“Renly Baratheon is nothing to me, nor Stannis neither.
Why should they rule over me and mine, from some flowery seat in
Highgarden or Dorne? What do they know of the Wall or the wolfswood
or the barrows of the First Men? Even their gods are wrong. The
Others take the Lannisters too, I’ve had a bellyful of them.” He
reached back over his shoulder and drew his immense two-handed
greatsword. “Why shouldn’t we rule ourselves again? It was the
dragons we married, and the dragons are all dead!” He pointed at
Robb with the blade. “There sits the only king I mean to bow my knee
to, m’lords,” he thundered. “The King in the North!”
(Catelyn XI, AGoT)
Among all the victims of the Red Wedding, the only northern lord that
the Freys and Roose Bolton insisted on keeping captive is the Greatjon,
despite the practical difficulty of the task, as if the captivity
provided an indispensable political leverage. It seems to tell us that
the perpetrators of the Red Wedding were concerned by the castellans of
the Last Hearth, and Roose Bolton tells that he fears them.
...the Umbers may seem simple, but they are not without
a certain low cunning. Ramsay should fear them all, as I do.
(Reek III, ADwD)
Low cunning. So the behaviour of the two uncles of
Greatjon Umber has to be watched with particular attention.
Contents
- House Umber and the Last Hearth
- The Battle of Long Lake
- Whoresbane in Oldtown
- The Harvest Feast
- The Mystery of the Sack of Winterfell
- The Gentlemen's Agreement
- The Savior of the Fugitives
- The Horn and Drums of Crowfood
- Crowfood the Castellan
- Whoresbane's Sympathy for the Devil
1. House Umber and the Last Hearth
Let's begin by gathering what we know of House Umber's background
starting with the name of their seat: The Last Hearth. References to
fire are always noteworthy, and fire is not friendly to the Children of
the Forest. Indeed, the First Men were hostile to the Children at the
beginning go the Dawn Age, and burned the sacred weirwoods. In what
sense is it the
Last Hearth? It would seem to be the point of
view of a traveler coming from the south, as no noble house is seated
north of the Last Hearth. It might be that the Umber see themselves as
the final outpost of civilization, or perhaps the Last Hearth was once
the final outpost of some culture of the First Men.
Or is it last in a temporal sense? Is it a reference to the Long Night:
the Last Hearth to burn when all fires went away? The lastness of Umber
lands is reinforced by the name of the main river of the area:
the
Last River.
But under all likehood, the Umbers are strong followers of the old gods.
The Greatjon lamented the wrong gods of the south. When Jon is not
certain of Crowfood's allegiance to Stannis, he says.
Has Mors Umber bent the knee? “Your Grace should have
him swear an oath before his heart tree.”
(Jon IV, ADwD)
At the sight of the comet, the Greatjon believes that the Young Wolf is
blessed by the old gods.
The Greatjon told Robb that the old gods have unfurled a
red flag of vengeance for Ned.
(Catelyn I, ACoK)
Even the wolves are signs of the support of the old gods.
The Greatjon’s been heard to say that the old gods of
the north sent those direwolves to your children.
(Catelyn V, ACoK)
So the Greatjon feels entitled to declare the intentions of the old
gods, or at least he believes he understands them better than anybody.
He seems to be the closest thing to a priest of the old gods among the
northmen.
The sigil of House Umber is a giant breaking his chains. The reference
to giants is unique in the Seven Kingdoms, except perhaps the story of
Clarence Crabb. If one adds the remarkable tallness of the Greatjon, the
Smalljon, and Crowfood, we are led to believe that the Umbers have giant
blood. Osha says that intermingling is possible.
“He’ll find giants then, or they’ll find him. My brother
killed one. Ten foot tall she was, and stunted at that. They’ve been
known to grow big as twelve and thirteen feet. Fierce things they
are too, all hair and teeth, and the wives have beards like their
husbands, so there’s no telling them apart. The women take human men
for lovers, and it’s from them the half bloods come. It goes harder
on the women they catch. The men are so big they’ll rip a maid apart
before they get her with child.”
(Bran VI, AGoT)
There are other pieces of evidence: Hodor's ancestry, and Tormund's
tales. The Umbers seem to have inherited the taste of giants for wine as
well: Crowfood and Whoresbane are drunk at the Harvest Feast, the
Greatjon drinks prodigiously at the Red Wedding, the Umber who stopped
the previous King-beyong-the-Wall, one Harmond Umber, was called the
Drunken Giant etc.
House Umber has played a part in the story of Gendel and Gorne.
“Yes. Gendel had the king to the south, the Umbers to
the east, and the Watch to the north of him. He died as well.”
(Jon III, ASoS)
The mention of the king means that Gendel lived before the Conquest. But
we hear from Mance that it was after the Horned Lord.
Raymun Redbeard, Bael the Bard, Gendel and Gorne, the
Horned Lord, they all came south to conquer, but I’ve come with my
tail between my legs to hide behind your Wall.
(Jon X, ASoS)
I am tempted to guess that house Umber has been founded by the giants
cut from the north after the building of the Wall. Later, they
intermingled with humans.
2. The Battle of Long Lake
We saw that the Umbers helped defeat the King-beyond-the-Wall, Gendel.
The Battle of Long Lake ended Raymun Redbeard's dream of conquering the
realm.
If the climbers reached the top of the Wall undetected,
however, everything changed. Given time, they could carve out a
toehold for themselves up there, throwing up ramparts of their own
and dropping ropes and ladders for thousands more to clamber over
after them. That was how Raymun Redbeard had done it, Raymun who had
been King-Beyond-the-Wall in the days of his grandfather’s
grandfather. Jack Musgood had been the lord commander in those days.
Jolly Jack, he was called before Redbeard came down upon the north;
Sleepy Jack, forever after. Raymun’s host had met a bloody end on
the shores of Long Lake, caught between Lord Willam of Winterfell
and the Drunken Giant, Harmond Umber. Red-beard had been slain by
Artos the Implacable, Lord Willam’s younger brother. The Watch
arrived too late to fight the wildlings, but in time to bury them,
the task that Artos Stark assigned them in his wroth as he grieved
above the headless corpse of his fallen brother.
(Jon III, ADwD)
Artos and Willam were in the
generation before Edwyle Stark, himself father of Rickard, himself
father of Eddard. It was after the rule of Beron Stark (apparently
part of the generation that preceded Artos and Willam). Beron fought
the ironmen less than ninety years ago according to
The Mystery
Knight. So the battle of Long Lake has happened from forty to
ninety years ago, as Harmond Umber was the lord at the Last Hearth.
Another Umber ancestor is named, when Jon tells the story of
Whoresbane.
“You might say so. A whore who tried to rob him,
fifty years ago in Oldtown.” Odd as it might seem, old Hoarfrost
Umber had once believed his youngest son had the makings of a
maester.
(Jon IV, ADwD)
It is not absolutely certain that Harmond preceded Hoarfrost. If he
didn't, the battle of Long Lake happened less than fifty years ago,
and Harmond was either the Greatjon's father, or an older brother of
the Greatjon's father. In that case, both Whoresbane and Crowfood
could have been at the battle. And were likely to have been there,
unless Whoresbane was in Oldtown. If the battle happened less than
fifty years ago, the Starks lords followed in rapid succession (Willam,
Artos, Edwyle, Rickard) and Rickard was certainly born at the time
of the battle, as his son Brandon would be forty years old.
