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"Is that right? You and the pretty crow do a lot of talking Tormund, and when you're done talking, do you get down on your knees and suck his cock?"
―The Lord of Bones to Tormund, who responds by beating him to death with his own staff.[src]

The Lord of Bones, also known as Rattleshirt,[1] was a notorious leader among the Free Folk and a fearsome raider.

Biography[]

Background[]

The Lord of Bones is an infamous wildling raider. He is known for wearing a giant's skull instead of a helmet and armor made of bones, which he wears to intimidate his enemies. His real name is unknown.[2]

Game of Thrones: Season 2[]

Rattleshirt

The Lord of Bones wears the front of a giant's skull as a mask and bones as armor.

Ygritte takes Jon Snow to the rest of the warparty and introduces him, to the Lord of Bones, as "a present". The wildling commander is dismissive of Ygritte's arguments to keep him alive, as he already has Qhorin as prisoner. He relents, however, after Ygritte's insistence and the reminder that Mance Rayder would want to decide for himself whether the bastard son of Eddard Stark lives or dies. However, he threatens Ygritte to castrate Jon should he try to escape. As the warband and their prisoners march to Mance Rayder's camp in Skirling Pass, Qhorin attacks Jon, blaming him for the deaths of Stonesnake, Borba and Harker. The Lord of Bones warns Qhorin not to strike his captive again.[2]

When Halfhand attacks Jon once again, as part of his plan to have Jon infiltrate Mance Rayder's host, the Lord of Bones orders his men to let the two fight. After Jon kills Qhorin, the Lord of Bones cuts the ropes binding his hands together and orders his men to burn the Halfhand's corpse. He turns to Jon and taunts him that he would not want Qhorin's corpse coming back for him.[3]

Game of Thrones: Season 3[]

The Lord of Bones successfully brings Jon to the King-Beyond-the-Wall's camp and to Mance Rayder's tent. Removing his helmet, he is commended by Mance and then asked to leave with his group, including Ygritte, so that Mance may speak to Jon in private to which he obliges.[4]

Game of Thrones: Season 5[]

Lord of Bones Dead (Hardhome)

The Lord of Bones beaten to death by Tormund.

Jon Snow and Tormund visit Hardhome to rally the wildling forces to fight the undead army. The Lord of Bones meets with Tormund, and speaks about the events which led Jon and Tormund to work together. The Lord of Bones accuses Tormund of being a traitor and makes an insulting remark about Tormund sucking Jon's cock. Before he can finish the insult, Tormund grabs his staff and beats him to death with it in front of the other wildlings.[5]

If his corpse was not burned while the parlay was taking place, it is likely that in the aftermath of the massacre at Hardhome, the Lord of Bones was reanimated as a wight by the Night King alongside all the other dead Wildlings and brothers of the Night's Watch.[5]

Quotes[]

Spoken by the Lord of Bones[]

"He's not yours to kill... crow!"
―The Lord of Bones to Qhorin[src]

In the books[]

Roman Papsuev - Rattleshirt

Rattleshirt by Roman "Amok" Papsuev.©

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the Lord of Bones is one of a number of formerly fiercely independent wildling warrior leaders who has been recruited by Mance Rayder, the King-Beyond-the-Wall, to join his forces. He is a fierce enemy of the Night's Watch. Though he refers to himself as the Lord of Bones, the Night's Watch dubbed him "Rattleshirt" as a mockery of the rattle sound produced by his armor. His true name is unknown.

It is not Tormund but the Lord of Bones who is captured by the Watch during the battle for the Wall. Tormund never goes to Hardhome and thus never kills him there, as he did in the TV show. Instead, Melisandre has him burned alive, but switches his appearance with that of Mance Rayder to make it look as if Mance is the one being burned, and Mance masquerades as the Lord of Bones for a while before revealing himself.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

References[]

Notes[]

  1. In "Winter Is Coming," which takes place in 298 AC, Sansa Stark tells Cersei Lannister that she is 13 years old and Bran Stark tells Jaime Lannister that he is 10 years old. Arya Stark was born between Sansa and Bran, making her either 11 or 12 in Season 1. The rest of the Stark children have been aged up by 2 years from their book ages, so it can be assumed that she is 11 in Season 1. Arya is 18 in Season 8 according to HBO, which means at least 7 years occur in the span of the series; therefore, each season of Game of Thrones must roughly correspond to a year in-universe, placing the events of Season 5 in 302 AC.

External links[]

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