Lannisters and Children of the Forest

[un_Autre_monde]

Tl;dr : The legends of Lann the Clever show his kinship with the Children of the Forest. The Lannisters have many features in common with those who sing the song of the earth. The Lannisters are the descendants of both the First Men and the Children of the Forest.

 

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Jaime's blood was singing.

ASOS - Jaime III

History

The origin of House Lannister dates back to the Dawn Age or the Age of the Heroes, a time when the first Men lived close to the Children of the Forest.

House Lannister appeared in the westerlands, a region of hills, forests and underground networks that was certainly inhabited by the Children.

Casterly Rock, the seat of the Lannisters, is a colossal rock. It contains many caverns and tunnels and is believed to have been occupied by the Children of the Forest in the past.

And in the bowels of the Rock grows a queer, twisted weirwood.

Before becoming the seat of the Lannisters, Casterly Rock was occupied by House Casterly. According to legend, the first Casterly was guided to the Rock by the old gods, because he had spared the newborn cubs from a couple of lions he had just killed.

The Casterlys have disappeared, without anyone knowing exactly why or how. All the accounts agree that the Casterlys were replaced by the Lannisters after the intervention of a character named Lann the Clever.

Lann the Child of the Forest

There are five different versions of Lann’s story and how he took possession of the Rock. It is likely that none of them are completely accurate, but all of them contain some truth.

In the first, Lann coats his body with butter so that he can slip into the tunnels of the Rock. Then he managed to convince the Casterlys that the Rock is haunted, by screaming in the dark like a demon, whispering threats in the ears of the sleeping Casterlys.

In the second he drives the Casterlys out by infesting the Rock with mice, rats and other vermin.

In the third he introduces lions into the Rock, which devour the Casterly males, while he keeps the Lord’s wife and daughters to himself.

In the fourth, Lann impregnates Lord Casterly’s sleeping daughters, who give birth to children with golden hair while insisting they never having with a man.

In the fifth, Lann is a man in the service of House Casterlys who impregnates Lord Casterly’s daughter and obtains his hand. When the Lord died, Lann inherited the Rock.

According to legends, Lann lived 312 years, and his children were all beautiful, agile and slender.

Note : Lann would also be a descendant of Garth Geenhand (which we will discuss next time).

The part about butter seems pure fiction. Maybe Lann was just small ? And the story does not specify if he needed to be lit in the tunnels of the Roc (the Children of the Forest can see in the dark).

We note the use of wild animals to wage war. The story doesn’t say how Lann could control them.

The sentence « whispering in the ears of the sleeping Casterlys » leaves one wondering. Could Lann influence dreams?

In short, Lann would be small, slender, beautiful, agile, clever, with exceptional longevity, strange powers related to animals and dreams, and a taste for darkness and tunnels.

All these elements suggest that Lann was a Child of the Forest or that he was related to them (or that Lann’s legendary figure is the representation of them).

One last detail : Lann "never called himself a king" (there are no kings among the CotF).

Note : Lann is not directly associated with music, but the second legend can refer to the tale Pied Piper of Hammelin.

Hybrids

In the legend of the rats, the Casterlys are simply chased out of the Rock. In the butter case, we assume that they are so frightened that they leave the Rock.

But of the five versions of Lann’s story, three offer another explanation for the replacement of the Casterlys by the Lannisters : the union of Lann’s and Casterly’s lineages.

This union is achieved, each time, through sexual reproduction.

So the Lannisters are the descendants of the Casterlys and, through Lann, of the Children of the Forest.

Note : History repeats itself when the Andals arrive.
   

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Rather than attempt to throw back the invaders, these sage kings found lands for them and arranged marriages for the more powerful of the Andal war chiefs with the daughters of the great houses of the west.

Thus did the Lannister kings turn foes into leal friends. All but a few of the Andal lords kept faith, and when their sons grew to manhood, they became staunch bannermen to the King in the Rock, for they had been raised amongst the Lannisters, and “now their blood runs gold,” as one embittered Andal father said.

TWOIAF sample (source)

Features in common with the Children of the Forest

The Children of the Forest are beautiful, clever, agile, slender and graceful, and have very special hair and eyes. All these characteristics can be found in Lannisters.

Beauty is subjective, but Jaime and Cersei are still exceptionally beautiful, as this quote shows.

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Jaime Lannister had been allowed no razor since the night he was taken in the Whispering Wood, and a shaggy beard covered his face, once so like the queen’s. Glinting gold in the lamplight, the whiskers made him look like some great yellow beast, magnificent even in chains. His unwashed hair fell to his shoulders in ropes and tangles, the clothes were rotting on his body, his face was pale and wasted . . . and even so, the power and the beauty of the man were still apparent.

ACOK – Catelyn VII

Cleverness is a common trait of many Lannisters. We immediately think of Tyrion and Tywin, or Genna and Myrcella, but Lord Gerold Lannister is a better example.
 

