In this episode, we take a deep dive into the Riverlands, the central region from George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. The episode delves into the strategic and agricultural importance of the area's waterways. These include the Red Fork, Blue Fork, Green Fork, and the Trident. Also featured are significant locations like Riverrun and Harrenhal.
This conversation on the Riverlands provides a geographical and historical background. The lack of natural barriers is a major source of the frequent conflicts. Its many rivers contribute to the fertile land and bustling trade.
This episode also covers the history of the region, once known as the Kingdom of Rivers and Hills. It touches on the region's history of warfare and the different houses that have ruled over it, from the First Men to the Andals, and eventually House Tully under Targaryen rule.
The episode highlights House Tully's elevation to Lord Paramount of the Trident by Aegon the Conqueror.
The episode includes a discussion of the longstanding feud between House Blackwood and House Bracken, two ancient and rival houses in the Riverlands. It touches on their participation in significant events like the War of the Five Kings and their alliance during the Andal invasion.
The analysis shifts to the infamous House Frey, led by Walder Frey. The episode discusses Walder Frey's questionable loyalty which predates the Red Wedding,
Throughout the episode, the podcast uses sources from the original novels, supplemental texts by Martin, and contributions from fans on Westeros.org. The second chapter focuses on the Tullys and their significant role. Also in this episode are the histories of House Blackwood and House Bracken. The final chapter offers a breif look at House Frey's complex position in Westerosi politics.
The podcast hints at the next episode, a region shaped by the Dance of the Dragons and the influence of the Iron Throne. Listeners are invited to visit the show's website for detailed show notes.
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Welcome to another episode of The Westerosi Primer. My name is Liz. And in this episode, I will be talking about The Iron Islands. I’ll be discussing some of the notable people, places, and historical events that happened in the central and most fought over region of Westeros.
Before I start the discussion, there are a couple of things to note. First there will be some potential spoilers for people who have not read the novels in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” saga. There may also be potential spoilers for House of the Dragon and other future shows that may be adapted by Max in the future. So if you’re okay with this, then please continue listening.
Second, this will not be a definitive episode of everything about the Riverlands as there really is a lot of information about all the notable houses mentioned in the novels and the additional information written by George R. R. Martin and collected by various fans including the contributors of Westeros.org.
Throughout this season of the Westerosi Primer, I will be using information gathered from the novel series, Westeros.org, The World of Ice and Fire, and The Lands of Ice and Fire. Check out the full show notes and other links located on this show’s website: thewesterosiprimer.com With that said, let’s begin!
The Riverlands were once known as The Kingdom of Rivers and Hills. This is a central region of Westeros. It’s rich, fertile, and populous in many ways similar to the Reach. This area shares borders with the North, the Vale, the Westerlands, the Crownlands, and the Reach. The Riverlands doesn’t have many natural barriers unlike many of the other kingdoms. This is a big reason why historically speaking, this is one of the most fought over areas in Westeros. Even though the Riverslands were a kingdom, rule over the region changed at various points in time. I’ll explore this a little bit later in the episode when I get to the history of the Riverlands.
As indicated by the name, the Riverlands is defined and known for its many rivers. They are a big reason why the land produces a lot of agricultural products only second to the Reach. There are a few rivers of note I will mention here. They get mentioned a lot in the novels and other written material by George R.R. Martin.
The Red Fork is called this due to the mud and silt from the western mountains. This river originates in the hills of the Westerlands near the keeps of House Brax and House Lydden. The river then flows past the town of Pinkmaiden and then upstream from Riverrun. In fact near Riverrun, the Red Fork is joined by the Tumblestone, which is another river. A big reason why House Tully built their castle here is because of this joining of the rivers. The castle is designed so that gates can be opened allowing water from the combined rivers to fill out the moat. This turns Riverrun into an island fortress. Another interesting fact to mention is that King Torrhen Stark would bend the knee to Aegon Targaryen along this river. An inn named the Inn of the Kneeling Man claims to be the spot where that happened.
The Blue Fork is called such because of how clear the water is. This river starts near Seagard and the Twins moving southeast past places like Oldstones and Fairmarket. It eventually meets the Green Fork and flows into the Bay of Crabs. As mentioned in previous episodes, House Hoare of the Iron Islands controlled the Riverlands at one point. They did this by using the Blue Fork to invade the interior of the Riverlands from Seagard.
