The Meadowlark by Dimitri Bielak. © Fantasy Flight Games
The Meadowlark is a ship.
After arriving in Lys, Quentyn Martell and his party decide to switch ships to ensure that anyone following them would find it harder to keep track of their movements. They hire the Meadowlark to take them as far as Volantis.
Off the coast of the Disputed Lands, the Meadowlark is attacked by corsairs. The pirates are fended off, but at the cost of nine Meadowlarks, Maester Kedry, Cletus Yronwood, and Willam Wells.
A measurement is the assignment of a number to a characteristic of an object or event, which can be compared with other objects or events..
Measurement units in Westeros are non-metric, growing out of customary use and not abstract principles. Westeros appears to have a uniform system of weights and measures, mentioned interchangeably by characters from Oldtown to King's Landing or Winterfell.
There are several basic units of measurement[N 1] that have been described in usage in Westeros: length, weight, and time. Most other units of measure thus far mentioned in text are units which have been derived from these basic ones, such as area and volume. Additionally, some units of measurements commonly used in the novels are more archaic in their usage; e.g. the term "stone" to indicate weight
The following units of length have been described:
The following units of area measurement have been described:
Although an acre is a unit indicating an objective land area, a hide is an administrative unit for measuring monetary production. One "hide" is enough to support one household, e.g. if five fertile acres of farmland produce the same amount of money needed to provide for one household as ten acres of poor swampland do, both groupings are considered to be worth one "hide".
The following units of volume have been described:
"Barrels", filled with foods, wine, or other substances, are also frequently mentioned.[N 9] It is unclear if this term reflects a standardized size and unit of measurement (though possibly differing between type of content; e.g., foods, wine, oil, sand, stone, etc.).
Very powerful medicines administered by maesters are usually just functionally measured in number of drops diluted into water or wine - any intervening units between a drop and a full pint, for larger amounts of medicine, haven't been mentioned, and might just be functionally measured as "a cup" of milk of the poppy.
The following units of weight measurement have been described:
The following units of time measurement have been described:
Regarding the passage of time in *A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin has specified "Twelve moon [turns] to a year, as on earth. Even on our earth, years have nothing to do with the seasons, or with the cycles of the moon. A year is a measure of a solar cycle, of how long it takes the earth to make one complete revolution around the sun. The same is true for the world of Westeros.*", thereby confirming that a year in A Song of Ice and Fire is as long as a year in real-life.
The calendar system currently used in the Seven Kingdoms uses the start of the reign of King Aegon I Targaryen as the first year on their calendar, dating events using either AC (After the Conquest) or BC (Before the Conquest).
Although hours are used in A Song of Ice and Fire as a measurement of time, individual hours have never been referred to by names such as "eleven o'clock". Instead, functional definitions such as dawn, noon, and dusk are used (e.g., "the hours before the dawn".
Further, at least some individual hours have their own name. According to Martin, these names are used to "refer to times of day and night, but with rather less specificity than our own numerical system of hours and minutes." Named hours include:
Elio Garcia, co-author of *The World of Ice & Fire, was asked whether units of measurement used by George R. R. Martin in *A Song of Ice and Fire correspond to their real-life counterparts, as this is not always the case in fantasy novels.[N 23] Garcia confirmed that "George likes to keep it simple. He doesn't [screw] around with making up definitions for measurements. That way lies madness."
Mebble, better known as Pinkeye, is a servant at Harrenhal. He is called Pinkeye because of his runny eyes. He is an alcoholic and a bellicose man, threatening to hit everyone, but he never follows through on his threats.
After Weese's death at Harrenhal, Pinkeye is put in charge of the servants, one of whom is Arya Stark under the name "Nan".
When Ser Jaime Lannister returns to Harrenhal on his way to lifting the Second Siege of Riverrun and puts the castle back to order after the departure of the Brave Companions and the occupation led Ser Gregor Clegane, only three servants from Lady Whent's time are still around, but Pinkeye isn't among them.
Medgar Tully was the Lord of Riverrun and head of House Tully during the reign of Daeron II Targaryen.
Lord Medgar participated in the tourney at Ashford Meadow. He challenged Ser Humfrey Hardyng in his first tilt and was knocked from the saddle on the second lance, was defeated on foot with swords.
Medger Cerwyn is Lord of Cerwyn and head of House Cerwyn. He is soft-spoken..
Lord Medger comes to Winterfell when Robb Stark calls his banners. He is accompanied by his daughter, Jonelle Cerwyn.
Tyrion Lannister unsuccessfully offers to trade Lord Medger and Ser Donnel Locke for Tion Frey in an exchange of prisoners.
Medicine in the Seven Kingdoms, and in the Known World, often plays a key role in the quality of life of its inhabitants. In addition to common healers, midwives, and bonesetters there are a number of different orders practicing medicine such as the Maesters of the Citadel.
Commoners usually do not have access to a Maester's services, like those who are rich or members of noble houses do, and have to rely on travelling barbers, local healers, midwives, hedge wizards, woods witches and their own knowledge of herbs.
Wounds are often cleaned with boiling wine or treated with Myrish fire or firemilk, both of which burn on contact. Maggots may be used if a wound is going rotten, as the maggots eat out the rotten parts. Maesters also learn to stitch wounds closed and can use poultices containing mustard seeds, nettles, and bread mould to prevent infection. Leeches are also used to drain bad blood that builds up in wounds. Pain can be dulled with potions containing opiates such as milk of the poppy or dreamwine, or by chewing willow bark. Vinegar is used to disinfect surgical instruments.
Fractured limbs are immobilized using plasters until the bones are joined up. Moon tea is used as contraceptive and to deal with unwanted pregnancies.
Minor colds, fevers, and fluxes are rarely deadly or even seriously debilitating. The bloody flux is quite serious and often deadly. Whores often carry unpleasant poxes and venereal diseases. Though the sufferers of such diseases rarely find much sympathy, fortunately most of the symptoms are minor though embarrassing.
A number of diseases can be contracted primarily during childhood. Redspots is rarely fatal to children, but nearly always fatal to adults. It makes the skin grey and hard as stone and often leaves it's survivors disfigured.
List of known diseases and illness:
Main article: poison
Many poisons are used throughout the Seven Kingdoms and in the East. Although the Maesters of the Citadel study the histories and qualities of various poisons in addition to their healing arts, their use seems to be more widespread in the free cities and the assassins guilds.
For the knight, see Medrick Manderly.
Medrick is a maester of the Citadel in service to House Hornwood.
Along with Maesters Rhodry and Henly, Medrick is brought by Lord Roose Bolton to Winterfell to be put in charge of the ravens and messages. When Lord Wyman Manderly is wounded by Ser Hosteen Frey, Medrick attends to Lord Manderly's wound.
Ser Medrick Manderly was a knight of House Manderly, a son of the Lord of White Harbor during the Dance of the Dragons.
Prince Jacaerys Velaryon visited White Harbor and Winterfell and enlisted the North for the blacks during the Dance of the Dragons. Lord Manderly sent his sons, the fearsome Ser Medrick and Ser Torrhen Manderly, to aid Rhaenyra Targaryen in King's Landing. After Rhaenyra lost two dragons to the Two Betrayers, the Manderly brothers argued that Addam Velaryon and Nettles were also untrustworthy.
During the riots at King's Landing, Medrick led a hundred White Harbor men and restored order in the area between Aegon's high hill and the Iron Gate. The Manderly brothers accompanied Rhaenyra when she fled the capital after the Storming of the Dragonpit. Medrick asked Rhaenyra to travel to White Harbor, but she insisted on sailing instead to Dragonstone without the Manderlys.
Medwick Tyrell is a chained maester of the Citadel. He is the second son of Ser Luthor Tyrell.
Meera Reed is a member of House Reed. She is Lord Howland Reed's daughter and oldest child; her younger brother is Jojen Reed. In the television adaptation *Game of Thrones* she is portrayed by Ellie Kendrick.
See also: Images of Meera Reed
As is typical of crannogmen, Meera is short and slim.
Meera has a cheerful disposition, in contrast to her more sullen brother, Jojen,
Meera wears worn lambskin breeches and a sleeveless jerkin with bronze scales.
Meera in the crypt of Winterfell by Tiziano Baracchi © Fantasy Flight Games
In the middle of the harvest feast at Winterfell, Meera and her brother, Jojen, arrive to pledge House Reed's support to Winterfell and the new King in the North, Robb Stark, after the death of his father, Lord Eddard Stark. The siblings recite their oath to Robb's younger brother, Bran Stark, and Bran later dreams of the Reeds meeting Summer and Shaggydog, the direwolves of Bran and his brother Rickon, in the godswood of Winterfell.
Later, Meera defeats Summer using a net and frog spear. Bran claims that Summer won, but Jojen points out that Summer is tangled up in the net and cannot escape. Bran learns Meera was taught by her father, Lord Howland Reed, instead of a master-at-arms, and she invites him to visit Greywater Watch.
Bran tells Meera and Jojen about his wolf dreams and the three-eyed crow, while Jojen reveals he has dreamed the sea will come to Winterfell. When Bran tells them that Maester Luwin thinks that it should be possible to change the dreams, Meera agrees. She gets angry with her brother when Jojen tells them that what he sees always comes true. Jojen reveals that he has seen the bodies of Bran and Rickon at the feet of the man they call Reek, who is skinning off their faces with a knife. Meera states that she could go down to the dungeons and kill Reek, but Jojen tells her she will not succeed; the jailers would stop her and would not believe her if she tried to explain.
After the capture of Winterfell by the ironborn, the Reed siblings and Bran are held hostage by Theon Greyjoy, who calls himself Prince of Winterfell.
Meera and her companions have secretly hid in the crypt of Winterfell, however, and they survive the sack of Winterfell when the castle is attacked by Ramsay Snow.
Jojen Reed and Meera cooking dinner by mustamirri ©
Meera has been hunting for the group as they move north and is their main food provider, mainly catching fish and frogs. They camp in a place they call Tumbledown Tower, but Jojen tells them that they need to move on. Meera eventually agrees with Jojen, but gives the choice to Bran, saying he is their prince and they will do what he tells them to do. Bran finally decides to go north.
When the weather turns bad in the northern mountains, Summer finds them a cave where a Liddle shares his food and warns that the kingsroad has become more dangerous. In the morning the man is gone, but he left some food for them.
They eventually take refuge from a storm at the holdfast of Queenscrown in the New Gift, but they detect men in the village, one of whom turns out to be Jon Snow traveling with wildlings. As a warg, Bran enters Summer and attacks the wildlings going after Jon. The direwolf kills three of them, but takes an arrow to the shoulder.
They arrive at the Nightfort, the castle in Jojen's green dream. The surefooted Meera climbs to the top of the Wall to get a look at the other side while the boys search the buildings. They decide to sleep that night in the kitchen because it would provide some protection. When they hear something coming from a well, Meera traps it in her net and sticks him with her frog spear. When the fire is stoked up they see a girl, Gilly, with a baby and Samwell Tarly. Sam tells him that they came through the Black Gate, a passage as old as the Wall. Sam will have to take them back because only a man sworn to the Night's Watch can open the gate. Sam explains his group was aided by Coldhands, who was dressed in the black of the Night's Watch, but pale. Meera, Jojen, Hodor and Bran go through the Black Gate.
Meera Reed by Elia Fernandez©
Coldhands escorts Meera's group beyond the Wall, and they are take shelter in an abandoned wildling village while Coldhands deals with a threat. The group discusses the nature of Coldhands, deciding that he is not alive. Meera does not trust him.
When the group is ambushed by wights near the entrance of the cave of the three-eyed crow, Meera jabs at them with her spear to keep them away. Bran takes control of Hodor and attacks the wights, and Meera defends the giant man when a wight claws at him. Leaf, one of the children of the forest, fends off the wights, allowing Hodor to carry Jojen and Meera to rescue Bran's crippled body. Inside the cave, the group meet the remaining children and the three-eyed crow.
Bran learns about being a greenseer from the three-eyed crow, who calls himself Brynden.
Meera: Up and down, then down and up. Then up and down again. I hate these stupid mountains of yours, Prince Bran.
Bran: Yesterday you said you loved them.
Meera: Oh, I do. My lord father told me about mountains, but I never saw one till now. I love them more than I can say.
Bran: But you just said you hated them.
Meera: Why can't it be both?—Meera and Bran Stark
Remember Old Nan's stories, Bran. Remember the way she told them, the sound of her voice. So long as you do that, part of her will always be alive in you.
—Meera to Bran Stark
Ellie Kendrick as Meera in *Game of Thrones*
It was hard to sulk with Meera. She was much more cheerful than her brother, and always seemed to know how to make him smile. Nothing ever scared her or made her angry. Well, except Jojen, sometimes ... Jojen Reed could scare most anyone.
—thoughts of Bran Stark
The woods were full of frozen streams and cold black lakes, and Meera was as good a fisher with her three-pronged frog spear as most men were with hook and line.
—thoughts of Bran Stark
Meereen
Slaver's Bay and the location of Meereen (red)
Meereen is the northernmost and the largest of the three great Slaver Cities of Slaver's Bay. It is ruled by the Great Masters, the heads of Meereen's slaving families.
Like the other Slaver Cities, Meereen's emblem is the harpy.
Meereen is the northernmost of the slaver cities in Slaver's Bay. The city is located on the northeast coast at the mouth of the Skahazadhan.
