Storm's End – 'a dream of stone'
Jul 4, 2016 2:50:55 GMT
voice, whitewolfstark, and 6 more like this
Post by arrysfleas on Jul 4, 2016 2:50:55 GMT
There are two seriously amazing constructions to be found in Westeros which pre-date the arrival of the First Men: the square base of the Hightower in Oldtown and the curtain wall of Storm's End.
In this post, I propose to explain who built the Storm's End curtain wall, for whom and why. I welcome any other explanation for this mysterious construction.
1. The castle and its curtain wall.
Clash Catelyn 3
Yet Storm's End endured, through centuries and tens of centuries, a castle like no other. Its great curtain wall was a hundred feet high, unbroken by arrow slit or postern, everywhere rounded, curving, smooth, its stones fit so cunningly together that nowhere was crevice nor angle nor gap by which the wind might enter. That wall was said to be forty feet thick at its narrowest, and near eighty on the seaward face, a double course of stones with an inner core of sand and rubble. Within that mighty bulwark, the kitchens and stables and yards sheltered safe from wind and wave. Of towers, there was but one, a colossal drum tower, windowless where it faced the sea, so large that it was granary and barracks and feast hall and lord's dwelling all in one, crowned by massive battlements that made it look from afar like a spiked fist atop an up-thrust arm.
Yet Storm's End endured, through centuries and tens of centuries, a castle like no other. Its great curtain wall was a hundred feet high, unbroken by arrow slit or postern, everywhere rounded, curving, smooth, its stones fit so cunningly together that nowhere was crevice nor angle nor gap by which the wind might enter. That wall was said to be forty feet thick at its narrowest, and near eighty on the seaward face, a double course of stones with an inner core of sand and rubble. Within that mighty bulwark, the kitchens and stables and yards sheltered safe from wind and wave. Of towers, there was but one, a colossal drum tower, windowless where it faced the sea, so large that it was granary and barracks and feast hall and lord's dwelling all in one, crowned by massive battlements that made it look from afar like a spiked fist atop an up-thrust arm.
Clash Catelyn 4
Where Storm's End stood was only a deeper darkness, a wall of black through which no stars could shine... as the east began to lighten the immense mass of Storm's End emerged like a dream of stone...
Where Storm's End stood was only a deeper darkness, a wall of black through which no stars could shine... as the east began to lighten the immense mass of Storm's End emerged like a dream of stone...
Clash Davos 2
The seaward side of Storm's End perched upon a pale white cliff, the chalky stone sloping up steeply to half again the height of the massive curtain wall. A mouth yawned in the cliff, and it was that Davos steered for, as he had sixteen years before. The tunnel opened on a cavern under the castle, where the storm lords of old had built their landing.
The passage was navigable only during high tide, and was never less than treacherous...
[Melisandre] But here . . . this Storm's End is an old place. There are spells woven into the stones. Dark walls that no shadow can pass—ancient, forgotten, yet still in place."
The last time it was life I brought to Storm's End, shaped to look like onions. This time it is death, in the shape of Melisandre of Asshai.
The seaward side of Storm's End perched upon a pale white cliff, the chalky stone sloping up steeply to half again the height of the massive curtain wall. A mouth yawned in the cliff, and it was that Davos steered for, as he had sixteen years before. The tunnel opened on a cavern under the castle, where the storm lords of old had built their landing.
The passage was navigable only during high tide, and was never less than treacherous...
[Melisandre] But here . . . this Storm's End is an old place. There are spells woven into the stones. Dark walls that no shadow can pass—ancient, forgotten, yet still in place."
The last time it was life I brought to Storm's End, shaped to look like onions. This time it is death, in the shape of Melisandre of Asshai.
WIF
The great tower and perfectly joined stones of the Storm's End curtain wall seem much beyond what the First Men were capable of for many thousands of years. The great effort involved in raising the Wall was one thing, but that was more a brute effort than the high art needed to make a wall where even the wind cannot find purchase.
Maesters who have served at the castle testify to its vast strength and ingenious construction. Whether designed by Brandon the Builder or not, its great curtain wall, with its stones so cunningly fitted that the wind cannot get a grip on them, is justly famed. So, too, is the great central keep that thrusts up into the sky to overlook Shipbreaker Bay.
The great tower and perfectly joined stones of the Storm's End curtain wall seem much beyond what the First Men were capable of for many thousands of years. The great effort involved in raising the Wall was one thing, but that was more a brute effort than the high art needed to make a wall where even the wind cannot find purchase.
Maesters who have served at the castle testify to its vast strength and ingenious construction. Whether designed by Brandon the Builder or not, its great curtain wall, with its stones so cunningly fitted that the wind cannot get a grip on them, is justly famed. So, too, is the great central keep that thrusts up into the sky to overlook Shipbreaker Bay.
Recap:
→ the stones of the curtain wall fit so well that the wind cannot get purchase
→ there is no textual evidence that the stones are fused like valyrian or pre-valyrian constructions
→ the wall is 80 feet thick on the seaward side, a 'mighty bulwark' (WIF: 'even thicker than the walls of Harrenhal ')
→ 'a wall of black through which no stars could shine': no light behind the wall can be seen from the sea or land'; this could also be a symbol for the Long Night when as no sun would shine, also no stars would shine
→ there is a treacherous high tide passage under the castle which leads via a tunnel to a cavern where there is a landing
→ there are ancient, forgotten but still active spells woven in the stone
→ maesters consider both the great tower and the curtain wall beyond First Men capabilities
→ maesters testify to the curtain wall's vast strength and ingenious construction.
