Small Questions v 10011

[Ser Leftwich]

Not sure if it indicated specifically from the books why (can't find any quote nor the wiki provides reference to it), but checking the official app it only states, "Once Lord of Bear Island, Jeor Mormont chooses to take the black as he ages, and leaves the island and the Valyrian steel bastard sword Longclaw to his son, Jorah."

Along the same lines, we have the story of the old men "going hunting" during long winters, making a kind of Captain Oates sacrifice. Older lords joining the NW to let their sons take over is similar act.

[toffeejay]

Manticores

I can only remember descriptions as a sort cross between a scarab and scorpion.

Are there manticores that are traditional, i.e. body of a lion and head of a man?

Also is House Lorch's banner supposed to be the insect or traditional? I've seen images of the traditional form but I don't know if the description fits.

[RumHam]

Manticores

I can only remember descriptions as a sort cross between a scarab and scorpion.

Are there manticores that are traditional, i.e. body of a lion and head of a man?

Also is House Lorch's banner supposed to be the insect or traditional? I've seen images of the traditional form but I don't know if the description fits.

I asked this recently and got some good responses:

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/92631-small-questions-v10009/page__st__260#entry4751605

[toffeejay]

Thanks, I agree with your conclusion.

I'm thinking Lion manticore seems most likely the statue and House Lorch's shield. Probably a mythical creature that has led to insect being named after it?

[Lissa Nymeros Martell]

Why wasn't Robb away acting as a squire for another house at the beginning of a Game of thrones?

I don't think it's required of young lordlings but I do think it's 'customary'. I feel like it was mentioned in the books. Something about Ned wanting to teach him directly? Was Bran preparing to squire somewhere

[RumHam]

Why wasn't Robb away acting as a squire for another house at the beginning of a Game of thrones?

I don't think it's required of young lordlings but I do think it's 'customary'. I feel like it was mentioned in the books. Something about Ned wanting to teach him directly? Was Bran preparing to squire somewhere

Being a squire is a step towards becoming a knight, which is mostly a southern thing.

[Lissa Nymeros Martell]

Being a squire is a step towards becoming a knight, which is mostly a southern thing.

Ned and Brandon both squired in the south.

[Jory Cassel]

IIRC, there are only three instances of Northmen having squires, White Harbour knights, Brandon Stark and Robb Stark, although the latter having a squire is directly connected to Cat's negotiations with the Freys. In the North, squiring does not seem to be as customary as in the rest of the seven Kingdoms, mainly because squiring is directly connected to serving a knight and consequently obtaining knighthood, and as knighthood and its vows are directly connected to the faith of the seven, it seems to be rarely practiced in the North.

Another independent reason why Ned did not want to send Robb away could be Bran's weirwood-vision; as he sees Ned praying "let them grow up as close as brothers" (paraphrasing), Ned possibly did not want to send Robb away, as it could've put a wedge between Robb and Jon.

[Jory Cassel]

Ned and Brandon both squired in the south.

Ned was a ward, and Brandon had a squire, Ethan Glover. But they themselves did not squire ;)

[Bluesnow]

Not sure about a thread here, but here is the link to the appropriate section of the Huis Clos:

http://branvras.free...isClos/Bat.html

I believe you might be looking for this. It's part of a superproject called Huis Clos, all courtesy to Bran Vras.

Edit: :ninja:'d by Gwynhyfvar. Now I know how Morgana felt.

Thank you very much =3

A long, but very informative read!

[Lissa Nymeros Martell]

Being a squire is a step towards becoming a knight, which is mostly a southern thing.

Ned was a ward, and Brandon had a squire, Ethan Glover. But they themselves did not squire ;)

"Brandon was fostered at Barrowton with Lord Dustin, father of Willam Dustin, but he spent most his time riding the Rills."

So Ned was a ward, Brandon was fostered. I have the verbiage wrong. The underlying question is why were Ned's kids raised at home instead of being "fostered" or "warded" someplace else? Is that the norm? or is being warded/fostered the norm?

ETA:

I understand that Theon was essentially Ned's hostage. But I don't know jack about "knights" or "squires" or "fostering". So I apologize if they mean entirely different things. To me they all sound like a type of "boarding/military school". Which would make sense and give the children a chance to live in a different town with different people.

