Tower of the Hand

Bran, Hodor, Meera, Jojen, and Summer make their way through the mountains towards the Wall. Bran laments that they would make better time on the kingsroad, but Jojen says it would not be safe. They see no people on their trek, save for one night when they shared a cave with a Liddle to wait out a storm. The next day as they are walking the talk turns to stories, and Bran asks if the Reeds know any. Meera mentions the Knight of the Laughing Tree. She begins the story of a young and inquisitive crannogman¹ who wanted to see the world and left the swamps for the Isle of Faces. He stayed there all winter, and when spring broke crossed the river to Harrenhal. A great tournament was about to begin, and most of the finest knights of the land were in attendance. The king was there,² as were the White Swords,³ who welcomed a new brother.⁴ The storm lord⁵ was there and the rose lord,⁶ while the great lion of the rock⁷ was absent due to a quarrel with the king.² The daughter of the castle reigned as the queen of love and beauty, and her four brothers and her uncle of the Kingsguard were there to defend her.⁸ The dragon prince⁹ and his wife¹⁰ were there as well. The crannogman¹ was accosted by three squires who beat him until the she-wolf drove them off.¹¹ She took him back to her tent, where her pack brothers, the wild wolf,¹² the quiet wolf,¹³ and the pup¹⁴ were staying as well. She convinced him to attend the feast that night, and he ate and drank with the wolves and their sworn swords, including barrowtown men, moose, bears, and mermen.¹⁵ At the feast, the dragon prince⁹ sang a song that made the she-wolf¹¹ weep, while the storm lord⁵ won a drinking contest with the knight of skulls and kisses.¹⁶ A maid with laughing purple eyes¹⁷ danced with a white sword,¹⁸ a red snake,¹⁹ the lord of griffins,²⁰ and finally the quiet wolf¹³ after the wild wolf¹² said a word on his behalf. The crannogman¹ recognized the squires who accosted him. They served a pitchfork knight,²¹ a porcupine knight,²² and a knight of two towers.²³ The she-wolf¹¹ pointed them out to her brothers and the pup¹⁴ offered the crannogman¹ a horse and armor. Though he wanted to avenge his honor, the crannogman¹ realized he was too small. He shared a tent with the quiet wolf¹³ that night, but prayed to the old gods first. The champions were all defeated on the first day, and the pitchfork,²¹ porcupine,²² and two towers²³ were among the victors. At the end of the second day, a mystery knight entered the lists. Mystery knights are not unknown in Westeros, with more notable examples including Ser Barristan Selmy entering two tournaments as a youth, one of them when he was ten, and Prince Aemon the Dragonknight entering a tournament as the Knight of Tears so he could name Queen Naerys queen of love and beauty. This particular mystery knight was small of stature and clad in ill fitting armor, and the knight's device was a weirwood with a laughing red face.²⁴ The knight challenged the pitchfork,²¹ porcupine,²² and two towers²³ knights, and defeated each in turn. When they came to ransom their armor, the knight only told them to teach their squires honor. That night, the storm lord⁵ and the knight of skulls and kisses¹⁶ both swore they would unmask the Knight of the Laughing Tree.²⁴ The next day, however, the knight failed to appear. The king² sent the dragon prince⁹ to find the knight, but all he found was the shield.²⁴ Bran likes the story, but wishes the she-wolf¹¹ had been named queen of love and beauty. Meera says that she was, but that is a sadder story.²⁵