Brienne of Tarth (The Lion and the Dragon)

## Brienne Tarth

**Brienne Tarth**, commonly called **Brienne of Tarth** after her island home, is the only living child and heir of Lord Selwyn Tarth of Evenfall. Brienne is sometimes called **the Maid of Tarth** and mocked as **Brienne the Beauty**.

## History

### Early life

Brienne was born the eldest daughter of Lord Selwyn Tarth, Lord of Evenfall Hall, on the island of Tarth. Her mother died when she was so young that she does not remember her. She had a single older brother, Galladon, who drowned when he was eight and she was four, and two younger sisters, both of whom died in the cradle. This makes her the only living offspring of Lord Selwyn, a fact that naturally encouraged him to find a suitable match for her. Given her ugly and ungainly appearance and attitude, however, the task was a difficult one, especially since Brienne was bent on a martial life rather than a marital one, more comfortable with a sword than in the company of court society. She was tutored by her septa, Roelle, and had the equivalent of a knight's training by a master-at-arms, Ser Goodwin. Brienne has known Ser Cortnay Penrose since she was a girl. Brienne has learned many songs by heart since Evenfall Hall always had singers in her youth.

Brienne's father successfully found three men willing to betroth her, though all the betrothals fell through. A younger son of Lord Bryen Caron was Brienne's first betrothed. They met only once, on the occasion of their betrothal, when she was seven and he was ten. The boy died two years later from a chill, along with his father, mother and sisters. Had he not died, Brienne would have been wed to him within the year of her first flowering. The second betrothal was to Ser Ronnet Connington, who was six years older than her. On their meeting, Red Ronnet gave her a rose, and told her it was all she would have of him, breaking the betrothal as he felt she was a "freak". The last man Brienne was betrothed to, Ser Humfrey Wagstaff, warned her he would insist she act like "a proper woman" once they were wed. Though only sixteen, Brienne replied she would only accept such a demand from a man who could beat her in combat. In the effort, Humfrey ended up with three broken bones and a broken betrothal.

After that, Lord Selwyn stopped trying to arrange a marriage for Brienne. Brienne's only positive encounter with a man occurred when the brother House Tarth's liege, Renly Baratheon, visited their island during his coming of age progress. He crossed paths with Brienne and treated her courteously, and she fell in love with him. Brienne also met Lady Lyanna Stark, wife of Lord Robert Baratheon. The two bonded in their short time together as Lyanna herself went against many of the societal norms pushed on women in Westeros. Sometime later, Lord Selwyn sent his daughter to Storm's End where she became a handmaid for Lady Lyanna, though this primarily involved them training swordfighting with one another.

### Stark's Flight and the War of the Rutting Stags

In 298 AC Lord Robert Baratheon abdicated the seat of Storm's End, seeking mercantile glory abroad in Essos. He announced that, rather than his mad son Eideard or his young daughter Floris taking the seat, his younger brother Ser Stannis Baratheon would take the seat. The controversial move was met with fear and indignation by Lady Lyanna Stark, worrying about her daughter's future given her claim to the seat. Stannis did indeed attempt to keep Lyanna and Floris from leaving Storm's End, though Lyanna's bodyguard led by Jory Cassel and Brienne helped them flee the fortress.

On the way to the North, Lyanna gave Brienne permission to stay behind and follow Renly Baratheon after he announced he was claiming the seat of Storm's End. Brienne first saw combat in the Battle of Griffin's Roost, in which she fought bravely and showed her fighting prowess by slaying many Stannis-supporting men, wounding and capturing Lord 'Silveraxe' Fell. Despite her own success, and the victory over Stannis' forces, Renly and his army took substantially more casualties which forced them to remain at Griffin's Roost.

Despite siding with Ser Renly, Ser Davos Seaworth took his ally and friends Stannis' daughter Maris Baratheon to the island of Tarth, where she was promised sanctuary under Lord Selwyn Tarth, Brienne's father who had officially remained neutral. Luckily for Brienne it was unknown to all those outside of Stannis' inner-circle that this had happened.

Brienne took part in the final, dramatic battle of the War of the Rutting Stags - the Battle at Storm's End. The battle was a long and hard slog, the still numerically-superior forces of Ser Renly slamming against the strategically-superior forces under Stannis, and deaths were high on both sides. As the tides turned in Renly's favour however, the desperation of Lord Stannis became evident as he and his personal guard drove through Renly's ranks to strike at the young Baratheon brother himself. The attempt so surprised Renly and his bodyguard that they faltered for just enough time that Ser Meryn Trant was able to kill the Baratheon pretender in one fell swoop. It was Brienne who reacted the fastest by herself slaying Trant a split-second later.

The killing of Renly caused Ser Loras Tyrell to fly into a fit of rage, killing Lord Stannis and Ser Andrew Estermont himself within seconds of the death of Renly. The red-mist truly had descended upon Loras who even turned on Renly's own bodyguard and he slew Ser Brus Buckler and Lord Bryce Caron before they could react. This, alongside the death of both Baratheon claimants, caused the combatants to start fleeing the battlefield - including Brienne.

### Flight North

In the chaotic aftermath of the Battle of Storm's End, Brienne was unsure of what to do. She feared that many might assume she had somehow betrayed Renly, or been involved in the killing of Ser Brus Buckler and Lord Bryce Caron. With the War of the Four Kings having begun during the War of the Rutting Stags, Brienne decided to go North in order to protect Lady Lyanna Stark.