Untold Stories of House Velaryon

[Hippocras]

Tracing Targaryen bloodlines leading up to and following the Dance inevitably also turns into an exercise in understanding and tracing the Velaryons.

But there are some gaping holes in their family tree that suggest stories yet to be told. We know, for example, that Vaemond was killed for challenging Jace Luke and Joffrey’s paternity. But one detail that slips by without notice is that Vaemon’s wife, his children, AND HIS SIBLINGS then fled to KL. So Vaemond had siblings. These siblings are not indicated on the family tree.

Eventually Vaemond’s granddaughter Daenaera became queen. I remain curious about any cousins Daenaera had. I feel quite certain that if an age and sex appropriate descendant of Vaemond existed, she would have been the inevitable wife of Baela and Alyn’s son and heir. This alliance was needed by all of Driftmark to repair the rifts in the Velaryon family from the Dance. But the alliances of the rest of them would be equally interesting to know and map, since the Velaryon family would have been a primary source of stray drops of dragon blood.

Edited January 12 by Hippocras

[The Wondering Wolf]

1 hour ago, Hippocras said:

But one detail that slips by without notice is that Vaemon’s wife, his children, AND HIS SIBLINGS then fled to KL. So Vaemond had siblings. These siblings are not indicated on the family tree.

The text doesn't mention siblings, but five cousins fathered by Corlys's youngest brother. I guess it's possible that some of them had children, too, but I'm not sure these children would have made appropriate wives for Alyn's son. A daughter of Daemion would have been a better match.

[Hippocras]

10 minutes ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

The text doesn't mention siblings, but five cousins fathered by Corlys's youngest brother. I guess it's possible that some of them had children, too, but I'm not sure these children would have made appropriate wives for Alyn's son. A daughter of Daemion would have been a better match.

It says elsewhere that his wife fled with his siblings, and this was picked up on the Wiki. It could have been an error to say siblings, or the error could lie in the blank family tree.

Obviously the silent 5 were cousins not siblings, so it remains to be seen if the mistake was simply that those cousins were called siblings in error.

 

If Daemion had a daughter I agree. If he did not, but Vaemond did in fact have siblings, a match with one of their descendants would make sense for stregthening Alyn's son's claim to Driftmark.

 

I suppose one possibility is that one or more of the silent 5 were actually married to Vaemond's sisters. They were a family that married close relatives after all.

Edited January 12 by Hippocras

[The Wondering Wolf]

4 hours ago, Hippocras said:

It says elsewhere that his wife fled with his siblings, and this was picked up on the Wiki. It could have been an error to say siblings, or the error could lie in the blank family tree.

In the version of The Rogue Prince, the silent fives were younger brothers, but this is outdated information.

[Hippocras]

17 minutes ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

In the version of The Rogue Prince, the silent fives were younger brothers, but this is outdated information.

ah. I see.

Well anyway it would not be the only hole in the family tree. There are so many. And there must be a few more sisters here and there that have not been mentioned yet.

 

[Hippocras]

The closest allies of the Velaryons mentioned at the time of the great council in 101 were Houses Bar Emmon and Celtigar, suggesting recent blood ties. The mothers or wives of Vaemond and his cousins may have come from these two Houses. Celtigars and Bar Emmons were on Rhaenyra's Black council but may have been sabotaging Rhaenyra's rule from within from resentment over Vaemond's death. In any case they certainly worked to undermine Addam and Alyn, which would make sense if they were trying to advance the claims of Vaemond and his cousins' descendants instead.

Bartimos Celtigar's and Lord Bar Emmon's wives may also have been Corlys's aunts. He did have four aunts. No sisters of Corlys have been mentioned yet but that does not necessarily mean he had none.

Laenor's claim was supported by Starks, Manderlys, Dustins, Blackwoods for reasons that are debated but might have something to do with historic connections not yet specified. In the case of House Manderly, the failed betrothal of princess Viserra and Theomore Manderly may have led to an alternate match with another family connected to the royal family in 87 AC, such as House Velaryon. Daughters or sisters of Jorgen or Victor? In any case Alysanne did engage extensively in matchmaking throughout the Kingdoms, leading to matches between families without traditional ties. 

 

I find it interesting that Marilda of Hull was a daughter of a ship builder born in 97 AC.  Jaehaerys and Alysanne toured the same shipyards in 50 AC with Corlys's father and uncles. If Marilda had a drop of dragon blood of her own to pass on to Addam and Alyn, it seems likely that this tour of the shipyards is our hint of where it might have come from.

 

Edited January 14 by Hippocras

[Hippocras]

We have discussed Alarra Massey a bit, but I was hoping to flesh out the picture a bit here with other clues from the histories.

