reason to doubt after hearing she was to marry him.

The man did father a bastard on some girl in the Vale.That may very well have played a part in coloring her thoughts on his fidelity.

My mother who is from the Caribbean would call that a "second hand man" side eyed glances would have gone his way.

However,Lyanna's thought reflected one moment in time; when she is told she is to marry someone who already had a kid.One moment in time which doesn't reflect any point after.We know how she felt about him at "that" moment.

Another point when it comes to this arguement...Are we really to think Lyanna who squinted her eye because Robert ,unmarried Robert fathered a child is going to find a man who is married with two kids suitable?

 

[Megorova]

2 hours ago, wolfmaid7 said:

Bella claims to be Robert's bastard based on a rumor that while he was running for his life and injured he slept with an entire brothel.

"The inn is run by Tansy, while Alyce, Bella, Cass, Helly, Jyzene, and Lanna work there as prostitutes or "peaches"."

Entire brothel is less than a dozen of girls. For example when Arya was staying at that inn, there was 7 females, including its owner.

We don't know for how long Robert was staying there, or how serious were his injuries. But I think that they were not very serious. Based on this:

"Emerging from the Peach when the bells began ringing, Robert slew six men, including Prince Rhaegar Targaryen's friend and former squire, Ser Myles Mooton.^[2] Robert and Jon did not meet on the battlefield according to Harwin,^[2] while Jon recalled that he was nearly slain by Robert on the steps of the town's sept.^[3] "

He killed SIX!!!!! men, and nearly killed Jon Connington.

If his injuries didn't stopped him from killing nearly 7 people, I think they also wouldn't have stopped him from 7 whores. Also for men, when they are in danger, they also become horny. So while Targaryen soldiers were looking for him, the sense of danger gave him an additional spice and adrenaline rush, which only intensified his horndog nature, and his sexual hunger. 

Also Bella not only claims that Robert is her father, in addition to that, the time and place of her conceivement corresponds with time and place where Robert was, and Bella also has Robert's black hair and dark-blue eyes.

2 hours ago, wolfmaid7 said:

I don't believe Robert slept around on Lyanna while believing she was missing.There is no indication that he disrespected "her" in that way at all.His love for her and for Ned would have ensured that.

That man was a real pig. He had no shame, no bondaries, and no self-consciousness. For example, on the night of his brother's wedding, he not only had sex with a cousin (a widow) of his new sister-in-law, and impregnated her, he also did it in the bed of newlyweds.

So I doubt that thoughts about Lyanna, ever stopped him from fucking around. Lyanna herself was convinced that he won't change, even after they will marry.  

57 minutes ago, wolfmaid7 said:

My mother who is from the Caribbean would call that a "second hand man" side eyed glances would have gone his way.

And how would be called a man that fathered 18 bastards? Varys knew for sure about 8 of Robert's children.

[Lady Dacey]

If Gendry were born in 184 as the wiki states and most people assume, he'd be 15 turning 16 in 300 AC, when he meets with Brienne... Would she have said he's definetely younger than Renly was when she first met him (at sixteen!)?

if he were born in 284 he'd be 14-15-16 in the years the books span. If i'm correct, he's 12-13-14 between 298 and 300. Makes more sense to me.

[Megorova]

40 minutes ago, Lady Dacey said:

If Gendry were born in 184 as the wiki states and most people assume, he'd be 15 turning 16 in 300 AC, when he meets with Brienne... Would she have said he's definetely younger than Renly was when she first met him (at sixteen!)?

Maybe when they met for the first time, SHE was 16. This:

1. "The last man Brienne was betrothed to, Ser Humfrey Wagstaff, warned her he would insist she act womanly once they were wed. Though only sixteen, Brienne replied she would only accept such a demand from a man who could beat her in combat. In the effort, Humfrey ended up with three broken bones and a broken betrothal."

2. "After that, Lord Selwyn stopped trying to arrange a marriage for Brienne.^[12] Brienne's only positive encounter with a man occurred when House Tarth's liege, Lord Renly Baratheon, visited their island during his coming of age tour. He crossed paths with Brienne and treated her courteously, and she fell in love with him.^[8] Some time later, Lord Selwyn sent her to Storm's End.^[18] "

Quote from book -> "She was sixteen and no stranger to a sword, but still shy despite her prowess in the yard. Yet somehow she had found the courage to tell Ser Humfrey that she would accept chastisement only from a man who could outfight her. The old knight purpled, but agreed to don his own armor to teach her a woman’s proper place. They fought with blunted tourney weapons, so Brienne’s mace had no spikes. She broke Ser Humfrey’s collarbone, two ribs, and their betrothal. He was her third prospective husband, and her last. Her father did not insist again. "

When she was 16 (born in 280), he was 19 (born in 277).

