#house borrell

[lopata-four]

Gella 🦀

Godric Borrell's granddaughter

[beyondmistland]

Considering noblewomen aren’t expected to cook in Westerosi society, is it therefore implied it would be embarrassing for Lord Borrell to brag about his granddaughter being a great cook if he were talking to a proper lordly lord, and not Davos of House Seaworth? Like, the equivalent of bragging that she really knows how to dig a ditch or something?

Its more of a sign that House Borrell is pretty far down the pecking order and thus closer to smallfolk than your traditional mainland lord. Also, keep in mind, the Borrells are Sistermen. They probably don't give two f*cks what some snotty-nosed blueblood from the Vale or savage northron thinks.

Edit: Can you blame him for being proud though? Sister's stew sounds utterly delicious.

Thanks for the question, anon

[warsofasoiaf]

Do you think the Three Sisters participated in Robert’s Rebellion? If so, how do you think Jon Arryn utilised them in the (mostly) land-based conflicts of the war, such as Stoney Sept, the Trident, etc? Also, do you think Lord Arryn ever visited the Sisters or was well loved there, like he was in the Vale proper?

We know that the Borells helped Eddard out when he washed up on Sweetsister during a storm while he was sailing to the North - allowing Eddard to go on his way instead of turning him over to Aerys II. In that sense, the Borrells definitely participated in the Rebellion; allowing Eddard to escape would be tantamount to aiding an enemy of the state and thus, treason to Aerys II. It's possible that Jon used the Sistermen for supply shipments ala King Richard I during the Third Crusade, or perhaps to bolster the Vale coastline against an attack by the royal navy.

We don't really hear of anything unusual about Jon in the Sisters, so I'm guessing his opinion was mostly the same as it was in other places within the Vale.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[westerosenvogue]

House Borrell of Sweet Sister

Stephane Rolland

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Hi, Butterfly! Excuse me if you have already answered this question but I was wondering if you know anything about the 'typical looks' for the houses of Westeros? Besides the Targaryens with Valyrian features, the Starks brown hair and grey eyes, the Lannisters and Martells, I can't find much about the other houses...

Sure, GRRM often likes to give the Westeros houses “typical looks”. A list:

House Targaryen: silver-gold hair, purple eyes, “aristocratic” features - high brow, sharp cheekbones, straight nose, pale skin (variants: platinum silver hair, golden hair, different shades of purple eyes, blue eyes; note also several Targaryens tan brown very easily)

House Baratheon: black hair, deep blue eyes, square jaw, sharp cheekbones, very tall (variants: blue-green eyes)

House Lannister: curly golden hair, green eyes, tall (variants: white-blond hair, sandy blond hair, yellow hair)

House Stark: dark brown straight hair, grey eyes, long face, lean build (variants: blue-grey eyes, “almost black” dark grey eyes)

House Tully: thick auburn hair, blue eyes, high cheekbones, fair skin (variants: different shades of auburn hair, wavy-curly hair)

House Tyrell: curly brown hair, brown eyes (variant: golden-brown eyes)

House Martell: straight black hair, dark eyes, olive skin (variants: brown hair, curly hair)

House Blackwood: black hair, black eyes, tall

House Bolton: pale eyes (a very light grey, almost colorless)

House Borrell: webbed fingers, known as “the mark”

House Crakehall: big, big-boned, robust and strong

House Dayne: violet eyes (hair may be dark, or pale blond)

House Florent: big ears

House Frey: “chinless” pinched faces (for those that take after Old Walder, which is most of them but not all)

House Manderly: very overweight (not the young girls though)

House Piper: red hair, short

House Redwyne: freckles, orange hair

House Reed: brown hair, green eyes, very short

House Umber: very big and tall, strong

House Velaryon, House Celtigar: Valyrian-blooded, so often silver/silver-gold hair and purple eyes (variants: blue eyes, grey-green eyes; note also no Celtigar has been described yet so their Valyrian appearance is an assumption)

I think that’s all the notable features from the various houses that I can recall. (If I missed anything, please let me know.) Some houses don’t seem to have typical looks, btw – there’s not a consistent description for House Greyjoy, for example; Euron and Asha have black hair, and other Greyjoys have black eyes, but there’s also blue eyes in the family and “greying” hair, and Theon’s only “dark”. And of course there are always variations besides the one I listed, especially when houses marry – for example, Robb, Sansa, Bran, and Rickon have the Tully look of their mother, and Shireen Baratheon and Edric Storm have the Baratheon look but with big Florent ears. I hope that helps!

[lopata-four]

Godric Borrell 🦀

[goodqueenaly]

House Words Wednesdays: House Borrell

Hey everyone!

I have a feature on the Tumblr called House Words Wednesdays. Each week, I take a House without known canon or semi-canon words and present what I think could make sense as that House’s motto. You’re free to suggest more as well, if your favored House has not yet been suggested; take a look at this link to see what has already been suggested, and shoot me a tweet or ask through Tumblr if you have another House you’d like to see

House Borrell of Sisterton is a noble House of the Three Sisters, a small set of islands between the North and Vale (but owing allegiance, after many years of struggle, to the latter). The Borrells themselves are bannermen of the Sunderlands, masters of the Sisters, but House Borrell maintains control over all of Sweetsister, including the port of Sisterton. We met a Borrell in Davos’ very first ADWD chapter - Lord Godric, with whom Davos treats and who allows Davos to continue to White Harbor instead of reporting his wanted presence. Godric takes a fierce pride in ancient Sistermen independence, but agrees not to turn Davos over to the Lannisters, recalling the story of his father doing the same for Eddard Stark during Robert’s Rebellion. The Borrell sigil is a white spider-crab on a gray-green field.

The Sisters, including Sweetsister, are a tough, poor land. Lord Borrell might be better off than his smallfolk, but make no mistake, his is genteel poverty with emphasis on the poverty. Even his liege has to scrape for every gold dragon, with seven sons all determined to be knights. The islands have long been dismissed as dens of sin and avarice, and Godric Borrell has not dispelled that reputation: he shows no love for Davos’ liege Stannis, who made him hang a dozen of his smuggler friends while Stannis was master of ships. So with the Borrell words, I wanted something that was equally tough, equally defiant.

That’s why I picked as the Borrell words Break Upon Us. The Borrells, defiant in their Sistermen independence, would invite the men of the North and the men of the Vale to land on their shores - and then, these words would promise, they would break upon the ferocious fighting of the native Sistermen. These words reflect as well a darker side to the Borrells (and indeed many Sistermen). One of Godric Borrell’s titles as Lord of Sisterton is “Keeper of the Night Lamp”. The Night Lamp is a beacon tower that burns along the shore of Sisterton, designed (at least ostensibly) to warn nearby sailors of shoals and rocks and lead the way to safety. However, some Sistermen - including, as he hints, Lord Godric himself - use false lights on foggy night to lure unknowing captains to crash upon the shore, and thereafter help themselves to their cargo.

Let me know what you think of these Borrell words. Next week moves from the dreary and ill-rumored Sisters to the verdant and fertile Reach, and a family with skinchanging in its blood.

The Queen Regent (NFriel)

[agameofclothes]

What the Lady of House Borrel of Sweetsister would wear, Yiqing Yin