A New Husband for the Lady Donella Hornwood

[Tywin Manderly]

Who would, if Robb Stark would have gotten round to picking a new husband for Her, made a good match for the widowed Lady Donella Hornwood? It would need be a man of sufficient birth and station, and tough enough to hold his own against the many men who are eyeing the Hornwood lands and castle.

[Adam Yozza]

Ser Rodrik Cassel.

[Tywin Manderly]

1 hour ago, Adam Yozza said:

Ser Rodrik Cassel.

Indeed! And the Lady Donella Hornwood fancied Ser Rodrik, but unfortunately he himself thought that he was beneath the Lady Donella's station as well as too old.

[Many-Faced Votary]

Ser Rodrik Cassel would indeed have been the ideal match, for temporary stability if nothing else.

However, Lady Donella Hornwood declined to remarry another and the claimants to Hornwood were numerous. Because Lady Donella was past childbearing age, the most sensible move from a political perspective would have been to legitimize Larence Snow, as Bran Stark suggested. She would likely have been named Lady Castellan in such an event, but she might have understandably (from a Westerosi perspective) taken issue with this even if it would have rekindled the line of succession.

[Adam Yozza]

10 hours ago, Many-Faced Votary said:

Ser Rodrik Cassel would indeed have been the ideal match, for temporary stability if nothing else.

However, Lady Donella Hornwood declined to remarry another and the claimants to Hornwood were numerous. Because Lady Donella was past childbearing age, the most sensible move from a political perspective would have been to legitimize Larence Snow, as Bran Stark suggested. She would likely have been named Lady Castellan in such an event, but she might have understandably (from a Westerosi perspective) taken issue with this even if it would have rekindled the line of succession.

Pretty sure she was hinting that she wanted to remarry Rodrik.

Also Beren Tallhart would have been a better choice to be the Hornwood heir. He's got Hornwood blood, very close ties to Torrhen's Square which would help deter hostile action against Hornwood and Donella herself would be more willing to see her husbands lands go to his nephew than his bastard son, so the transition of power would have been a lot smoother.

[Tywin Manderly]

From ACoK - Bran II:

Quote

 

Bran knew that men slept on top of women when they shared a bed. Sleeping under Lord Manderly would be like sleeping under a fallen horse, he imagined. Ser Rodrik gave the widow a sympathetic nod. “You will have other suitors, my lady. We shall try and find you a prospect more to your taste.”

“Perhaps you need not look very far, ser.”

 

 

1 hour ago, Adam Yozza said:

Pretty sure she was hinting that she wanted to remarry Rodrik.

Indeed the Lady Hornwood was. 

[John Suburbs]

I still don't see why Rodrick was so hesitant. I would think being Lord of Hornwood is a step up from castellan of Winterfell, while his daughter would become the next lady, married to the son of another noble house, and his grandson would be the next lord. Seemed like a win-win to me.

[Adam Yozza]

8 hours ago, John Suburbs said:

I still don't see why Rodrick was so hesitant. I would think being Lord of Hornwood is a step up from castellan of Winterfell, while his daughter would become the next lady, married to the son of another noble house, and his grandson would be the next lord. Seemed like a win-win to me.

He's a modest man and felt it would be stepping above his station. Someone like Littlefinger would have jumped on it I'm sure (oh look at that he did)

[Many-Faced Votary]

On 10/21/2019 at 3:49 AM, Adam Yozza said:

Also Beren Tallhart would have been a better choice to be the Hornwood heir. He's got Hornwood blood, very close ties to Torrhen's Square which would help deter hostile action against Hornwood and Donella herself would be more willing to see her husbands lands go to his nephew than his bastard son, so the transition of power would have been a lot smoother.

While you do raise good points, keep in mind that much of this had been framed by her good-brother Leobald Tallhart, who had a vested interest in proposing his younger son as heir to the Hornwood.

In reality, pushing Beren Tallhart as the heir would have been likely to result in a dispute over succession. A bastard Larence Snow might have been, yet he was undeniably the direct descendant of Lord Halys through the male line; legitimizing him would have been clear and decisive. On the other hand, pursuing a claim through the female line had already resulted in disagreement among three different fairly noteworthy Houses, never mind the attempts the powerful Houses Bolton and Manderly had made due to the inherently tenuous nature of such claims, at least in wartime.

Ideally, the female line should provide apparent heirs when necessary (given that Westeros mostly follows male-preference primogeniture in the first place), and Lady Donella herself should have a say in the future of her House. Unfortunately, this does not characterize Westerosi politics, as evidenced by this dispute, despite it having largely occurred in the background.

 

On 10/21/2019 at 6:00 AM, Tywin Manderly said:

On 10/21/2019 at 3:49 AM, Adam Yozza said:

Pretty sure she was hinting that she wanted to remarry Rodrik.

Indeed the Lady Hornwood was. 

You are both correct, of course! I am aware; what I meant with my poorly-phrased sentence ("remarry another") was that Lady Donella did not seem in interested in marrying anyone aside from Ser Rodrik.