→ there is only one tower, a drum tower, said to be windowless but without any mention of specific craftiness.
In summary, the curtain wall is 'high art', a 'mighty bulwark', opaque, spell bound, with a difficult and restricted access by sea and would not have been built either by early First Men or with the help of dragons.
On an aside, for the fans of associations, we have onions and Asshai mentioned on the same line, which makes me think that it was no fluke that Davos the smuggler was able to pass the warded sea entrance of Storm's End since he was carrying onions. Onions which many people believe will keep evil spirits away (just like garlic does but you cannot feed a garrison just on garlic).
2. If the First Men did not build it, who else?
In the beginning of the history of Men, there was the Dawn Age in Westeros and the Great Empire of the Dawn in Essos.
Maesters agree that Storm's End curtain wall is so craftily constructed that it cannot have been built by the First Men - who were building ringforts and holdfasts.
So it was built either after the First Men or by someone else altogether.
Could it have been built by the Andals?
Storm's End' curtain wall is a unique construction in Westeros; one would think that if the Andals had such building ability it would have been reproduced elsewhere.
Could it have been built by men from somewhere else such as the Great Empire of the Dawn?
This Great Empire of the Dawn ruled just about all over Essos and seemingly collapsed at the time of the Long Night; this is well explained by LmL here.
In Essos, some great stone constructs still exist dating back to this empire such as the Five Forts of Yi Ti, the mazes of Lorath, the labyrinths of Leng or the cyclopean ruins of Yeen. So the Empire had the building craft.
If built by the Great Empire, this must have happened prior to or during the Long Night since the Empire collapsed at that time. This places the construction at least 8,000 years BAC (before Aegon's conquest), possibly 10,000 BAC or earlier.
If there were any First Men about, they would have been watching the builders in awe if not in incomprehension.
At some time before the end of Long Night (years or centuries, it is not clear to me) the Arm of Dorne was not broken.
Hence as there was no navigation from the Summer sea to the Narrow sea, it is quite unlikely that Asshai or Lengi builders would have ended up in the Stormlands.
So we will need to look for builders of the Great Empire coming from the north.
Before though, we need to look at the legend.
3. The legend of Storm's End.
Clash Cat 3
The songs said that Storm's End had been raised in ancient days by Durran, the first Storm King, who had won the love of the fair Elenei, daughter of the sea god and the goddess of the wind. On the night of their wedding, Elenei had yielded her maidenhood to a mortal's love and thus doomed herself to a mortal's death, and her grieving parents had unleashed their wrath and sent the winds and waters to batter down Durran's hold. His friends and brothers and wedding guests were crushed beneath collapsing walls or blown out to sea, but Elenei sheltered Durran within her arms so he took no harm, and when the dawn came at last he declared war upon the gods and vowed to rebuild.
Five more castles he built, each larger and stronger than the last, only to see them smashed asunder when the gale winds came howling up Shipbreaker Bay, driving great walls of water before them. His lords pleaded with him to build inland; his priests told him he must placate the gods by giving Elenei back to the sea; even his smallfolk begged him to relent. Durran would have none of it. A seventh castle he raised, most massive of all. Some said the children of the forest helped him build it, shaping the stones with magic; others claimed that a small boy told him what he must do, a boy who would grow to be Bran the Builder. No matter how the tale was told, the end was the same. Though the angry gods threw storm after storm against it, the seventh castle stood defiant, and Durran Godsgrief and fair Elenei dwelt there together until the end of their days.
Gods do not forget, and still the gales came raging up the narrow sea. Yet Storm's End endured, through centuries and tens of centuries, a castle like no other.
The songs said that Storm's End had been raised in ancient days by Durran, the first Storm King, who had won the love of the fair Elenei, daughter of the sea god and the goddess of the wind. On the night of their wedding, Elenei had yielded her maidenhood to a mortal's love and thus doomed herself to a mortal's death, and her grieving parents had unleashed their wrath and sent the winds and waters to batter down Durran's hold. His friends and brothers and wedding guests were crushed beneath collapsing walls or blown out to sea, but Elenei sheltered Durran within her arms so he took no harm, and when the dawn came at last he declared war upon the gods and vowed to rebuild.
Five more castles he built, each larger and stronger than the last, only to see them smashed asunder when the gale winds came howling up Shipbreaker Bay, driving great walls of water before them. His lords pleaded with him to build inland; his priests told him he must placate the gods by giving Elenei back to the sea; even his smallfolk begged him to relent. Durran would have none of it. A seventh castle he raised, most massive of all. Some said the children of the forest helped him build it, shaping the stones with magic; others claimed that a small boy told him what he must do, a boy who would grow to be Bran the Builder. No matter how the tale was told, the end was the same. Though the angry gods threw storm after storm against it, the seventh castle stood defiant, and Durran Godsgrief and fair Elenei dwelt there together until the end of their days.
Gods do not forget, and still the gales came raging up the narrow sea. Yet Storm's End endured, through centuries and tens of centuries, a castle like no other.
We do not often get such a long, detailed legend in one go for a castle, so the author has spoilt us here.
What is the point of this tale? Does it have anything to do with Ice and Fire? How does it relate to the Others and the dragons?
How do the other extraordinary constructions found in Essos and Westeros relate to Ice and Fire?
Perhaps they don't, perhaps it is just part of the world built by the author.
Perhaps they all have something to do with the Long Night, the most momentous event of all.
I will come back to this in section 8.
How to interpret these legendary songs and tales?
3a. 'Durran, the first Storm King, who had won the love of the fair Elenei, daughter of the sea god and the goddess of the wind...'