That Harmond preceded Hoarfrost seems more likely. Indeed, the
phrasing
old Hoarfrost Umber
seems to say that Hoarfrost lived to an old age, rather than he was
old at the time.
3. Whoresbane in Oldtown
Here is the defining anecdote for Hother "Whoresbane" Umber.
Jon chose to ignore them. “Your Grace, might I know if
the Umbers have declared for you?”
“Half of them, and only if I meet this Crowfood’s price,” said
Stannis, in an irritated tone. “He wants Mance Rayder’s skull for a
drinking cup, and he wants a pardon for his brother, who has ridden
south to join Bolton. Whoresbane, he’s called.”
Ser Godry was amused by that as well. “What names these northmen
have! Did this one bite the head off some whore?”
Jon regarded him coolly. “You might say so. A whore who tried to rob
him, fifty years ago in Oldtown.” Odd as it might seem, old
Hoarfrost Umber had once believed his youngest son had the makings
of a maester. Mors loved to boast about the crow who took his eye,
but Hother’s tale was only told in whispers ... most like because
the whore he’d disemboweled had been a man.
(Jon IV, ADwD)
Homosexuality, vengefulness are implied in the tale. About the
vengefulness, we have to recall the Red Wedding, and the subsequent
thirst for vengeance. Davos has well understood when he pleaded at the
Merman's cours.
Davos felt a stab of despair. His Grace should have sent
another man, a lord or knight or maester, someone who could speak
for him without tripping on his own tongue. “Death,” he heard
himself say, “there will be death, aye. Your lordship lost a son at
the Red Wedding. I lost four upon the Blackwater. And why? Because
the Lannisters stole the throne. Go to King’s Landing and look on
Tommen with your own eyes, if you doubt me. A blind man could see
it. What does Stannis offer you? Vengeance. Vengeance for my sons
and yours, for your husbands and your fathers and your brothers.
Vengeance for your murdered lord, your murdered king, your butchered
princes. Vengeance!”
(Davos III, ADwD)
And Wylla Manderly approves, as does Lord Wyman in his heart, we
suspect.
If Hother Umber has been trained as a maester, even partially so, he is
likely to know a thing or two about ravenry, which is a primordial skill
for a maester – perhaps the primordial skill, if we give significance to
the fact that the Ravenry is the oldest building at the Citadel.
Whoresbane does not wear a chain and does not seem to ever refer to his
studies at the Citadel.
There is a little consequence of Whoresbane's sojourn in Oldtown that
will attract our attention later.
A few comments on the Oldtown incident. Hother was probably very young
at the time. He is younger than Mors, who is still a fearsome warrior. I
guess Whoresbane is no more than seventy. Hence he was less than twenty
in Oldtown. It would seem that the incident was the end of Hother
Umber's career at the Citadel. How far was he in his studies? What
is the meaning of "makings of a maester"? I would imagine that does not
refer to homosexuality, but rather to some intellectual inclination,
bookishness. So we can keep in mind that Whoresbane is, in some way, a
learned man. Finally, one wonders if the disembowelment is not related
to the old northern pratice of hanging entrails on heart trees, as Ser
Bartimus told us:
Brandon Stark this was, Edrick Snowbeard’s
great-grandson, him that men called Ice Eyes. He took the Wolf’s Den
back, stripped the slavers naked, and gave them to the slaves he’d
found chained up in the dungeons. It’s said they hung their entrails
in the branches of the heart tree, as an offering to the gods. The
old gods, not these new ones from the south.
(Davos IV, ADwD)
I have tried to connect Whoresbane's story to what I could learn about
the Citadel, without much success. I just noted that the speaker Lorcas
at the Seneschal's court has been an acolyte for fifty years, and
therefore might have been Whoresbane's classmate. Maester Walgrave, who
has forgotten more about ravenry than most maesters have ever known, was
probably active at the time, just as Pycelle was, since he mentioned
having been a boy at Oldtown.
The possibility that Walgrave had
once been Whoresbane's mentor is particularly intriguing.
We have a few hints of his abilities.
Everyone said that Walgrave had forgotten more of
ravencraft than most maesters ever knew, so Pate assumed a black
iron link was the least that he could hope for, only to find that
Walgrave could not grant him one.
(Prologue, AFfC)
Archmaester Walgrave had no trouble telling one raven
from another, but he was not so good with people.
(Prologue, AFfC)
The Last Hearth is relatively close to Castle Black. Aemon has left
Oldtown sixty seven years ago, certainly before Whoresbane was there.
But, it's possible that Aemon played a role in Whoresbane's vocation,
since the Wall is not that far from Castle Black. It's likely that the
Wall has regularly some commerce with the Last Hearth, and Aemon might
have recommended to Hoarfrost Umber to send Hother to the Citadel.
Alternately, both Crowfood and Whoresbane might have known Bloodraven
when he was a Black Brother, and later a Lord Commander of the Watch.
We have a hint of the Umbers intellectual life with the signatures put
by Whoresbane at the bottom of the two Barrowton letters of the Boltons.
The letter sent to Deepwood Motte:
Beside them was drawn a crude giant, the mark of some
Umber.
(The Wayward Bride, ADwD)
The letter sent to the Wall.
A cruder hand had drawn the giant of House Umber.
(Jon VI, ADwD)
Jon Snow saw no anomaly with the signature. Contrary to Ramsay, Lady
Cerwyn, Lady Dustin, and the four Ryswells, Whoresbane did not put his
personal mark but the sigil of his house. There is a good reason for
Whoresbane to have used the Umber mark, instead of whatever personal
signature he might have: because of the dispute with Mors over the
allegiance to Stannis, Whoresbane is expected to represent unambiguously
House Umber.
That House Umber uses a drawing as its signature might mean that Umbers
are not literate, which would mean in turn that they are not used to be
educated by maesters. Since House Umber resides at the edge of the Seven
Kingdoms, it wouldn't be entirely surprising. If the Umber do not have a
maester,
it means that Whoresbane had been tending the ravens
at the Last Hearth. That does not seem contradicted by the
text, since I do no see Mors sending or receiving messages after Hother
had left the Last Hearth. It seems that Stannis sent the
wrong way
rangers (Massey and Horpe) to treat with Mors Umber. Moreover,
when Stannis appealed to all northern lords, no answer came from the
Last Hearth. Mors' response came only after the return of Massey and
Horpe. Later Stannis would not receive any news from Crowfood, and has
no idea of the Umbers' strength.
Cotter Pyke is confirmed to be illiterate, and signs his letters with
his personal mark.
The letter had been written by Maester Harmune; Cotter
Pyke could neither read nor write. But the words were Pyke’s, set
down as he had spoken them, blunt and to the point.
(Jon X, ADwD)
Cotter Pyke had made his angry mark below.
(Jon XII, ADwD)
So it would seem Whoresbane is illiterate. Very curious for a man who
had once the
makings of a maester.
There is some reason to believe that the presence of a maester is hardly
compatible with the practice of the first night, a custom that the
Umbers have kept according to Roose Bolton.
The maesters will tell you that King Jaehaerys abolished
the lord’s right to the first night to appease his shrewish queen,
but where the old gods rule, old customs linger. The Umbers keep the
first night too, deny it as they may. Certain of the mountain clans
as well, and on Skagos ... well, only heart trees ever see half of
what they do on Skagos.
(Reek III, ADwD)
4. The Harvest Feast
We first meet both Umber uncles at the Harvest Feast.
