This is a listing of members of House Dayne who appear in A Song of Ice and Fire.
For the main character index, see here
For the main Dornish entry, see here
House Dayne of Starfall
House Dayne of Starfall is a noble house from Starfall in Dorne. They are among the principal houses sworn to House Martell. The Sword of the Morning is a title given to a Dayne knight who is considered worthy of wielding the greatsword Dawn, a blade said to be created from the heart of falling star. Their sigil is a sword and a falling star on a lavender background.
In appearance, members of the family are stony Dornishmen whose characteristics mostly resemble the rest of the Seven Kingdoms in look, customs and traditions. Unlike the rest of the more Rhoynish-looking Dornishmen, they have pale skin with hair ranging from dark brown to pale blond and they often have violet eyes; in spite of their appearance and common features with the descendants of the now decimated civilization, the Daynes are reportedly not Valyrian in origin.
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Tropes related to House Dayne
Tropes related to House Dayne
- Alliterative Family: The older generation seems to have this going on, as the three Dayne siblings all have names that start with "A": Arthur, Ashara, and Allyria. It's unknown if Edric's unnamed father adheres to this pattern.
- Always Second Best: Subverted. In spite of their fame due to the Sword of the Morning and their Valyrian-like traits, House Dayne is a relatively small house compared to House Martell and their close contenders, House Yronwood.
- Ancestral Weapon: Their family greatsword, Dawn, is passed on down through generations to the finest swordsmen House Dayne produces. It is rumoured to be forged from a fallen star.
- Badass Family: They have a history of producing many great and famous (and some infamous) knights, to the point where the mightiest knight of their house has his own special title as the "Sword of the Morning".
- Cosmic Motifs: Stars, alluding to their mysterious beauty and history. Their sigil is a falling star, their seat is at Starfall, their members are known for having pale blonde hair and purple eyes, and their greatsword Dawn is Thunderbolt Iron.
- Famous Ancestor: They have many, owing to the fact they have produced some of the finest knights in the history of Westeros.
- King Samwell Dayne the Starfire, who sacked Oldtown during his reign.
- Ser Davos Dayne was the third husband of Princess Nymeria and Sword of the Morning. Although he had children with Nymeria, they did not inherit the throne of Dorne, which instead fell to the eldest daughter of Nymeria and Mors Martell.
- Clarisse Dayne, Lady of Starfall during the reign of Maegor I Targaryen, was proposed as a possible match for the king by Maester Benifer, in hopes of detaching her lands and house from Dorne. Luckily the Cruel dismissed his advice.
- Ser Ulrick Dayne was the Sword of the Morning at some point in the early third century after Aegon's landing. He was considered one of the greatest knights of his time.
- Dyanna Dayne was the wife of King Maekar I and mother to his six children, including Aegon V.
- Feuding Families: They have some friction with House Oakheart from the Reach, having clashed with them in the many conflicts between Dorne and the Reach.
- Subverted when it comes to House Stark, for reasons that have not been fully revealed yet. Especially odd when you consider the Daynes naming their heir after Ned Stark...years after Ned slew Arthur Dayne.
- Legacy Character: Whenever the family produces a Master Swordsman, he is given Dawn, and called "The Sword of the Morning".
- Master Swordsman: The "Sword of the Morning" title is given whenever House Dayne produces a Master Swordsman. This title is so serious that every "Sword of the Morning" so far has been considered the best swordsman alive during their lifetime.
- Mysterious Past: The origins of the Dayne trademark purple eyes remains a mystery.
- Red Baron: The title "Sword of the Morning."
- The Unreveal: There is some suspicious connection between Ned Stark and House Dayne that hasn't been revealed.
- Most prominently Ned is the person who killed Arthur Dayne, the most recent Sword of Morning, and yet the Daynes named their heir after him. Ned must have done something extraordinary for the relationship between the houses to be so cordial.
- The suicide of Ashara Dayne seems to have something to do with Ned Stark, either if she was Jon Snow's mother, or her stillborn child was actually Ned or Brandon Stark's.
- Wylla, the woman who Ned stated to be Jon's mother, is revealed to be a servant of the Daynes, but there is enough in-universe reasonable doubt.
Lord Edric Dayne
Lord Edric Dayne
Ned
Head of House Dayne and Lord of Starfall despite being twelve, he is currently squiring for Lord Beric Dondarrion.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: He is the head of one of Dorne's most powerful and ancient houses. There has been no indication about what happened to his parents.
- Child Soldier: Fights alongside the Brotherhood Without Banners in several battles. Despite this, he tells Arya he hasn't killed anyone yet... and, is rather shocked when she asks.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: He is the most innocent member of the Brotherhood Without Banners and one of the nicest, politest, and humblest lords seen in the series.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: He has dark blue eyes that appear almost purple, and remains one of the few members of the Brotherhood who isn't either corrupted or a straight-up killer.