Feast Arya 2 [in the House of Black and White]
Thirty different gods stood along the walls, surrounded by their little lights. The Weeping Woman was the favorite of old women, Arya saw; rich men preferred the Lion of Night, poor men the Hooded Wayfarer. Soldiers lit candles to Bakkalon, the Pale Child, sailors [lit candles ] to the Moon-Pale Maiden and the Merling King.
Thirty different gods stood along the walls, surrounded by their little lights. The Weeping Woman was the favorite of old women, Arya saw; rich men preferred the Lion of Night, poor men the Hooded Wayfarer. Soldiers lit candles to Bakkalon, the Pale Child, sailors [lit candles ] to the Moon-Pale Maiden and the Merling King.
Feast Cat of the canals
The Poetess always had a book to hand, the Moonshadow wore only white and silver, and the Merling Queen was never seen without her Mermaids, four young maidens in the blush of their first flowering who held her train and did her hair.
The Poetess always had a book to hand, the Moonshadow wore only white and silver, and the Merling Queen was never seen without her Mermaids, four young maidens in the blush of their first flowering who held her train and did her hair.
WIF - The Reach: Garth Greenhand
A thousand tales are told of Garth, in the Reach and beyond. Most are implausible, and many contradictory. In some he is a contemporary of Bran the Builder, Lann the Clever, Durran Godsgrief, and the other colorful figures of the Age of Heroes.
A thousand tales are told of Garth, in the Reach and beyond. Most are implausible, and many contradictory. In some he is a contemporary of Bran the Builder, Lann the Clever, Durran Godsgrief, and the other colorful figures of the Age of Heroes.
→ in the HoBaW, sailors light candles to the Moon-Pale maiden; when she fell in love with Durran, Elenei was fair, a maiden and a daughter of gods. It is reasonable to conclude that Elenei is an incarnation of the the Moon-Pale maiden and the next-to-be goddess of the wind
→ if the Merling Queen has mermaids, then the Merling King of the House of Black and White fits the bill as the sea god of the legend
→ Durran Godsgrief, the first storm king is a legendary figure of the Age of Heroes. Incidentally, it appears that his legend was consolidated in his name.
→ Durran was saved from the wrath of Elenei's godly parents by the sheltering arms of his beloved: Elenei is the embodiment of Storm's End, a 'mighty bulwark'.
LmL , in his in-depth description of the myths describing the Long Night cataclysms here, explains Elenei's myth as 'stealing the daughter of the gods is another way of saying "stealing fire from heaven," or describing a fallen star, so again the tsunamis resulted after something fell from heaven'.
Assuming that he is correct, his analysis shows that the curtain wall pre-dates the Long Night, as Durran was able to shelter from the walls of water that came his way.
I subscribe to the cataclysmic nature of the cause of the Long Night and whether a meteor or earthquake caused the damages to the Arm of Dorne (and the Neck) it is quite likely that a devastating tsunami would have been unleashed.
Which fits with Durran having lived in the Age of Heroes, which is when the Long Night happened.
3b. 'A seventh castle he raised, most massive of all'
WIF
Archmaester Vyron, in his Triumphs and Defeats, speculates that the tale's claim that the final form of Storm's End was the seventh castle shows a clear Andal influence, and if true, this suggests the possibility that the final form of the castle was only achieved in Andal times. Mayhaps the castle was rebuilt on the site of earlier castles, but if so, it was long after Durran Godsgrief and his fair Elenei had passed from this earth.
Archmaester Vyron, in his Triumphs and Defeats, speculates that the tale's claim that the final form of Storm's End was the seventh castle shows a clear Andal influence, and if true, this suggests the possibility that the final form of the castle was only achieved in Andal times. Mayhaps the castle was rebuilt on the site of earlier castles, but if so, it was long after Durran Godsgrief and his fair Elenei had passed from this earth.
A Dance with Dragons - Jaime I
Raventree Hall was old. Moss grew thick between its ancient stones, spiderwebbing up its walls like the veins in a crone's legs. Two huge towers flanked the castle's main gate, and smaller ones defended every angle of its walls. All were square. Drum towers and half-moons held up better against catapults, since thrown stones were more apt to deflect off a curved wall, but Raventree pre-dated that particular bit of builder's wisdom.
Raventree Hall was old. Moss grew thick between its ancient stones, spiderwebbing up its walls like the veins in a crone's legs. Two huge towers flanked the castle's main gate, and smaller ones defended every angle of its walls. All were square. Drum towers and half-moons held up better against catapults, since thrown stones were more apt to deflect off a curved wall, but Raventree pre-dated that particular bit of builder's wisdom.
→ the seventh and current castle is a drum tower which indicates a late Westerosi architecture:
- we are told by Jaimie's remark in front of Raventree Hall that drum towers were not built at the time of Raventree's construction. Raventree is the seat of House Blackwoods. The Blackwoods were driven from the wolfswood (the forest north of Winterfell) by the Kings of Winter. So Raventree dates back to the Age of Heroes, as the Kings of Winter date back 8,000 years, post Long Night. Pre Long Night, Westerosi did not build drum towers.
→ the archmaester speculates the number 7 is an Andal influence and who would argue with an 'archmaester'?
3c. 'The children of the forest helped him build it, shaping the stones with magic'
WIF - The Stormlands: House Durrandon
The Godsgrief himself was first to claim the rainwood, that wet wilderness that had hitherto belonged only to the children of the forest. His son Durran the Devout returned to the children most of what his father had seized...