The blast of horns woke him. Bran pushed himself onto
his side, grateful for the reprieve. He heard horses and boisterous
shouting. More guests have come, and half-drunk by the noise of
them. Grasping his bars he pulled himself from the bed and over to
the window seat. On their banner was a giant in shattered chains
that told him that these were Umber men, down from the northlands
beyond the Last River.
The next day two of them came together to audience; the Greatjon’s
uncles, blustery men in the winter of their days with beards as
white as the bearskin cloaks they wore. A crow had once taken Mors
for dead and pecked out his eye, so he wore a chunk of dragonglass
in its stead. As Old Nan told the tale, he’d grabbed the crow in his
fist and bitten its head off, so they named him Crowfood. She would
never tell Bran why his gaunt brother Hother was called Whoresbane.
No sooner had they been seated than Mors asked for leave to wed Lady
Hornwood. “The Greatjon’s the Young Wolf’s strong right hand, all
know that to be true. Who better to protect the widow’s lands than
an Umber, and what Umber better than me?”
“Lady Donella is still grieving,” Maester Luwin said.
“I have a cure for grief under my furs.” Mors laughed. Ser Rodrik
thanked him courteously and promised to bring the matter before the
lady and the king.
Hother wanted ships. “There’s wildlings stealing down from the
north, more than I’ve ever seen before. They cross the Bay of Seals
in little boats and wash up on our shores. The crows in Eastwatch
are too few to stop them, and they go to ground quick as weasels.
It’s longships we need, aye, and strong men to sail them. The
Greatjon took too many. Half our harvest is gone to seed for want of
arms to swing the scythes.”
(Bran II, ACoK)
Here again the
Umbers announce themselves with horns.
Whoresbane is the quieter of the two Umbers. But the brothers are alike
in their hate of the wildlings. Indeed here is Crowfood's story told by
Jon Snow.
“The elder of the Greatjon’s uncles. Crowfood, they call
him. A crow once took him for dead and pecked out his eye. He caught
the bird in his fist and bit its head off. When Mors was young he
was a fearsome fighter. His sons died on the Trident, his wife in
childbed. His only daughter was carried off by wildlings thirty
years ago.”
(Jon IV, ADwD)
and
“Drinking from Mance Rayder’s skull may give Mors Umber
pleasure, but seeing wildlings cross his lands will not. The free
folk have been raiding the Umbers since the Dawn of Days, crossing
the Bay of Seals for gold and sheep and women. One of those carried
off was Crowfood’s daughter. Your Grace, leave the wildlings here.
Taking them will only serve to turn my lord father’s bannermen
against you.”
(Jon IV, ADwD)
Is there some significance to the Crowfood incident? (It reminds me of
the norse god Odin who had lost his eye to gain wisdom. But Mors shows
no sign of mystical knowledge.) The single eye of Crowfood reminds me of
the single eye of Bloodraven. Bloodraven seems to have an affinity for
one eyed-creatures.
Some claimed the King's Hand was a student of the dark
arts who could change his face, put on the likeness of a one-eyed
dog, even turn into a mist.
(The Mystery Knight)
We can suspect that certain one-eye creatures are within Bloodraven's
orbit: the horse that led Val to Tormund, the wolf in which Varamyr has
migrated for his second life, even the ranger Kedge White-Eye. So what
about Crowfood? The obsidian inside the eye orbit is a reference to the
Children of the Forest who used to provide dragonglass to men in ancient
days. Was the piece of obsidian given by the children?
Jon says that Crowfood was a fearsome fighter in his youth. Where did
Crowfood fight? At the battle of Long Lake? At the Trident, where his
sons died?
When Donella Hornwood lost her husband, Mors was among the suitors. She
refused him in disgust. But there is a sign of some personal ambition of
Crowfood.
So Mors has declared for Stannis and Whoresbane for Bolton. But, is
their disagreement real? Or is it a ploy to keep the Greatjon alive,
while avoiding to fully join Bolton? The two brothers seem on good
terms, otherwise they wouldn't have been installed co-castellans. It
would have been unwise to give a shared responsability to men who do not
trust each other. At the Harvest Feast, the Umber brothers seemed to
enjoy each other.
At the opposite end of the high table, Hothen and Mors
were playing a drinking game, slamming their horns together as hard
as knights meeting in joust.
(Bran III, ACoK)
Horns again. The Umbers seem even to stand apart from the other
northmen.
A word needs to be said about the capture and imprisonment of the
Greatjon. Why did the Freys insist on the capture while they murdered
all other guests? The capture did come at some cost, as Merrett Frey
recalls.
And even that I failed at. He’d cozened the huge
northman into drinking enough wine to kill any three normal men, yet
after Roslin had been bedded the Greatjon still managed to snatch
the sword of the first man to accost him and break his arm in the
snatching. It had taken eight of them to get him into chains, and
the effort had left two men wounded, one dead, and poor old Ser
Leslyn Haigh short half a ear. When he couldn’t fight with his hands
any longer, Umber had fought with his teeth.
(Epilogue, ASoS)
I understand that having the Greatjon had greater value as an
hostage than any other guest. Is it because Roose fears the
Uncles, as he said to Theon?
“He should be. Fear is what keeps a man alive in this
world of treachery and deceit. Even here in Barrowton the crows are
circling, waiting to feast upon our flesh. The Cerwyns and the
Tallharts are not to be relied on, my fat friend Lord Wyman plots
betrayal, and Whoresbane ... the Umbers may seem simple, but they
are not without a certain low cunning. Ramsay should fear them all,
as I do. The next time you see him, tell him that.”
(Reek III, ADwD)
5. The Mystery of the Sack of Winterfell
After the Harvest Feast, the Umbers are more noteworthy for what they
didn't do. First, "Reek" warns Theon that northmen will come after him.
“Stark’s lords will fight you,” the man Reek called out.
“That bloated pig at White Harbor for one, and them Umbers and
Karstarks too. You’ll need men. Free me and I’m yours.”
(Theon V, ACoK)
Later Theon tells Asha.
The Umbers are gathering beyond the Last River as well.
(Theon V, ACoK)
When the northmen army approaches Winterfell, here is what Theon saw.
Theon studied their banners through Maester Luwin’s
Myrish lens tube. The Cerwyn battle-axe flapped bravely wherever he
looked, and there were Tallhart trees as well, and mermen from White
Harbor. Less common were the sigils of Flint and Karstark. Here and
there he even saw the bull moose of the Hornwoods. But no Glovers,
Asha saw to them, no Boltons from the Dreadfort, no Umbers come down
from the shadow of the Wall.
(Theon VI, ACoK)
There is a mystery here. What have the Umber troops been doing
after the gathering beyond the last river? The Karstarks live even
farther away from Winterfell, and they provided troops for the battle.
Later, we learn from Jon Snow's thinking.
He wondered how many men old Crowfood would bring to the
fray, and how many swords Arnolf Karstark would be able to conjure
up. Half the Umbers would be across the field with Whoresbane,
fighting beneath the flayed man of the Dreadfort, and the greater
part of the strength of both houses had gone south with Robb, never
to return.
(Jon VII, ADwD)
But the Karstark forces are not negligible.
Lord Arnolf had found them eight days past. The northman
had brought a son, three grandsons, four hundred spears, two score
archers, a dozen mounted lances, a maester, and a cage of ravens …
(The Sacrifice, ADwD)
The Umber forces are described, in the rumours Davos hears in White
Harbor.
