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There are magical objects aplenty in HBO’sGame of Thrones, but the show’s canon doesn’t touch on the Horn of Winter. Examples of a few legendary, powerful, and magical artifacts that made it from lore intoThronesare Lady Melisandre’s Ruby, the White Walkers' ice blades, and the special iron coin of the Faceless Man. The very mention of the Horn of Winter, however, remained conspicuous by its absence.
The Horn of Winter, as the name suggests, is associated with the real North, i.e., the dreary Lands Beyond the Wall, the Free Folk, and the Wall itself. Though it never comes up in the show’s canon,Game of Throneslore has a few things to say about it. Here is everything that makes this object worthy of appreciation.
The Horn With Magical Properties
The Horn of Winter is interchangeably named after a legendary King-Beyond-the-Wall, Joramun. It is therefore known as the Horn of Joramun, or simply, Joramun’s horn. Per events of HBO’sGame of Thrones, the last King who ruled beyond the Wall wasa former brother of the Night’s Watch - Mance Rayder. He broke his oath and made it his life’s mission to unite the different clans of the Free Folk and lead them to safer lands south of the Wall. Mance knew the White Walkers were real and the dangers they posed to human life. While he wanted to lead his people to safety, he wanted the same degree of freedom that they enjoyed beyond the Wall, in that, the right to exist without having to bow to a hereditary political authority.
Mance, inGame of Throneslore, had his people excavate in graves along the Milkwater River to seek in vain the Horn of Winter. The allure,the Free Folkbelief, and the strong legend behind the Horn compelled him.Game of Throneslore talks about the Horn’s ability to bring down the Wall, and legend says that Joramun blew the Horn thousands of years ago and woke giants. That said, a few Maesters simply doubt that such a powerful object could exist in the first place.
Grenn And Samwell Tarly Find An Old Warnhorn
InGame of Thronesseason 2, episode 8, “The Prince of Winterfell,“the Night’s Watchmen, and Jon’s friends, Samwell Tarly and Grenn find buried treasure of dragonglass weapons and a broken warhorn safely enclosed in a Night’s Watch cloak in the Frostfangs. Grenn remarks:
It’s [the cache] been here a long time.
The duo takes no notice of the warhorn, as Samwell is more interested in the rare dragonglass weapons. It is highly unlikely that this warhorn is the Horn of Winter, asGame of Throneswould have given it the hype it deserved.
The Horn Of Winter In Game Of Thrones Lore
The Free Folk spearwife and Jon Snow’s lover, Ygritte, talks about the Horn of Winter inGeorge R. R. Martin’s works. She says people of Mance Rayder’s ilk have been searching for it along the Milkwater and dug up graves of legendary figures. In Martin’sA Storm of Swords, Mance shows Jon the eight-feet-long, black-colored warhorn which is adorned with gold bands and bears runes of the First Men during their parley. While a few Free Folk want Mance to use the horn to bring down the Wall (a threatening measure, in reality), he opposes it as destroying the Wall means that the White Walkers will be able to pass through. He wants to parlay this asset to achieve his objective of letting the Free Folk south of the Wall. He also has a backup plan should Night’s Watch decline his offer. Tormund Giantsbane is instructed to blow this warhorn at dawn, but when the wannabe king, Stannis Baratheon, and his forces attack Mance and defeat his host, the search for the real Horn of Winter comes to a screeching halt.
The legendary object is never to be found, and Ygritte mentions to Jon inGame of Throneslorethat Mance had them dig in the graves for the magical horn:
We never found the Horn of Winter. We opened half a hundred graves and let all those shades loose in the world, and never found the Horn of Joramun to bring this cold thing down!
Mance, in the HBO show’s canon, is given a merciful death by Jon whileMelisandre burns him alive, but the Horn of Winter never comes up. InGame of Throneslore, after Mance’s saga, and Melisandre burning the eight-feet-long horn, Tormund explains to Jon that the big horn was found in a giant’s grave and that it wasn’t the Horn of Joramun:
We found it in a giant’s grave, and no man o' us had ever seen a horn so big. That must have been why Mance got the notion to tell you it were Joramun’s. He wanted you crows to think he had it in his power to blow your bloody Wall down about your knees. But we never found the true horn, not for all our digging.
Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones, based on the Song of Ice and Fire book series by George R.R. Martin, tells the sprawling story of warring families in Westeros. This includes the Starks, the Lannisters, the Baratheons, and the Targaryens. Along with human conflicts, Westeros is also threatened by the re-emergence of dragons, and an undead enemy from beyond the Wall.