Meereen’s hinterlands consist of all the land west of Lhazar, which includes hills and a range of rounded sandstone mountains,
Meereen in *Game of Thrones* © HBO
See also: Images of Meereen
Meereen is the largest
The nobility of Meereen lives in the stepped pyramids. The greatest of them all is the Great Pyramid, located on Meereen's central plaza,
The city's wastes are carried into the Skahazadhan by great brick sewers. These sewers are closed off with iron gates, although some have rusted through.
Meereen has multiple fighting pits scattered across Meereen.
The Temple of the Graces, home to the priestesses of Meereen, is likewise located west of the Great Pyramid. It is a huge structure topped with golden domes.
A great bronze harpy can be found in the Plaza of Purification.
Olives grow along the shores of Slaver's Bay.
Near Meereen, multiple farmer's fields and wells can be found. Numerous plants, including waspwillow, dusky roses, wild mint, lady's lace, daggerleaf, broom, prickly ben, and harpy's gold can be found beside the coastal road leading from Yunkai to Meereen.
Queen Daenerys Targaryen looks at Meereen from her terrace atop the Great Pyramid.
Meereen's population is a fraction of what it was at the height of the power of the Old Empire.
Ghiscari inter their honored dead in crypts below their manses.
Meereen is ruled by the Great Masters, members of the old slaving families.
The priestesses of Meereen are known as Graces. The color of their robes indicates role they fulfill. There are green, white, pink, red, blue, gold, and purple graces.
In the fighting pits of Meereen combats taken place which are profoundly religious in nature. They are seen as a blood sacrifice to the gods of Ghis, as well as a display of courage, skill, and strength most pleasing to your gods. Victorious fighters are pampered and acclaimed, and the slain are honored and remembered, their names graven on the Gates of Fate amongst the other valiant fallen.
In Meereen Ghiscari wedding customs are still practiced. The female relatives of the groom examine the bride's womb and female parts, to ensure her fertility. Three Graces witness this ancient ritual, reciting prayers. The bride is to be stripped completely naked for this purpose. After the examinations are done, the women eat a cake baked specially for betrothals, which men are forbidden to taste.
Meereen is a wealthy city,
The fighting pits of Meereen are far-famed across the world, drawing trade to the city.
A Meereenese coin is called an "honor".
Copper is plentiful in the Ghiscari hills, and was valuable "when bronze ruled the world".
It had been a thousand years since Meereen last had a king, and there were some even amongst the old blood who thought they might have made a better choice than him.
Meereen was a colony of the Old Empire of Ghis. Cedars once grew tall along the coast but grow no more; they were felled by the axes of the Old Empire or consumed by dragonfire when Ghis made war against Valyria. Once the trees had gone, the soil baked beneath the hot sun and blew away in thick red clouds. According to Galazza Galare it was these calamities that transformed her people into slavers.
The modern Ghiscari in Meereen now speak a blend of the High Valyrian of their conquerors and Old Ghiscari.
The slave Belwas was bred and trained in the fighting pits of Meereen.
Ser Jorah Mormont advises Khal Drogo to drive his slaves to Meereen since it has suffered from a plague recently.
Khal Pono's *khalasar* rides to the Slaver Cities to sell thousands of slaves.
The Great Masters prepare for Daenerys's arrival by scorching the earth around their city
Daenerys besieges the city. The siege eventually comes to an end after Daenerys sends men through the sewers to strike the chains of the slaves within the city, while having her own forces battering down the eastern gate. The Meereenese slaves rise up, and Daenerys and her army gain access to the city, resulting in the sack of the city.
Meereen under siege - by Ignacio Lazcano © Fantasy Flight Games
Ruling as the Queen of Meereen, Daenerys abolishes slavery within the city, although the practice is continued in the hills where slaves still work on the estates of the wealthy. Instead of having slaves, former slavers hire freed slaves at meager wages.
While several Great Masters accept the rule of Daenerys, a group of Ghiscari noblemen, known as the "Sons of the Harpy" or "the Harpy's Sons", engage in a shadow war against Daenerys. They slay freedmen, Unsullied and shavepates during the night, and leave a mark over the body of their victim: a harpy, drawn in blood.
Lhazar allies with Meereen, but Yunkai gathers a coalition of slaving cities against Daenerys.
Quentyn Martell arrives in Meereen as part of his father Doran's marriage plot, but Daenerys rejects his offer. The queen instead weds Hizdahr in an attempt to bring peace to Meereen,
Quentyn is mortally burned by dragonfire while trying to tame Rhaegal and Viserion,
Victarion Greyjoy leads the Iron Fleet toward Meereen on a mission to bring back Daenerys for his brother Euron, King of the Isles and the North.
Barristan rallies Meereen's defenses against the Yunkish host.
The Great Masters, what a ripe lot o' maggots. The women weren't so bad, though it was worth your life to look at the wrong one the wrong way.
- Ben Plumm, to Daenerys Targaryen
You stopped at Astapor to buy an army, not to start a war. Save your spears and swords for the Seven Kingdoms, my queen. Leave Meereen to the Meereenese and march west for Pentos.
– Jorah Mormont, to Daenerys Targaryen
Meereen had been rich beyond imagining.
- thoughts of Daenerys Targaryen
A child departed Qarth, as lost as she was lovely. I feared she was sailing to her doom, yet now I find her here enthroned, mistress of an ancient city, surrounded by a mighty host that she raised up out of dreams.
– Xaro Xhoan Daxos, to Daenerys Targaryen
Daenerys: Meereen is a free city of free men.
Xaro: A poor city that once was rich. A hungry city that once was fat. A bloody city that once was peaceful.
- Daenerys Targaryen and Xaro Xhoan Daxos
You will not make Meereen rich and fat and peaceful. You will only bring it to destruction, as you did Astapor.
– Xaro Xhoan Daxos, to Daenerys Targaryen
Before you came Meereen was dying. Our rulers were old men with withered cocks and crones whose puckered cunts were dry as dust. They sat atop their pyramids sipping apricot wine and talking of the glories of the Old Empire whilst the centuries slipped by and the very bricks of the city crumbled all around them. Custom and caution had an iron grip upon us till you awakened us with fire and blood. A new time has come, and new things are possible.
- Hizdahr zo Loraq, to Daenerys Targaryen
Meereen was not her home, and never would be. It was a city of strange men with strange gods and stranger hair, of slavers wrapped in fringed tokars, where grace was earned through whoring, butchery was art, and dog was a delicacy. Meereen would always be the Harpy's city, and Daenerys could not be a harpy.
- thoughts of Daenerys Targaryen
The Meereenese knot refers to the plotline in Meereen in *A Dance with Dragons* which George R.R. Martin took some time to sort out, as several of the storylines and characters converge in Meereen. Martin attributed the delay mainly to his untangling "the Meereenese knot", which the interviewer understood as "making the chronology and characters mesh up as various threads converged on Daenerys".,
Now I can explain things. It was a confluence of many, many factors: lets start with the offer from Xaro to give Dany ships, the refusal of which then leads to Qarth's declaration of war. Then there's the marriage of Daenerys to pacify the city. Then there's the arrival of the Yunkish army at the gates of Meereen, there's the order of arrival of various people going her way (Tyrion, Quentyn, Victarion, Aegon, Marwyn, etc.), and then there's Daario, this dangerous sellsword and the question of whether Dany really wants him or not, there's the plague, there's Drogon's return to Meereen... All of these things were balls I had thrown up into the air, and they're all linked and chronologically entwined. The return of Drogon to the city was something I explored as happening at different times. For example, I wrote three different versions of Quentyn's arrival at Meereen: one where he arrived long before Dany's marriage, one where he arrived much later, and one where he arrived just the day before the marriage (which is how it ended up being in the novel). And I had to write all three versions to be able to compare and see how these different arrival points affected the stories of the other characters. Including the story of a character who actually hasn't arrived yet.
Kayla, a prostitute working in the brothel owned by Petyr Baelish in King's Landing, can perform the sexual position called the "Meereenese Knot", a reference to the complex series of plot problems George R.R. Martin encountered whilst writing the fifth novel in the series, *A Dance with Dragons*, problems which delayed the novel for a considerable amount of time.
Megette, also known as Merry Meg, was the young and buxom wife of a blacksmith. She was the second of Aegon IV Targaryen's mistresses.
While riding near Fairmarket in 155 AC Prince Aegon’s horse threw a shoe, and when he sought out the local smith, he came to notice the man’s young wife. He went on to buy her for seven gold dragons along with the threat of Ser Joffrey Staunton of the Kingsguard. Megette was installed in a house in King’s Landing; she and Aegon were even “wed” in a secret ceremony conducted by a mummer playing a septon. Prince Viserys put an end to it, returning Megette to her husband and placing their daughters with the Faith to be trained as septas. Megette was beaten to death within a year by the blacksmith.
Megette gave Aegon four children in as many years; Alysanne, Lily, Willow and Rosey.
Megga Tyrell is a member of a junior branch of House Tyrell. Daughter of Ser Olymer Tyrell and Lysa Meadows.
Megga is one of Queen Margaery Tyrell's ladies-in-waiting. She is a constant companion of Margaery.
Megga attended the wedding of Margaery Tyrell and Tommen I, where she danced with Tommen. Rumors reported by Taena of Myr to Queen Cersei Lannister say that Megga has a new suitor every week. There is talk of her marrying the brother of Lady Bulwer but if she could choose for herself, her choice would be Ser Mark Mullendore.
"Meggett Was a Merry Maid, a Merry Maid Was She" is a bawdy song.
Meha was the elder sister of Varamyr and Bump.
Meha gave both her brothers their nicknames, per wildling tradition, while they were still in her mother's womb. Her first brother, who she named Lump, would eventually become the skinchanger Varamyr Sixskins.
Meizo Mahr is a eunuch in service to Salladhor Saan.
Meizo was the elder of the two eunuchs employed by Salladhor to count the cargoes of the *Bountiful Harvest* after it had been seized. with cloves.
Mela is a serving woman in service with House Arryn at the Eyrie. She is stoop-backed.
Mela was sent by Lord Petyr Baelish to get a new spoon for Lord Robert Arryn after he refused to eat his porridge. Before she could go, Lord Robert had a fit.
Melantha Blackwood was a member of House Blackwood and Lady of Winterfell. She married Lord Willam Stark, the second son of Lord Beron Stark, with whom she had two children, Edwyle and Jocelyn Stark.
The Melantine is a ship.
On the first day of their stay in Volantis, Prince Quentyn Martell, Ser Gerris Drinkwater, and Ser Archibald Yronwood seek passage on the Melantine to sail to Queen Daenerys Targaryen in Meereen. The captain of the ship refuses them.
Melaquin was a maester in service at Summerhall during the reigns of Daeron II and Aerys I Targaryen.
Melaquin was a tutor to the sons of Prince Maekar.
Lady Melara Crane is a member of House Crane and is married to Lord Alester Florent. She has one son, Alekyne, and two daughters, Melessa and Rhea..
Lady Melara is widowed after the execution by fire of her husband, the attainted Lord Alester Florent.
Melara Hetherspoon was a member of House Hetherspoon and a childhood friend of Cersei Lannister.
Cersei describes Melara as a girl older than Jeyne Farman. She is contrasted to the "fat" Jeyne, implying Melara was slender or outright skinny. Melara was pretty, though she had freckles. The girl was "healthy as a little horse".
Melara, then eleven years old, visited Maggy the Frog with Cersei Lannister and Jeyne Farman during the tournament in honor of Viserys's birth in 276 AC, after hearing whispers that Maggy could tell futures. Jeyne fled when Maggy opened her eyes to greet the visitors, but Melara and Cersei stayed and insisted on hearing their futures. Melara was present when Maggy made the prophecy of the *valonqar* (High Valyrian for "little brother"), to Cersei Lannister.
Meldred Merlyn is the head of House Merlyn and is the Lord of Pebbleton. Aeron Greyjoy refers to Meldred as the Merlyn.
Meldred is a bald, fat man who dresses in furs and velvets.
At Pebbleton, Lord Meldred is blessed with seawater by Aeron Greyjoy, and he is among the first to hear Aeron call for a kingsmoot. He attends the kingsmoot at Old Wyk, where he is among the supporters of Asha Greyjoy.
Tourney at Bitterbridge, art by o0Magnus
Victorious Brienne of Tarth, art by Amok©
The melee at Bitterbridge*; it is unknown if the joust or archery are also held.
Having been crowned at Highgarden, Renly Baratheon travels with his supporters through the Reach toward King's Landing, which is held by his nephew, King Joffrey Baratheon. Renly holds a melee beneath the castle of Bitterbridge along the way. Catelyn Tully, an envoy of her son Robb Stark, notices much of the Reach's chivalry near the castle, while across the Mander are the lords from the Stormlands. While there are 116 competitors at the start of the melee, there are fewer than 20 knights remaining when Catelyn's party arrives. Brienne of Tarth singles out some men for having bet on who could claim her maidenhead. The melee continues until only two contestants are left, Brienne with a morningstar and Ser Loras Tyrell of Renly's Rainbow Guard with a longaxe. Loras yields to Brienne after being grappled to the ground, which a drunken Tyrell archer considers a vile trick. For her reward, Renly agrees to name Brienne to his Rainbow Guard.