[RumHam]

"Brandon was fostered at Barrowton with Lord Dustin, father of Willam Dustin, but he spent most his time riding the Rills."

So Ned was a ward, Brandon was fostered. I have the verbiage wrong. The underlying question is why were Ned's kids raised at home instead of being "fostered" or "warded" someplace else? Is that the norm? or is being warded/fostered the norm?

ETA:

I understand that Theon was essentially Ned's hostage. But I don't know jack about "knights" or "squires" or "fostering". So I apologize if they mean entirely different things. To me they all sound like a type of "boarding/military school". Which would make sense and give the children a chance to live in a different town with different people.

Fostering someone and taking them as a ward means the same thing. It's typically done to foster alliances and friendship between two families, or like with Theon to keep the parents on their best behavior. Being a squire is different, but most of the time implies fostering (I.E. Ned Dayne lives at Beric's castle and not at Starfall)

[Lissa Nymeros Martell]

Fostering someone and taking them as a ward means the same thing. It's typically done to foster alliances and friendship between two families, or like with Theon to keep the parents on their best behavior. Being a squire is different, but most of the time implies fostering (I.E. Ned Dayne lives at Beric's castle and not at Starfall)

Gotcha. So it's not something that's done all the time. And marriages to the Tully and the history with jon arryn would mean that no fostering would be necessary. Thinking about it Ned was quite well connected. No wonder his death was such a big deal. :dunce: Though I suppose most of those connections were dead when he died. Arryn, Baratheon, Tully was on his deathbed. Odd time for the realm to go to war. Or perfect time, depending on what side you're on.

[RumHam]

There was a point early on, relatively early in the writing of the series, where I stopped writing and did a spate of world building. I didn't do it before I started, like Tolkien, but I was writing the book and I was getting in and starting to refer to history. So I stopped and started to formalize it, drawing the maps, working out the genealogies, the list of the Targaryen rulers and the dates of their reigns, and so on. But of course, as you know -- because you're one of the ones that pointed it out back then -- it didn't all necessarily jive with what I wrote in "The Hedge Knight". But in any case, I was starting to think about all of these things as I did it, and I had little hints about their stories through the nicknames I gave the kings. So Maegor the Cruel, Jaehaerys the Conciliator, and the Young Dragon, and so on. So the seeds of a lot of the history were planted when I drew up that list.

http://www.westeros....s.org_Interview

Anyone know what errors or discrepancies in The Hedge Knight he's referring too?

[mindchap]

Since Benjen was made to stay home during the rebellion, for the Stark in Winterfell bit, is it safe to assume that Lady Stark had already been dead before all of this took place?

[Lost Melnibonean]

Since Benjen was made to stay home during the rebellion, for the Stark in Winterfell bit, is it safe to assume that Lady Stark had already been dead before all of this took place?

Would she have counted?

[TheCrannogDweller]

Since Benjen was made to stay home during the rebellion, for the Stark in Winterfell bit, is it safe to assume that Lady Stark had already been dead before all of this took place?

If the Stark in Winterfell thing means that there has to be blood of the family in the fortress, Lady Stark would be irrelevant. She is supposedly from another family, therefore she is only a Stark by marriage, not by blood.

[mindchap]

Would she have counted?

If the Stark in Winterfell thing means that there has to be blood of the family in the fortress, Lady Stark would be irrelevant. She is supposedly from another family, therefore she is only a Stark by marriage, not by blood.

Ned tells Cat she has to stay because there must be a Stark in Winterfell, so I'm assuming that married in works as well as blood.

[TheCrannogDweller]

Ned tells Cat she has to stay because there must be a Stark in Winterfell, so I'm assuming that married in works as well as blood.

Maybe he means that she has to stay in order to help Robb be the Stark in Winterfell?

[Lady Gwynhyfvar]

Since Benjen was made to stay home during the rebellion, for the Stark in Winterfell bit, is it safe to assume that Lady Stark had already been dead before all of this took place?

I could be crazy but I think one of the children mentions that their grandmother died years before they were born?