And now the Bastard of Bolton was riding south with
Hother Umber to join them for an attack on Moat Cailin. “The
Whoresbane his own self,” claimed a riverman who’d just brought a
load of hides and timber down the White Knife, “with three hundred
spear-men and a hundred archers. Some Hornwood men have joined them,
and Cerwyns too.”
(Davos II, ADwD)
I understand that the spearmen and archers are under the command of
Whoresbane, not Ramsay. Note the high number of archers (compare with
the Karstarks number above: two dozens). I can't help mentioning what
Luwin told Theon just before the battle of Winterfell.
“If you had a hundred archers as good as yourself, you
might have a chance to hold the castle,” a voice said softly.
(Theon VI, ACoK)
So a hundred (good) archers are sufficient to hold the castle. Is it
what Whoresbane has in mind somehow?
Another account of the Umber forces comes much later from Theon.
"As you will. Tell me, Theon, how many men did
Mors Umber have with him at Winterfell?"
"None. No men." He grinned at his own wit. "He had
boys. I saw them." Aside from a handful of half-crippled
serjeants, the warriors that Crowfood had brought down from Last
Hearth were hardly old enough to shave. "Their spears and axes
were older than the hands that clutched them. It was
Whoresbane Umber who had the men, inside the castle. I saw
them too. Old men, every one." Theon tittered.
"Mors took the green boys and Hother took the greybeards. All
the real men went with the Greatjon and died at the Red
Wedding. Is that what you wanted to know, Your Grace?"
(Theon, TWoW)
It is a remarkable mystery that no Umber men were among the
northmen at the battle leading to the Sack of Winterfell, especially
since forces had been gathered by the Umbers prior to the battle.
All the story prepares us to see them to defend the Starks, but they are
absent. After the Harvest Feast, until the Red Wedding, the Umbers in
the Last Hearth seem to have done nothing, despite all the turmoil, the
Sack of Winterfell, the battle of the Wall etc.
6. The Gentlemen's agreement
I refer to what Theon tells Stannis.
"As you will. Tell me, Theon, how many men did
Mors Umber have with him at Winterfell?"
"None. No men." He grinned at his own wit. "He had
boys. I saw them." Aside from a handful of half-crippled
serjeants, the warriors that Crowfood had brought down from Last
Hearth were hardly old enough to shave. "Their spears and axes
were older than the hands that clutched them. It was
Whoresbane Umber who had the men, inside the castle. I saw
them too. Old men, every one." Theon tittered.
"Mors took the green boys and Hother took the greybeards. All
the real men went with the Greatjon and died at the Red
Wedding. Is that what you wanted to know, Your Grace?"
(Theon, TWoW)
The agreement to leave the greybeards with Hother and the green boys
with Mors is very gentlemanly for the Umbers, who otherwise seem to have
primitive manners and impulsive temperaments. If the agreement is for
the good of the Umbers, recall that in the north old people are expected
to die in Winter, as Jon Snow and Alys Karstark agree on.
“My lady, how do things stand at Karhold with your food
stores?”
“Not well.” Alys sighed. “My father took so many of our men south
with him that only the women and young boys were left to bring the
harvest in. Them, and the men too old or crippled to go off to war.
Crops withered in the fields or were pounded into the mud by autumn
rains. And now the snows are come. This winter will be hard. Few of
the old people will survive it, and many children will perish as
well.”
It was a tale that any northmen knew well. “My father’s grandmother
was a Flint of the mountains, on his mother’s side,” Jon told her.
“The First Flints, they call themselves. They say the other Flints
are the blood of younger sons, who had to leave the mountains to
find food and land and wives. It has always been a harsh life up
there. When the snows fall and food grows scarce, their young must
travel to the winter town or take service at one castle or the
other. The old men gather up what strength remains in them and
announce that they are going hunting. Some are found come spring.
More are never seen again.”
“It is much the same at Karhold.”
(Jon, ADwD)
...and much the same at the Last Hearth.
Therefore life might
mean little for the old men with Whoresbane. If the Umbers
have been scheming together, they are probably intent on preserving the
green boys, but the greybeards' are there to die gloriously (including,
perhaps, both Mors and Hother).
The men of the Last Hearth are unnoticed by Theon in Winterfell, while
Theon take notes of Ryswell, Hornwood, Tallhart, Cerwyn, Flint
men-at-arms. They are numerous (three hundred spearmen and one hundred
archers were with Whoresbane). Have they been told to keep a low
profile?
In fact, Mors pays little attention to Stannis' military moves and
devises his own stratagem for Winterfell.
Indeed, we just saw
that he has not informed Stannis of his moves and number of men.
Nevertheless, Mors knows where to find Stannis, since he sent Theon,
"Arya" and the banker to the king.
Moreover, Mors has made no effort to join forces with the Karstark, and
never informed them or Stannis of his moves. He might know about the
Karstark betrayal. Through his brother?
When the Bastard's boys threw the freerider from the Wall of Winterfell,
Hother made a comment.
“Or he’ll be sucking Lord Stannis’s cock before the sun
goes down,” Whoresbane Umber threw back.
“He best take care it don’t break off,” laughed Rickard Ryswell.
“Any man out there in this, his cock is frozen hard.”
“Lord Stannis is lost in the storm,” said Lady Dustin. “He’s leagues
away, dead or dying. Let winter do its worst. A few more days and
the snows will bury him and his army both.”
(A Ghost in Winterfell, ADwD)
The disagreement between Whoresbane and Barbrey is noticeable. Why would
Hother say that Stannis is near Winterfell? That would fit well with the
notion that people understood that the noise made later in Winterfell
was the sign of the approach of Stannis. Was Hother preparing for the
ploy with the horn and drums?
7. The Savior of the Fugitives
It seems to me that Mors was aware of Theon and Jeyne's escape plan from
Winterfell. Here is what happened when they jumped from the Battlements.
“We had expected to find the king at Winterfell. This
same blizzard has engulfed the castle, alas. Beneath its walls we
found Mors Umber with a troop of raw green boys, waiting for the
king’s coming. He gave us this.”
(The Sacrifice, ADwD)
This being Theon and Jeyne. Here are more details.
Stannis snorted. "You fell. Umber saved
her. If Mors Crowfood and his men had not been outside the
castle, Bolton would have had the both of you back in moments."
Crowfood. Theon remembered. An old man, huge and
powerful, with a ruddy face and a shaggy white beard. He had
been seated on a garron, clad in the pelt of a gigantic snow bear,
its head his hood. Under it he wore a stained white leather
eye patch that reminded Theon of his uncle Euron. He'd wanted
to rip it off Umber's face, to make certain that underneath was only
an empty socket, not a black eye shining with malice. Instead
he had whimpered through his broken teeth and said, "I am — "
" — a turncloak and a kinslayer," Crowfood had finished.
"You will hold that lying tongue, or lose
it."
But Umber had looked at the girl closely, squinting down with his
one good eye. "You are the younger daughter?"
And Jeyne had nodded. "Arya. My name is Arya."
"Arya of Winterfell, aye. When last I was inside those walls,
your cook served us a steak and kidney pie. Made with ale, I
think, best I ever tasted. What was his name, that cook?"
"Gage," Jeyne said at once. "He was a good cook. He
would make lemoncakes for Sansa whenever we had lemons."
Crowfood had fingered his beard. "Dead now, I suppose.
That smith of yours as well. A man who knew his steel.
What was his name?"
