GoT: Insights from "The Age of Heroes" (The World of Ice and Fire)
The World of Ice and Fire - The Untold History of Westeros and The Game of Thrones
So, George R. R. Martin and his helpers Elio M. Garcia Jr. and Linda Antonsson wrote a book called "The World of Ice and Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and The Game Of Thrones."
The book is an attempt to give serious fans a glimpse into the history of the Westeros from the beginning of its recorded history up to where the books begin. It is certainly not an attempt to write a "World of Ice and Fire Review" more an attempt to write a "World of Ice and Fire Companion Guide."
As with most of GRRM's ASOIAF writings The World of Ice and Fire is very dense and detailed writing and I have learned that taking it a chunk at a time is pretty helpful.
So, that is what I am doing here, tackling each chapter of the book and seeing what insight I can share (if any).
Enjoy!
The Age Of Heroes
Okay, so when we left off, we covered the pact between the First Men and the Children of the Forest. This truce created the 1000's of years long period known as "The Age of Heroes."
Several "Heroes" of this period are mentioned by name (with almost no further information supplied, which is odd for a book designed to provide depth to the stories and characters that have already been introduced in the A Song of Ice and Fire book series.
Those mentioned are:
Brandon The Builder: From the books, we know that Brandon the Builder is the founder of House Stark and built both The Wall and Winterfell. He may also have helped build Storm's End. He also gave Bran's Gift to the Night's Watch (although some claim it was actually a different Bran that donated the Gift).
Garth Greenhand: Some say that Garth was the King who led the First Men across the arm and into what is now known as Westeros. He is also credited with teaching the First Men to farm. Supposedly, and this is more than a bit odd, he was able to make women fertile with his touch (right). He was the titular head of House Gardener.
Lann The Clever: House Lannister claims to be descended from Lann through the female line. Lann supposedly swindled Casterly Rock from its previous owners using only his guile and wit. Lann never called himself a King but did accumulate great wealth.
Durran Godsgrief: King Durran was the first Storm King and founder of house Durrandon creating Storm's End. Legend said that he married the daughter of a Sea-God and Wind-Goddess. The parents of this Goddess were angry and went to war with King Durran. Durran kept building stronger castles until one withstood their wrath. The castle that survived was Storm's End.
Symeon Star-Eyes: Symeon was supposedly a Knight, although he was born thousands of years before the advent of Chivalry, Symeon lost both of his eyes in a fight and supposedly replaced them with sapphires. He preferred to fight with a long staff with knives at both ends. He also supposedly once saw two hellhounds fighting at the Nightfort.
Serwyn Of The Mirror Shield: Despite living thousands of years before the advent of Chivalry Serwyn is remembered as a Knight who served House Gardener. He supposedly saved a Princess from Giants and was responsible for slaying a Dragon named Urrax. He is called "Mirror Shield" because when he fought the Dragon he approached behind a shield. The dragon did not see him but saw its own reflection in the shield allowing him to put a spear through Urrax's eye.
Most of the rest of this Chapter seems only to call the veracity of the legends that are what is left from the "Age of Heroes" into question.
Okay, that is the end of the "Age of Heroes" chapter.
Wrapping Up
Last time I talked about the "Coming of the First Men" chapter.
As you may know, I do recaps of Game of Thrones. You can read my recaps of Game of Thrones Season 6 by reading "The complete #OPS guide to Season 6 of #GameofThrones"
You can also read my series on the "Top Ten Problems" that I had with Season 6 of Game of Thrones.
Do you remember anything else from the books about the period?
Let me know what you think, leave a comment!
