Four-Headed Beast

❝ Her dreams were full of sundering rivers and windswept plains and towering mountains with their shoulders in the clouds, of green islands verdant in the sun, of strange beasts no man had tamed and queer fruits no man had tasted, of golden cities shining underneath strange stars. ❞

[sunderingrivers]

The Queens Who Never Were 〚18 / 17〛

╰┈➤ ❝ Robert will never keep to one bed. I hear he has gotten a child on some girl in the Vale. Love is sweet, dearest Ned, but it cannot change a man's nature. ❞

The only daughter of Lord Rickard Stark, Lyanna was described as iron-willed, wild and free-spirited. She loved horse riding, the scent of winter roses, and may have even practised tilting; with her brother, Ned, telling his own daughter that Lyanna would have picked up a sword if she could. She is remembered not just fondly but also vividly by many of the Northmen for these things, and those memories seem to be the truest indicator of her nature separate from the romanticised descriptions of the South.

As she grew up, she began to develop what is described by most who knew her as beauty, so much so that it remained fabled and honoured decades after her death. Robert Baratheon became infatuated with her, and after bringing his suit to Lord Rickard, secured their betrothal. Despite this, she remained mischievous and tomboyish, attacking the squires who bullied Howland Reed with a tourney sword and even being rumoured to have ridden in his honour as the Masked Knight of the Laughing Tree - beating the knights those squires served.

During that same Tourney, Prince Rhaegar, a man of 22 years, passed over his own wife and named Lyanna his Queen of Love and Beauty at 14 years of age. The following year, he abducted her with the help of two knights of the Kingsguard, spurring Robert's Rebellion as the Starks, Baratheons, Arryns and Tullys all raised their banners in her name. It is unknown what Rhaegar did with Lyanna; some, such as Robert, claim he r***d her, while others claim they were in love. All that is known, is that when Eddard found her at the Tower of Joy, she died "in a bed of blood", weakened by fever. Her last words were "promise me Ned".

Perhaps the ultimate Queen Who Never Was, both of Lyanna's hypothetical paths to becoming Queen are mutually exclusive. Had she married Robert and lived with him peacefully, he would never have rebelled and become King; were it true that Rhaegar took her with the intention of marrying her, and himself become King and thus her Queen, Robert would never have rebelled, or may have failed. A near-mythological figure in the current ASOIAF timeline, it is widely theorised that Jon Snow is her son by Rhaegar, as is shown in the Game of Thrones TV Show.

[ildraws]

elia and baelor hightower for elia week day 4: what could have been

[phiarucci]

HELAENA TARGARYEN in ‘House of the Dragon’ season 3

CASSANDRA by Evelyn De Morgan

[themaesters]

ca. -6,000, -4,000, or -2,000 - Foundation of the Faith: In the hills of Andalos on Essos, a new religion takes shape, the Faith of the Seven. Supposedly, seven deities appear to Hugor of the Hill, inspiring the Andals for their invasion of Westeros.

ASOIAF + The Timeline of Major Events

[sansarya]

url gifset giveaway 2018 2/? ↳ @goodqueenalys

[thefudge]

asoiaf locations: sar mell /  a ruined city of the rhoynar, known for its flowers.

[ildraws]

jocelyn baratheon

[valyriansource]

- And what might your mother say to that? - My mother? My mother’s dead, she wouldn’t say anything.

[valyriansource]

The presence of Lady Jeyne's son and Lady Elinor's three boys at the wedding ensured they would play their parts in the ceremony, but there were many who expected some show of defiance from Princess Rhaena. Such hopes were quelled when Queen Tyanna appeared, escorting two young girls with silver hair and purple eyes, clad in the red and black of House Targaryen.

[valyriansource]

top 10 book-only scenes as voted by our followers -> #8: alayne meets harry the heir (TWOW Alayne I)

Harry the Heir, Alayne thought. My husband-to-be, if he will have me. A sudden terror filled her. She wondered if her face was red. Don't stare at him, she reminded herself, don't stare, don't gape, don't gawk. Look away. Her hair must be a frightful mess after all that running. It took all her will to stop herself from trying to tuck the loose strands back into place. Never mind your stupid hair. Your hair doesn't matter. It's him that matters. Him, and the Waynwoods.

[ildraws]

rhae targaryen, a rose with peculiar thorns

[valyriansource]

Six and a half feet tall, he towered over lesser men, and when he donned his armor and the great antlered helmet of his House, he became a veritable giant. He'd had a giant's strength too, his weapon of choice a spiked iron warhammer that Ned could scarcely lift. In those days, the smell of leather and blood had clung to him like perfume. (AGOT, Ned I)

[valyriansource]

top 10 book-only scenes as voted by our followers: ➺ #9: Doran reveals his plans to Arianne (AFFC, The Princess in the Tower)

"Is that where Quentyn's gone? To Tyrosh, to court the Archon's green-haired daughter?" Her father plucked up a cyvasse piece. "I must know how you learned that Quentyn was abroad. Your brother went with Cletus Yronwood, Maester Kedry, and three of Lord Yronwood's best young knights on a long and perilous voyage, with an uncertain welcome at its end. He has gone to bring us back our heart's desire." She narrowed her eyes. "What is our heart's desire?"

[ildraws]

jenny of oldstones

[vhagar-balerion-meraxes]

I’m gonna go out to run and let myself get, Absolutely soaking wet!

[petyrbaelishs]

“Then let Lord Hornwood’s bastard be the heir,” Bran said, thinking of his half brother Jon. // Ser Rodrik…questioned the steward closely about Lord Hornwood’s bastard, the boy Larence Snow. In the north, all highborn bastards took the surname Snow. This lad was near twelve, and the steward praised his wits and courage. “Your notion about the bastard may have merit, Bran,” Maester Luwin said after. ♦ requested by by @ladyflorence1215

[palominojacoby]

The Black Brides of Maegor: Elinor Costayne, Rhaena Targaryen, and Jeyne Westerling

In 47 AC, Maegor took three women to wife in a single ceremony—all women of proven fertility, and all widows who had lost their husbands to Maegor's wars or at his command. They were:

ELINOR OF HOUSE COSTAYNE: Elinor was the youngest of the Black Brides, but though she was nine-and-ten at her marriage, she had already given her husband, Ser Theo Bolling, three children. Ser Theo was arrested by knights of the Kingsguard, accused of conspiring with Queen Alyssa to place her son, Prince Jaehaerys, on the throne, and was then executed—all on the same day. After seven days of mourning, Elinor was summoned to wed Maegor. She, too, became pregnant, and like Alys before her, she gave birth to a stillborn abomination said to have been born eyeless and with small wings. She survived that monstrous labor, however, and was one of the two wives who survived the king.

RHAENA OF HOUSE TARGARYEN: When Prince Aegon was killed by Maegor in the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye, Rhaena took refuge on Fair Isle under the protection of Lord Farman, who hid her and her twin daughters. Tyanna found the twin girls, however, and Rhaena was then forced to wed Maegor. Maegor named her daughter, Aerea, as his heir while disinheriting Queen Alyssa's surviving son, Jaehaerys. Along with Elinor, Rhaena was the only other queen to survive Maegor.

JEYNE OF HOUSE WESTERLING: Tall and slender, Lady Jeyne had been wed to Lord Alyn Tarbeck, who died with the rebels at the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye. Having given him a posthumous son, her fecundity was proven and she was being courted by the son of the Lord of Casterly Rock when the king sent for her. In 47 AC she was with child, but three moons before the child was due, her labor began, and from her womb came another stillborn monster. She did not survive the child for long.