I have a hypothesis that feels true, and the more I look into it, the more it feels true. That hypothesis is that the first names of characters often (but not always, because GRRM does not follow hard rules) contain information about maternal line ancestry. If we follow that hypothesis, it would indicate that Alarra Massey had a maternal line ancestor who was also named Alarra, and might herself have descendants named after her.

A search for other characters who share that name turns up only one: Alarra Stark

Alarra Stark - A Wiki of Ice and Fire (westeros.org)

Some details stick out here. Alarra Stark's physical description hints at possible Southern descent. Since we know her mother was a Mormont, the source of any Southern blood would need to be back a generation or more farther.

Alarra Stark's grandfather Brandon was described as "the Boastful". We have no indication why yet as far as I can tell. What was he boasting about? However a prestigious marriage or mother might be as good a reason as any for why he was boastful, and the fact that his son Alaric married a Mormont might be pointing us in this direction as well since it could be an oblique reference to Jorah marrying Lynesse, a beautiful lady from a foreign tradition (gender inverted).

Unfortunately this part of the Stark family tree barely exists. So the only clue we have to link the Starks to the South at this point in time is the fact that Alaric, his brother Walton and his father Brandon the Boastful attended the royal wedding in 49 AC (why? Don't you find that odd?). However we are not completely lacking other details that might help. For example, we know that the North was not keen on being conquered. Torrhen Stark knelt, but his sons did not like that and made it difficult. Something must have happened between 1 and 49 AC to bring Torrhen's descendants in line with and willing to accept Targaryen rule. Perhaps Rhaenys and Visenya organized some relevant marriages that affected the Stark family bloodlines.

Alarra Stark became close with Queen Alysanne when she visited Winterfell in 58 AC and the same year went South to attend the tournament. After that she became Alysanne's lady-in-waiting. She was therefore a young maiden of marriageable age in 58 AC. That puts her year of birth as roughly 40-45, and her father's as probably 30 AC at the latest. 

Daemon Velaryon was born in or before 1 AC, so his mother Alarra Massey was at least 13 years old by then. Her date of birth would have been roughly 30-12 BC, so AT LEAST 52 years before Alarra Stark was born, possibly quite a bit more. The possibility that Alarra Stark is a direct descendant of Alarra Massey exists. Furthermore, given that Alaric Stark's initial opposition to Southern marriages for his sons was based in his opposition to Southern Gods, it seems likely that he was initially unaware of any families following the Old Gods in the South. But the Masseys were of First Men origin. If Alaric's mother or grandmother had come directly from House Massey he would probably have known that. It follows that his mother or grandmother, while she may have descended from House Massey, was probably not, herself, a Massey but rather member of a House that was not First Men origin, such as the Velaryons or Bar Emmons.

Daemon Velaryon had AT LEAST 4 daughters. One may have been Alaric's mother, although the timing is relatively tight. Alternately, Daemon may have had more sisters than the Velaryon tree currently indicates. After all, there is a large age gap between Daemon and Alyssa of anywhere from 6 to 18 years, so plenty of time for Alyssa to have had older sisters and brothers. A Stark match with a sister of queen Alyssa would have been a prestigious match indeed, and certainly would answer the question of why such a large group of Starks attended Alyssa's second wedding in 49 AC. It would also help explain how rebellion in the North after the conquest was avoided, particularly after Torrhen Stark died.

 

Edited January 21 by Hippocras

[Hippocras]

I am leaning this way:

When the Targaryens arrived on Dragonstone as exiles in 114 BC they were not particularly powerful and would have needed to secure their position there with local alliances. Aenar is said to have had several wives, and to have arrived with siblings at the time. We don't know how many siblings or anything about their family trees. The only children of Aenar we know of are the ones GRRM had reason to mention: his heir, and his daughter whose dreams led them to move in the first place. So there are a lot of holes in the early family tree, especially here.

So let's say that soon after their arrival, any sisters or daughters of Aenar who were not yet married entered into marriage alliances with local families in the vicinity of Dragonstone to secure their position on the island. These families include Houses Celtigar, Bar Emmon, Massey, Rosby, Rykker, Sunglass, Harte, and of course Velaryon. Some of these are more likely than others for alliances at that point in time, however later alliances in the area likely also occurred, and House Velaryon likely had alliances in the area before the Targaryens arrived. The details of the Century of Blood would shed light on the matter but what is clear is that at the time of the conquest a century later, the Velaryons, Bar Emmons, Celtigars and Masseys remained very closely connected to the Targaryens suggesting more recent matches as well, only some of which are indicated in the family trees. And since the Rykkers were given Duskendale after the Defiance for no clear reason at all, they probably had a relatively recent family connection as well.