The Godsgrief himself was first to claim the rainwood, that wet wilderness that had hitherto belonged only to the children of the forest. His son Durran the Devout returned to the children most of what his father had seized...
→ the Godsgrief does not appear to have been at peace with the children of the forest.
I will explain later how the children of the forest could have in fact been involved.
In any case, whilst the children did not work stones – they lived in caves, crannogs and trees [Game Bran 7] - the magic in the castle must have always been known through tales and who best for the First Men than to attribute it to the children of the forest?
3d. 'A small boy told him what he must do, a boy who would grow to be Bran the Builder'
How Bran the Builder comes into the tale is a bit mystifying:
- Old Nan: 'Brandon the Builder had raised Winterfell, and some said the Wall' [Game Bran 4]
- WIF: 'the First Keep of Winterfell (which a past maester in service to the Starks examined and found to have been rebuilt so many times that a precise dating could not be made'
- WIF: 'It was only with the building of the fifth tower, the first to be made entirely of stone, that the Hightower became a seat worthy of a great house.... Some say it was designed by Brandon the Builder, whilst others name his son, another Brandon; the king who demanded it, and paid for it, is remembered as Uthor of the High Tower.'
→ Winterfell's First Keep was not a particularly sturdy construction
→ Old Nan is not categoric that Brandon the Builder built the wall
→ some Brandon may have 'designed' the 5th tower of Hightower, which is not a 'special' construction as is the square base on which it is built.
There is nothing in these tales to identify Brandon as a builder capable of building such a construction as our curtain wall. Furthermore, if this Bran is the same as the Brandon the Builder who built the first structures of Winterfell and – 'some say' – the Wall, where he might have acquired knowledge of magic building techniques, it is unlikely that he would have later been hanging around as a child at Storm's End.
I suggest that these tales are born out of an attempt by the Kings of Winter at accentuating his legendary hero status. A possible reason for this usurpation is explained by _@voice here.
In summary, it is not likely that either Brandon the Builder, the Andals or the First Men put up this construction but it is likely that the 'hero' Durran Godsgrief settled there and he or his descendants, having been protected during the Long Night, established a legend based on a sea goddess.
The fact that the earliest legend includes a sea goddess points to the involvement of sailors.
Let's have a look at an alternative involving mariners from the north of the Great Empire of the Dawn.
4. This is where the Ibbenese come in.
What do we know about Ib? Actually quite a bit is narrated in the WIF and the Ibbenese are ubiquitous in the Song of Ice and Fire books as several POV characters mention them (Theon, Tyrion, Daenerys, Arya, Jaimie, Pate, Brienne, Davos, Jon and the Blind, Ugly and Mercy little girls).
Why so much talk of Ib? Perhaps just so that I can write this essay, perhaps for other reasons which I have not discovered.
Where is Ib? Best is to look at a map, here is one. Locate the Narrow sea, then go north, by-pass Braavos and go east till you see the island of Ibben. There.
WIF
And soon thereafter, the intrepid seafarer will find himself crossing the heart of the Shivering Sea, where every rock and wave is ruled by the hairy men from the great island of Ib.
The Ibbenese stand apart from the other races of mankind. They are a heavy people, broad about the chest and shoulders, but seldom standing more than five and a half feet in height, with thick, short legs and long arms. Though short and squat, they are ferociously strong; at wrestling, their favorite sport, no man of the Seven Kingdoms can hope to equal them.
...Ships from the Port of Ibben are a common sight in harbours up and down the narrow sea, and even as far away as the Summer Isles and Old Volantis...
Ib is the second largest island in the known world; only Great Moraq, between the Jade and Summer Seas, is larger. Stony and mountainous, Ib is a land of great grey mountains, ancient forests, and rushing rivers, its dark interior a haunt of bears and wolves. Giants once dwelt on Ib, we are told, but none remain.
Gold, iron, and tin can be found in abundance in the mountains of Ib, as well as timber, amber, and a hundred sorts of pelts in the island's forests.
The Ibbenese of the shore are a more venturesome folk than their cousins from the woods and mountains. Bold fishermen, they travel the northern seas widely in search of cod, herring, whitefish, and eel, but it is as whalers that they are best known in the wider world. Their great-bellied whaling ships are a common sight in ports up and down the narrow sea and beyond. Though seldom pleasing to the eye (or nose), Ibbenese ships are renowned for their strength for they are built to weather any storm and withstand the assaults of even the largest leviathans. The bone, blubber, and oil of the whales they hunt are Ib's chief stock-in-trade, and have made the Port of Ibben the largest and richest city of the Shivering Sea.
The westernmost reaches of the Shivering Sea, from Skagos and the Grey Cliffs to the delta of the Sarne, are the richest fishing grounds in the known world.
Grey and gloomy, the Port of Ibben has ruled over Ib and the lesser isles since the dawn of days...
...the Port is dominated by the ruins of the God-King's castle, a colossal structure of rough-hewn stone that was home to a hundred Ibbenese kings.
The men of Ib have not always confined themselves to their islands. There is abundant evidence of Ibbenese settlements on the Axe, on the Lorathi isles...
Though the men of Ib can father children upon the women of Westeros and other lands, the products of such unions are often malformed and inevitably sterile, in the manner of mules. Ibbenese females, when mated with men from other races, bring forth naught but stillbirths and monstrosities.
Such matings are uncommon... the sailors who crew [their ships] keep to their own kind even when ashore and display a deep suspicion of all strangers. On Ib itself, men of other lands and races are restricted by law and custom to the harbor precincts of the Port of Ibben and forbidden to venture beyond the city save in the company of an Ibbenese host. Such invitations are exceedingly rare.
