One of the least known areas of Westeros is the southern kingdom of Dorne. The seventh of the Seven Kingdoms, Dorne was the last area of the Westerosi continent to submit to Targaryen rule, nearly 150 years after Aegon’s War of Conquest. And unlike the other six kingdom, they did not fall to the Targaryens on the battle field, but were brought to the table via diplomacy and family intermarriage.
So who are the Dornishmen? What sets them apart from the rest of their Westerosi counterparts? And why in heaven’s name have they been so disliked by readers and viewers alike, when on paper, they are some of the most interesting people in the whole of the Seven Kingdoms?
Bronn: The Dornish are crazy. All they want to do is fight and fuck, fuck and fight.
Let’s start with what sets the Dornish apart from the rest of the Seven Kingdoms, and why they were so hard for the Targaryens to conquer. First there’s the geographical location. A foot-shaped peninsula at the very southern end of the continent, this desert landscape is cut off from the mainland by a large cordillera known as the Red Mountains. This chain of nearly impassible summits are dotted with several castles and keeps, nearly all of which are garrisoned by people loyal to Dorne. There are a few ruins dotting the landscape, chief among them the famous Tower of Joy. But those attempting to cross into Dorne from the Stormlands would do well to stick to the main roads. There are only two passes through the Red Mountains that are considered safe: the Stone Way, known to most as “the Boneway,” which leads to the former Targaryen hold of Summerhall, and the much easier route, the Prince’s Pass, which leads to Nightsong.
This lack of land routes is one reason why Dorne has been so hard to conquer, and why we see those trying to sneak into Dorne going by boat. It is also why, after the First Men settled Dorne so long ago, they were basically left alone by the other kingdoms, and then again during the Andal invasion in 6,000 BC (before Aegon Targaryen’s conquest of Westeros). A few Andal lords did find places to settle in Dorne, but these were areas unoccupied and unclaimed by the First Men. Only the Martells claim to have conquered lands held by the First Men. In the end, the First Men and the Andals maintained their distance from each other, and the region had no one ruling house. So it remained until circa 700 BC, when the Rhoynish arrived.
In our last history, we discussed the wars in Valyria, including the Rhoynish Wars that occurred after the Ghiscari Conquest, which started around 950 BC. Unable to find a way to win against the Valyrian armies and their dragons, in 700 BC, Nymeria, a Rhoynish warrior-queen, lead many of her people across the Narrow Sea to Dorne, in what was known as the great Rhoynish Migration. Faced with a large immigration crisis and no leader to unite them, Dorne was ill-equipped to handle this enormous influx of people, especially how battle-hardened they were.
House Martell chose to ally itself with Nymeria through marriage, and stood by her side during what was known as Nymeria’s War. Mors Martell‘s savvy decision to ally himself with the Rhoynish armies gave him the manpower to finally unite Dorne under one rule. The capital city was established in the Martell homestead, named Sunspear (the spear was House Martell’s symbol, the sun was the symbol of the Rhoynish royalty). In return, the Martells adopted many Rhoynish customs that we see today, including styling themselves “Prince,” rather than “King,” and the practice of “equal primogeniture” that allows women to inherit as well as men. The tolerance of both homosexuality as well as the liberal attitudes towards bastardy are also customs that the Rhoynish brought with them from Essos. And the intermarriage of the Rhoynish with the people of Dorne lead to their predominant olive-skinned and swarthy look.
So when the Targaryens conquered Westeros in 1 AC, they found themselves confronted in the southernmost kingdom by a people who were not fully of Westerosi decent, but in fact only a few generations removed from a people of Essos. Rather than face them immediately, Aegon declared the War of Conquest over, and took time to settle in King’s Landing before turning his attention to Dorne in the First Dornish War of 4 AC.
It did not go well for the Targaryens, who found themselves in a guerrilla war against an enemy who melted into the landscape rather than face them directly. (There were a few battles in the Stone Way, but the Targaryens lost badly, which inspired the passage’s nickname, the Boneway.) In some cases, the Targaryen forces reached castles and, finding them abandoned, would settle in, assuming they had conquered. Once they got comfortable, they found themselves murdered in their beds. The war continued in this manner for nine years until 13 AC, when Aegon, for reasons that were never fully explained, agreed to terms with the Dornish. (It is believed that, though she had been reported dead in battle in 10 AC when her dragon was shot out of the sky, the Dornish had held his sister-wife Rhaeneys hostage and promised to end her torture and suffering if Aegon agreed to peace.)
The Targaryens did not attempt to bring the Seventh Kingdom to heel again until Daeron I took the throne in 157 AC. The eighth Targaryen king to rule at that point, Daeron, known as the “boy-king” due to his tender age of 14, decided that the Dornish were “unfinished business.” During the intervening years, the civil war known as “the Dance of the Dragons” had decimated the dragon population, and the last had died only four years before Daeron’s reign. Despite the lack of conquering beasts, Daeron was convinced he could bring the final kingdom to heel. Remarkably, he managed it, learning the lessons of the First Dornish War, and in 158 AC, the Dornish surrendered. It did not last. Within three years, the Dornish were once again about to become masters of their own domain, when Daeron I was assassinated during the peace talks of 161 AC.
Artist’s rendition of the Wedding Feast of Daenerys Targaryen and Maron Martell, circa 195 AC
Daeron was succeeded by Baelor the Blessed. Baelor is famous for his piety—he was the first Targaryen who was both Septon and King. He was beloved by the smallfolk, and today is still remembered as the most loved of all the Targaryen kings. (He also built—you guessed it—the Sept of Baelor.) Instead of seeking revenge for his brother’s murder, Baelor pardoned all of the Dornish prisoners that the Targaryens held. He then personally returned them, making a big show of walking the entire journey, barefoot, through the Boneway to Dorne (and then back) as a show of his good faith.
Baelor finally got the kingdom that would not break to bend by offering to marry Prince Daeron (later Daeron II) to Princess Mariah Martell. Daeron II went on to seal that bond by marrying off his sister Daenerys Targaryen (whom our present-day Dany is named after) to Maron Martell, the Prince of Dorne. This finally brought Dorne into the Seven Kingdoms. So for those who wondered about the stated tradition of “Targaryens married brother to sister,” and yet Rhaegar was married to Oberyn’s sister Elia Martell, this is where that tradition started, and why it was still a major feature of Targaryen rule up until Robert’s Rebellion. (It was also a major threat to the Dornish-Targaryen alliance when Rhaegar abandoned his wife and kidnapped Lyanna Stark, but that’s another tale.)
With all this rich history, it’s easy to understand why George R.R. Martin, and then David Benioff and Dan Weiss, wanted to depict Dorne onscreen. These are a people who were never conquered by war, but instead entered the Seven Kingdoms as equals through marriage to the Targaryens. These are a people who do not hold many of the same traditions and values as those north of the Red Mountain range. By rights, a trip to Dorne should be as interesting as any trip to Essos or beyond. When two of their own, Oberyn Martell and Ellaria Sand, are dropped into King’s Landing, the culture clash is immediate and fascinating. So why has Dorne failed so far?
Via http://winteriscoming.net/2016/01/19/who-are-the-rhoynish-a-brief-history-of-dorne/
No comments:
Post a Comment