The world of ASOIAF explores the subject of leadership in a wide range of official and unofficial capacities. Daenerys Targaryen specifically is a character used to explore the unique types of queenship, alongside her narrative foil Cersei Lannister. Dany fits the role of multiple kinds of queens. The roles of these different types of queens are so different that they really shouldn’t have the same word describing them. As such, they impact Dany in very different ways.
Queen Consort
The first type of queen Daenerys becomes is a queen consort or khaleesi as Khal Drogo’s wife. The consort doesn’t wield power in their own right. What influence they have is completely dependent on their spouse.
Dany has even less power in her situation since most consorts come from a powerful, ruling family, while the power of her family died before she was born. For instance, consorts like Cersei Lannister, Margaery Tyrell, and Alicent Hightower bring with them the power of their families. That’s the benefit the monarchs had in marrying them to begin with, but that power also gives them a level of protection and influence beyond their husbands. We see Cersei wield that influence with her own guard in King’s Landing and she’s able to protect the reigns of her children through father’s armies. On the other side of that, the wealth, manpower, and resources of Margaery’s family makes her a desirable match for multiple kings while making it difficult for Cersei to remove her directly when she becomes threatened by her. This is a power Daenerys cannot wield since most of her family is dead and they have no land, wealth, manpower, or vassals to support her. She has one knight she thinks she can rely on (who is spying on her) and the guards provided by her husband. She is also younger than most queen consorts as she is sold at 13-years-old as a child bride with no family and political support. In that way she is set apart as a less powerful queen consort than the typical ones seen in the series.
The primary role of any consort is to give the monarch children. They are expected to give them an heir, a spare heir or two, and daughters who might be married to form alliances. Though that last duty isn’t addressed within the Dothraki culture and may not be a priority for them. An additional role for the consort includes appearing at royal events like feasts, ceremonies, and royal progresses as visual support for the monarch or even in the monarch’s place at times. Among female consorts, she would run a separate household from her husband (we see a simplified version of this with Dany’s handmaidens and khas) and could arrange marriages for the women in her household.
Depending on their relationship with the monarch, the consort might act as an unofficial advisor for their spouse and influence their policy. We see Dany doing this or trying to do this with Drogo. For instance, though it was through her decree that her brother (who might be considered part of her household since he has nothing of his own) not be allowed to ride, she has to convince her husband to re-establish Viserys’ status as a rider. Later, after her brother dies, she attempts to convince Drogo to invade Westeros to claim the Iron Throne for Rhaego. This initially fails and is only successful after a thwarted assassination attempt is made on Dany and the baby. Only then is Drogo willing to go to war against the people who tried to kill his son and wife and to make Rhaego king. After a battle against the Lhazareen, Dany uses her guards and her status as Drogo’s wife to stop the rapes that happen in the aftermath. She takes them under her protection and attempts to place them in the best positions she can within the confines of Dothraki culture. Though even this act is only possible with the agreement of her husband.
Other than producing an heir and passively influencing policy, the most impactful role a consort might have would be with charity. They were expected to give money to and organize charitable works. They might even make clothes for the poor and personally hand out alms.
The other queen consorts in the main series include Cersei Lannister, Selyse Florent, Alannys Harlaw, Margaery Tyrell, Dalla, and Jeyne Westerling.
Queen Regnant
The queen regnant is a queen who rules in her own right. She is not just the wife of the monarch or the mother of the monarch. She is the monarch.
The difference between this type of queen and the others needs to be emphasized because all the types of queens are often grouped together as though they were the same. But a queen regnant is far different from the others because her power is rooted in herself, not in a husband or child.
Like ruling kings, a queen regnant would hold court, listen to petitions, create policy, grant governmental appointments, diplomacy between both subjects and foreign leadership, trade disputes, land disputes, taxes, dealing with or assigning someone else to deal with maintaining food, clothing, craft, and weapon supplies, etc. It really goes on and on. It’s not just sitting on a throne and going to balls. Though that is part of it as well to maintain the visual image of power and wealth.