The God-Kings of Ib, before their fall, did succeed in conquering and colonizing a huge swathe of northern Essos immediately south of Ib itself, a densely wooded region that had formerly been the home of a small, shy forest folk.
The fabled Sea Snake, Corlys Velaryon, Lord of the Tides, was the first Westerosi to visit these woods. After his return from the Thousand Islands, he wrote of carved trees, haunted grottoes, and strange silences.
He reported that the Dothraki name for the lost people meant "those who walk in the woods.”
All that ended two hundred years ago with the coming of the Dothraki. The horselords had hitherto shunned the forests of the northern coasts; some say this was because of their reverence for the vanished wood walkers, others because they feared their powers.
And soon thereafter, the intrepid seafarer will find himself crossing the heart of the Shivering Sea, where every rock and wave is ruled by the hairy men from the great island of Ib.
The Ibbenese stand apart from the other races of mankind. They are a heavy people, broad about the chest and shoulders, but seldom standing more than five and a half feet in height, with thick, short legs and long arms. Though short and squat, they are ferociously strong; at wrestling, their favorite sport, no man of the Seven Kingdoms can hope to equal them.
...Ships from the Port of Ibben are a common sight in harbours up and down the narrow sea, and even as far away as the Summer Isles and Old Volantis...
Ib is the second largest island in the known world; only Great Moraq, between the Jade and Summer Seas, is larger. Stony and mountainous, Ib is a land of great grey mountains, ancient forests, and rushing rivers, its dark interior a haunt of bears and wolves. Giants once dwelt on Ib, we are told, but none remain.
Gold, iron, and tin can be found in abundance in the mountains of Ib, as well as timber, amber, and a hundred sorts of pelts in the island's forests.
The Ibbenese of the shore are a more venturesome folk than their cousins from the woods and mountains. Bold fishermen, they travel the northern seas widely in search of cod, herring, whitefish, and eel, but it is as whalers that they are best known in the wider world. Their great-bellied whaling ships are a common sight in ports up and down the narrow sea and beyond. Though seldom pleasing to the eye (or nose), Ibbenese ships are renowned for their strength for they are built to weather any storm and withstand the assaults of even the largest leviathans. The bone, blubber, and oil of the whales they hunt are Ib's chief stock-in-trade, and have made the Port of Ibben the largest and richest city of the Shivering Sea.
The westernmost reaches of the Shivering Sea, from Skagos and the Grey Cliffs to the delta of the Sarne, are the richest fishing grounds in the known world.
Grey and gloomy, the Port of Ibben has ruled over Ib and the lesser isles since the dawn of days...
...the Port is dominated by the ruins of the God-King's castle, a colossal structure of rough-hewn stone that was home to a hundred Ibbenese kings.
The men of Ib have not always confined themselves to their islands. There is abundant evidence of Ibbenese settlements on the Axe, on the Lorathi isles...
Though the men of Ib can father children upon the women of Westeros and other lands, the products of such unions are often malformed and inevitably sterile, in the manner of mules. Ibbenese females, when mated with men from other races, bring forth naught but stillbirths and monstrosities.
Such matings are uncommon... the sailors who crew [their ships] keep to their own kind even when ashore and display a deep suspicion of all strangers. On Ib itself, men of other lands and races are restricted by law and custom to the harbor precincts of the Port of Ibben and forbidden to venture beyond the city save in the company of an Ibbenese host. Such invitations are exceedingly rare.
The God-Kings of Ib, before their fall, did succeed in conquering and colonizing a huge swathe of northern Essos immediately south of Ib itself, a densely wooded region that had formerly been the home of a small, shy forest folk.
The fabled Sea Snake, Corlys Velaryon, Lord of the Tides, was the first Westerosi to visit these woods. After his return from the Thousand Islands, he wrote of carved trees, haunted grottoes, and strange silences.
He reported that the Dothraki name for the lost people meant "those who walk in the woods.”
All that ended two hundred years ago with the coming of the Dothraki. The horselords had hitherto shunned the forests of the northern coasts; some say this was because of their reverence for the vanished wood walkers, others because they feared their powers.
Recap:
→ the Port of Ibben has ruled over Ib and the lesser isles since the dawn of days
→ the Port is dominated by the ruins of the God-King's castle, a colossal structure of rough-hewn stone that lasted long enough for a hundred kings
→ Ib is a very large island, rich in gold, iron, tin, etc
→ the Ibbenese are shortish and ferociously strong
→ they display a deep suspicion of strangers
→ they are bold fishermen who sail the northern seas widely and currently sail all the way to the Summer Isles and Volantis
→ their ships are renowned for their strength for they are built to weather any storm and withstand the assaults of even the largest leviathans
→ the Shivering sea is the richest fishing ground in the known world
→ the bone, blubber, and oil of the whales they hunt are Ib's chief stock-in-trade. It is worth noting that whale oil was so popular as lamp oil, and other usages, on our own planet that whales were nearly hunted to extinction because of it
→ they colonised, in northern Essos, a densely wooded region that had formerly been the home of a small, shy forest folk:
- Corlys Velaryon, the first Westerosi to visit these woods wrote of carved trees, haunted grottoes, and strange silences
- the Dothraki name for the lost people meant "those who walk in the woods”
- the horselords had shunned these forests, some say this was because they feared their powers.
In summary, the Ibbenese are insular, strong people and bold seafarers, able to trade in hugely important commodities such as gold and whale oil, who had colonised a small and shy wood dwelling people who carved trees and had the Dothrakis spooked; and let's not forget they also had giants for neighbours.