Jeyne had hesitated. Mikken, Theon thought. His name was
Mikken. The castle blacksmith had never made any lemoncakes
for Sansa, which made him far less important than the castle cook in
the sweet little world she had shared with her friend Jeyne
Poole. Remember, damn you. Your father was the steward,
he had charge of the whole household. The smith's name was
Mikken, Mikken, Mikken. I had him put to death before me!
"Mikken," Jeyne said.
Mors Umber had grunted. "Aye." What he might have said
or done next Theon never learned, for that was when the boy ran up,
clutching a spear and shouting that the portcullis on Winterfell's
main gate was rising. And how Crowfood had grinned at that.
(Theon, TWoW)
Before coming to the important matters, we can discern how well regarded
are the Starks in Crowfood's eye. The two questions are concerned with
the quality of life in Winterfell, something that he appears to value
(the pie was
best I ever had, the smith
knew his steel).
It's worthwile perhaps to recall Mikken's final moment.
Theon ignored the outburst. “My father has donned the
ancient crown of salt and rock, and
declared himself King of the Iron Islands. He claims the north as
well, by right of conquest. You are all his subjects.”
“Bugger that.” Mikken wiped the blood from his mouth. “I serve the
Starks, not some treasonous squid of-aah.” The butt of the spear
smashed him face first into the stone floor.
(Bran VI, ACoK)
So Mikken died as a hero defending the Starks. Of course, unless Mors
has met a survivor of Winterfell, he can't know what has happened. At
that point, all the people of Winterfell were in the Great Hall.
We have a clear impression that Mors laments the demise of the Starks.
It would appear that "Arya" passed Mors' test. I am not completely sure.
The questions are remarkably appropriate to differentiate Arya
from another Winterfell girl. Indeed, it is known that Ramsay
has kept captive all women of Winterfell, and that a fake bride might
have been selected among those. Any of those women could have answered
Crowfood's questions like Jeyne did. The answer about the cook came much
more easily than the question about the smith.
The real Arya would not have hesitated about the name of the
smith that made Needle. It's likely that Crowfood did not
know Arya well enough to make such a distinction. But, Crowfood asked
one of the few questions that would make a difference between Arya and
another Winterfell girl like Jeyne Poole. And Theon reminds us of that:
The castle blacksmith had never made any lemoncakes for Sansa, which
made him far less important than the castle cook in the sweet little
world she had shared with her friend Jeyne Poole. The opposite
is true of the real Arya. The question could have been suggested by Jon
Snow, who commanded Mikken to make the sword for Arya, or by anybody
familiar with the Stark family, any survivor of Winterfell. So it's
unlikely, but not impossible, that Crowfood is astute and well informed
and that he deduced from "Arya"'s hesitation that she is an imposter. He
could have talked to a survivor of Winterfell, to Lady Cerwyn etc.
Moreover, I am tempted to think that Crowfood would have kept the real
Arya with him rather than putting her in the care of the Braavosi banker
and his ironmen.
Since Crowfood identified Theon and "Arya" immediately, (Theon
can't even finish his sentence to introduce himself) it seems that he
expected their coming. Since it is a crucial point, it's
perhaps worth discussing more. It's important to have a good grasp of
the spatial organization at Winterfell and of the succession of events.
When Theon and "Arya" escaped Winterfell, the Frey and Manderly armies
are preparing to leave. Since the portcullis was rising after Theon and
Jeyne met Mors, little time has elapsed between the jump from the
battlement and the encounter with Mors.
Here is the particular disposition of the armies, as commanded by Roose.
“[Stannis'] host lies not three days’ ride from here,
snowbound and starving, and I for one am tired of waiting on his
pleasure. Ser Hosteen, assemble your knights and men-at-arms by the
main gates. As you are so eager for battle, you shall strike our
first blow. Lord Wyman, gather your White Harbor men by the east
gate. They shall go forth as well.”
(Theon, ADwD)
It's all the more surprising that Mors found Theon and "Arya" that the
Freys had just blown their trumpets, and it should have been evident
from the outside that some military movement was taking place. Instead
of watching these developments, Mors picked Theon and "Arya". He
expected them.
Crowfood recognizes immediately Theon. And calls him a turncloak (like
everybody does in the north) and a
kinslayer, a word that has
been used by the hooded man and Rowan. This is very telling,
and is indicative of a connection between the hooded man, Rowan and
Crowfood. The kinslayer epithet will be discussed with the hooded man
and the Crowfood-hooded man-Rowan axis will be discussed at a more
general level.
A few more words on the "Arya"-Crowfood dialogue. Crowfood asked "Arya"
about two men from the Winterfell household: Mikken
and Gage. Mikken left his mark on Ned Stark funerary sword, taken by
Osha.
Osha carried her long oaken spear in one hand and the
torch in the other. A naked sword hung down her back, one of the
last to bear Mikken’s mark. He had forged it for Lord Eddard’s tomb,
to keep his ghost at rest.
(Bran VII, ACoK)
Gage was Osha's lover when Theon took Winterfell.
“It was Robb Stark put me in the kitchens. For the best
part of a year, I’ve been left to scour
kettles, scrape grease, and warm the straw for this one.” She threw
a look at Gage. “I’ve had a bellyful of it. Put a spear in my hand
again.”
(Bran VI, ACoK)
Both men are closely related to Osha. Crowfood could have named any
member of the Stark household. (Crowfood last visited Winterfell for the
Harvest Feast, when that part of the household had already left, which
might have influence his choice in the remaining members.) Of course,
Osha herself has never seen Arya.
So has Mors Umber recovered Osha, and perhaps Rickon?
8. The Horn and Drums of Crowfood
Let's examine the hornblowing in Winterfell. It happens the night before
the escape, after all the murders, but Little Walder's, after Theon has
come across the hooded man.
Then he heard the horn.
A long low moan, it seemed to hang above the
battlements, lingering in the black air, soaking deep into the bones
of every man who heard it. All along the castle walls, sentries
turned toward the sound, their hands tightening around the shafts of
their spears. In the ruined halls and keeps of Winterfell, lords
hushed other lords, horses nickered, and sleepers stirred in their
dark corners. No sooner had the sound of the warhorn died away than
a drum began to beat: BOOM doom BOOM doom BOOM doom. And a name
passed from the lips of each man to the next, written in small white
puffs of breath. Stannis, they whispered, Stannis is here, Stannis
is come, Stannis, Stannis, Stannis.
(A Ghost in Winterfell, ADwD)
And a moment later.
The drumming seemed to be coming
from the wolfswood beyond the Hunter’s Gate. They are just outside
the walls. Theon made his way along the wallwalk, one more man
amongst a score doing the same. But even when they reached the
towers that flanked the gate itself, there was nothing to be seen
beyond the veil of white.
“Do they mean to try and blow our walls down?”
japed a Flint when the warhorn sounded once again. “Mayhaps he
thinks he’s found the Horn of Joramun.”
(A Ghost in Winterfell, ADwD)
There is a continuous drumming all night it seems. Here is Theon later.
And in the heart of the wood the
weirwood waited with its knowing red eyes. Theon stopped by the edge
of the pool and bowed his head before its carved red face. Even here
he could hear the drumming, boom DOOM boom DOOM boom DOOM boom DOOM.
Like distant thunder, the sound seemed to come from everywhere at
once.
(A Ghost in Winterfell, ADwD)
And the next morning.
Winterfell had been awake for hours,
its battlements and towers crammed with men in wool and mail and
leather awaiting an attack that never came. By the time the sky
began to lighten the sound of drums had faded away, though warhorns
were heard thrice more, each time a little closer. And still the
snow fell.