Brienne of Tarth defeats Richard Farrow
Brienne of Tarth defeats Edmund Ambrose
Brienne of Tarth defeats Ben Bushy
Brienne of Tarth defeats Mark Mullendore
Brienne of Tarth defeats Raymond Nayland
Brienne of Tarth defeats Will the Stork
Brienne of Tarth defeats Harry Sawyer
Brienne of Tarth defeats Robin Potter
Loras Tyrell defeats a man
Brienne of Tarth defeats Ronnet Connington
Loras Tyrell defeats a man
Brienne of Tarth defeats two men
Brienne of Tarth defeats Loras Tyrell
Mathis Rowan, Arwyn Oakheart, Randyll Tarly, Margaery Tyrell, Renly Baratheon, Lorent Caswell, Catelyn Tully, Colen of Greenpools
This is madness. Real enemies on every side and half the realm in flames, and Renly sits here playing at war like a boy with his first wooden sword.
- thoughts of Catelyn Tully
Melesa Crakehall is the wife of Ser Lyonel Frey. They have no progeny.
Melessa Florent is a member of House Florent, the eldest daughter of Lord Alester Florent of Brightwater. She is married to Lord Randyll Tarly and the mother of Samwell, Talla and Dickon Tarly, as well as two other unnamed daughters..
When Samwell Tarly discusses his plan with Jon Snow to send Gilly and her babe to Horn Hill - in the guise of the babe being Sam's bastard offspring - he tells Jon that he knows that his mother would want him. Sam is confident that she will find some place for Gilly and it would not be as hard as serving Craster.
While on the *Blackbird*, Sam thinks of his mother as his clings to the railing and watches waves breaking on a stony shore:
If she saw me in my blacks, it might even make her proud. "I am a man now, Mother,” I could tell her, "a steward and a man of the Night's Watch. My brothers call me Sam the Slayer sometimes."
Meleys, called the Red Queen, was an old she-dragon ridden by Princess Rhaenys Targaryen.
Her scales were scarlet and the membranes of her wings were pink. Her crest, horns, and claws were bright as copper. She had grown lazy but was fearsome when roused. Meleys was old, cunning and no stranger to battle.
Because dragons never stop growing as they age, Meleys was apparently one of the eldest and largest dragons during the Dance of the Dragons. Vhagar, last of the original three Targaryen dragons, easily overpowered Arrax - a juvenile dragon who had only recently grown large enough to carry a rider. Even Caraxes faced a tough fight against Vhagar. In contrast, it was believed that in a one on one fight, Vhagar would have a difficult time fighting Meleys.
Princess Rhaenys rode Meleys during the Dance of the Dragons. She fought against Vhagar and Sunfyre in the Battle of Rook's Rest. Although not as large as Vhagar, against that dragon alone she might have stood a chance at victory. Meleys was killed fighting both dragons, however. Her head was later drawn through the city of King's Landing on a cart, awing the crowds of smallfolk into silence.
Meliana, known as Lady Meliana, is an prostitute of Mole's Town.
Lady Meliana was among those who evacuated from Mole's Town before it could be attacked by wildlings.
Melisandre is a red priestess of R'hllor and a shadowbinder, hailing from the city of Asshai in the Further East of Essos. She has joined the court of Lord Stannis Baratheon of Dragonstone, believing him to be Azor Ahai reborn, a hero destined to defeat the Great Other. She has become an influential advisor to him and his family.*.
See also: Images of Melisandre
Melisandre is regarded as a beautiful woman by many.
As is the custom of the red priests of her faith, Melisandre always dresses in long robes of red fabric.
Melisandre has the ability to see visions in the flames, and completely trusts in the power of her god, R'hllor. Although she acknowledges that visions can be misinterpreted,
As a slave possibly called Melony, Melisandre was sold to a red temple at an early age. She can recall that Melony was "Lot Seven", most likely on the auction block.
Melisandre has learned the Common Tongue, High Valyrian, and the tongue of Asshai.
At some point prior to the start of the War of the Five Kings, Melisandre travels to Dragonstone on her own
The Red Woman - by Patrick McEvoy ©.
At the crossroads inn Lord Tywin Lannister tells his son Tyrion that according to one of the rumors Lord Varys has heard, Lord Stannis Baratheon is bringing a shadowbinder from Asshai to Dragonstone,
Melisandre resides at Dragonstone, where she has converted Lady Selyse Florent to the faith of R'hllor. She is feared by most of the servants, who call her "the red woman" as they do not dare to say her name.
Although Stannis is not as committed to R'hllor as his wife and the queen's men in his court, Melisandre convinces him to burn the statues of the Seven from the castle sept of Dragonstone in sacrifice to R'hllor.
In King's Landing, Lord Petyr Baelish reminds the small council that some years past, Varys had reported that Selyse had taken up with a red priest. The councilors decide to use Melisandre's religion and the greyscale of Princess Shireen Baratheon to discredit Stannis.
Melisandre births a shadow assassin - by Anja Dalisa ©
Stannis's brother Renly, Lord of Storm's End, has also declared himself king, and has gathered the support from most stormlanders and men from the Reach. When Stannis sets sail from Dragonstone to besiege Storm's End, Melisandre accompanies him. She urges Stannis to meet with Renly and give him a last chance to swear his loyalty to Stannis.
Stannis begins to have terrible nightmares after Renly's death, and only Melisandre can soothe him to sleep.
With Storm's End taken, Stannis is ready to march on King's Landing. By stating that men might say Stannis owes his crown to Melisandre's spells if he allows her to take part in the battle to come, Lord Bryce Caron convinces Stannis to send Melisandre back to Dragonstone, where she resides while Stannis and his forces fight at the capital. come true, after a fashion.
Melisandre is convinced that Stannis Baratheon is Azor Ahai - by Amok©.
Melisandre and Selyse burn Lord Guncer Sunglass and the surviving sons of Ser Hubard Rambton as sacrifices to R'hllor while Stannis is attacking King's Landing.
When Davos returns to Dragonstone from Blackwater Bay,
Melisandre tells Stannis there is power in a king's blood, and she wishes to sacrifice Edric Storm, the acknowledged bastard son of the late King Robert I Baratheon, to "wake the stone dragon". Both Melisandre and Stannis are convinced of the need to quickly unite the Seven Kingdoms under one king, in preparation for the battle against the Great Other, about whom Melisandre has shown Stannis visions in the flames.
Melisandre rides with Stannis Baratheon's men - by artist Tomasz Jedruszek, © Fantasy Flight Games.
In time, Balon falls from Pyke
When Stannis sails for the Wall, Melisandre sacrifices Lord Alester Florent to her god to gain favorable winds for the voyage north.
Melisandre holds her nightfires at Castle Black.
In a meeting with the high officers of the Night's Watch, Melisandre informs the black brothers that they have to hold nightfires at their gates as a way to battle their enemy. Maester Aemon recognizes she is speaking about the war for the dawn, and asks about the prince that was promised. Melisandre informs him Stannis is the prophesied prince.
With Stannis intending to have Mance Rayder executed, Melisandre plans to sacrifice him to R'hllor to wake a dragon with the blood of Mance, the King-Beyond-the-Wall.
Melisandre with Jon Snow and Ghost atop the Wall - by Nicholas Gregory, © Fantasy Flight Games.
Melisandre walks atop the Wall every night with Stannis.
Despite Jon's efforts to change the king's mind, Stannis is determined to sacrifice Mance. Melisandre places a glamor over him, making him appear to be the wildling Rattleshirt. Rattleshirt, in turn, is glamored to look like Mance, and killed in his place.
Melisandre remains at Castle Black when Stannis marches for the northern mountains,
Melisandre's powers are much stronger at the Wall, and she constantly searches her fires for visions. When she looks into the flames, she sees a “wooden face, corpse white” with a thousand red eyes, accompanied by a boy with a wolf's face. She assumes that they are servants of the Great Other. She asks to see Azor Ahai, hoping for Stannis, but sees only Jon surrounded by skulls, his face changing between that of a man and that of a wolf.
Melisandre warns Jon Snow of daggers in the dark - by Alexandre Dainche, © Fantasy Flight Games.
Melisandre tells Mance they can only win Jon's trust by rescuing his sister. Melisandre finds Jon north of the Wall, where the heads of Black Jack Bulwer, Hairy Hal, and Garth Greyfeather have been impaled by the Weeper, making the first of her predictions come true. Jon asks her to look in her flames for the other six rangers. He informs her that Ser Denys Mallister at the Shadow Tower believes the wildlings might try to force their way across the Bridge of Skulls, and Melisandre tells him that she has seen towers by the sea submerged beneath a black and bloody tide. Though she acknowledges to herself that the towers in her vision do not look like those at Eastwatch, Melisandre claims the attack will fall there when asked by Jon.
Melisandre's second prediction comes true when Alys Karstark—not Arya—arrives at Castle Black, fleeing from her cousin Cregan, who wants to force a marriage between them as to lay claim on Karhold.
When Jon plans to send men to Hardhome on a rescue mission, Melisandre urges him not to,
Carice van Houten as Melisandre in *Game of Thrones*.
Davos: Are you good or evil, my lady?
Melisandre: Oh, good. I am a knight of sorts myself, sweet ser. A champion of light and life.
– Davos Seaworth and Melisandre
These little wars are no more than a scuffle of children before what is to come. The one whose name may not be spoken is marshaling his power, Davos Seaworth, a power fell and evil and strong beyond measure. Soon comes the cold, and the night that never ends. Unless true men find the courage to fight it. Men whose hearts are fire.
– Melisandre to Davos Seaworth
When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone.
– Melisandre to Davos Seaworth
Melisandre: When I gaze into the flames, I can see through stone and earth, and find the truth within men's souls. I can speak to kings long dead and children not yet born, and watch the years and seasons flicker past, until the end of days.
Jon: Are your fires never wrong?
Melisandre: Never ... though we priests are mortal and sometimes err, mistaking this must come for this may come.
- Melisandre and Jon Snow
We all must choose. Man or woman, young or old, lord or peasant, our choices are the same. We choose light or we choose darkness.
– Melisandre before the execution of "Mance Rayder"
I pray for a glimpse of Azor Ahai, and R'hllor shows me only Snow.
– Melisandre's thoughts
With Stannis gone, her bed saw little use. She had no time for sleep, with the weight of the world upon her shoulders. And she feared to dream. Sleep is a little death, dreams the whisperings of the Other, who would drag us all into his eternal night. She would sooner sit bathed in the ruddy glow of her red lord's blessed flames, her cheeks flushed by the wash of heat as if by a lover's kisses.
– Melisandre's thoughts
Many called her beautiful. She was not beautiful. She was red, and terrible, and red.
– Cressen's thoughts
Melisandre, whose madness must not be allowed to spread beyond Dragonstone.
– Cressen's thoughts
Half my knights are afraid even to say her name, did you know? If she can do nothing else, a sorceress who can inspire such dread in grown men is not to be despised. A frightened man is a beaten man. And perhaps she can do more. I mean to find out.
– Stannis Baratheon to Davos Seaworth
Lady Melisandre wore no crown, but every man there knew that she was Stannis Baratheon’s real queen.
– Jon Snow's thoughts
Melisandre has gone to Stannis entirely on her own, and has her own agenda.
Melisandre's ruby - © FFG.
Melisandre's ruby is a single great ruby The ruby choker is always worn at Melisandre's throat.
The ruby often gleams red, glimmers,
When Melisandre drinks the poisoned wine that Maester Cressen had given her, she remarks that "fire cleanses", while the ruby at her throat shimmers. The strangler poison has no effect on her.
There is a great square-cut ruby set in the hilt of Stannis Baratheon's sword, Lightbringer.
While sailing to back to Dragonstone, Ser Davos Seaworth is reminded of Melisandre's ruby when he sees the watchtower of Sharp Point.
Rattleshirt's ruby is magically enslaved to Melisandre's ruby - © FFG.
At the Wall, Jon Snow often notices Melisandre's ruby gleaming at her throat.
Rattleshirt wears an iron wrist cuff set with a large square-cut ruby, which Melisandre had given him. Jon sees the ruby pulse in time with Melisandre's ruby, and she tells Jon that as long as Rattleshirt wears the ruby, he is bound to her, blood and soul.
Melisandre remembers that when the flames were burning Rattleshirt glamoured as Mance,
Melisandre was seated near the fire, her ruby glimmering against the pale skin of her throat.
– thoughts of Jon Snow
Her eyes were two red stars, shining in the dark. At her throat, her ruby gleamed, a third eye glowing brighter than the others.
– thoughts of Jon Snow
Melisandre felt the warmth in the hollow of her throat as her ruby stirred at the closeness of its slave.
– thoughts of Melisandre
Melisandre of Asshai stood closer to the fire, the ruby at her throat pulsing with every breath she took.
– thoughts of Jon Snow
Lady Melissa Blackwood, nicknamed Missy, was a member of House Blackwood during the reign of Aegon IV Targaryen. She was the sixth of Aegon's nine mistresses, and the best loved of them.
Melissa was slender of frame, and pretty.
She had a kind heart, was generous and modest,
Melissa became the sixth mistress of King Aegon IV Targaryen early in the King's reign, in 172 AC, replacing Lady Barba Bracken, who had been sent from court in disgrace. Even though she was Aegon's mistress, Melissa's kind heart and generosity led her to be befriended by Aegon's sister-wife Queen Naerys, her brother Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, and her son Prince Daeron.