The Green Fork starts from the Neck and flows south past the Twins into the Riverlands. The marshy environment of the Neck is why this river got its name. One interesting fact to note is that the Kingsroad runs almost parallel to the Green Fork through the Riverlands up to the north and south to the Crownlands.
Further south, the three Forks I’ve been talking about join together and forms another river called the Trident. The Trident is a large river that starts where the three rivers meet near Lord Harroway’s Town and the Crossroads. The river moves eastward past Ruby Ford and flows into the Bay of Crabs.
The final river I’ll discuss is the Blackwater Rush. It’s another river that gets a mention in the novels. This river starts near Stoney Sept. The river eventually ends at Blackwater Bay. King’s Landing was built at the mouth of the Rush. This river is pretty infamous in the lore for having fast, treacherous currents.
Aside from possessing good farmlands, the Riverlands obviously have brisk trade happening due to the rivers I’ve just discussed. Also, freshwater fishing is a common feature here. There are no major cities in the Riverlands. However there are large notable towns. I’ve mentioned a handful already. Due to how many there are, I’ll just mention them as I talk about the history and noble houses. Some of these places were actually featured in Game of Thrones. I’ll be impressed if we see these places included in House of the Dragon. I would imagine so given that some of the notable battles during the Dance happened in the Riverlands.
Back in episode 2, I briefly discussed the conflict between the First Men and the Children of the Forest. Eventually the war ended and a peace treaty was agreed. The Pact of Ice and Fire was signed at a place named The Isle of Faces. The Isle of Faces is an island filled with many weirwood trees. Faces were carved into the trunks of the trees so the Old gods could witness this signing. The Isle of Faces is located in the middle of a large lake called the Gods’ Eye. There are some rumors that Green men still exist on the isle. Green men act as priests for the Old gods.
The Gods Eye is a large lake and has rough currents. Harrenhal was built on the northern shore of this lake. Interestingly there’s a couple major battles that happened at the Gods eye. One battle was between Prince Aegon, the son of Aenys I, and Maegor Targaryen. The other battle? Well I won’t discuss further as that would be major spoilers. I will say history does repeat itself in Westeros.
After the Pact was signed, various First Men families in the Riverlands start claiming titles. These various River kings would claim to be King of the Trident or King of Rivers and Hills. The reign of the First Men kings eventually end when the Andals arrive. The last of the First Men kings were from House Mudd. Eventually House Mudd dies out. There are a couple members of the Golden Company with the surname Mudd. However there’s no proof they actually are Mudds.
Even with Andals controlling the Riverlands, there are still various houses fighting for control. Eventually rivals from the Iron Islands, Westerlands, the Vale, the Reach and the Stormlands also try to conquer this region. The Durrandons actually control the Riverlands for about three centuries. If you aren’t familiar with the Durrandons, please check out episode 4 which is the Stormlands episode. Eventually, the Durrandons lose the Riverlands due to stretching their resources too thin.
House Hoare of the Iron Islands successfully take over the Riverlands. However their control isn’t the strongest and they only rule there for three generations. The last Ironborn king of the Iron Islands is Harren the Black. If you didn’t listen to the previous episode about the Iron Islands, you should check that one out as well. After the Targaryens partially melts Harrenhal and kill the Hoares, Aegon elevates House Tully to Lord Paramount of the Trident. And this is where I’ll start discussing a bit more about notable houses in the Riverlands.
Harrenhal was constructed on the orders of Harren the Black. After the infamous burning, this monstrosity of a castle passed many hands over the next three hundred years. There are rumors that there is a curse that causes misfortune to happen to any house that gains ownership of it. I can’t speak whether a curse actually exists. If you’re interested in me discussing in more detail about the different families that were granted Harrenhal let me know. In short, the families were: Qoherys, Harroway, Towers, Strong, Lothston, Whent, Slynt, and Baelish.
As I stated earlier, House Tully was given the rank of Lord Paramount by Aegon the Conqueror. In this respect, it’s pretty similar to the Tyrells in the Reach. Also similar to the Tyrells, the Tullys didn’t always have it easy in terms of their rule of the Riverlands.