(Theon, ADwD)
It is certain that the drumming comes from outside the castle. It is not
clear that a single warhorn is blown, it seems also that the horn is
blown from outside seem Theon thinks each time a little closer. It could
be that the sound is a message sent to allies inside the castle. But,
the primary interpretation seems correct: Crowfood wants to provoke the
Boltons and Freys to go outside. Note the horn blown three times. We
will return to all this elsewhere.
9. Crowfood the Castellan
We have come to consider that Mance and Crowfood have cooperated for the
escape. How did they become accomplice?
When Mance was sent by Melisandre and Jon to save the grey girl on a
dying horse, the marriage was announced in Barrowton. The decision to
move the ceremony to Winterfell was Roose's and was sudden. Already,
Mance was headed to Long Lake, whose eastern shore is part of House
Umber's domain to find Arya. Here are Mance and Melisandre discussing
the grey girl on the dying horse.
“Long Lake. What else did you see around this girl?”
“Hills. Fields. Trees. A deer, once. Stones. She is staying well
away from villages. When she can she rides along the bed of little
streams, to throw hunters off her trail.”
He frowned. “That will make it difficult. She was coming north, you
said. Was the lake to her east or to her west?”
Melisandre closed her eyes, remembering. “West.”
“She is not coming up the kingsroad, then. Clever girl. There are
fewer watchers on the other side, and more cover. And some
hidey-holes I have used myself from time—”
(Melisandre, ADwD)
We learn in passing that Mance has been to this area.
Stannis has been informed of the move to Winterfell, since he said in
the letter he sent to Jon Snow.
And word has come to us that Roose Bolton moves toward
Winterfell with all his power, there to wed his bastard to your half
sister.
(Jon VII, ADwD)
Since Roose wanted Stannis to come to Winterfell, he arranged that
Stannis knew (probably through Arnolf Karstark), as he tells Ramsay.
Let Stannis march on us. He is too cautious to come to
Barrowton ... but he must come to Winterfell. His clansmen will not
abandon the daughter of their precious Ned to such as you. Stannis
must march or lose them ... and being the careful commander that he
is, he will summon all his friends and allies when he marches. We
march against him. Arnolf Karstark and Mors Umber will join us.
(Reek, ADwD)
Of course, Stannis coordinated with Mors Umber, as he said in the letter
to Jon. Whether Stannis sent a raven to the Last Hearth or sent it
Karhold, or sent a messenger is unclear. However Mors had to be
informed.
So, Crowfood could tell Mance, and appears to be the
only one able to tell Mance, that the wedding would take place in
Winterfell.
But why would Crowfood accept to do anything with Mance?
We have seen that the Umbers hate the wildlings: Mors wants Mance
Rayder's skull for a drinking cup, Hother asks for ships to police the
wildlings.
Jon chose to ignore them. “Your Grace, might I know if
the Umbers have declared for you?”
“Half of them, and only if I meet this Crowfood’s price,”
said Stannis, in an irritated tone. “He wants Mance Rayder’s skull
for a drinking cup, and he wants a pardon for his brother, who has
ridden south to join Bolton. Whoresbane, he’s called.”
(Jon IV, ADwD)
Mors' wish for Mance's skull inspires a few thoughts. First there is the
wildlings' reputation for drinking blood in skulls.
Jon remembered Old Nan’s tales of the savage folk who
drank blood from human skulls.
(Jon III, ACoK)
A story that Bran recalls as well.
Wildlings come over the Wall or through the mountains,
to raid and steal and carry off women. If they catch you, they make
your skull into a cup to drink blood, Old Nan used to say.
(Jon III, ACoK)
In Qarth, the custom is a way to reach wisdom, as Xaros tells Danaerys.
“Let this be your kingdom, most exquisite of queens, and
let me be your king. I will give you a throne of gold, if you like.
When Qarth begins to pall, we can journey round Yi Ti and search for
the dreaming city of the poets, to sip the wine of wisdom from a
dead man’s skull.”
“I mean to sail to Westeros, and drink the wine of vengeance from
the skull of the Usurper.”
(Daenerys III, ACoK)
The timeline seems to be the following: the "wrong-way rangers" left
Castle Black to talk to Crowfood. Then "Mance" is burnt behind the Wall.
Then the "wrong-way rangers" return with Crowfood's request. Did
Crowfood ask for Mance's bones for some reason? To give to the old gods?
Or was Crowfood's request a sign of cultural proximity between the
wildlings and the Umbers? Or did Crowfood simply want Mance dead?
In any case, Stannis never provided Mance's skull to Crowfood.
Crowfood's demand came when Mance's life was forfeit, and can be
understood as a request for a man's remains rather than a request for an
execution. This episode echoes the Dornishmen's demand to have the
Mountain skull sent to Sunspear.
After Jon has explained the political situation of the north, including
the Umber story, with the daughter of Mors taken by wildling raiders, we
see that Stannis dismisses everybody in attendance to talk to Jon
face-to-face (Jon would then suggest the plan with the mountain clans),
The last man to take his leave was Rattleshirt. At the
door, he gave Jon a mocking bow, grinning through a mouthful of
brown and broken teeth.
(Jon IV, ADwD)
Before that Jon had given a little geography lesson to Stannis, still in
Mance's presence.
“To reach the Dreadfort, Your Grace must travel down the
kingsroad past the Last River, turn south by east and cross the
Lonely Hills.” He pointed. “Those are Umber lands, where they know
every tree and every rock. The kingsroad runs along their western
marches for a hundred leagues. Mors will cut your host to pieces
unless you meet his terms and win him to your cause.”
(Jon IV, ADwD)
To reach Long Lake, Mance had to ride across Umber Lands for a hundred
leagues. In fact, Mance has already ridden across Umber lands, as the
conversation with Melisandre shows. Moreover, here is the account of
Mance's previous visit to Winterfell.
The Wall can stop an army, but not a man alone. I took a
lute and a bag of silver, scaled the ice near Long Barrow, walked a
few leagues south of the New Gift, and bought a horse. All in all I
made much better time than Robert, who was traveling with a
ponderous great wheelhouse to keep his queen in comfort. A day south
of Winterfell I came up on him and fell in with his company.
Freeriders and hedge knights are always attaching themselves to
royal processions, in hopes of finding service with the king, and my
lute gained me easy acceptance.
(Jon I, ASoS)
Long Barrow is a castle on the Wall, on the eastern part, close to
Eastwatch. Mance found himself in Umber lands after having crossed the
Gift, and bought his horse there. Hence he is familiar with the region.
So Mance knows the story of Mors' daughter, as well as the whole
political situation of the north. It's an open question
whether he can identify the lost Umber girl. He had the entire
wildling population with him in the Frostfangs. If it was known that an
Umber girl was alive among the Free Folk, Mance would almost certainly
know. But we are given no clue of the girl either in Mance's host, or
among the two waves of wildlings that would later cross the Wall. The
first wave ended up in Mole Town, with a few spearwives in Long Barrow.
If the Umber girl was in Mole town, it's possible that she is among
Mance's spearwives. Mors' daughter, if she is alive, is certainly in her
thirties or forties. She might even have had children of her own beyond
the Wall. I see three possibilities: Mance might have brought his
daughter to Mors Umber, Mance might have promised his daughter back to
Mors Umber, Mance might have Mors's daughter with him as one of the
spearwives (perhaps Myrtle who has grey hair).