Melissa was slender of frame, but Barba had been buxom. When Barba was heard to joke that Melissa was flat as a boy, King Aegon, who previously had renamed the hills known as the Mother's Teats after Barba ("Barba's Teats"), named the mountains for Melissa instead and granted them to House Blackwood.
Melissa was King Aegon's mistress for five years, during which she gave birth to three children: two daughters, Mya and Gwenys, and a son, Brynden Rivers. Brynden would later be able to maintain close relations at court, due to the fact that his mother had been well loved during her time there, even after her dismissal.
Lord Bracken, with the help of his daughter Barba, groomed his younger daughter Lady Bethany to replace Melissa. In 177 AC, King Aegon visited Stone Hedge to see his bastard son by Barba, Aegor Rivers, and Bethany caught his eye and returned with him to King's Landing.
A statue of Melissa can be found in the godswood of Raventree Hall, the seat of House Blackwood.
Hoster Blackwood tells Ser Jaime Lannister that the godswood of Raventree Hall contains a statue of Lady Melissa, whom Hoster claims was much more beautiful than Barba Bracken. Hoster also tells Jaime the story of why the Brackens and Blackwoods call the Teats different names.
Lady Mellario is a noblewoman of the Free City of Norvos, and the estranged wife of Doran Martell, the Prince of Dorne. She had three children by him: Arianne, Quentyn, and Trystane.
Mellario was born in Norvos.
Despite the fact that Mellario and Doran had married for love, it was not a good marriage.
Despite this, however, the issues in their marriage were still unsolved. Since divorce in Westeros is uncommon,
When Lord Tywin Lannister discusses potential marriage candidates for his daughter, Cersei Lannister, he considers Prince Doran Martell. However, as Doran is still married to Mellario, and as Mellario is younger than her husband, and likely to outlive him, Tywin decides against that option.
During her imprisonment, Princess Arianne Martell considers appealing to her mother Mellario for help. However, since Prince Doran has not listened to his wife in many years, and because Mellario is so far away, she against trying to contact her.
When Prince Quentyn Martell is in Meereen, about to attempt stealing a dragon, he realises he wants to visit Norvos, to see where his mother came from, and to assure her that he has not forgotten her.
A younger Mellario of Norvos, by Rae Lavergne ©.
It wasn't a good marriage. They married because of an attraction to something new and exotic. Sometimes, attraction happens when you least expect it. He was a prince of a distant country, and she was a woman full of life, who was very appealing, who came from a very different culture.
Sometimes the marriages of convenience in the Seven Kingdoms come out well and those that are for love don't. Sometimes a couple loves one another, and then at some point they don't. There are marriages that also develop out of nothing more than lust (laughs). There's no guarantee that things will go well and the consequence of this is that disappointments develop and you end up estranged, each person going their own way. There's some bitterness from Mellario about this, because as Prince of Dorne, Doran has been able to stay with his children and she has had to leave them.
The bears danced and the bells rang, and the prince wore red and gold and orange. My lady asked me who it was who shone so bright.
– Areo Hotah about Mellario's first meeting with Doran Martell
I should have gone to Norvos to see my mother and the place that gave her birth, so she would know that I had not forgotten her.
– Quentyn Martell's regrets
He is your son. What sort of father uses his own flesh and blood to pay his debts?
– Mellario to Doran Martell
Mellei is a servant of House Martell at Sunspear. She is the sister of Morra.
Mellei is among the servants who are allowed access to Princess Arianne Martell during her imprisonment at Sunspear.
Mellos was a Grand Maester during the reign of Viserys I Targaryen. He replaced Grand Maester Runciter 112 AC. He encouraged the match between Laenor Velaryon and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen despite the fact that Laenor was known not to be interested in women. He also counselled forgiveness for the king's brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen. His writings were used frequently by Archmaester Gyldayn in his writings, who considered Mellos's frequent leechings to be less effective than his successor's potions and tinctures.
What of it? I am not fond of fish, but when fish is served, I eat it.
- Mellos on the match between Laenor and Rhaenyra
Melly is a member of the Brotherhood Without Banners.
She tends to Sandor Clegane's burns after he defeats Lord Beric Dondarrion in a trial by battle.
Ser Melwyn Sarsfield is a knight from House Sarsfield. He is married to Shierle Swyft.
Melwys Rivers is a bastard son of Lord Walder Frey. A maester of the Citadel in service at Rosby to House Rosby.
Walruses are central to at least one faction of Frozen Shore men.
Art by Paolo Puggioni
A woman from the Frozen Shore
Art by Paolo Puggioni
The men of the Frozen Shore are a culture of free folk that inhabit the Frozen Shore, west of the Frostfangs. They fish along the northern coast of the Bay of Ice.
The Frozen Shore men have queer names, as they name themselves after beasts of the region. They employ chariots made of walrus bone, pulled by dogs as large as direwolves, as transport. They also breed reindeer. Their women clad themselves in sealskins.
There are at least two factions of them, one wearing antlers on their hats and others wearing walrus tusks. The two sorts do not get along with each other. The Great Walrus is one of the free folk leaders from the Frozen Shore.
Huts of ice are used by some inhabitants of the Frozen Shore. While most free folk worship the old gods, some coastal tribes worship gods of snow and ice.
Bear Island has historically been raided by wildlings from the Frozen Shore.
Before Mance Rayder negotiated a peace, the men of the Frozen Shore, particularly the "walrus men", warred with the cannibal ice-river clans.
Clan members are among Mance Rayder's army as it marches on and later attacks the Wall.
The men of the Frozen Shore are among the free folk that accompany Tormund to the Wall in declaring a truce with the Night's Watch.
A savage folk. The men are bad, the women worse.
Mengo was a Dothraki *khal* who lived during the Century of Blood. His mother was Doshi, a reputed witch queen, and his son was Moro.
Mengo united all Dothraki tribes and *khalasars* under his rule, compelled to do so by his mother Doshi. Becoming the first great khal. He enslaved or killed those who refused to follow him. In his old age, he turned his attentions westward and began to move against the Kingdom of Sarnor. As the Sarnori were contemptuous of the horselords, they sought to use the Dothraki in their own wars, offering them gold, slaves, and other gifts to fight their rivals. Khal Mengo took these gifts and then took the conquered lands as well, burning fields and towns and farms to return the grasslands to their former state, as Dothraki consider it sinful to cut the flesh of the earth with plows, spades, and axes. In time he was succeeded by his son Moro.
Mengo Quen, known as the Glittering God, was a God-Emperor of the Golden Empire of Yi Ti and the third member of his dynasty. He earned his moniker because he ruled from a palace where the floors, walls, and columns were covered in gold leaf, and all furnishings were made of gold, even the chamber pots.
Meralyn, more commonly called Merry, is the proprietor of the Happy Port, a brothel near Ragman's Harbor in Braavos. She claims to have the largest tits in Braavos.
She would buy a dozen oysters from Cat and share them with her girls when Cat passed by her brothel.
For other articles sharing the same title, please see this disambiguation page.
Meraxes was a dragon of House Targaryen. She was ridden by Queen Rhaenys Targaryen during Aegon's Conquest, alongside King Aegon the Conqueror's Balerion and their sister Queen Visenya's Vhagar.
See also: Images of Meraxes
Meraxes was larger than Vhagar but smaller than Balerion.
Meraxes was named for a god of the Valyrian Freehold.
At some point, Meraxes was claimed by Rhaenys Targaryen. Rhaenys first rode Meraxes, demonstrating she was a dragonrider, some time before she married her brother, Aegon. Rhaenys loved to fly, spending more time on dragonback than her brother and sister combined, and was once heard to say that she meant to fly Meraxes across the Sunset Sea to see what lay upon its western shores.
Rhaenys Targaryen riding Meraxes into battle, ©HBO
After Aegon landed on Westeros and began his conquest, he dispatched his sisters to secure the submission of the nearest castles. Rosby yielded to Rhaenys and Meraxes without a fight. Afterwards, Rhaenys and Meraxes accompanied Orys Baratheon on his mission to subdue Argilac Durrandon, the last Storm King. At the Battle of the Last Storm, the wind and rain forced them to stay grounded, but even on the ground Meraxes slew many, engulfing Argilac's vanguard and the knights of his personal guard in dragonflame. Afterwards, Rhaenys flew Meraxes into the castle of Storm's End to parley with Argilac's daughter Argella.
After the stormlanders submitted, Rhaenys flew Meraxes to Stoney Sept, to link up with her siblings, their dragons, and Aegon's army. They advanced south, where all three dragons took part in the decisive Field of Fire – the only battle in which all three of the Targaryen dragons took to the sky at the same time during Aegon's Conquest. Together, Meraxes, Vhagar, and Balerion killed four thousand men, burning them alive. King Mern IX Gardener died, and with him House Gardener. The army was broken, and House Targaryen was victorious.
Rhaenys next flew Meraxes to the Trident in the riverlands, where she met with her brother and sister and their dragons, to face King in the North Torrhen Stark. Brandon Snow, the bastard brother of Torrhen, offered to sneak into the Targaryen camp at night to slay the dragons, but the northern king refused the attempt, and instead sent his brother as an envoy, eventually bending the knee to the Targaryens.
Afterwards, Rhaenys flew Meraxes to Dorne, to demand their submission. She did not find an easy conquest, as every castle she encountered was empty and abandoned, with only women and children and old men left in the towns and villages. Finally, she and Meraxes arrived in Sunspear, where only the eighty-year-old Meria Martell, Princess of Dorne, remained. Meria told Rhaenys to inform Aegon that Dorne would neither fight nor kneel, and would have no king. Rhaenys warned Meria that the Targaryens would return, and departed Sunspear, leaving Dorne the only unconquered kingdom.
The death of Meraxes, as depicted by Chase Stone in *The World of Ice & Fire*
The First Dornish War began in 4 AC, when Aegon decided to conquer the kingdom at last. Queen Rhaenys led the first assault on Dorne, seizing Dornish seats as she approached Sunspear, and burning the Planky Town on Meraxes. In 10 AC at Hellholt, an iron bolt from a scorpion went through Meraxes's eye, and the dragon and Rhaenys fell from the sky. In Meraxes's death throes, she destroyed the castle's highest tower and part of the curtain wall. It is not certain whether Rhaenys outlived Meraxes. There are those who say that Rhaenys lost her seat and fell to her death, while others claim that she was crushed to death beneath Meraxes in the castle yard.
Following the deaths of Rhaenys and Meraxes, Visenya and Aegon burned every Dornish stronghold at least once (except Sunspear and its shadow city), during a two-year period known as the Dragon's Wroth. Meraxes's skull was later returned to Aegon by a peace delegation.
Along with eighteen
In 299 AC, Daenerys Targaryen had the three ships sent to her by Illyrio Mopatis renamed Vhagar, Meraxes, and Balerion, to tell the world that the dragons had returned.
For other articles sharing the same title, please see this disambiguation page.
Meraxes was one of the many gods worshipped in Old Valyria.
Free Cities Mercenaries by Andrew Johanson © Fantasy Flight Games
A mercenary is a soldier who takes temporary assignments fighting for wage. The include sellswords, sellsails, and some freeriders.
Hired Swords by Yann Tisseron © Fantasy Flight Games
See also: Images of Mercenaries
A sellsword is a soldier who hires out his services to the highest bidder. Most sellswords are professionals with some experience in fighting.
Sellswords are often viewed negatively by others,
Mercenary Contract by Yulia Startsev © Fantasy Flight Games
Many sellswords are organized into free companies. Some are acclaimed for their loyalty and discipline, such as the Golden Company,
Known companies
"Freerider" is a broad term, sometimes used to denote a mounted sellsword, but more often referring to other mounted fighters who are not part of a lord's retinue or feudal levy. Most do not collect wages, instead fighting for plunder or a hope to be taken into a lord or knight's service. Freeriders are mostly used as scouts, outriders, foragers, and light cavalry.
Some freeriders are similar to hedge knights, only lacking knighthood.
A sellsail is a hired sailor who engages in naval battles for pay, including seaborne mercenaries and pirates. Most fleets are based in the Stepstones.
Many ironborn, including Harwyn Hoare and Dalton Greyjoy, have worked as sellsails,
Island Mercenaries by Ian Kirkpatrick © Fantasy Flight Games
Sellswords helped the Golden Empire of Yi Ti conquer Leng centuries ago.
During the coming of the Andals to Westeros, some Andals were hired as mercenaries by First Men to fight their rivals, only to betray their patrons.
Many free companies were formed during the Century of Blood, the aftermath of the Doom of Valyria.
The Bright Banners and the Second Sons fled instead of facing the *khalasar* of Khal Temmo, but the Three Thousand of Qohor held off the Dothraki.
Prince Daemon Targaryen hired sellswords for his war for the Stepstones.
The Golden Company was founded by Ser Aegor Rivers and other Westerosi exiles in the aftermath of the First Blackfyre Rebellion.
The peace between Braavos and Pentos prohibits the Pentoshi from hiring sellswords or free companies.
King Robert I Baratheon ponders abdicating the Iron Throne and fighting as a sellsword.
The sellswords Bronn and Chiggen help Catelyn Stark arrest Tyrion Lannister in hope of reward, and Bronn defends Tyrion in his trial by combat in hope of gold from Casterly Rock.