House Tully of Riverrun is one of the Great Houses that rules the Riverlands. As I stated earlier they were granted the title Lord Paramount of the Trident. One notable thing about the Tullys is that they are known for having auburn hair and blue eyes. This is something that gets noted in the novels. Most of the Stark kids take after their mother, Catelyn Tully, rather than their father, Ned.
The Tullys are actually descended from the First Men. They worship the New gods rather than the Old gods. Despite this, they maintain a godswood unlike other First Men converts to the New gods. Another interesting tradition they practice is the burning of a funeral boat for their deceased. This was actually depicted in Game of Thrones Season 3 at Lord Hoster Tully’s funeral. There’s additional significance of this detail in the novels, but I won’t get into it here.
The Targaryens elevated House Tully because they led a rebellion against House Hoare during the Conquest. This rebellion provided support to the Targaryens, while also weakening House Hoare’s position. After receiving this new status, Lord Edmyn Tully made efforts to improve his standing further. He actually served for two years as Aegon the Conqueror’s Hand of the King.
Years later, Lord Grover Tully was actually a lord who support Viserys I becoming the king after Jaehaerys I. He later was interested in supporting the Greens. However his grandson Elmo and great-grandson Kermit supported the Blacks. This would ultimately lead to the Tully forces supporting the Blacks. And yes listeners you heard right. These three generations of Tullys were named after some Muppets. I won’t discuss what happens to these Tullys as I imagine we’ll find out on House of the Dragon.
In more a familiar time period of Westeros, I’ll now discuss Hoster Tully. Hoster Tully is pretty politically motivated like his ancestor Edmyn. He was interested in strengthening his house with strong marriage alliances. He tried to arrange a marriage between his brother Brynden and Lady Bethany Redwyne. Brynden has no desire or interest in marrying so he refused. This leads to years of arguments between the brothers. Not long after this, is when Brynden calls himself “Blackfish.”
One other interesting thing to mention. Knights like Ser Brynden, including a young Ser Barristan Selmy, fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings. His exploits helped build his reputation in Westeros. We saw hints of this in Season 6 of Game of Thrones when Jaime Lannister parleys with the Blackfish.
Hoster Tully married Minisa Whent. By this time period, House Whent were the lords of Harrenhal. As we know from the TV show, Hoster and his wife have three children: Catelyn, Lysa, and Edmure. Not mentioned in the tv show is the fact there were actually two sons born before Catelyn was born. Minisa gave birth to a fourth son but unfortunately she and the baby die. This led to Hoster becoming a single father. I can’t help but wonder if the tragic loss is partially why things turned out how they did for her children later. I won’t get into it in this episode. However I’ll probably explore this in a future season of the podcast.
Just in general, I’d need separate episodes for the various Game of Thrones characters. If you’re interested in me doing this in a future season check out the website to reach out.
House Blackwood of Raventree Hall is a noble house of the Riverlands. The sigil includes the image of a weirwood and ravens. The weirwood is a reference to the fact they are a First Men house. Another interesting note is that at one point in time, House Blackwood was a Northern house. Stories say they were driven south by a past Stark king. This house at one point was a river king before other kings conquered this region.
Something that many book readers are aware of is the centuries long rivalry between the Blackwoods and the Brackens, which is the next family I’ll talk about. For those of you who are aware of them, I’d say the Blackwoods and Brackens are the Westerosi version of the Hatfields and McCoys. They’re not above attacking each other when things aren’t going well between them. We even got a reference to this in House of the Dragon. In season 1 episode 4, we saw a Blackwood and a Bracken appear as suitors during Rhaenyra’s husband tour. The two boys trade insults and a duel ensued. This actually was something mentioned in the book Fire & Blood.
However there are some occasions they won’t fight. A pretty good example is during the War of the Five kings. After all, they’re both angry at the Lannisters for burning their way through the Riverlands. They were also united in fighting against the Andal invasion. However they were of course defeated. The antagonism picked up when the Brackens converted to the New Gods. The Blackwoods maintain their faith in the Old Gods.
To close out my discussion of the Blackwoods, I’ll just mention a few notable ones. I sincerely hope Alysanne Blackwood gets included in House of the Dragon. There’s no mention of casting for her in Season 2, so I can’t be certain If she’s going to show up. If she’s not in Season 2 then I hope she’ll appear in 3. The character is pretty feisty so she’d be entertaining to see on screen. I won’t mention what happens to her in case she does show up.