Their sturdy ships could withstand any storms. And even if the Narrow sea was a closed in its south, it would have been subjected to huge storms like any inland sea of our planet. If you need convincing, check out the Mediterranean sea storms in autumn/early winter or listen to the haunting song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
How would the Ibbenese have traded their hugely valuable goods with Asshai and the southern regions of the Great Empire?
5. Most likely via Myr.
WIF
The origins of Myr are murkier... There are certain signs that a city stood where Myr now stands even during the Dawn Age and the Long Night, raised by some ancient, vanished people...
The origins of Myr are murkier... There are certain signs that a city stood where Myr now stands even during the Dawn Age and the Long Night, raised by some ancient, vanished people...
→ Myr was an established port at the time of the Great Empire of the Dawn
→ the key to the southern Essos markets for the Ibbenese trade.
→ ancient Myr was likely destroyed when the Hammer of the Waters shattered the Arm of Dorne and caused the tsunami mentioned in paragraph 3a.
That is all very well, but regardless of the Ibbenese's seafaring and trading abilities via Myr and their connections with magic wood dwellers and giants, they do not appear to be builders of extraordinary abilities.
But their western neighbours certainly do.
6. Enter the Lorathi.
We all know at least one Lorathi, Jaqen H'ghar, who following his ancestral 'cult of the Blind God keeps the habit of speech where men and women of the noble classes regard it as unutterably vulgar to speak of one's self directly' [WIF]. “A man comes to hear a name. One and two and then comes three. A man would have done." [Clash Arya 9]
However he is no builder, so let's move on.
WIF
The Free City of Lorath stands upon the western end of the largest in a cluster of low, stony islands in the Shivering Sea north of Essos, near the mouth of Lorath Bay.
In ancient days, the isles were home to the mysterious race of men known as the mazemakers, who vanished long before the dawn of true history, leaving no trace of themselves save for their bones and the mazes they built.
Sprawling constructs of bewildering complexity, made from blocks of hewn stone, the mazemakers' constructions are scattered across the isles—and one, badly overgrown and sunk deep into the earth, has been found on Essos proper, on the peninsula south of Lorath. Lorassyon, the second largest of the Lorath isles, is home to a vast maze that fills more than three quarters of the surface area of the island and includes four levels beneath the ground, with some passages descending five hundred feet.
Scholars still debate the purpose of these mazes. Were they fortifications, temples, towns? Or did they serve some other, stranger purpose?The mazemakers left no written records, so we shall never know. Their bones tell us that they were massively built and larger than men, though not so large as giants.
The Free City of Lorath stands upon the western end of the largest in a cluster of low, stony islands in the Shivering Sea north of Essos, near the mouth of Lorath Bay.
In ancient days, the isles were home to the mysterious race of men known as the mazemakers, who vanished long before the dawn of true history, leaving no trace of themselves save for their bones and the mazes they built.
Sprawling constructs of bewildering complexity, made from blocks of hewn stone, the mazemakers' constructions are scattered across the isles—and one, badly overgrown and sunk deep into the earth, has been found on Essos proper, on the peninsula south of Lorath. Lorassyon, the second largest of the Lorath isles, is home to a vast maze that fills more than three quarters of the surface area of the island and includes four levels beneath the ground, with some passages descending five hundred feet.
Scholars still debate the purpose of these mazes. Were they fortifications, temples, towns? Or did they serve some other, stranger purpose?The mazemakers left no written records, so we shall never know. Their bones tell us that they were massively built and larger than men, though not so large as giants.
→ they lived long before the dawn of true history
→ they built bewilderingly complex structures of hewn stone that have lasted the test of time
→ the God-King's castle of Ib was a colossal structure of rough-hewn stone
→ they build deep underground
→ they were massive and larger than men.
The Lorathi had the ability to build with stones that 'fit so cunningly together', may have already been building for the Ib God-King and knew how to build underground which is one of the features Storm's End sea access.
The Lorathi followed the cult of the Blind God, Storm's End is a 'blind' castle, one cannot see through its walls.
7. Why build in the Stormlands?
Storm's End is pretty much on the same latitude as Myr, across the Narrow sea.
The high cliffs of Storm's End provide an ideal location for a strong-hold and to keep strangers away.
The Ibbenese were not looking for a safe anchorage, their ships were sturdy enough and they could always sail to the western shore of Tarth to shelter from the Narrow sea storms.
The lack of safe anchorage is a deterrent for would-be intruders.
8. Interlude - Tales from the Shivering sea
WIF
Sailors, by nature a gullible and superstitious lot, as fond of their fancies as singers, tell many tales of these frigid northern waters. They speak of queer lights shimmering in the sky, where the demon mother of the ice giants dances eternally through the night, seeking to lure men northward to their doom. They whisper of Cannibal Bay, where ships enter at their peril only to find themselves trapped forever when the sea freezes hard behind them.
They tell of pale blue mists that move across the waters, mists so cold that any ship they pass over is frozen instantly; of drowned spirits who rise at night to drag the living down into the grey-green depths; of mermaids pale of flesh with black-scaled tails, far more malign than their sisters of the south.
Of all the queer and fabulous denizens of the Shivering Sea, however, the greatest are the ice dragons. These colossal beasts, many times larger than the dragons of Valyria, are said to be made of living ice, with eyes of pale blue crystal and vast translucent wings through which the moon and stars can be glimpsed as they wheel across the sky. Whereas common dragons (if any dragon can truly be said to be common) breathe flame, ice dragons supposedly breathe cold, a chill so terrible that it can freeze a man solid in half a heartbeat.