Sellswords and freeriders flock to the service of Lord Tywin Lannister at the Rock as tensions rise in the Seven Kingdoms.
Stannis Baratheon hires sellswords and sellsails from Lys and Myr in preparation for the War of the Five Kings.
Ser Stafford Lannister raises a new host from sellswords, freeriders, and boys from Lannisport.
Tywin employs the Brave Companions as reavers and foragers in the riverlands.
The Mummers abandon the wounded Vargo almost to a man, allowing Ser Gregor Clegane to easily take Harrenhal.
Following the fall of Astapor to Daenerys Targaryen, Yunkai hires the Second Sons and the Stormcrows.
Exiled Westerosi sometimes become mercenaries, screencap from *Game of Thrones* Bluray
The Golden Company breaks its contract with Myr, the first time it has ever done so.
After the fall of Meereen to Daenerys, Yunkai hires several free companies to defeat her.
Ben leads the Seconds Sons from Daenerys's service over to the Yunkai'i.
Supporting Aegon Targaryen, Jon Connington and Harry Strickland lead the landing of the Golden Company in the stormlands.
Stannis orders Ser Justin Massey to sail to Braavos and use the Iron Bank's gold to hire a reputable company.
Mercenaries from Pyke by Tyler Jacobson © Fantasy Flight Games
A mounted man who fights for pay could be called either a freerider or a sellsword. Both terms carry a certain stigma in Westeros. Sellswords are said to have no loyalty, and freeriders no discipline.
More than once, I have dreamed of giving up the crown. Take ship for the Free Cities with my horse and my hammer, spend my time warring and whoring, that's what I was made for. The sellsword king, how the singers would love me.
The scent of blood or the scent of gold, they smell the same in the end.
—Yoren to Eddard Stark
A man who fights for coin is loyal only to his purse.
—Kevan Lannister to a courier
There are old sellswords and bold sellswords but there are no old bold sellswords.
Sellswords were seldom the most honorable of men, but they had to have a certain skill at arms to stay alive.
—Jaime Lannister's thoughts
Whatever their sires or their grandsires might have been back in Westeros before their exile, the men of the Golden Company were sellswords now, and no sellsword could be trusted.
—Jon Connington's thoughts
Wealthy knights from Houses old in honor did not cross the narrow sea to sell their swords, unless exiled for some infamy.
—Quentyn Martell's thoughts
Tyrion: In Westeros, the word of a Lannister is considered good as gold.
Tybero: This is not Westeros. On this side of the narrow sea, we put our promises on paper. Debts written on the wind tend to be ... forgotten, shall we say?
Sellsword companies and their captains are reminiscent of the free companies and condottieri.
The interior of the Merchant's House. © FFG
The Merchant's House is the finest and largest inn in Volantis. It is located on Fishmonger’s Square.
Quentyn Martell and his companions stay at the Merchant's House when in Volantis.
Prior to leaving for Yunkai four Windblown serjeants set up a trestle table outside of the Merchant's House calling to every passing man and boy looking for fresh meat to fill their ranks..
Much later Ser Jorah Mormont takes his hostage, Tyrion Lannister, to the Merchant's House. He chains Tyrion to the wall in a room on the fourth floor and later takes Tyrion with him when he meets with the widow of the waterfront, from whom he is seeking assistance in finding a ship to take himself and Tyrion to Meereen to meet Daenerys Targaryen. She's reluctant to aid them due to Jorah's secretive attitude but ultimately offers them the information they need after Penny attacks Tyrion.
The Merchant's House is the first choice for shippers, captains, and merchantmen.
The Merchant’s House is famous for its locks, which are as secure as a gaol.
It is also the headquarters of the widow of the waterfront.
The common room is a cavernous warren, larger than the great halls of half the castles in Westeros. It is a dim lit maze of a place with a hundred private alcoves and hidden nooks whose blackened beams and cracked ceiling’s echo in the din the sailors, traders, captains, money changers, shippers, and slavers, lying cursing, and cheating each other in half a hundred different tongues.
A lot of business is done in the common room. There is a central courtyard where a trellis of flowering vines throws intricate patterns across the flagstone floor and green and purple moss grows between the stones. The widow of the waterfront has a customary table in the common room in the corner by the courtyard where she is steeped in shadow so that she herself is nigh invisible.
Tyrion, chained to the wall for the night. © FFG
On the fourth floor, edged into a corner of the building beneath a sloping roof, the bedchamber his captor Ser Jorah Mormont engages features a low ceiling, a sagging featherbed with an unpleasant odor, and a slanting wood-plank floor that reminds Tyrion Lannister of his sojourn at the Eyrie.
The room’s two windows are it’s chief amenity. One window looks toward the Long Bridge and the black-walled heart of Old Volantis across the river. The other opens on the square, called Fishmonger’s Square, below.
There are iron rings set in the wall – so useful for chaining up one’s slaves. Jorah secures Tyrion’s chains to one of these rings.
Meredyth Crane, known as Merry Crane, is a member of House Crane.
Merry is one of Margaery Tyrell's lady attendants in King's Landing. She always had a funny tale to tell Sansa Stark.
Merry is part of Lady Margaery's retinue. She often goes hawking with Janna Tyrell and Lady Margaery.
Meredyth Darklyn was a member of House Darklyn and a Lady of Duskendale. It is unknown if she was a Darklyn by blood or by marriage.
Early in the Dance of the Dragons, Meredyth became Lady of Duskendale after Ser Criston Cole captured the town and had Lord Darklyn beheaded. Alarmed by reports that Prince Aemond Targaryen was burning the riverlands atop Vhagar, Lady Meredyth sent requests for help to Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen.
Rhaenyra fled King's Landing after the Storming of the Dragonpit and traveled toward Duskendale. Ser Harrold Darke, once the squire of Ser Steffon Darklyn, convinced Meredyth to allow the queen's party within the town walls, but only for a short time. Rhaenyra continued on to Dragonstone after leaving Duskendale.
Meria Nymeros Martell[N 1] was the ruling Princess of Dorne from House Martell during the invasion of Westeros by Aegon the Conqueror.
By the time of the War of Conquest Meria was around eighty years old, fat, blind, and almost bald. The Storm King, Argilac Durrandon, called her the Yellow Toad of Dorne.
Main article: Aegon's Conquest
When King Aegon I Targaryen sent ravens to all the rulers of Westeros, demanding that they yield to him as sole king in Westeros and be rewarded or be destroyed, Meria replied she would be his ally against the Storm King - but would not yield.
When Queen Rhaenys Targaryen led the invasion to Dorne during the War of Conquest, the Dornish refused to give battle. Instead, they launched guerilla raids on Rhaenys's forces, then melted away into the mountains and deserts, and returned only to launch guerilla raids on the army anew. After taking the Dornish keeps, Rhaenys would find them empty, except for women and children. When she would ask where the men had gone to, the Dornish would just reply *"away"*. Rhaenys thereupon flew on her dragon, Meraxes, to Sunspear and met Princess Meria alone there. Rhaenys demanded the surrender of Dorne, but Meria instead replied that Dorne would never surrender. The Targaryen army then withdrew from Dorne, leaving the country untaken.
Main article: First Dornish War
While Dorne had remained unconquered during the Conquest, King Aegon I did not forget. In 4 AC, he launched a new campaign against Dorne, one that would last for many years. During this First Dornish War, instead of remaining at Sunspear, Meria, along with all the other Dornish lords, fled their castles, simply yielding them up. It did not take long for the Targaryen forces to reach Sunspear, find it empty, and declare themselves the victors. Lord Rosby was installed as the castellan and Warden of the Sands, Lord Harlan Tyrell was put in charge of putting down any revolts, and so the Targaryens left Dorne and returned to King's Landing.
The Dornishmen had not surrendered, however. They swarmed from the shadow city and retook the castle, and once Lord Rosby was bound hand and foot, he was dragged to the top of the Spear Tower. Princess Meria herself threw him from the window in the Defenestration of Sunspear.
The war in Dorne continued, and Meria eventually passed away, in 13 AC, upon which her son, Prince Nymor, took over, and immediately started negotiating peace.
Meria: I will not fight you, nor will I kneel to you. Dorne has no king. Tell your brother that.
Rhaenys: I shall, but we will come again, Princess, and the next time we shall come with fire and blood.
Meria: Your words. Ours are Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken. You may burn us, my lady ... but you will not bend us, break us, or make us bow. This is Dorne. You are not wanted here. Return at your peril.
– Meria and Rhaenys Targaryen
Merianne Frey, sometimes known as Merry Frey, is the daughter of Ser Whalen Frey and Sylwa Paege.
Merianne was one of the Frey women presented to Robb Stark when he came to the Twins for Lord Edmure Tully's wedding.
Meribald is a wandering septon of the riverlands. In the television adaptation *Game of Thrones*, Ian McShane portrays a similar character named Brother Ray.
See also: Images of Meribald
Meribald is six feet tall and walks with a slight hunch. He has large, leathery hands and large, bare, weathered feet. His face is lined and windburnt with thick grey hair.
Meribald's usual path takes him around most of the countryside, circling the region from Maidenpool to Maidenpool, and is said to take no less than half a year per circuit. Because he usually ministers to the smallfolk in market towns, small villages, and holdfasts, he is not as familiar with the Trident and its castles as he is with the smallroads, tracks, hedges, and unmapped rills and caves.
Meribald travels alone in most of his walks with only his dog, Dog, as his companion. Normally, he also takes a donkey to carry his heavy load, including packs of food and goods he means to give to the hungry and poor of the villages he passes by.
Meribald was born and has lived his entire life in the riverlands. As a boy, Meribald went to fight in the War of the Ninepenny Kings with his brothers. His older brother, Willam, agreed to jokingly take Meribald as his squire. During the war, however, both Willam and another brother, Robin, died from a fever. His last brother, Owen, was killed in battle and Owen's friend, Jon Pox, was hanged for rape. Meribald may have become a broken man because of this. When he returned to the riverlands, he joined the Faith of the Seven, but used his position as a world-savvy septon to convince young women to have sex with him. He now walks barefoot as penance for these sins he committed as a youth.
He cannot read or write, but he knows *The Seven-Pointed Star* by memory which seemed to make him capable enough to minister the Faith to smallfolk. He has been walking the countryside of the riverlands as a wandering septon in exchange for food and shelter for nearly forty years.
Septon Meribald guides Brienne of Tarth, Podrick Payne, and Ser Hyle Hunt through the riverlands to Saltpans, where he took his first stop on his circuit. Along the way, he spooks Podrick with stories of mud along the Trident's mudflats that can swallow up ignorant travelers and tales of a large, monstrous, man-eating, demon-like she-wolf that leads a pack of savage wolves prowling throughout the Trident. Meribald also tells his own story, explaining how he came to be a septon and his duties to the smallfolk of the riverlands.
Meribald guides Brienne and her companions to the Quiet Isle to meet the Elder Brother.
Hyle: The War of the Ninepenny Kings?
Meribald: So they called it, though I never saw a king, nor earned a penny. It was war, though. That it was.
- Hyle Hunt and Meribald
Merion was a maester of the Citadel.
He was made Grand Maester at the age of sixty-six and sent to serve the court of King Aegon V Targaryen in King's Landing to succeed Grand Maester Ellendor. He died on his way to King's Landing and was succeeded by Grand Maester Pycelle.
His work *The Red Dragon and the Black* was left unfinished.
He once referred to the custom of Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh to grant licenses on ships to prey upon those of their foes as "piracy with a wax seal".
Meris, nicknamed Pretty Meris, is a member of the Windblown.
See also: Images of Pretty Meris
Despite being known as Pretty Meris, there is nothing pretty about her inside or out.
Originally from Westeros, Meris has been with the free companies for twenty years.
Meris is part of the Siege of Astapor. The Tattered Prince sends her along with several dozen Westerosi members of the company to secretly go over to Daenerys Targaryen as the Tattered Prince did not have much faith in the Yunkai commanders and wanted to ensure the Windblown would be on the winning side. reveals to Daenerys the intentions of the Tattered Prince.
Daenerys eventually orders that Meris be released as a gesture of her regard and brought back to the Tattered Prince, that if the Tattered Prince is a clever man he will understand her gesture.
The Tattered Prince apparently confided in Meris that he wanted to betray Yunkai from the beginning, and decides join Daenerys in the hopes she would grant him Pentos.
Quentyn hires the Windblown to try and capture one of Daenerys's dragons, but Meris and the rest of the men flee when they see how dangerous Viserion and Rhaegal are and that they cannot be reliably controlled.
Merle I Gardener, called Merle the Meek, was a King of the Reach and head of House Gardener. Along with his father and son, he is remembered as one of the Three Sage Kings who dealt with the Andal invasion of the Reach with a policy of accord and assimilation rather then armed resistance.
After his father had brought a septon to court and made him one of his counselors and built the first sept at Highgarden, Merle converted to the Faith of the Seven and helped fund the construction of septs, septries, and motherhouses all over the Reach.
Merle also took an Andal maiden to wife as a means of binding the bride's father to the realm, as well as other Andals into his service as knights and retainers, and bequeathed lands and wives and lordships for the more powerful of the Andal kings and other Andal adventurers descending on the Reach in exchange for pledges of fealty.
For the god, see Merling King (god).
The Merling King is a Braavosi trading galley. Its figurehead is a golden-crowned merman blowing on a seashell horn.