Another interesting Blackwood is Lady Melissa Blackwood. She was one of Aegon the Unworthy’s nine mistresses. And in case anyone is curious Aegon the Unworthy is the infamous King Aegon IV. For context, the Aegon we saw crowned at the end of Season 1 in House of the Dragon is Aegon II. Melissa had 3 children during her time as mistress to the king: 2 daughters and 1 son.
Her son was named Brynden Rivers though book readers would also know him as Bloodraven. Bloodraven is a pretty infamous character in Westerosi lore as a whole. Though another interesting fact is that actually Game of Thrones fans technically are familiar with Bloodraven because he’s also the Three Eyed Raven. However this is a very long story that will just have to wait for a future season of this podcast.
The final Blackwood I’ll mention happens to be another woman: Betha Blackwood. Potential spoiler alert for the upcoming series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Lady Betha Blackwood is the wife of King Aegon V. This also made her the sister-in-law of blind maester Aemon at the Wall.
So of course next is House Bracken of Stone Hedge. However I have to say despite the previous family being the Blackwoods, I actually talked about the Brackens to some degree. Unfortunately for these two feuding neighbors, you almost can’t talk about one house without the other. I’ll keep things brief by just mentioning an interesting fact about this house and then notable members.
One interesting fact is that while many houses in the Riverlands sided with Rhaenyra, some supported Aegon. Bracken was one of the houses that joined the greens. So it’ll be really interesting to see if this feud continues on screen aside from the dueling potential suitors.
Also I’ll conclude this house with two sisters: Barba and Bethany Bracken. Barba Bracken was one of Aegon the Unworthy’s nine mistresses. She was in fact the mistress before Melissa Blackwood. Her only child she had with the king was Aegor Rivers, who is later known as Bittersteel. Again for those of you who are familiar with lore would know the infamous rivalry between Bittersteel and Bloodraven. It isn’t directly related to the rivalry between their mothers’ houses, but it definitely added to things. They had personal beef with each other for a variety of reasons I won’t get to here.
Bethany Bracken was the mistress to replace Melissa Blackwood. She didn’t stay mistress long as she was later discovered having an affair with one of the kingsguard. It was hard to stay faithful to a man who was extremely fat and twice her age. This is a pretty good example of George using real life history to create characters and plot points in his saga. Anyone familiar with British history would recognize Aegon the Unworthy as King Henry VIII. Also Barba was based on Mary Boleyn. Meanwhile Bethany seems to be a combination of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, who was also their first cousin.
We’re all pretty familiar with house Frey of the Crossing from Game of Thrones. So I’ll keep things brief here by stating a few facts about this family not mentioned in the TV series. House Frey got started when the first lord Frey was given land and started building a bridge across part of the Green Fork. The two keeps built on each side of the bridge later became known as the Twins. Due to the cleverly placed bridge, the main source of their wealth is by toll keeping. We saw this on Game of Thrones when Catelyn agreed to marrying Robb and Arya to one of Walder’s descendants. Unsurprisingly, the Freys are constantly mocked as being upjumped bridge keepers.
Personally I think Catelyn was a weak negotiator here. If you listened to my earlier episode about the Westerlands, I mentioned Lord Tywin’s sister was stuck marrying a Frey. Tytos Lannister was such a pushover and he only had to agree to marry one of his kids to a Frey. I’ll acknowledge she was trying to get the Northern army across his bridge.
I also feel like people in Westeros as a whole are way too soft on Walder Frey. He was already borderline treasonous even before the Red Wedding happened. I’m frankly surprised no one tried to kill him sooner given how weaselly he is. Also if you listeners checked out my earlier episode about the North, I mentioned how the Frey pies happened in the books as well. But it wasn’t Arya who did it though.
And that just about covers the basics of whose who in the Riverlands. If you’re interested in finding out more for yourself about any of these houses and other people and places I didn’t discuss in this episode, feel free to go to the full show notes where I will have links. Though be aware if you do any of this research there will be spoilers to the novels and some possible material covered in the future seasons of House of the Dragon.
Thank you for listening and tune in to the next episode where we travel to a region where dragons danced and the long shadow of the Iron Throne rises over the land.