When would Mance have contacted Mors? Possibly during one of the
half-hundred times he went beyond the Wall (then he would have met
Hother as well). Certainly Mance had a plan for his people after an
hypothetical victory at the Wall – but we were never told about it. Such
a plan would have had to do with the Umbers which were first in line
after crossing the Wall. (Recall the story of Raymun Redbeard who had
crossed the Wall with his people a century ago, or so, before being
smashed by a Stark-Umber coalition. Nobody is more aware of this story
than Mance, I think, and the King-beyond-The-Wall had planned
accordingly.)
Another possibility is that Mance stopped at the Last Hearth on his way
to Winterfell from Castle Black. At the time, he could only meet Mors
since Hother was already with Ramsay. Whether Mance revealed himself as
King-beyond-the-Wall is hard to imagine, since Mors would dream to drink
in Mance's skull.
Even more interesting is Mance's plan for the free folk after having
crossed the Wall. There was necessarily such a plan. Indeed, Mance knows
very well the stories of the previous King-Beyond-the-Wall.
Raymun Redbeard, Bael the Bard, Gendel and Gorne, the
Horned Lord, they all came south to conquer, but I’ve come with my
tail between my legs to hide behind your Wall.
(Jon X, ASoS)
The most recent is Raymun, and here is the end of his story.
Raymun’s host had met a bloody end on the shores of Long
Lake, caught between Lord Willam of Winterfell and the Drunken
Giant, Harmond Umber.
(Jon II, ADwD)
So Mance is well aware that he would have to face the Umbers on the
other side of the Wall. Somehow he must have prepared something. It's
curious that the Umber never gave assistance the Night's Watch during
Mance's assault. Aemon did send ravens to them. They did not lose men at
the Winterfell battle since they stayed away.
What were they
doing at the time?
However, there is something of interest in the Umber psyche. Let's
return to the the Harvest Feast in Winterfell.
The music grew wilder, the drummers joined in, and
Hother Umber brought forth a huge curved warhorn banded in silver.
When the singer reached the part in “The Night That Ended” where the
Night’s Watch rode forth to meet the Others in the Battle for the
Dawn, he blew a blast that set all the dogs to barking.
(Bran III, ACoK)
Which brings us to
huge curved warhorn banded in silver. I
don't know if the horn is the very one used by Mors beyond the walls of
Winterfell – it's tempting to think so. The horn is impressive (not
quite as much as the "horn of Joramun" or Euron's horn though). Observe
that the blast occurs during the fight against the Others. So the Umbers
would be sensitive to the current dangers beyond the Wall. It's possible
that Mance came to them and made his case on the basis of the battles he
fought there to save his people from the walking dead.
We know that Mandery plots a betrayal of the Boltons in Winterfell. One
detail indicates that he might have coordinated with Mance. Manderly
brought musicians but no singer to the wedding, which allowed Mance to
turn up providentially.
Lord Manderly had brought musicians from White Harbor,
but none were singers, so when Abel turned up at the gates with a
lute and six women, he had been made welcome. “Two sisters, two
daughters, one wife, and my old mother,” the singer claimed, though
not one looked like him. “Some dance, some sing, one plays the pipe
and one the drums. Good washerwomen too.”
(The Prince of Winterfell, ADwD)
However, note that Manderly has declared fealty to the Iron Throne, and
that he might only communicate with difficulty since he doesn't trust
his own maester. Finally, there has been relations between Manderly and
the Umbers for some time.
Ser Rodrik pulled at his whiskers. “You have forests of
tall pine and old oak. Lord Manderly has shipwrights and sailors in
plenty. Together you ought to be able to float enough longships to
guard both your coasts.”
“Manderly?” Mors Umber snorted. “That great waddling sack of suet?
His own people mock him as Lord Lamprey, I’ve heard. The man can
scarce walk. If you stuck a sword in his belly, ten thousand eels
would wriggle out.”
“He is fat,” Ser Rodrik admitted, “but he is not stupid. You will
work with him, or the king will know the reason why.” And to Bran’s
astonishment, the truculent Umbers agreed to do as he commanded,
though not without grumbling.
(Bran III, ACoK)
So Manderly has been building his fleet with Umber wood. It's likely
that both sides have communicated continuously.
During the wedding feast in Winterfell, Manderly is drunk.
“Give us ‘The Night That Ended,’ singer,” he bellowed.
“The bride will like that one, I know. Or sing to us of brave young
Danny Flint and make us weep.”
(The Prince of Winterfell, ADwD)
We never hear Mance singing the song. It's a song of the Night's Watch,
an institution that he has deserted. But Whoresbane has brought no horn
to play his part at the crucial moment this time. So what is Whoresbane
doing in Winterfell?
10. Whoresbane's Sympathy for the Devil
We first met Hother at the Harvest Feast in Winterfell. After a long
hiatus, we see him again at the Dreadfort.
Two old men shared the high table with him, and Reek
knew at a glance that both were lords. One was gaunt, with flinty
eyes, a long white beard, and a face as hard as a winter frost. His
jerkin was a ragged bearskin, worn and greasy. Underneath he wore a
ringmail byrnie, even at table.
(Reek I, ADwD)
The other lord is Arnolf Karstark. An even stronger word than
gaunt
is used to describe Whoresbane:
Elsewhere one-armed Harwood Stout talked quietly with
the cadaverous Whoresbane Umber.
The description of Whoresbane reminds of an old King of Winter, worthy
of the statues below Winterfell.
“They were the Kings in the North for thousands of
years,” Maester Luwin said, lifting the torch high so the light
shone on the stone faces. Some were hairy and bearded, shaggy men
fierce as the wolves that crouched by their feet. Others were shaved
clean, their features gaunt and sharp-edged as the iron longswords
across their laps. “Hard men for a hard time. Come.
(Bran VII, AGoT)
And Crowfood seems to be of the first type (bearded, shaggy, fierce).
Nowhere it is said that Whoresbane is a large man like the Greatjon, the
Smalljon or Crowfood. When Arnolf Karstark fails to recognize Theon, and
Theon fails to recognize Whoresbane, the old Umber is more perceptive.
The second lord, the straight-backed old man in the mail
byrnie, studied Reek with flinty eyes. “Look again,” he urged the
other lord. “His hair’s gone white and he is three stone thinner,
aye, but this is no serving man. Have you forgotten?”
(Reek I, ADwD)
A sign that Hother Umber wouldn't be deceived by fake Arya later
in Winterfell. When Ramsay speaks about his Reek, Whoresbane
uses a strange vocabulary.
“You would have done better to slit his throat,” said
the lord in mail. “A dog who turns against his master is fit for
naught but skinning.”
(Reek I, ADwD)
There is no indication that the Umbers are fond of skinning. I tend to
believe that Whoresbane refers to skinning to make Ramsay, and his
flaying hobby, comfortable with him. Perhaps to gain his trust. But
Hother can't help expressing his disgust at Ramsay's cruel games.
“This grows tedious,” said the lord in the mail byrnie.
“Kill him and be done with it.”
(Reek I, ADwD)
Davos later hear in White Harbor that Whoresbane rode with Ramsay to
Barrowton and Moat Cailin. When Melisandre sees the banners in
Barrowton, there is no Umber banner among the Dustins, Ryswells,
Hornwoods, Tallharts, Cerwyns. Indeed, Whoresbane is still with Ramsay.
His next appearance happens in Moat Cailin, in company of Ramsay and his
boys.
