In this episode of the Westerosi Primer, we embark on a historical journey through the tempestuous Stormlands. From the origin of their name to the rise and fall of the Storm Kings, we explore the legends and lore that define this tumultuous region. Listen in as Liz recounts the tales of Durran Godsgrief's defiance against the gods and the founding of House Baratheon by the rumored Targaryen bastard, Orys Baratheon. This chapter illuminates the complex web of politics and power, highlighting figures such as Rogar and Jocelyn Baratheon, and the legendary 'Queen Who Never Was', Rhaenys. Liz also highlights the various noble houses of the Stormlands whose stories are etched in the very fabric of the Seven Kingdoms. The noble houses discussed in this episode include: Estermont, Cole, Connington, Lonmouth, Penrose, and Seaworth.
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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 Stormlands. I’ll be discussing some of the notable people, places, and historical events that happened in the home of the great Storm Kings.
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 Stormlands 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 Stormlands get their name from the infamous storms that happen during the autumn months. To the north of the Stormlands are the Crownlands. To the west is the Reach. To the south is Dorne. And right against the coast is the Narrow Sea with Shipbreaker Bay, which is a pretty apt name for this area. As you can imagine with these areas bordering the Stormlands, historically the people of this region had their share of conflict with their neighbors. At various points in time, parts of the Reach, the Crownlands, and Riverlands were under the control of the Storm Kings, House Durrandon.
In ancient times, the people of the Stormlands worshipped the Old Gods until the Andals arrived. They also worshipped the Sea God and the Goddess of the Wind, which are major figures in the origin of the Storm Kings. Before House Targaryen arrived with their conquest, the Stormlands were ruled by the Storm Kings. The first Storm King was a legendary figure known as Durran Godsgrief. He earned the name Godsgrief because he married Elenei, the daughter of the Sea God and the Goddess of Wind. Her parents were against their union and destroyed his castle and killed his family. Durran declared war on these gods and created castles to spite them. The gods send storms to destroy his home and kingdom. His final castle became known as Storm’s End. For generations House Durrandon ruled this kingdom until the dragons came with fire and blood.
House Baratheon originated during the Targaryen Conquest. The founder of this house is Orys Baratheon. Orys’s name should already be a clue that he likely has Valyrian origins. He was a loyal general to Aegon the Conqueror and led Targaryen forces in the invasion of the Stormlands. The last storm King Argilac the Arrogant had offered Aegon the hand of his only child and heir, Argella. Aegon rejected this offer as he was already married to his two sisters and instead offered marriage to Orys. Orys was already rumored to be a bastard son of Aerion Targaryen, which would make him Aegon’s half brother. Argilac was insulted by the idea of his daughter marrying a bastard. Eventually Orys killed Argilac and married Argella anyway creating a new house and swearing fealty to Aegon. House Durrandon’s sigil was a black stag on a yellow background and Orys adapted it for his own house. He later became Hand of the King and led forces in the first war against Dorne.
What’s particularly interesting is that House Baratheon historically has married into house Targaryen a few times over the centuries along with Orys’s alleged parentage. As a connection to House of the Dragon, Orys’s grandson Rogar married Alyssa Velaryon and had two children: Boremund and Jocelyn. Alyssa Velaryon was the widow of King Aenys Targaryen and had many children with him. Two of which were King Jaehaerys I and his sister-wife Alysanne. Later Jocelyn Baratheon marries her nephew Aemon Targaryen and they had one child: Rhaenys the Queen who never was. Boremund actually makes an appearance in House of the Dragon as being the one who Rhaenys bestows her favor to at the infamous tourney in the first episode. His son Borros is the lord of Storm’s End in the season 1 finale episode when Lucerys and Aemond have their final confrontation over Shipbreaker’s Bay. I won’t spoil what happens to Borros at this point.
In later generations, Lyonel Baratheon’s daughter was supposed to marry Duncan Targaryen who was the Prince of Dragonstone at the time. However Prince Duncan elopes with common born Jenny of Oldstones, therefore insulting House Baratheon. Lyonel staged a rebellion until he was defeated by the famous Kingsguard, Ser Duncan the Tall, who was of course Prince Duncan’s namesake. King Aegon V offered a betrothal between his daughter Princess Rhaelle to Lyonel’s heir Ormund. Rhaelle and Ormund have a son: Steffon the father of Robert, Stannis, and Renly. Incidentally with Rhaelle’s brother Duncan abdicating his right to the throne, her brother Jaehaerys II became the king. Jaehaerys later would have his children Aerys and Rhaella marry each other and have three children together: Rhaegar, Viserys, and Daenerys. So yes Robert killed his second cousin Rhaegar.
Before I move on to a few other notable houses in the Stormlands, I’m going to mention a few things in the books not mentioned in the TV show. As we know Robert had many bastards. I mentioned in the previous episode, he had one daughter named Mya Stone in the Vale. She was of course conceived while Robert was in the Vale as Jon Arryn’s foster son. We also know Gendry in the TV show, who is also a character more or less the same in the books. However TV Gendry’s storyline may actually include a few details related to another bastard of King Robert.
Edric Storm is actually the only bastard child that Robert ever recognized because his mother is of noble descent. I’ll discuss more about Edric in a later episode when I get to Edric’s mother’s family. This is my personal theory and I’m sure there are others who also thought this. But I suspect that Gendry being legitimized and made into the Lord of Storm’s End and the Stormlands is probably Edric’s fate in the novels. Unlike Gendry, Edric was raised at Storm’s End and received education kind of like how Jon received education and arms training at Winterfell. It would logically make more sense to have this kid become a lord when he has all the necessary preparation to at least do an adequate job unlike blacksmith trained Gendry. Incidentally Edric was born just a year later than Sansa, so if Sansa is old enough to be a lady of a castle, then Edric should work just fine as a lord age wise.