The Merling King comes to King's Landing after the Battle of the Blackwater. There it is hired by Lord Petyr Baelish to take him to the Eyrie to wed the widowed Lady Lysa Arryn.
The Merling King returns to Gulltown, where Oswell Kettleblack learns some interesting news.
The Merling King.
Ursula Upcliff of Witch Isle, who is said to have been a sorceress, called herself bride of the Merling King during the Andal invasion.
There is a statue of the god commonly visited by sailors in the House of Black and White in Braavos,
The Merling Queen is a courtesan in Braavos. She is beautiful. She is never seen without her Mermaids to hold her hair and veil. The Mermaids are young maidens in the blush of their first flowering.*]
Arya Stark informs the Kindly Man that the Merling Queen has chosen a new Mermaid to take the place of the one that drowned. She is the daughter of a Prestayn serving maid, thirteen and penniless, but lovely.[*citation needed*]
The Merling Rock is a large rock formation in Blackwater Bay.
Stannis Baratheon's fleet encounters a small fishing fleet near the Merling Rock.
Elenei, depicted as a mermaid
Merlings are legendary aquatic creatures with the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish. Merfolk include mermen, merwives, and mermaids.
Mermaids are featured in Westerosi carvings, place names, and in songs. They are often featured in places near the sea, such as White Harbor.
See also: Images of Mermaids
Legends hold that the Grey King of the Iron Islands wed a mermaid and became king of the western isles and all the sea beyond.
The Merling King is worshipped as a god; there is a statue of the deity in the House of Black and White in Braavos. The merlings are said to hail their lord by blowing into seashells.*]
The Winged Knight is said to have been friends with merlings.
Patchface mentions merfolk in some of his cryptic jingles that may have prophetic meaning. According to him the merwives wear nennymoans in their hair and weave gowns of silver seaweed. The mermaids of the Shivering Sea are said to have pale skin and black-scaled tails, and to be far more dangerous than mermaids of southern seas.
The sigil of House Manderly of White Harbor is a white merman with dark green hair, beard and tail, carrying a black trident, over a blue-green field.
Roro Uhoris claimed that he could tell one port from another just by the way they smelled. Cities were like women, he insisted, as each one had its own unique scent. White Harbor was sharp, salty, and a little fishy like a mermaid.
What happened to Patchface during the two days after the *Windproud* had broken up is unknown, but the fisherfolk like to say that "a mermaid had taught him to breathe water in return for his seed."
*The Mermaid's Lament* is a sad song.
Tyrion Lannister tells Lord Commander Jeor Mormont that the fisherfolk of Lannisport often glimpse merlings.
In Oldtown Armen wagers with Mollander that down at the docks they can find sailors who tell of mermaids they have bedded.
The Merling Queen is a courtesan in Braavos. She is never seen without her "Mermaids" to hold her train and do her hair.
Ser Merlon Crakehall is a knight of House Crakehall. He's the youngest son of Lord Roland Crakehall.
Ser Merlon was among the gathered nobility that welcomed the Dornish party, headed by Prince Oberyn Martell, to King's Landing.
The Mermaid's Kiss is a ship.
On the first day of their stay in Volantis, Prince Quentyn Martell, Ser Gerris Drinkwater, and Ser Archibald Yronwood seek passage on the Mermaid's Kiss to sail to Queen Daenerys Targaryen in Meereen. The captain refuses them, however.
Mermaid's Palace is a small isle off the coast of the Arbor.
Mermaid's Palace is attacked and conquered by the ironborn, along with the Isle of Pigs and Stonecrab Cay. It is now used as one of their bases.
Merman's Court is the great hall of the New Castle in White Harbor where Lord Wyman Manderly holds court and feasts. Its walls, floor, and ceiling are made of wooden planks notched cunningly together and decorated with all the creatures of the sea. At one end is the entrance, at the other is a dais where there is a large cushioned throne.
The floor has painted crabs and clams and starfish, half-hidden amongst twisting black fronds of seaweed and the bones of drowned sailors. On the walls are pale sharks prowling painted blue-green depths, whilst eels and octopods slither amongst rocks and sunken ships. Shoals of herring and great codfish swim between the tall, arched windows. Higher up, near where the old fishing nets droop down from the rafters, the surface of the sea is depicted. To the right a war galley rests serenely against the rising sun; to the left, a battered old cog races before a storm, her sails in rags. Behind the dais a kraken and grey leviathan are locked in battle beneath the painted waves.
Mern III Gardener, called the Madling, was a King of the Reach and head of House Gardener. Before the Andals came to the Reach, he showered gold and honors on a woods witch who boasted she could raise armies of the dead to fight off the invaders.
Mern II Gardener, called Mern the Mason, was a King of the Reach and head of House Gardener. Before the Andals came to the Reach, he built a new curtain wall about Highgarden and commanded his lords bannermen to see to their own defenses.
Mern IX Gardener was the last King of the Reach and Lord of Highgarden from House Gardener.
After Aegon the Conqueror landed in Westeros, set on conquering the Seven Kingdoms. King Mern IX of the the Reach and King Loren I Lannister of the Rock agreed to join forces and throw the invaders back into the sea. The two armies gathered near Goldengrove in the Reach. Since he had brought half as many more men, Mern had the honor of commanding the center of the combined army from the Reach and the westerlands. Edmund, Mern's son and heir, was to lead the vanguard, while another son, Gawen, accompanied the king with the banner.
Mern led the charge against Aegon's army alongside his kin. The combined might of the Reach and the Rock began to break the Targaryen host, but Aegon and his sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys, took to the sky with their dragons. The beasts killed 4,000 men of the combined army at the Field of Fire, among them Mern and his sons, grandsons, brothers, cousins, and other kin.
Mern VI Gardener was a King of the Reach and head of House Gardener.
Mern was a second cousin of the late Garth X Gardener, who had died without issue after becoming a tool in a war between House Peake and House Manderly for supremacy. Ser Osmund Tyrell, High Steward of Highgarden, had led an alliance of houses against the upstarts, defeated them, and placed Mern on the throne as King Mern VI Gardener.
Although a man of modest gifts, Mern ruled well, rebuilding Highgarden and doing much and more to restore the power of the Reach and House Gardener, relying on the counsel of his Stewards: Ser Osmund, and later Osmund's son Ser Robert Tyrell, and finally Robert's son Lorent Tyrell.
Mern VI was succeeded by his son Garth XI.
Mero, better known as the Titan's Bastard, is the commander of the Second Sons, a sellsword company.
A Braavosi, Mero is tall with pale green eyes and a long, bushy red-gold beard. While he appears amiable he has an evil reputation, which has made it hard for the Second Sons to find work under his command.
Mero is the commander of the Second Sons when Daenerys Targaryen arrives at Yunkai with her host. Daenerys invites the sellswords hired by the city to meet with her. She and Mero trade insults; Daenerys refuses to surrender and Mero refuses to switch sides. Mero accepts a wagonload of wine on Daenerys's condition they drink to her health.
When Mero leaves, Arstan Whitebeard advises Daenerys that Mero has an evil reputation. Jorah Mormont agrees, adding that the Second Sons are an old and good company, but under Mero they have become as bad as the Brave Companions, proving as dangerous to their employers as to his foes, and that none of the Free Cities will hire him, hence why he and the company are out in Slaver's Bay.
Mero flees during the Battle of Yunkai and hides in the gathered refugees that follow Daenerys to Meereen, shaving his beard to disguise his appearance. When Daenerys rides through the refugee camps, Mero attempts to kill her but is stopped by Arstan and then torn apart by the freedmen in the camps.
Merrel is a guard of House Baratheon of Dragonstone and a queen's man. He is a hopeless drunkard but can be formidable fighter when not.
When Stannis Baratheon marches to Deepwood Motte Merrel is left at Castle Black to serve Melisandre.
Merrell Florent is the youngest son of Ser Colin Florent. He is a squire at the Arbor.
Merrett Frey is a member of House Frey and a POV character in the epilogue of *A Storm of Swords*. Merrett is the ninth son of Lord Walder Frey.
See also: Images of Merrett Frey
Merrett is a big, broad man of middle height. In his youth, he was almost as robust as his older brother Hosteen, the strongest son of Lord Walder Frey, but in later years Merrett became "soft and fleshy."
Ser Jaime Lannister remembers Merrett as slow, clumsy and stupid in his youth, with strength being his only positive quality.
Merrett served with his mother Amarei's relative, Lord Sumner Crakehall, as a page and later a squire. Like many Crakehall descendants, he was known for his strength and robustness. During this time, he knew Jaime Lannister, also a squire at Crakehall Castle, although the two were not close because of Merrett's habit of bullying others, which was not to Jaime's liking. Jaime is implied to have turned the tables on Merrett when the Frey boy tried to bully him.
The downfall in Merrett's life began with the expedition against the Kingswood Brotherhood. First he caught a pox from a camp follower, and later he was captured by Wenda the White Fawn and was branded on his arse with her mark, the fawn. He was freed after Lord Sumner paid a ransom, but was unable to sit for a fortnight and became the target of cruel jokes by the other squires. In his next fight, Merrett was hit with a mace that broke his helm, leaving him insensible for a fortnight. As a result, he suffered immense pain whenever he was hit in the head, and generally suffered extreme headaches for which he drank excessively to numb the pain. He was sent back to the Twins by Sumner and never knighted because of his injuries. His father, Lord Walder Frey, began mocking him as Merrett Muttonhead.
Merrett married Mariya Darry around 282 AC, considered an excellent match at the time. However, soon after the wedding, House Darry lost most of their influence and power due to Robert's Rebellion, in which they declared for Aerys II Targaryen. Merrett fathered four daughters before the marriage produced a son, Little Walder Frey. One daughter died when she was still a child and two other daughters shame their parents with promiscuity (Gatehouse Ami) and gluttony (Fat Walda, respectively.
Consigned to a useless existence without knighthood, troubled by persistent headaches, despised by his father and considering his wife a shrew and his children worthless, Merrett has gained the dubious distinction of being the biggest drunk in the Twins.
Merrett is among the many Freys present at the Twins when Catelyn Stark comes to treat with Lord Walder Frey on behalf of Robb Stark.
Merrett's daughter Walda marries Lord Roose Bolton at the Twins.
While at Harrenhal, Roose informs Ser Jaime Lannister that Lord Walder had offered the choice of a daughter or a granddaughter with her weight in silver as dowry;
During the planning of the Red Wedding, Merrett is humiliated when Lothar Frey assigns him to get Lord Greatjon Umber too drunk to fight. Merrett passes out during the feast, but the Greatjon is sober enough to kill two men, break another's arm, and take part of Ser Leslyn Haigh's ear off before being subdued.
After the Red Wedding, the brotherhood without banners of Beric Dondarrion kidnaps Petyr Frey. Merrett volunteers to deliver the ransom for his great-nephew, hoping to gain favor within House Frey as he has no prospect of maintaining an existence on his own. Walder laughs at the suggestion of Merrett dealing with outlaws, but eventually gives his consent.
Upon his arrival at Oldstones, Merrett finds Petyr hanged for his involvement in the Red Wedding, and the brotherhood prepare to hang Merrett after taking the ransom. When the outlaws raise the death of Robb Stark at the Red Wedding, Merrett insists it was not murder, but justified vengeance for Robb insulting House Frey by marrying Jeyne Westerling. He protests that all he did was drink and that the planning was done by Walder, Ryman Frey and Roose. The brotherhood reveals Catelyn Stark, who had been slain by Merrett's brother Raymund and eventually tossed into the Green Fork. Asked whether Merrett was part of the plot, the revived Catelyn just nods, as she cannot speak anymore. Merrett is then hanged by the brotherhood.
Hunting the murderers of Merrett and Petyr, Lord Lucias Vypren follows one band to Fairmarket but loses them there. Another group is pursued from Hag's Mire by hounds and hunters led by Black Walder Frey, but their trace is lost when they reach the Neck. Peasants who are questioned describe a hooded woman who is believed to be their leader, but nothing is heard of Beric or Thoros of Myr. This creates doubts whether the brotherhood is responsible.
While traveling to Riverrun, Ser Jaime Lannister stops at Castle Darry, the seat of his cousin, Lord Lancel Lannister. He meets Merrett's widow, Mariya Darry, and his eldest daughter, Amerei, who is now Lancel's wife. Remembering Merrett to have been a bully, Jaime only praises Merrett as having been strong. When Amerei brings up her father's stories of fighting the Kingswood Brotherhood, Jaime thinks of them as exaggerations and lies. Jaime raises a toast to Merrett, considering it easier to drink to the man than talk about him. Amerei later mentions that Ser Harwyn Plumm has promised her Beric's head and she tries to coax Jaime into finding the killers of her father as well, although without success.
Merrett's son, Little Walder Frey, serves as a squire to Ramsay Bolton,
Merrit, also known as Merrit o' Moontown, is a member of the brotherhood without banners from Moontown.
Merrit takes part in the engagement with the Brave Companions at the septry in the riverlands.
After Beric's final death, a part of Beric's band, including Merrit, apparently go their separate way from those who chose to follow the resurrected, vengeful Lady Stoneheart.
The Merry Midwife is an old cog. Her figurehead shows a laughing woman holding an infant by one foot. The woman's cheeks and babe's bottom are pocked with wormholes. Her hull is covered with layers of drab grey paint. The sails are grey and tattered. Her captain is Casso Mogat.