Sailors, by nature a gullible and superstitious lot, as fond of their fancies as singers, tell many tales of these frigid northern waters. They speak of queer lights shimmering in the sky, where the demon mother of the ice giants dances eternally through the night, seeking to lure men northward to their doom. They whisper of Cannibal Bay, where ships enter at their peril only to find themselves trapped forever when the sea freezes hard behind them.
They tell of pale blue mists that move across the waters, mists so cold that any ship they pass over is frozen instantly; of drowned spirits who rise at night to drag the living down into the grey-green depths; of mermaids pale of flesh with black-scaled tails, far more malign than their sisters of the south.
Of all the queer and fabulous denizens of the Shivering Sea, however, the greatest are the ice dragons. These colossal beasts, many times larger than the dragons of Valyria, are said to be made of living ice, with eyes of pale blue crystal and vast translucent wings through which the moon and stars can be glimpsed as they wheel across the sky. Whereas common dragons (if any dragon can truly be said to be common) breathe flame, ice dragons supposedly breathe cold, a chill so terrible that it can freeze a man solid in half a heartbeat.
→ the sailors tell tales of what we would call now the northern lights, icebergs and ships getting trapped in ice floes
→ they also tell of mist that will freeze ships instantly, of night-rising drowned-spirits and of colossal ice dragons, with pale blue crystal eyes and translucent wings, whose breath can freeze a man solid in no time.
These last tales are very reminiscent of creatures of the Long Night.
Did the God-king take refuge at his Storm's End castle during the Long Night?
9. Is there a link between the Ibbenese and the Durrandons?
Was there a real Elenei as well as a mythical one?
9a. The Ibbenese.
WIF
They are a heavy people, broad about the chest and shoulders, but seldom standing more than five and a half feet in height, with thick, short legs and long arms. Though short and squat, they are ferociously strong; at wrestling, their favorite sport, no man of the Seven Kingdoms can hope to equal them.
Their faces, characterized by sloping brows with heavy ridges, small sunken eyes, great square teeth, and massive jaws, seem brutish and ugly to Westerosi eyes... They are the most hirsute people in the known world. Though their flesh is pale, with dark blue veins beneath the skin, their hair is dark and wiry. Ibbenese men are heavily bearded; wiry body hair covers their arms, legs, chests, and backs. Coarse dark hair is common amongst their women, even on the upper lip. (The persistent myth that Ibbenese females have six breasts has no truth to it, however.)
They are a heavy people, broad about the chest and shoulders, but seldom standing more than five and a half feet in height, with thick, short legs and long arms. Though short and squat, they are ferociously strong; at wrestling, their favorite sport, no man of the Seven Kingdoms can hope to equal them.
Their faces, characterized by sloping brows with heavy ridges, small sunken eyes, great square teeth, and massive jaws, seem brutish and ugly to Westerosi eyes... They are the most hirsute people in the known world. Though their flesh is pale, with dark blue veins beneath the skin, their hair is dark and wiry. Ibbenese men are heavily bearded; wiry body hair covers their arms, legs, chests, and backs. Coarse dark hair is common amongst their women, even on the upper lip. (The persistent myth that Ibbenese females have six breasts has no truth to it, however.)
→ broad across the chest, hirsute, dark and wiry hair, pale flesh.
9b. Their descendance
WIF
Though the men of Ib can father children upon the women of Westeros and other lands, the products of such unions are often malformed and inevitably sterile, in the manner of mules. Ibbenese females, when mated with men from other races, bring forth naught but stillbirths and monstrosities..
Though the men of Ib can father children upon the women of Westeros and other lands, the products of such unions are often malformed and inevitably sterile, in the manner of mules. Ibbenese females, when mated with men from other races, bring forth naught but stillbirths and monstrosities..
Brown Ben Plumm
A Storm of Swords - Daenerys V
"You?" Dany was startled. Plumm was a creature of the free companies, an amiable mongrel. He had a broad brown face with a broken nose and a head of nappy grey hair, and his Dothraki mother had bequeathed him large, dark, almond-shaped eyes. He claimed to be part Braavosi, part Summer Islander, part Ibbenese, part Qohorik, part Dothraki, part Dornish, and part Westerosi, but this was the first she had heard of Targaryen blood.
A Storm of Swords - Daenerys VI
. . . and Brown Ben Plumm as well, solid Ben with his grey-white hair and weathered face, so beloved of her dragons.
"You?" Dany was startled. Plumm was a creature of the free companies, an amiable mongrel. He had a broad brown face with a broken nose and a head of nappy grey hair, and his Dothraki mother had bequeathed him large, dark, almond-shaped eyes. He claimed to be part Braavosi, part Summer Islander, part Ibbenese, part Qohorik, part Dothraki, part Dornish, and part Westerosi, but this was the first she had heard of Targaryen blood.
A Storm of Swords - Daenerys VI
. . . and Brown Ben Plumm as well, solid Ben with his grey-white hair and weathered face, so beloved of her dragons.
Casso Mogat
A Dance with Dragons - Davos II
The Merry Midwife tied up to the end of a weathered wooden pier in the outer harbor, well away from Lionstar. As her crew made her fast to the pilings and lowered a gangplank, her captain sauntered up to Davos. Casso Mogat was a mongrel of the narrow sea, fathered on a Sisterton whore by an Ibbenese whaler. Only five feet tall and very hirsute, he dyed his hair and whiskers a mossy green. It made him look like a tree stump in yellow boots. Despite his appearance, he seemed a good sailor, though a hard master to his crew. "How long will you be gone?"