- In-Series Nickname: Ned, which it is implied he is called after Eddard Stark.
- Which also suggests that the Worthy Opponent vibe between the Starks and Arthur Dayne survived the death of the latter at the hands of the former, as well as the succeeding suicide of Ashara Dayne. Apparently, this is one of the few cases of a tragic slaying in battle where Feuding Families didn't develop.
- Nice Guy: Seems to be a well-adjusted, polite, loyal boy when Arya encounters him.
- A Real Man Is a Killer: Averted: he hasn't killed anyone, but none of the Brotherhood looks down on him for that, and learning this causes Arya to realize how strange it is that she has already killed several people when Ned hasn't.
- Reluctant Warrior: He is not very enthused by combat, and is quite relieved that he is mostly ignored during battles.
- The Squire: To Lord Beric Dondarrion, who seems to have gone out of his way to both properly train and protect Ned — even while slowly losing his sense of self. A downright rarity, that.
- Unknown Rival: Gendry is not happy when Lady Arya starts talking to Lord Edric.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He left the Brotherhood Without Banners with several other members after Beric died permanently by bringing Catelyn Stark back to life, and his current whereabouts are unknown.
Ashara Dayne
Ashara Dayne
- "Even after all these years, Ser Barristan could still recall Ashara's smile, the sound of her laughter. He had only to close his eyes to see her, with her long dark hair tumbling about her shoulders and those haunting purple eyes."—Ser Barristan Selmy remembering Ashara
Edric's aunt and Arthur's sister, Ashara was a lady-in-waiting to Princess Elia at the time of Robert's Rebellion. She died by throwing herself out of the Palestone Sword tower near the end of it. She was a renowned beauty with a yet-unexplained connection to Eddard Stark, and there are several in-universe rumors claiming she was Jon Snow's mother.
- Ambiguous Situation: The mysterious circumstances surrounding her suicide. Most of the speculation regarding the tragedy in the books concern the reasons why she did it.
- Did They or Didn't They?: It's rumored that she and Ned were lovers, and she may possibly be Jon's mother. However, the exact circumstances are vague; Ned seemed to have a crush on her at the Tourney of Harrenhal, and in the present he feels deep sadness and regret whenever she's mentioned. Catelyn speculates on the connection between them, Cersei accuses Ned of possibly causing her suicide by stealing her child, and Edric and Allyria Dayne outright believe they were in love.
- Driven to Suicide: Although what prompted her to kill herself isn't exactly clear; some sources say it was due to the news of her brother's death, others say it was her daughter being stillborn.
- Lady-In-Waiting: Served as one to Princess Elia.
- The Lost Lenore: Over a decade after Ashara's death, Ser Barristan Selmy still thinks of the doomed fair lady whom he never confessed his love to.
- Misblamed: Invoked. Catelyn Stark has long suspected that Ashara is the person that wooed Ned, though she is immediately admonished by him when she musters the courage to bring out the subject. The main reason Ashara is thought to be Jon's mother is the fact that Ned brings him up in this particular conversation, suggesting that Ashara and Jon could share a connection.
- My Greatest Failure:
- Ser Barristan Selmy reminisces that Ashara was about the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen and the only person he would have even considered losing his knightly Kingsguard vows for. He regrets every day of his life not winning the Tourney at Harrenhal to crown her his Queen of Love and Beauty not only because of the mentioned aspects, but also because his victory would have prevented Rhaegar from crowning Lyanna when he won, which may have precipitated the ordeal that led to Robert's Rebellion. With so many years having passed after the fact, Ser Barristan is still pained by the fact that he never told her at the very least that he was in love with her.
- Implied Trope with Ned. Whatever happened between them, it left him bitter at the mere mention of her name even years after, outright commanding Winterfell to never speak her name again.
- Never Found the Body: Her body landed in the Torentine River and was never recovered, presumably being washed out into the Summer Sea.
- Posthumous Character: She died shortly after the end of Robert's Rebellion, having received the greatsword Dawn from Ned Stark, and lives on in other characters' recollections.
- Shrouded in Myth: At least one song has been written about her death, and the Stark retainers describe her in almost fairy tale terms, which doesn't help Catelyn Stark's insecurities about her husband's alleged first love. Neither does it clarify her role in the events at Harrenhal.
- Statuesque Stunner: She is said to have been tall, sultry and extremely beautiful. When the rumors about her are set aside, the remaining constant is the mention of her marked beauty.
- Tragic Stillbirth: It is rumoured that she threw herself from one of Starfall's towers into the sea because her baby daughter was stillborn.
- Unrequited Tragic Maiden: Invoked. Ashara was a great beauty from a noble family whose suicide got the rumormongers going, and one of the more long-lived in-universe theories is that she killed herself after a ill-fated dalliance with a Stark brother. They even get to Catelyn, Ned's eventual wife, who was so hurt by said rumors that she confronted Ned about it and in response he forbade mention of Ashara within Winterfell.