The Merry Midwife takes Davos Seaworth from Sisterton to White Harbor.
Merrydown Dell is a place in the Riverlands. It is unknown which noble house it belongs to.
Merrydown Dell was attacked by the dragon Vhagar during the Dance of the Dragons, with thirty men and three hundred sheep killed.
Ser Mervyn Flowers was the bastard half-brother of Lord Unwin Peake. He became a knight of Aegon III Targaryen's Kingsguard.
Ser Mervyn was standing guard at the door to Queen Jaehaera Targaryen's chambers on the occurrence of her death. Mervyn killed his own sworn brother, Ser Marston Waters, during the turmoil of the regency after Marston tried to have Mervyn arrested.
Mervyn, a bastard of House Peake, is a reference by George R. R. Martin to Mervyn Peake, the author of the *Gormenghast* trilogy.
The name Meryn can refer to the following characters:
Meryn III Gardener was a King of the Reach and head of House Gardener. He brought the Arbor into the Kingdom of the Reach and made House Redwyne his vassals after his cousin, the King of the Arbor, was lost at sea.
Ser Meryn Trant is a knight of House Trant. He is a member of King Robert I Baratheon's Kingsguard. In the television adaptation *Game of Thrones* he is played by Ian Beattie.
See also: Images of Meryn Trant
Meryn has droopy eyes and a red beard.
Jaime Lannister considers Meryn sly and cruel.
Ian Beattie as Meryn Trant in *Game of Thrones*.
Ser Meryn Trant accompanies King Robert I Baratheon to Winterfell to name his new Hand of the King, Lord Eddard Stark.
Meryn participates in the Hand's tourney at King's Landing, defeating Harwin.
Meryn is sent to apprehend Arya Stark when Eddard is arrested, but is prevented from doing so by Syrio Forel.
Ser Meryn rides in the joust during the tourney on King Joffrey's name day. There he breaks two lances with Ser Hobber Redwyne, unhorsing him on the second pass.
Meryn guards King Joffrey during the Battle of the Blackwater.
Ser Meryn is ordered by Queen Cersei Lannister to bring Sansa Stark to the sept to marry Tyrion Lannister.
During the trial of Tyrion for the death of King Joffrey, Ser Meryn recounts the story of Tyrion beating Joffrey after the riot and tells the judges of other episodes when Tyrion threatened the life of the king.
Jaime berates Meryn for his willingness to beat Sansa on Joffrey's orders, pointing out that nowhere in the White Book do the Kingsguard swear to beat women and children. When Meryn protests that the Kingsguard are sworn to obey, Jaime counters that their first role is to protect the king, which includes protecting the monarch from themselves, and that he expects the knight to use common sense when his king gives him a questionable command.
Ser Meryn guards the apartments of the Hand of the King after the body of Lord Tywin Lannister is found until the arrival of Queen Cersei.
Ser Meryn is present at the Red Keep when Cersei completes her walk of penance.
Sansa: I shall do whatever His Grace commands.
Meryn: As I do.
Sansa: Yes ... but you are no true knight, Ser Meryn.
– Sansa Stark to Meryn
You are slow for a knight.
– Syrio Forel to Meryn
He did not hate her, Sansa realized; neither did he love her. He felt nothing for her at all. She was only a ... a thing to him.
– thoughts of Sansa Stark
Methyso is a freeborn citizen of the Free city of Volantis.
Methyso ran for election for the post of Triarch. He had jugglers perform for the citizens to try and win votes. Tyrion Lannister wasn't impressed and stated to Jorah Mormont he would have voted for someone else if he had the vote.
Mezzara Merreq is a child from the House of Merreq, one of one of the noble ruling families of Meereen. Her father rules over the pyramid of Merreq. She is plump and shy.
With the Sons of the Harpy killings continuing, Queen Daenerys Targaryen has every noble family of Meereen who is of dubious loyalty send her a child as a hostage. These children are made her cupbearers.
Daenerys hopes having noble children as hostages will halt the killings, but it does not. However, Daenerys refuses to allow any harm to come to the children. She grows fond of them all, and ignores Skahaz mo Kandaq's counsel to kill one for every death done by the Sons of the Harpy.
When Daenerys disappears on Drogon's back, the cupbearers continue to serve her husband, King Hizdahr zo Loraq.
Ser Barristan Selmy plots with Skahaz mo Kandaq to seize control of Meereen in the queen's name. Although Skahaz wants to kill the cupbearers in return for the deaths of the hostages Daenerys had granted to the besiegers of Meereen, Barristan also refuses to allow any harm to come to the children.
Mhaegen is the name given to the mother of Barra, the bastard infant daughter of King Robert I Baratheon, in the television adaptation *Game of Thrones. She is a prostitute from Chataya's brothel in King's Landing. The character is unnamed in *A Song of Ice and Fire. Mhaegen is played by Antonia Christophers in Game of Thrones.
The mother is a young girl with light red hair and a powdering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and on her breast.
Thanks to Lord Petyr Baelish, Lord Eddard Stark finds Barra and her mother in his search for the bastards of King Robert I Baratheon. The mother asks to see Robert again, just to show him how beautiful his daughter is. Eddard promises to talk about it with the king.
Barra and her mother are killed by Allar Deem, an officer of the City Watch, on orders from Commander Janos Slynt, who is carrying out a purge of King Robert's bastards at the command of Queen Cersei Lannister.
Mhysa. © Josu Hernaiz
For the television episode, see Mhysa (TV).
Mhysa is a term in the Old Ghiscari language that means "mother".
After the battle near Yunkai, Mhysa is used by the freed people of Yunkai to refer to Daenerys Targaryen when she enters the city.
"'Mhysa" is the tenth episode of the third season of the HBO medieval fantasy television series *Game of Thrones*, and the 30th episode of the series. Written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss and directed by David Nutter, it aired on June 9, 2013.
The episode revolves on the aftermath of the events instigated by "The Red Wedding": House Frey receives the Seat of Riverrun, Roose Bolton is appointed the new "Warden of the North", resulting in a victory to House Lannister while House Greyjoy begins a new military campaign. In the North, Maester Aemon sends out ravens to alert the whole of Westeros about the arrival of the White Walkers. And across the narrow sea, the freed slaves of Yunkai hail Daenerys as their "mhysa".
The icy relationship between newly married Tyrion and Sansa is thawing slightly, as they stroll and banter about how to deal with the public mockery of their shared status as outcasts. They are soon met by Podrick Payne, who tells Tyrion that he has been summoned to a small council meeting. There, Tyrion learns of the deaths of Robb and Catelyn Stark during the Red Wedding. King Joffrey orders Robb's head brought to King's Landing, as he wishes to make a gift of it to Sansa, the prospect of which makes Tyrion threaten Joffrey once again. Joffrey angrily threatens Tyrion in return, before rebuffing Tywin's attempt to calm the situation. Tywin, showing Joffrey he does not fear him, orders he be taken to his room and sedated. When the other councilors leave, Tywin and Tyrion discuss the murder at the Twins, and the appointment of Roose Bolton as the Warden of the North, until the son of Tyrion and Sansa is of age; Tywin dismisses Tyrion's warning that the northerners will neither forget nor forgive the role the Lannisters played in the Red Wedding. At the end of their conversation, Tywin chastises Tyrion for not having impregnated Sansa, and tells him about the day of his birth. Tyrion then proceeds to his bedroom to inform Sansa of the grim news: he finds her staring forlornly out the window with a tear-stained face, revealing she has already received it. Knowing his sympathy will be little more than cold comfort for her, Tyrion leaves.
Elsewhere, Lord Varys and Shae discuss their shared eastern heritage, Tyrion's marriage to Sansa, and its effect on Shae. Varys gives Shae a bag of diamonds in the hopes that she will sail for Essos and make a new life for herself, freeing Tyrion from danger and allowing him to focus on making the capital a better place, but Shae refuses the offer. At night, Queen Cersei visits Tyrion and tells him to give Sansa a child, as it will make Sansa happy as it did for Cersei when Joffrey was born.
Jaime, Brienne, and Qyburn arrive in King's Landing, and Jaime immediately goes to see Cersei.
Shortly after the murder of their King, the loyal Stark bannermen fight a losing battle with the Freys outside the walls of the Twins. Sandor Clegane and Arya Stark are horrified to witness several Frey soldiers parade Robb's decapitated corpse around the entrance to the keep with the head of Robb's wolf, Grey Wind, attached to it. Later, Arya and the Hound come upon four Frey men discussing the murder of the Starks. Arya slips off the horse and attacks one of the soldiers who claimed to have desecrated Robb's body, stabbing his neck repeatedly. Before his allies can aid him, the Hound steps in and easily kills them.
The morning after the wedding, Walder Frey and Roose Bolton discuss the previous night's events, the escape of the Brynden "Blackfish" Tully, and their new positions as Lord of Riverrun and Warden of the North, respectively. Walder asks Bolton what happened at Winterfell to cause it to become a ruin, to which Bolton replies that he sent his bastard son, Ramsay Snow to take the castle back from the Greyjoys. Despite orders to allow the Ironborn safe passage in exchange for surrendering Theon, Ramsay flayed and killed the Ironborn.
Arriving at the abandoned Nightfort, Meera Reed tells Bran and Jojen that the castle is safe to enter. While around the fire, Bran tells the story of the Rat Cook, a Night's Watch member who killed a guest under his roof, a sin the gods cannot forgive. Later, Bran is awakened by a sound, and wakes his companions. A large man climbs out of a nearby well and is attacked by Meera, but soon after revealed to be Samwell Tarly, who is followed by Gilly. Sam quickly deduces Bran's identity, seeing Bran's direwolf. Bran asks Sam to take him and his group north of the Wall, and though Sam protests the idea, he eventually relents and takes them through the passage. Before they separate, Sam gives the group the rest of his dragonglass supply, and tells them that it has the power to kill White Walkers. Sam and Gilly later arrive at Castle Black, where they present themselves to Maester Aemon and tell him of the events beyond the Wall. Recognizing Gilly and her son as refugees, Aemon permits them to stay and orders all of the ravens be sent with messages telling of the return of the White Walkers.
Riding back to the Wall, Jon stops to wash his wounds when he hears Ygritte draw her bow. Jon tries to talk her out of shooting him, but when he turns to leave, she fires, hitting him in the shoulder. Jon manages to get on his horse before she shoots him again, this time in the leg. She shoots him a third time as he flees, leaving Ygritte behind. Jon later arrives at Castle Black, having passed out from his wounds. The Night's Watch brothers take him in, where Sam and Pyp discover his identity, and order he be cared for.
At the Dreadfort, Theon begs Ramsay Snow, the true identity of the mysterious boy, to kill him and end his suffering. Ramsay simply replies that he is more valuable alive, before giving him the nickname "Reek", and beating him until he calls himself by his new name.
Lord Balon Greyjoy reads a letter sent from Ramsay Snow, crudely detailing his demands to have the Ironborn soldiers withdraw from the region of the North under his control or be flayed. Along with the letter, Ramsay sends a box containing Theon's severed penis. To the protests of his daughter Yara, Balon plans to refuse the offer and allow Theon's torture to continue. Yara disobeys her father's decision and takes 50 of the Ironborn's best men and the fastest ship available to march on the Dreadfort.
In the dungeons, Davos visits Gendry and tries to relate to him by telling the story of how he became a lord. Later, Davos practices his reading with Princess Shireen, when he reads the letter sent by the Night's Watch. When they hear the bells ringing, Davos leaves Shireen to meet with Stannis and Melisandre. Stannis informs Davos of Robb Stark's death, which he attributes to Melisandre's ritualistic burning of the leeches. Melisandre plans to burn Gendry as a sacrifice to the Lord of Light, and although Davos tries to get Stannis to spare Gendry, Stannis orders he be sacrificed. At night, Davos frees Gendry from the dungeons and gives him a boat to escape Dragonstone.
Afterward, Stannis and Melisandre ask Davos if he freed Gendry, which he does not deny. Stannis orders Davos be executed, but Davos tells Stannis that he will need his assistance. When Stannis asks why he would need Davos' help, Davos shows him the letter sent from the Wall. Melisandre burns the letter, and in the fire sees the war coming in the North. She tells Stannis that only he can save the North, and he will need Davos's help to do so, thus preventing his execution.
Outside Yunkai, Daenerys, her advisors, and her Unsullied army stand ready to greet the slaves of the city and free them. When they arrive, Missandei tells them that Daenerys has freed them, but Daenerys tells the slaves that only they can take their freedom back. The crowd begins to chant "mhysa", which Missandei tells Daenerys is Ghiscari for "mother." Daenerys commands her dragons to fly and then passes her army to walk amongst the freed slaves, who lift her to their shoulders. Daenerys smiles and looks up into the sky as her dragons fly freely.
Mhysa Faer is a city founded by the Valyrian Freehold. Although rich and glorious, it did not have self-rule and was instead governed by men and women sent from Valyria to rule in the name of the Freehold.
The exact location of Mhysa Faer has not been revealed yet..
Ser Michael Manwoody was a knight of House Manwoody during the reign of Daeron II Targaryen. He later married Princess Elaena Targaryen.
