The King of the Kingswood.
- "Before the dragons ruled over Westeros, the white hart was a symbol of royalty in these lands."
- ―Howland Sharp
The white hart[1] is a rare type of deer in Westeros, considered magical. They are seen as a symbol of royalty.
History[]
House of the Dragon: Season 1[]
On Prince Aegon's second nameday, a grand hunt is organized by King Viserys in the Kingswood. Eventually, the Royal Huntsman Ser Howland Sharp tracks a white hart, Otto Hightower naming it the "King of the Kingswood" and proclaiming it a regal portent for Aegon's nameday. This contributes to the king's doubt over naming his daughter Rhaenyra his heir, but to his relief the stag they find is not white.[1]
After a night out in the Kingswood, Rhaenyra and Criston Cole are approached by the so-called "King of the Kingswood." It stops in a safe distance and looks in Rhaenyra's direction. Ser Criston draws his sword, but Rhaenyra stops him. She and the hart look at each other for a long moment, then it runs off.[1]
In the books[]
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, white harts are the subject of songs and legends. In the songs, the gallant prince most often simply walks up to the white hart, touching it and doing it no harm. According to Sansa Stark, white harts are very rare and magical.
Robert Baratheon hunts a white hart in the Kingswood, taking half of the royal court with him. While they are away, Sansa tells her friend Jeyne Poole about a dream (actually, a wish) she had: her prince charming shot the hart with a golden arrow and brought it back for her.
Robert's hunting party finds the hart, but it has already been killed and mostly eaten by wolves, leaving the king with nothing but a hoof and a horn. He then sets out to hunt a boar instead, leading to his untimely demise.
The White Hart is a war galley in the royal fleet, which gets destroyed by wildfire during the Battle of the Blackwater.
In Fire & Blood, there is no mention of white harts, and the whole hunt subplot does not occur.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 House of the Dragon: Season 1, Episode 3: "Second of His Name" (2022).
External links[]
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