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A genial man known to be exceedingly clever, Gerold Lannister proved himself to be an exceptionally shrewd, able, and fair-minded lord.

TWOIAF

We find the legendary agility and quickness of the Children of the Forest, especially in Jaime, who is an extraordinary fighter, « especially skilled » according to GRRM. (source)
 

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He sprang to his feet and drove at her, the longsword alive in his hands. Brienne jumped back, parrying, but he followed, pressing the attack. No sooner did she turn one cut than the next was upon her. The swords kissed and sprang apart and kissed again. Jaime’s blood was singing. This was what he was meant for; he never felt so alive as when he was fighting, with death balanced on every stroke.

ASOS – Jaime III

When it comes to agility, Tyrion is not to be outdone. In his youth, he seemed gifted at tumbling, and we remember the surprising jump he performed in front of Jon Snow during their first encounter.
 

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His uncle had taught him a bit of tumbling when he was six or seven. Tyrion had taken to it eagerly. For half a year he cartwheeled his merry way about Casterly Rock, bringing smiles to the faces of septons, squires, and servants alike.

ADWD – Tyrion IV

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He pushed himself off the ledge into empty air. Jon gasped, then watched with awe as Tyrion Lannister spun around in a tight ball, landed lightly on his hands, then vaulted backward onto his legs.

AGOT – Jon I

Note : GRRM said he regretted this passage because of the lack of realism. (source)

Lannisters are often described as « slender » and « graceful ».

In summary, among the Lannisters there are many exceptionally beautiful, clever or agile characters.

Again, these are subjective, and we will certainly find characters with the same characteristics in most Westeros families. These are good clues but by no means sufficient evidence of CotF ancestry.

Lannisters have golden hair, which is reminiscent of Leaf’s hair described as « a tangle of brown and red and gold ».

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Her hands buried themselves in his hair, his tangled golden hair.

(Jaime) AGOT – Bran II

The Lannisters don’t have slitted eyes like the CotF, but there is cat symbolism in Jaime’s eyes.
 

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He squinted up from the floor, his cat–green eyes slowly becoming accustomed to the light.

ACOK – Catelyn VII

CotF have big golden, green or red eyes. Leaf has large and liquid eyes, gold and green.

All Lannisters have green eyes. Nothing unusual for humans to have eyes of this color. On the other hand, Tywin’s eyes are pale green flecked with gold.

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His eyes were a pale green, flecked with gold.

AGOT – Tyrion VII

Lord Tywin turned his gold-flecked eyes on his son.

AGOT – Tyrion VII

His father’s eyes were on him, pale green flecked with gold, so cool they gave Tyrion a chill.

AGOT – Tyrion VIII

Lord Tywin’s eyes were a pale green flecked with gold, as luminous as they were merciless.

ASOS – Tyrion I

Lord Tywin’s gold-flecked eyes met his son’s mismatched ones.

ASOS – Tyrion III

He looked into his father’s cool green eyes with their bright flecks of gold.

ASOS – Tyrion III

Lord Tywin studied his grandchild in silence, gold flecks shining in his pale green eyes.

ASOS – Tyrion VI

Tyrion stared up at his father’s hard green eyes with their flecks of cold bright gold.

ASOS – Tyrion X

Her father’s eyes had always been unsettling; pale green, almost luminous, flecked with gold. His eyes could see inside you, could see how weak and worthless and ugly you were down deep. When he looked at you, you knew.

AFFC – Cersei II

Lord Tywin’s eyes had been pale green and flecked with gold.

ADWD – Tyrion III

It is quite rare for a character’s eyes to be mentioned so many times. The number of occurrences does not prove anything, but it may suggest that Tywin’s eyes are not a small detail.

The flecks of gold could be symbolic, or maybe a symptom of asteroid hyalosis.

But Tywin’s green and gold eyes are also a clue that there is a deep link between the Lannisters and the CotF.

And Tywin is far from being the only character with strange golden eyes. It is not only in the westerlands that the Children of the Forest interbred with Men.

In the next part we will see that the Tyrells also have a very strong link with the CotF. We will talk about Garth Greenhand, Highgarden, flowers and Loras’ eyes.

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Her eyes were queer — large and liquid, gold and green, slitted like a cat’s eyes. No one has eyes like that. Her hair was a tangle of brown and red and gold, autumn colors, with vines and twigs and withered flowers woven through it.

(Leaf) ADWD – Bran II

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Sansa had never seen anyone so beautiful. His plate was intricately fashioned and enameled as a bouquet of a thousand different flowers. His hair was a mass of lazy brown curls, his eyes like liquid gold.

(Loras) AGOT – Sansa II

Thanks for reading !

[Springwatch]

Love it! Looking forward to the next part.

I'd be interested in ideas about how this link might play out, if it has any force in the current story. I think it might not show a common ancestor, but simply a parallel evolution, or simply a marker of the sun. Something like that.

[un_Autre_monde]

(Edit) I forgot to mention one last detail : Lann "never called himself a king" (there are no kings among the CotF).