They were just outside the camp when the baying of a
pack of hounds told of Lord Ramsay’s approach. Whoresbane was with
him, along with half a dozen of his favorites, Skinner and Sour Alyn
and Damon Dance-for-Me, and the Walders Big and Little too. The dogs
swarmed around them, snapping and snarling at the strangers.
(Reek II, ADwD)
Whoresbane decided deliberately to join Ramsay while he could have gone
to the meeting in Barrowton with the Cerwyns, Tallharts, Hornwoods,
Ryswells and Dustins.
Whoresbane has spent monthes in company of Ramsay. He was in
a perfect position to understand Ramsay's relation to Reek, which he
appears to perceive as unhealthy. He might have cultivated quietly an
influence over Ramsay, to the point of being able to whisper in Ramsay's
ear. In Barrowton he resides in Barrow Hall, where Ramsay is unwelcome.
Indeed the Umber banner is above the wooden walls of Barrow Hall.
Their short journey reached its end at the wooden walls
of Barrow Hall. Banners flew from its square towers, flapping in the
wind: the flayed man of the Dreadfort, the battle-axe of Cerwyn,
Tallhart’s pines, the merman of Manderly, old Lord Locke’s crossed
keys, the Umber giant and the stony hand of Flint, the Hornwood
moose.
(Reek III, ADwD)
Contrary to Ramsay, perhaps, Roose does not believe that Whoresbane is
truly his ally.
Even here in Barrowton the crows are circling, waiting
to feast upon our flesh. The Cerwyns and the Tallharts are not to be
relied on, my fat friend Lord Wyman plots betrayal, and Whoresbane
... the Umbers may seem simple, but they are not without a certain
low cunning. Ramsay should fear them all, as I do.
(Reek III, ADwD)
Jon Snow would agree:
“A fine plan if what you want is every hand in the north
raised against you. Half is more than none. The Umbers have no love
for the Boltons. If Whoresbane has joined the Bastard, it can only
be because the Lannisters hold the Greatjon captive.”
(Jon IV, ADwD)
As does Lady Dustin.
Old Whoresbane is only here because the Freys hold the
Greatjon captive.
(The Turncloak, ADwD)
And she tells the Freys.
“Night work is not knight’s work,” Lady Dustin said.
“And Lord Wyman is not the only man who lost kin at your Red
Wedding, Frey. Do you imagine Whoresbane loves you any better? If
you did not hold the Greatjon, he would pull out your entrails and
make you eat them, as Lady Hornwood ate her fingers. Flints,
Cerwyns, Tallharts, Slates ... they all had men with the Young
Wolf.”
(A Ghost in Winterfell, ADwD)
Note how the disembowelment story has left its mark on Barbrey Dustin.
At the wedding feast, Whoresbane seems annoyed when Roose announces that
Stannis', Karstark's and Mors' hosts are approaching.
“The hall is not the place for such discussions, my
lords. Let us adjourn to the solar whilst my son consummates his
marriage. The rest of you, remain and enjoy the food and drink.”
As the Lord of the Dreadfort slipped out, attended by the three
maesters, other lords and captains rose to follow. Hother Umber, the
gaunt old man called Whoresbane, went grim-faced and scowling.
(The Prince of Winterfell, ADwD)
It's not clear why Whoresbane is displeased. When Roose summons Theon to
Ned Stark's solar to inquire about the series of murders in Winterfell,
he has with him only the lords he trusts: Barbrey Dustin, Aenys Frey,
Roger Ryswell. Whoresbane is not among them.
Another detail puzzles me.
“He will be dead within the hour,” Lord Ramsay promised.
“Or he’ll be sucking Lord Stannis’s cock before the sun goes down,”
Whoresbane Umber threw back.
(A Ghost in Winterfell, ADwD)
Other details point to Whoresbane's homosexuality: his celibacy (note
that it is reported to Robb Stark that the Greatjon has said that both
his uncle wish to marry again), the scene at the Harvest Feast where
Mors Umber declares that he wants to marry Lady Hornwood.
“The Greatjon’s the Young Wolf’s strong right hand, all
know that to be true. Who better to protect the widow’s lands than
an Umber, and what Umber better than me?”
(Bran III, ACoK)
It is apparently out of question to marry Whoresbasne. Moreover, during
the feast, when the music begins:
Mors Umber was the first on his feet. He seized a
passing serving girl by the arm, knocking the flagon of wine out of
her hands to shatter on the floor. Amidst the rushes and bones and
bits of bread that littered the stone, he whirled her and spun her
and tossed her in the air. The girl squealed with laughter and
turned red as her skirts swirled and lifted.
(Bran III, ACoK)
The Umbers are not alike in their interest in women, it seems. Given the
story of the Oldtown whore, and consequently that Whoresbane is presumed
homosexual, and likely in the closet, it is curious that he made the
trivial jape about Stannis' cock. Perhaps, it is just a reminder for the
reader that Whoresbane is homosexual. Perhaps, Whoresbane is forcing
himself to make merry with Ramsay. In any case, we hardly recognize in
this incident the severe old man we saw at the Dreadfort.
If Whoresbane has still sexual interest in Winterfell, he might have
have found satisfaction, indeed when Holly proposes Theon.
“Deep and dark, they say. A good place for touching. All
the dead kings watching.”
“Did Abel send you to me?”
“Might be. Might be I sent myself. But if it’s Abel you’re wanting,
I could bring him. He’ll sing m’lord a sweet song.”
(A Ghost in Winterfell, ADwD)
She appears to offer Abel's services as well. Whether the possibility
has been fulfilled with any man is nowhere supported in the text.
The theory that Whoresbane is an imposter at Winterfell does not make
sense to me. Many northern lords, including Roose, have known him for
decades. There is no sign that he was a recluse at the Last Hearth. He
came to the Harvest Feast at Winterfell, for instance.
There seems to be a consensus that Whoresbane is not loyal ally of the
Boltons. I must say that there is no proof in the text that Whoresbane
is not in league with Ramsay. I find his intentions very hard to
discern. We have only a few weak indications:
- the suspicions that Jon Snow, Lady Dustin and Roose Bolton all
express
- the apparent fraternity between the Umber brothers (they drink
together, Umber will not fight Umber, Mors asks Stannis for a pardon
for Hother)
There is a good sign that Whoresbane does not care about
Stannis. He knows about Arnolf Karstark's treason and makes
no move to inform Stannis, who received a warning at the last minute
through the letter Jon Snow passed via the banker.
The simplest possibility should perhaps be considered the likeliest.
Hother is with the Boltons to spare the Greatjon's life.
Another possibility is that Hother is plotting with Mors, and the
brothers are coordinating their actions for the Bolton defeat in
Winterfell. Since Whoresbane has not denounced the Karstark treason, it
is difficult to paint Whoresbane as a Stannis supporter.
The third possibility is darker. Hother might be plotting a revenge
against Roose Bolton and the Freys – without holding much grudge against
Ramsay. Indeed, the Karstarks, Cerwyns, Tallharts, Hornwoods, Manderlys
all suffered at the hands of Ramsay but not the Umbers, who appear to
have tolerated the bastard of the Dreadfort. We have seen that the
Umbers stayed neutral when Ramsay attacked Winterfell. So why not
encourage Ramsay getting rid of the Freys, who hope to inherit the
Dreadfort. Why not encourage Ramsay getting rid of his own father?
Kinslaying, what better vengeance for the Red Wedding?
In any case, among all the northern lords in Winterfell,
Whoresbane might be the only man trusted by Ramsay.