In his early years, Michael studied at the Citadel. He was a cultured man of great learning and wit. He had attended Queen Mariah Martell at her court, and served at the court of King Daeron II Targaryen. He became a great confidant of the king. On several occasions, Michael was sent to Braavos, to negotiate on behalf of the Iron Throne to the Iron Bank of Braavos. There are letters recorded, of correspondence between him and the keyholders of the Iron Bank. While it is Michael's name and seal on the letters, the handwriting appears to belong to Princess Elaena Targaryen.
Michael and Elaena were wed with the blessing of King Daeron II, shortly after the death of Elaena's previous husband. Their marriage was a marriage of love. According to Princess Elaena, she had fallen in love with Michael because of his passion for music, not his intelligence. Michael would often play the harp for her. When Michael died, Elaena commanded that his effigy be made carrying a harp, instead of the sword and spurs which is commonly used in a knight's effigy.
Elaena and Michael had no children together.
George R. R. Martin named the knight in honor of a late friend whose given name was Michael and who used the screenname "Manwoody".
Ser Michael Mertyns, better known as the White Owl, was a knight of House Mertyns. He was a member of the Kingsguard at an unknown time.
Midnight is a black stallion belonging to Ser Osney Kettleblack. It was a gift from his brother, Ser Osfryd.
Mikken is the blacksmith at Winterfell.* he is portrayed by Boyd Rankin.
Boyd Rankin as Mikken in the HBO adaptation
Mikken crafts for Jon Snow the sword Needle, which Jon gifts to Arya Stark.
In order for Bran Stark to get around his room, Mikken installs metal bars along the walls so Bran can pull himself around.
Miklaz is a boy of one of the noble ruling families of Meereen. According to Ser Barristan Selmy, he is lazy.
With the Sons of the Harpy killings continuing, Queen Daenerys Targaryen has every noble family of Meereen who is of dubious loyalty send her a child as a hostage. These children are made her cupbearers.
Daenerys hopes having noble children as hostages will halt the killings, but it does not. However, Daenerys refuses to allow any harm to come to the children. She grows fond of them all, and ignores Skahaz mo Kandaq's counsel to kill one for every death done by the Sons of the Harpy. Ser Barristan Selmy instructs the boys in the ways of Westerosi chivalry.
When Daenerys disappears on Drogon's back, the cupbearers continue to serve her husband, King Hizdahr zo Loraq.
Ser Barristan Selmy plots with Skahaz mo Kandaq to seize control of Meereen in the queen's name. Although Skahaz wants to kill the cupbearers in return for the deaths of the hostages Daenerys had granted to the besiegers of Meereen, Barristan also refuses to allow any harm to come to the children.
Miklaz is in Hizdahr zo Loraq's chambers when Barristan comes to visit him, and Hizdahr sends the cupbearer for wine, along with Draqaz. Hizdahr threatens Miklaz that if he finds his flagon empty again, he might have to switch his "pretty" buttocks. The two cupbearers return to find that Barristan has arrested Hizdahr and killed his bodyguard, the pit fighter Khrazz. Miklaz stutteringly tells Barristan that Reznak mo Reznak wants the king to come at once, as the dragons Viserion and Rhaegal have been set free.
Knights from Starfall in battle
Military strength is the aggregate power of fighting forces under the command of a leader, which includes armies and fleets of ships.
During times of war, a liege can "call his banners", thereby raising his army. His bannermen, then, respond by raising their own respective forces, which differ in size, depending on the amount of lands and vassals a lord or knight possesses. In addition to this land force, there are some lords or powers who have their own fleets (e.g. House Redwyne, the Iron Throne, Braavos). Others might include creatures to their forces, like dragons, as used by the dragonlords of the Valyrian Freehold of old and by House Targaryen as recently as the Dance of the Dragons, and elephants, as used by the Golden Company.
Armies can be made up out of several social classes. Nobly-born lords, knights, and smallfolk can be called to arms. Additionally, sellswords and sellsword companies are also, at times, hired.
Multiple factors influence the size of an army. George R.R. Martin has mentioned that the size of the region (influencing the time it takes an army to gather), the harshness of life, the population, wealth and fertility of the region, the amount of leadership, and the terrain are factors.
While for most regions of the known world no exact total numbers have been given, nor can be given, this page reflects the known numbers that are described to have been used in battles, or have been mentioned elsewhere.
Mance Rayder's army of free folk in 299 AC is estimated by Jon Snow to be thirty to forty thousand strong,
The numbers of the Night's Watch have long been dwindling. indicating that the strength of the Night's Watch, as a result from the Attack on the Fist of the First Men, and the attacks made by the free folk on numerous locations along the Wall, numbers less than six hundred men.
In late 233 AC, when Ser Brynden Rivers was sent to the Wall, two hundred men went with him. Many of them were archers from Rivers's personal guard, the Raven's Teeth.
A semi-canon source from 2005 states that the north has perhaps forty-five thousand soldiers, though gathering them all takes a lot of time, due to the size of the land and the low density of the population.
Possibly, the effort of gathering an army in the north is reflected in the size of the armies gathered by the Starks of Winterfell. During Aegon's Conquest (2 BC-1 BC), the north marched to war with an army of thirty thousand.
More recently, during the War of the Five Kings, Robb Stark gathered an army of twelve thousand at Winterfell. These twelve thousand include two thousand three hundred men from Karhold under the command of House Karstark (two thousand foot, three hundred horse). bringing the total to nineteen thousand five hundred men.
An unknown number of men have been left at Moat Cailin, and an additional four hundred have been left at the Twins. Joined by four thousand men from House Frey from the riverlands, Robb Stark splits the northern host and takes nine/tenth of his cavalry[N 2] to Riverrun..
Meanwhile, the other tenth of the northern cavalry marches with the northern foot south under the leadership of Lord Roose Bolton,[N 3] where he fights the Battle of the Green Fork against House Lannister.
In the meantime, after Winterfell has fallen to Theon Greyjoy, Ser Rodrik Cassel raises an army of near two thousand northmen to retake the castle. However, he is betrayed by six hundred Boltons in the battle at Winterfell.
Robb Stark leads thirty-five hundred veterans from the Whispering Wood[N 4] north from Riverrun to the Twins., however, a large number of men are killed.
From the roughly twenty thousand northmen who marched south with Robb Stark at the start of the War of the Five Kings, only one in five returns north, most of them men from House Bolton.
In 300 AC, the northern mountain clans march to battle, and Night's Watch Lord Commander Jon Snow believes two or three thousand men might take the field.
Ships of the Iron Fleet
According to a semi-canon source from 2005, the Iron Isles can raise approximately twenty thousand men.
In 300 AC, King Tommen I Baratheon's small council hears reports that the ironborn have attacked the Shield Islands with a thousand ships, though several council members believe the number of five hundred ships to be closer to the truth.
A semi-canon source from 2005 states that the riverlands can field roughly forty-five thousand men.
During Aegon's Conquest, Aegon I Targaryen besieged Harrenhal with a host of eight thousand, which included men from the riverlands. After the burning of Harrenhal, he marched against the Reach with a host of eleven thousand, most riverlanders.
House Frey raised four thousand soldiers at the start of the War of the Five Kings,
Renly Baratheon believes that a host of twenty thousand riverlanders has joined Robb Stark and his nearly twenty thousand northeners. According to Catelyn Stark, however, the actual number is much less.
While the riverlands are rich, fertile and populous, the region lacks natural borders, and suffers from divided leadership, affecting the number of soldiers House Tully of Riverrun can call to battle.
Not much is known about the numbers of the Vale of Arryn, either about the knights of the Vale or the common men-at-arms. According to a semi-canon sources from 2005, the Vale can raise perhaps as many as forty-five thousand men. The exact numbers the remainder of the lords of the Vale can field, are currently unknown.
The Vale also has a fleet. The Arryn fleet has fought in several more recent battles; however, it’s current size is unknown.
The Vale mountain clans also participate in the War of the Five Kings. Three hundred clansmen join Tyrion Lannister at the start of the war on the side of House Lannister, fighting with him in the battle on the Green Fork, in which half of them die.
A semi-canon source from 2005 states that the westerlands can field fifty thousand men, though this includes green boys as well, and depleted many castle garrisons.
During Aegon's Conquest, the King of the Rock, Loren I Lannister, marched with a host of twenty-two thousand from the westerlands, which he joined with the host of the Reach.
The Lannister fleet at Lannisport consists of twenty or thirty cogs, carracks, galleys, and dromonds, while lesser lords have two or three ships for patrolling. In total, the westerman float fifty or sixty larger ships, while longships are used for coastal defense.
In 260 AC, a thousand knights and ten thousand men-at-arms from the westerlands marched to battle in the Stepstones, during the War of the Ninepenny Kings.
In 283 AC, Lord Tywin Lannister commanded twelve thousand Lannister men during the Sack of King's Landing.
House Lannister can also field a fleet. The Lannister fleet at Lannisport consists of twenty or thirty cogs, carracks, galleys, and dromonds, while lesser lords have two or three ships for patrolling.
*Fury*, a triple-decked war galley of three hundred oars, belonging to Stannis Baratheon
According to a semi-canon source from 2005, the mainland lords of the crownlands can raise ten to fifteen thousand men.
During Aegon's Conquest, Houses Darklyn and Mooton combined raised an army of three thousand men.
The main defense of King's Landing are the gold cloaks. In 298 AC, they number two thousand.
Mace Tyrell later adds a hundred men from Highgarden to the gold cloaks.
In the crownlands, the Faith Militant played a larger role during the reign of King Maegor I Targaryen, until they were disbanded by his successor, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen. Of old, the Faith's military orders consisted out of the Poor Fellows and the Warrior's Sons. The Poor Fellows were far more numerous.
The crownlands is also home to the royal fleet, which is one of the main three forces at sea in Westeros.
Dragonstone can field the least amount of soldiers.
In 299 AC, Stannis Baratheon's host includes three thousand men along the shore of Dragonstone..
After Stannis has arrived at the Wall, Samwell Tarly observes more than a thousand southron soldiers at Castle Black.
According to a semi-canon source from 2005, the stormlands can field perhaps thirty-thousand men.
In 206 AC, House Dondarrion was able to gather nearly four thousand infantry and eight hundred cavalry.
In 299 AC, supported by Highgarden and Storm's End, the host of Renly Baratheon is said to number a hundred thousand. it is implied that there were some twenty thousand stormlanders among Renly's forces.
During the Battle of the Blackwater, Stannis's host numbers near twenty thousand knights, light horse, and freeriders. the additional seven thousand appear to come solely from the stormlands.
Cavalry from Brightwater Keep - by artist Tomasz Jedruszek. © Fantasy Flight Games.
According to a semi-canon source from 2005, the Reach can field eighty to a hundred thousand men, of which a third to a quarter will be cavalry.
During Aegon's Conquest, thirty thousand men from the Reach marched against Aegon I Targaryen, joining their forces with the westerlands.
Supported by Highgarden and Storm's End, the host of Renly Baratheon is said to number a hundred thousand. Exactly how many men from Renly's host were from the Reach, and how many from the stormlands, is unknown.
Petyr Baelish tells Joffrey Baratheon's small council that a marriage with Renly's widow, Margaery Tyrell, would bring her father Mace's fifty thousand swords.
The naval strength of the Reach is made up mostly out of the Redwyne fleet of the Arbor, which contains two hundred warships.
An army of House Qorgyle on the march - by Tomasz Jedruszek. © Fantasy Flight Games
In the time before the Andals, King Ferris Fowler led ten thousand men against King Garth VII Gardener, during the Golden Reign.
During Aegon's Conquest, the Dornish did not give battle. However, in 37 AC, at the start of the reign of King Aenys I Targaryen, a rebel known as the Vulture King rose. He was said to have a following of thirty thousand, to resist House Targaryen with.
More recently, House Martell sent ten thousand soldiers to fight under the Targaryen banner at the Battle of the Trident, in 283 AC, led by Prince Lewyn Martell.
Currently, the Martells are believed to be able to raise fifty thousand soldiers.
Dorne has had no strength at sea since the Rhoynish warrior queen Nymeria burned her ten thousand ships a thousand years ago.
During Robert's Rebellion, Prince Rhaegar led an army to the Trident of forty thousand soldiers. About a tenth of these forty thousand were knights.
The Unsullied in battle
Through the fall of Astapor, battle of Yunkai, and siege of Meereen, Queen Daenerys Targaryen acquires eight thousand six hundred Unsullied, five thousand uncut boys in training, one thousand sellswords (the Second Sons and Stormcrows), and a vast horde of freedmen.
Ser Aegor Rivers and his Golden Company - by Marc Simonetti
The Free Cities of Essos hire numerous sellsword companies, such as the Company of the Cat, the Second Sons, the Stormcrows, and the Windblown.
*Khalasars* in the Dothraki sea have been known to reach fifty thousand
In more recent times, Khal Drogo's *khalasar*, which is said to be one hundred thousand strong,
Bayasabhad, Samyriana, and Kayakayanaya are guarded by tens of thousands of female defenders.
The Five Forts can hold fifty thousand men in total, although it is unknown if they are at capacity.
Emperor Lo Bu of Yi Ti allegedly led three hundred thousand against the Jogos Nhai.
During the Second Spice War, the Rhoynar are said to have had an army of a quarter million, while the Valyrian Freehold had over one hundred thousand men, one hundred war elephants, and three hundred dragons.