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Valyrian looks of House Dayne


Constantinople

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Just a quick query on this: why do the Daynes look so Valyrian? As Dornish bannermen, you'd think they'd have even less Valyrian blood that most Westerosi houses, but they're all described as looking very Valyrian: indeed, upon a recent re-read of SoS I thought the description of Edric Dayne was uncannily similar to that of Egg.



Anyway, I just wondered if anyone could answer it: and also wondered it this could be of significance to the story, given Ned/Ashara and the possibility of the Daynes having a significant amount of dragonblood.


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People often mistake Daynes as being Valyrians. They are not, they are descendants of First Men, and they don't have much Valyrian blood in their family tree, or at least not that we know of. So, those aren't Valyrian traits, but First Men...


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I don't think that Daynes have Valyrian features. I believe that Valyrian have Dayne features.






People often mistake Daynes as being Valyrians. They are not, they are descendants of First Men, and they don't have much Valyrian blood in their family tree, or at least not that we know of. So, those aren't Valyrian traits, but First Men...





This.


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It´s not just the whores that have valyrian looks in Lys.

The Blind Girl in Dance.

One was old and one was young and one had lost an ear, but all three had the white-blond hair and smooth fair skin of Lys, where the blood of the old Freehold still ran strong.

Ran has asked the question about the Daynes. Here is his conversation with Martin.

Ashara Dayne is described as having violet eyes. Is this from a marriage to the Martells after Daeron II's sister married into that line, thus giving them some Targaryen features? From other Valyrian descendants? And, um, mind telling us the Dayne banner (emblem and field)? The Sword of the Morning and his sister has caught my imagination. ;)

I would have to consult my notes to tell you the Dayne arms. Offhand I don't recall. As for the violet eyes . . . look, Elizabeth Taylor has violet eyes, and she's not of Valyrian descent (that I know). Nor is she related to Aegon the Conquerer. Many Swedes have blue eyes, but not all those with blue eyes are Swedes, and not all Swedes have blue eyes. The same confusions exist in the 7 Kingdoms.

So many banners, I was shooting in the dark. And I was actually arguing that she was a Liz Taylor type. Thanks. :)

If you want to figure out a family's descent, the names are a better clue than the eyes. Houses descended from the First Men tend to have simple short names, often descriptive. Stark. Reed. Flint. Tallhart (tall hart). Etc. The Valyrian names are fairly distinct are well: The "ae" usage usually suggests a Valyrian in the family tree. The Andal names are . . . well, neith Stark nor Targaryen, if that makes sense. Lannister. Arryn. Tyrell. Etc. Of course, you also need to remember that there have been hundreds and in some cases thousands of years of interbreeding, so hardly anyone is pure Andal or First Man.

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Based on Martin's quote above, about the descriptive origin of First Men family names, it pretty much confirms my theory that House Dayne was originally House "Day". Kind of like their Sword is "Dawn". They brought light to the darkness.



What do you know the legendary special sword of Azor Ahai was also called Lightbringer.



Makes sense.



Which ties with my theory that House Stark was originally House Star. Hence the ancient translation that the Prince that was Promised will be born beneath a bleeding "Star". This being a bleeding "Stark". Lyanna Stark.


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Based on Martin's quote above, about the descriptive origin of First Men family names, it pretty much confirms my theory that House Dayne was originally House "Day". Kind of like their Sword is "Dawn". They brought light to the darkness.

What do you know the legendary special sword of Azor Ahai was also called Lightbringer.

Makes sense.

Which ties with my theory that House Stark was originally House Star. Hence the ancient translation that the Prince that was Promised will be born beneath a bleeding "Star". This being a bleeding "Stark". Lyanna Stark.

That last bit is an interesting jump but makes sense and a good theory
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1. The Daynes don't have entirely valyrian hair.





And his hair was a pale blond, more ash than honey. (Edric)

with her long dark hair tumbling about her shoulders (Ashara)

his thick hair fell to his collar like a silver glacier, divided by a streak of midnight black (Gerold)


2. While the Daynes have purple eyes, those are not entirely valyrian traits. Sweets has them too.



3. George has alluded to them not being related. (though that's only semi-canon)


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