Brienne of Tarth grew up the sole heir of an island lordship, unusually tall and, by the court's cruel consensus, unusually plain, and turned both facts into a suit of armor long before she ever wore an actual one. Where other highborn daughters were pushed toward marriage, Brienne pursued knighthood, training with a sword until she could out-fence men who mocked her for wanting to, and eventually winning a place in a king's own guard on skill no one could plausibly dispute. She holds honor and oath-keeping as something close to a religion, which has made her nearly impossible to bribe, frighten, or seduce off a path she has decided is right, and correspondingly difficult for cannier operators to use. A maester notes that a knight this literal-minded about her vows is rarer, and more dangerous to cross, than any amount of skill with a longsword would suggest on its own.
Brienne of Tarth
Brienne the Beauty
- Life
- no fixed AC year given; a young, unmarried woman of fighting age when the story opens
- House
- Tarth
- Titles
- Ser (self-styled, and contested)
- Seat
- Evenfall Hall, Tarth (heir)
- Culture
- Stormlands (Tarth)
- Religion
- The Faith of the Seven
- Weapon
- Oathkeeper, a Valyrian steel sword gifted to her by Jaime Lannister
- Notable for
- Fighting her way into Renly Baratheon's personal guard and holding her oath to Catelyn Stark's daughters above all else
Last seen in the riverlands, sworn to an errand of protection whose end is not yet chronicled.
Appearances
In the novels
- A Clash of Kings
- A Storm of SwordsPOV
- A Feast for CrowsPOV
On screen
HBO's Game of Thrones — Seasons 2–8
Perspective
Brienne's chapters, running alongside Jaime's captivity and her own hunt through the riverlands, show the cost of taking chivalric oaths as literally as she does in a war that rarely rewards honor.
Key events
- before AGOTBorn the sole surviving heir to Tarth, unusually tall and strong for a highborn girl.
- before AGOTTrains to knighthood against her family's expectations, winning a tourney melee.
- 298 ACWins a place in King Renly Baratheon's personal guard, the Rainbow Guard.
- 299 ACWitnesses Renly's sudden, uncanny death and flees, suspected of the killing.
- 299 ACSwears an oath to Catelyn Stark to find and protect her daughters, Sansa and Arya.
- 299 ACEscorts a captive Jaime Lannister across the war-torn riverlands.
- 300 ACGifted a Valyrian steel sword by Jaime and sent out to search for Sansa Stark.
Reading the character
Brienne's chapters make literal-mindedness about honor into the series' most interesting stress test: nearly every other character treats oaths as negotiable under sufficient pressure, and her refusal to do the same makes her simultaneously the most trustworthy person in any room and the hardest for canny operators to actually use.
Her road through the riverlands alongside Jaime Lannister also stages one of the books' most effective slow reversals of first impressions - both arrive assuming they know exactly what kind of person the other is, and the chapters spend their length patiently proving both of them wrong.
The arc of Brienne of Tarth
This carries the character’s road through the published novels. Read on only if you do not fear to know.
These partings name deaths, endings, and roads not yet ridden in the books. Unveil them only if both roads are known to you — or if you do not fear to know.
In the timeline
Theories about Brienne of Tarth
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House
Is Brienne of Tarth alive?
As of A Feast for Crows, yes — though the chronicle keeps the outcome of the errand she is on behind the veil.
Who is Brienne of Tarth?
The tall, plain-spoken heir of Tarth who trained to knighthood against every expectation of her birth and holds her oaths more literally than almost anyone else in the Seven Kingdoms.