- What Beautiful Eyes!: She was noted to have "haunting" purple eyes. A few characters mention her eyes when she's brought up and Barristan Selmy thinks that Daenerys Targaryen's eyes remind him of Ashara's.
- World's Most Beautiful Woman: By all accounts, Ashara was reputed to be one of the most beautiful women in Westeros at the time of Robert's Rebellion.
Ser Arthur Dayne
Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning
- See Aerys II's Kingsguard page.
Allyria Dayne
Allyria Dayne
Edric's aunt and Arthur and Ashara's younger sister.
- Arranged Marriage: To Beric Dondarrion.
- The Ghost: She has yet to appear in the series.
- Shipper on Deck: She maintains that Ashara loved Ned Stark.
Cadet Houses
House Dayne of High Hermitage
House Dayne of High Hermitage is a house of landed knights from High Hermitage in Dorne. They are a cadet branch of and bannermen to House Dayne of Starfall. Neither their arms nor their words have appeared in the books.
Ser Gerold Dayne
Ser Gerold Dayne
The Darkstar
- "Men call me Darkstar, and I am of the night."
The Knight of High Hermitage. Darkstar is a companion of Arianne Martell, whose beauty masks a penchant for cruelty.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: He is a beautiful noble with a massive sadistic streak.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: He may be one of the smuggest people in Westeros, a lot of which comes from his alleged skill with a blade.
- Badass Boast: Makes one when Ser Andrey Dalt tries to warn him about the poisonous snakes in the area where they are resting:Ser Gerold: I was weaned on venom, Dalt. Any viper takes a bite of me will rue it.
- Big Bad Wannabe: He tries to incite a war between Dorne and the crown and salvage the rebellious plot by cutting down Princess Myrcella. After Arianne's plot is squashed by Areo Hotah, the Martells frame Darkstar for the whole plot and the assassination of Ser Arys Oakheart to prevent war from sparking too soon.
- Card-Carrying Villain: He positively relishes playing himself up as an antithesis to the Knight in Shining Armor ideal.
- The Dreaded: Several Dornish characters considered him to be very dangerous but the only danger that he did was maiming Myrcella. Despite that Doran sent Obara and Areo Hotah with Ser Balon Swann to deal with Darkstar, Ser Daemon Sand doubted that he cannot be taken down so easily.Ser Daemon Sand: Be careful what you pray for, princess. Darkstar could put an end to Lady Obara just as easily.
- Evil Counterpart: He considers himself as being this to Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning.
- Jerkass: Arianne notes that he has a cruel tongue, and besides frequently insulting people he also tries to kill Myrcella.
- Kick the Dog: He attempts to kill Myrcella but her horse veers away, resulting in the little girl losing an ear. The blade also cut down to her cheekbone, leaving her horribly disfigured.
- Large Ham: Practically every word he says drips with a sort of overwrought grandeur.
- Pretty Boy: Noted to be rather handsome by Arianne.
- The Resenter: Hates being compared to Ser Arthur Dayne.
- The Scapegoat: When Arianne's plot falls apart Darkstar is blamed for everything that results from it, including maiming Myrcella, which he did do, and killing Ser Arys Oakheart, which he did not do.
- Small Name, Big Ego: He acts like a badass knight who deserves respect and fear, but he is just a minor knight from a lesser branch who has a small keep and fails to kill a little girl.
- Smug Snake: He's not actually all that bad as a warrior, and his unflappable self-confidence does give him some genuine charisma. However, he thinks of himself as being much more skilled and clever than he actually is, and he pays dearly for it.
- Token Evil Teammate: For Arianne's conspiracy and House Dayne.
- White Hair, Black Heart: Has white hair and Would Hurt a Child. He even has the nickname Darkstar.
- Would Hurt a Child: Suggests to Arianne that her plot to start a war would be better served by killing Myrcella instead of crowning her, and attempts to do exactly that when they are ambushed by Areo Hotah.
Historical Daynes
King Vorian Dayne
King Vorian Dayne
The Sword of the Evening
Vorian Dayne, Sword of the Evening, was the last King of the Torrentine from House Dayne in Dorne.
- The Exile: Vorian was sent to The Wall after losing the war against House Martell.
- Knight in Shining Armor: Vorian was known as the greatest knight in all of Dorne.
- Master Swordsman: Vorian got his own nickname because of it.
Ser Joffrey Dayne
Ser Joffrey Dayne
Ser Joffrey Dayne was knight of House Dayne during the early years of the Targaryen conquest.
- Cycle of Revenge: He led an army to Oldtown in response to a Hightower army who was trying to relieve Nightsong. After the siege of Oldtown, the Dayne seat of Starfall was burned by dragons.
- Old Master: He might have been this. He is famous for killing Lord Manfred Hightower's younger son. There is always a reference to the disparage in age between the two.