Finally I will talk about Stannis. Stannis married Selyse Florent. The Florents are a noble house of the Reach and I will talk further about them in the Reach episode. This is particularly important because through this Florent family connection, there are some interesting familial connections that are fascinating. As a book fan, I kind of wish this was included in the show as it would have made some extremely interesting character interactions.
House Estermont is another noble house in the Stormlands not much is know about this this particular house. However there’s a couple notable things. First Steffon Baratheon was married to Cassana Estermont, which makes members of House Estermont likely cousins and perhaps uncles of the three Baratheon brothers we know in Game of Thrones. A few of the Estermonts make appearances in the novels.
House Connington of Griffin’s Roost is a house of landed knights. Like other houses they were involved in various events in Westerosi history. There was a Connington in the Kingsguard. A Connington was involved with the scandals of the infamous Princess Saera Targaryen. The most notable Connington is Jon Connington who was the lord during the reign of Aerys II. At one point he was Aerys’s Hands of the King. Jon Connington was one of the Rhaegar best friends and George R.R. Martin confirmed that Jon was actually in love with Rhaegar.
House Dondarrion is a noble house in the Dornish Marches, which is territory along the northern border of Dorne. Historically skirmishes happened in this land between Dorne and the Stormlands and the Reach. This house was started when a messenger from a past Storm King was ambushed by two Dornishmen on a stormy night. He nearly was killed when a lightning bolt struck the Dornishmen and he continued on his message delivery. Afterwards he was awarded lordship due to how critical the message was. There were a few Dondarrions who fought in wars and skirmishes with Dorne. The most notable Dondarrion is actually someone Game of Thrones fans should know: Beric Dondarrion. Beric is actually the leader of the Brothers without Banners. He’s the one who keeps getting resurrected after dying multiple times. I won’t discuss too much about him since we learn a bit in the show. However I will say that there are some differences between the books and the tv show. Again if there’s any interest let me know if you’d like me to do an episode about him. I will say the biggest difference is that his storyline past season 3 involved a major character who doesn’t even exist in the TV show.
House Cole appears to be a minor vassal house to House Dondarrion. There’s not much known about this particular house other than their most famous or perhaps infamous member Ser Criston Cole. As mentioned in House of the Dragon, his father was the steward of House Dondarrion. We already learned quite a bit about him in House of the Dragon and we will find out his fate in the upcoming seasons of the show. Considering they are vassals to House Dondarrion, it’s very likely House Cole also fought in conflicts with the Dornish. This was in fact a detail mention in House of the Dragon episode 2 when Rhaenyra made her fateful decision of selecting Criston to the Kingsguard.
House Lonmouth is a noble house in the Stormlands. I’m only mentioning them primarily because we did meet one member of this house: Joffrey Lonmouth. In Martin’s writings, it was rumored he was Laenor Velaryon’s lover, but he was most definitely a constant companion. In the TV show they make very clear he’s Laenor’s boyfriend. Also one notable difference is that in the show Joffrey dies at a betrothal feast. In the stories, Criston Cole actually kills him during the tourney held in honor of the wedding.
House Penrose is another noble house in the Stormlands. There’s just one notable thing to mention about them. One member of this house was Cortnay Penrose. He was the Castellan of Storm’s End who refused to surrender the castle and Edric Storm to Stannis. He was assassinated by Melisandre.
House Seaworth is of course a very new house started when a smuggler named Davos Seaworth provided onions to the desperate people at Storm’s End during the siege that was instigated by the Tyrells during Robert’s Rebellion. Famously Stannis arranged for Davos to be knighted and given land in the Stormlands. However he had parts of his fingers cut off for the crime of smuggling. Because Stannis is just that kind of guy. Interestingly even though the lands he was given was Cape Wrath, which is in the Stormlands, House Seaworth is actually sworn to House Baratheon of Dragonstone not to Storm’s End. Which makes this house in a unique situation where technically their liege lord is in the Crownlands, but the property they own is in the Stormlands. Not really mentioned in the TV show is the fact Davos has many sons. Four of whom died in the Battle of the Blackwater as they were old enough to be on a ship’s crew. It’s a bit of a shame in my opinion there wasn’t much mention of his family in the show. Also interestingly enough Davos does have a big part in some notable storylines that don’t exist in the tv show. His storyline past season 5 when compared to the novels is really different. Again I won’t talk about it here, but if you’re interested once again, let me know.
House Selmy of Harvest Hall is a noble house located in the Dornish Marches making them Marcher lords. Of course the most famous member is Ser Barristan Selmy. While we are familiar with some of the things that Ser Barristan did in his later years via the TV show, I’ll mention a few notable things about his youth. He first competed in a tourney when he was ten years old as a mystery knight. He knocked off Prince Duncan Targaryen and was unmasked. It was Prince Duncan who gave him the name “the bold.” King Aegon V knighted Ser Barristan when he was aged 16. He became a member of the Kingsguard at age 23.
House Tarth of Evenfall Hall is a noble house of the Stormlands located on the island of Tarth. At one point in time, members of House Tarth were kings until King Durran the fair married the daughter of Edwyn Evenstar. House Tarth has been mentioned as participants in various events in Westerosi history. But naturally the most well-known member of this house is Brienne of Tarth. Like many characters in Game of Thrones her storyline season 4 and onwards is very different from that of the books.
And that just about covers the basics of whose who in the Stormlands. 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 kingdom known as a land of chivalry and bountiful harvests. A place where roses bloom and grow strong.