Could be that 16 was about her age, not his. Or maybe his coming of age tour lasted for several years. He was King's brother, so maybe he was staying at KL, in his brother's court for a long time, during his visit there. And when he went to Evenfall Hall, he was already 19.

Found this:

"She had loved him since first he came to Tarth on his leisurely lord’s progress, to mark his coming of age. Her father welcomed him with a feast and commanded her to attend; elsewise she would have hidden in her room like some wounded beast. She had been no older than Sansa, more afraid of sniggers than of swords. They will know about the rose, she told Lord Selwyn, they will laugh at me. But the Evenstar would not relent."

Did she knew Sansa's exact age? Also the fact that she was saying to her father about the rose, doesn't mean that it happened after annulment of her second engagement, and prior her third and final.

[Philokles]

Brienne is terrible at estimating ages and admits it herself - "Brienne put his age at ten, but she was terrible at judging how old a child was. She always thought they were younger than they were, perhaps because she had always been big for her age." (AFFC, Brienne II)

The boy Brienne thinks is 10 is Pod, who Tyrion estimated to be 12 a year or so previously (though he underestimated Jon's age too).

[Lady Dacey]

1 hour ago, Megorova said:

Maybe when they met for the first time, SHE was 16. This:

1. "The last man Brienne was betrothed to, Ser Humfrey Wagstaff, warned her he would insist she act womanly once they were wed. Though only sixteen, Brienne replied she would only accept such a demand from a man who could beat her in combat. In the effort, Humfrey ended up with three broken bones and a broken betrothal."

2. "After that, Lord Selwyn stopped trying to arrange a marriage for Brienne.^[12] Brienne's only positive encounter with a man occurred when House Tarth's liege, Lord Renly Baratheon, visited their island during his coming of age tour. He crossed paths with Brienne and treated her courteously, and she fell in love with him.^[8] Some time later, Lord Selwyn sent her to Storm's End.^[18] "

Quote from book -> "She was sixteen and no stranger to a sword, but still shy despite her prowess in the yard. Yet somehow she had found the courage to tell Ser Humfrey that she would accept chastisement only from a man who could outfight her. The old knight purpled, but agreed to don his own armor to teach her a woman’s proper place. They fought with blunted tourney weapons, so Brienne’s mace had no spikes. She broke Ser Humfrey’s collarbone, two ribs, and their betrothal. He was her third prospective husband, and her last. Her father did not insist again. "

When she was 16 (born in 280), he was 19 (born in 277).

Could be that 16 was about her age, not his. Or maybe his coming of age tour lasted for several years. He was King's brother, so maybe he was staying at KL, in his brother's court for a long time, during his visit there. And when he went to Evenfall Hall, he was already 19.

Found this:

"She had loved him since first he came to Tarth on his leisurely lord’s progress, to mark his coming of age. Her father welcomed him with a feast and commanded her to attend; elsewise she would have hidden in her room like some wounded beast. She had been no older than Sansa, more afraid of sniggers than of swords. They will know about the rose, she told Lord Selwyn, they will laugh at me. But the Evenstar would not relent."

Did she knew Sansa's exact age? Also the fact that she was saying to her father about the rose, doesn't mean that it happened after annulment of her second engagement, and prior her third and final.

She was no older than Sansa = she was "a maid of three-and-ten", and Renly was sixteen. He died at age 21, while she was eighteen. Coming of age in Westeros for boys is at sixteen. Renly did live in Storms End, we know that, and Tarth is in the Stormlands. It wouldn't take more than a year for him to make it to Tarth, most like 

[Lady Dacey]

26 minutes ago, Horse of Kent said:

Brienne is terrible at estimating ages and admits it herself - "Brienne put his age at ten, but she was terrible at judging how old a child was. She always thought they were younger than they were, perhaps because she had always been big for her age." (AFFC, Brienne II)

The boy Brienne thinks is 10 is Pod, who Tyrion estimated to be 12 a year or so previously (though he underestimated Jon's age too).

That's very very true! Still doesn't make Arya's line about him being five years older a fact. We have bits and pieces about is all. I do find the most important information Brienne give's us is about his voice. She hears him before ever looking at his face, size, etcetera, and she hears a boy. When she turns, she sees "Renly" and calls Gendry "my lord". So his voice is surely still a boy's voice.