The Merry Midwife tied up to the end of a weathered wooden pier in the outer harbor, well away from Lionstar. As her crew made her fast to the pilings and lowered a gangplank, her captain sauntered up to Davos. Casso Mogat was a mongrel of the narrow sea, fathered on a Sisterton whore by an Ibbenese whaler. Only five feet tall and very hirsute, he dyed his hair and whiskers a mossy green. It made him look like a tree stump in yellow boots. Despite his appearance, he seemed a good sailor, though a hard master to his crew. "How long will you be gone?"
→ the WIF tells us that their descendants are either malformed, sterile, stillborn or monsters, but this is not quite true:
- Brown Ben Plumm claims to have Ibbenese ancestry; perhaps what remains of that ancestry is his 'solid' appearance
- Casso Mogat's father is Ibbenese; he retains the height and the hairiness; we are not told his hair colour. He is not described as 'malformed'.
9c. The Durrandons
WIF - The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest
And no king in Westeros felt more threatened than Argilac the Storm King, last of the Durrandon—an aging warrior whose only heir was his maiden daughter....
But Argilac had grown older; his famous mane of black hair had gone grey, and his prowess at arms had faded....
And no king in Westeros felt more threatened than Argilac the Storm King, last of the Durrandon—an aging warrior whose only heir was his maiden daughter....
But Argilac had grown older; his famous mane of black hair had gone grey, and his prowess at arms had faded....
WIF - House Baratheon
House Baratheon was born amidst the rain and mud of the battle known to history as the Last Storm, when Orys Baratheon thrice turned back the charge of the knights of Storm's End and slew their king Argilac the Arrogant in single combat. Storm's End, long thought to be impregnable, yielded to Orys without a battle (wisely, given the fate of Harrenhal). Afterward Orys took King Argilac's daughter to wife and adopted the Durrandon arms and words as his own to honor Argilac's valor.
House Baratheon was born amidst the rain and mud of the battle known to history as the Last Storm, when Orys Baratheon thrice turned back the charge of the knights of Storm's End and slew their king Argilac the Arrogant in single combat. Storm's End, long thought to be impregnable, yielded to Orys without a battle (wisely, given the fate of Harrenhal). Afterward Orys took King Argilac's daughter to wife and adopted the Durrandon arms and words as his own to honor Argilac's valor.
→ Argilac the Arrogant, last of the Storm Kings who defied the dragon lords and fell to Orys Baratheon, first Hand of the King, Aegon the Conqueror was valorous enough for his vanquisher to adopt his arms and words. And marry his maiden daughter, his only heir.
→ Argilac had a famous mane of black hair; this is still a prominent trait of the Baratheons.
9d. So, is their a link?
The Ibbenese have pale flesh. Elenei was fair.
The Ibbenese have dark wiry hair. Argilac Durrandon had a famous mane of black hair.
The Ibbenese are bold, not afraid to take on the might of storms and leviathans. Argilac defied the dragon king with valour (when others kneeled or got fried).
Durran Godsgrief, first of the Storm Kings, wed Elenei. Orys Baratheon wed Argella, maiden daughter of Argilac the Arrogant, last of the Storm Kings.
The Baratheons are recognised by their black hair. After all, Jon Arryn and Eddard Stark both died because they recognised this important trait.
'The seed is strong'.
Since these comparisons are somewhat tenuous, I will let you draw your own conclusions.
10. Summary
I suggest that Storm's End's curtain wall was built by the Lorathi mazemakers who were well able to 'fit stones so cunningly together'. The construction was commandeered by the Ibbenese who needed a safe store for their hugely valuable trade with Myr and the southern regions of the Great Empire of the Dawn.
The Ibbenese are strong people, they build the sturdiest ships and they would have wanted the sturdiest strong-hold, in their image, which is just what Storm's End curtain wall is.
Both the Lorathi and Ibbenese were very strong people; the Ibbenese could have enrolled giants to help in the building; they certainly could have used tree-carving, Dothraki spooking, wood-walkers, or knowledge acquired from them, to weave spells in the walls. One of these may have even come to supervise the spell weaving and been mistaken for a child.
As no light could shine through the wall, intruders would not have know if the place was manned which is another defensive advantage.
With spell-woven walls and a treacherous entry to the strong-hold, the Ibbenese’s wealth would have been well guarded against pillages from Myr or Narrow sea pirates accompanied by Asshai shadow-binders.
I tend to think that the Ibbenese who commandeered Storm's End's curtain wall was the God-King, rather than a merchant or a pirate, as he would have been a wealthy and powerful and fits with the sea god persona, the father of Elenei.
One can imagine the God-King of Ib, deciding to take refuge in his Storm's End castle during the Long Night to get away from the ice dragons and rising drowned-spirits plaguing the Shivering sea. The curtain wall had saved the castle from the devastation of the tsunami, the only structure left standing along the coast.
Durran turned up looking for refuge and hospitality, Elenei 'glimpsed [him] from atop the wall' and he was let in. Elenei fell for Durran. The God-King, who would not have seen this union kindly considering the Ib traditions, eventually left, grief stricken, never to return.
And this is how the legend of Durran Godsgrief and Elenei, daughter of gods was born.
We are not told either why the place is called Storm's End. Perhaps one of the Durrandon kings named it this way as the Narrow sea storms end at the curtain wall.
To close, I will return to an appreciative maester's comment:
'the curtain wall is high art, vastly strong and an ingenious construction.'
End.