Daenerys spends most of the novels as a monarch. From the time Drogo dies all the way through A Dance With Dragons. We see her give those who remain of her husband’s khalasar the choice on whether to follow her or not to follow her. Those who chose to remain with her became her subjects. From then on, her choices became those of any good monarch: how to best serve her people. As she leads them, we see her making all kinds of administrative decisions to benefit her people. When they arrive in Vaes Tolorro, she immediately starts making the city habitable, secure and productive. While making military decisions, she takes the effects her choices will have on her people into account (a significant reason she took Meereen was because her people would have starved on the march without the resources inside the city). Once Dany becomes the Queen of Meereen, she regularly holds court to hear the issues of the people, she addresses food shortages, attempts to make allies, engages with ambassadors, arranges for medical aid, strategizes for war, negotiates for peace, etc. Daenerys is a queen regnant who actively fills her role.
The other queen regnants are potential ones Asha Greyjoy, who campaigned to claim her father’s throne, and Myrcella Baratheon, was the center of a plot to name her queen over Tommen and who will be queen after he dies.
Queen Regent
This is a type of queen Daenerys never is. A regent is a person chosen to rule for a monarch who is too young, is absent, or incapacitated. A queen who is a regent is either a queen consort given the regency by her husband who will be out of the country, a consort whose husband is too sick to rule, or a dowager queen whose underage child is now the monarch and she managed to secure the regency.
The queen regent of the series is Cersei Lannister, the queen Martin wrote as an intentional narrative foil for Daenerys. She encounters many of the same issues as Dany, both being women in administrative roles who endured exploitation from their family members and abuse from their husbands. Through their choices, we see how different they are despite their similar situations. They’re clearly set up as foils not only to explore different types of women in leadership positions but to also build up to their confrontation later in the series when Dany is revealed to be the younger, more beautiful queen Cersei has been prophesied to fear.
Queen Dowager
The queen dowager is the widow of a king. Along with being queen regnant in her own right, Daenerys is also a dowager queen as Khal Drogo’s widow. This kind of queen can maintain a position of influence if she’s the mother of the next monarch (see: queen regent) or they might be put into retirement, with a high ranking title and possibly an allowance (see: Alicent Hightower after the Dance of the Dragons in Fire and Blood). A title that may come alongside the queen dowager is that of queen mother. This title is exactly what it sounds like: a woman who held the title of queen and is now the mother of the monarch. If the mother of the monarch never held the title of queen, she would not be referred to by this title.
The position the Dothraki culture has for widowed khaleesi is with the dosh khaleen in Vaes Dothrak. The women in that group are forced to stay in the sacred city and are taken care of by slaves. They also maintain a high status and have the gift of prophecy. Despite being a widowed khaleesi, Daenerys refuses the position expected for her and becomes a ruling khaleesi or queen regnant instead. But a vision she saw in the House of the Undying suggests that she will go to the dosh khaleen as part of uniting the Dothraki.
The other queen dowagers of the series include Cersei, Margaery, Alannys, and Jeyne.
No. You are the blood of the dragon. The whispering was growing fainter, as if Ser Jorah were falling farther behind. Dragons plant no trees. Remember that. Remember who you are, what you were made to be. Remember your words.
“Fire and Blood,” Daenerys told the swaying grass
—
“but you are also a Stark of Winterfell. You know our words.”
“Winter is coming,” Arya whispered.
A cool wind blows on her terrace. Dany sighs as she slips into the waters of her pool. It soothes her nerves and yet she cannot find peace. Because she can't stop thinking about him. Him and the things he did to her, last night when he came to her chamber.
Your newest source blog for everything related to Daenerys Targaryen from G.R.R.M’s book series A Song of Ice and Fire. Here you will find metas, fanart, gifs, graphics, fanfiction and more in regards to Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, the Unburnt, the Queen of Meereen, the Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Breaker of Chains, and the Mother of Dragons.
We’ll be tracking #canondany, #asoiafdaenerys and #daenerystargaryenedit.
Once, I had an empire in a golden age
I was held up so high, I used to be great
They used to cheer when they saw my face
Now, I fear I have fallen from grace
