Prophecies of Westeros
Seven of the great foretellings that haunt the tale — each set down as it was spoken, then read for what it may portend. The words are open to all; the readings that follow name deaths and endings, and stay veiled until you ask.
- Contested
Azor Ahai & the Prince That Was Promised
Spoken by: The red priests of R'hllor; the old prophecies of Asshai
When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, a hero long dead shall be born again amidst salt and smoke, to wake dragons out of stone.
The champion draws a burning sword, Lightbringer, the red blade of heroes, and stands against the cold and the dark that would swallow the world. Some name this figure Azor Ahai come again; others, the prince that was promised. Whether the two are one is a quarrel older than the Wall.
What it says: The east's great messianic prophecy, carried west by the red faith: a foretold champion, born amid salt and smoke, who will bear a fiery sword against the coming dark. Two names, and no certainty they mean one person.
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.
SourcesA Clash of Kings · A Storm of Swords · A Feast for Crows (Maester Aemon) · A Dance with Dragons
- Awaited
The Dragon Has Three Heads
Spoken by: A voice in the House of the Undying; and Rhaegar, of his own children
The dragon must have three heads. A song of ice and fire wants three voices to sing it — the promised prince is not one child, the reading goes, but a line, or a trio, of the blood.
The Targaryen banner has borne three heads since the Conquest. Whether the prophecy speaks of three riders, three claimants, or three of a single family, the singers do not agree and the maesters like it no better.
What it says: A riddle knotted into the very sigil of House Targaryen: three heads, and the old belief that the tale cannot be finished by one hand alone. If dragons need riders, the question is whose.
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.
SourcesA Storm of Swords (the House of the Undying) · A Dance with Dragons
- Unfolding
Maggy the Frog & the Valonqar
Spoken by: Maggy the Frog, to a highborn girl at Lannisport
A girl was told she would be queen — but only for a while, until a younger and more beautiful queen came to cast her down and take all that she held dear.
She would wed a king, not the prince she wished for. The king would father a score of children on other women, and she none that lived past him. Three children she would have of her own; gold would be their crowns, and gold their shrouds.
And when her tears had drowned her and her joys were spent, the valonqar — the little brother, in the old Valyrian tongue — would close pale hands about her white throat and choke the life from her.
What it says: A childhood fortune spoken to Cersei Lannister by a marsh witch, and never once forgotten. The word valonqar means 'little brother' — and it names no house, nor even which brother.
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.
SourcesA Feast for Crows (Cersei's remembrance)
- Unfolding
The Visions of the Undying
Spoken by: The warlocks of Qarth, in the House of the Undying
Three fires must you light, the whisper ran — one for life, one for death, one for love. Three mounts must you ride — one to bed, one to dread, one to love. Three treasons will you know — once for blood, once for gold, once for love.
You shall be the slayer of lies, and the bride of fire. And amid the visions, a blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness.
What it says: The thicket of riddles set before Daenerys in Qarth: three triads of fire, mount, and treason, and a scatter of images the wise have argued over ever since. The blue rose in the wall of ice is the most gnawed-upon bone of all.
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.
SourcesA Clash of Kings (the House of the Undying)
- Unfolding
The Ghost of High Heart
Spoken by: A dwarf woman, the woods witch of the hollow hill
She dreams true, and is paid in wine for the telling. She dreamed of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs; and of a woman at a feast with a wolf's head upon her shoulders, cutting the throat of a giant in a castle built of snow.
She dreamed of a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed; of a roaring river of the slain; of a broken king writhing in a giant's cloak; and of a king's blood spilled to wake a dragon out of stone.
What it says: The little woods witch of the riverlands, ancient and half-mad, whose wine-bought dreams have an unhappy habit of coming true. The Brotherhood without Banners has learned to listen, and to dread the listening.
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.
SourcesA Storm of Swords (the Ghost of High Heart)
- Cryptic
Quaithe's Warnings
Spoken by: Quaithe of the Shadow, masked
To go north, she said, you must journey south; to reach the west, you must go east; to go forward, you must go back; and to touch the light, you must pass beneath the shadow.
Beware the perfumed seneschal. And beware the shapes that will come hunting the dragons: the kraken and the dark flame, the lion and the griffin, the sun's son, and the mummer's dragon. Remember what you are, and what you are not.
What it says: A masked woman of Asshai who counsels Daenerys in riddles and never once shows her face. Her warnings name shapes, not men — and leave the naming to whoever dares.
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.
SourcesA Clash of Kings · A Dance with Dragons
- Cryptic
Patchface's Drowned Songs
Spoken by: Patchface, the fool of Dragonstone
A jester who drowned and did not stay drowned — pulled from a shipwreck a day and more after all hope was spent, and never right in the head again, his face tattooed in red and green checks.
His nonsense rhymes turn too often to the sea and the bones that dance beneath it: under the sea the birds have scales for feathers, the mermaids feast upon the drowned, the shadows come to dance, my lord, they come to dance and then to stay — and here, he sings, we shall bleed.
What it says: Mummery, most of the court agrees — the babbling of a broken fool. Save that the fool's mad songs have a habit of rhyming with griefs that have not happened yet.
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.
SourcesA Clash of Kings (the fool of Dragonstone) · A Storm of Swords
What did Maggy the Frog prophesy to Cersei?
That Cersei would be queen, until a younger and more beautiful queen cast her down; that she would wed a king, not a prince; that she would have three children, gold their crowns and gold their shrouds; and that when her joys were spent, the valonqar — the 'little brother' — would wrap his hands around her throat and choke the life from her.
What is the valonqar prophecy?
Valonqar is High Valyrian for 'little brother.' The last line of Maggy the Frog's prophecy tells Cersei that a valonqar will strangle her. She assumes it means her brother Tyrion, the Imp, and hates him for it — but the word names no house and no single man, and Cersei was born moments before a twin. The books leave it unresolved.
Who is Azor Ahai, the prince that was promised?
A foretold champion of the red faith, to be reborn amid salt and smoke when a red star bleeds, wielding the fiery sword Lightbringer against the coming dark. Melisandre believes she can name him; Maester Aemon doubted the reading, noting the original prophecy's tongue may not distinguish 'prince' from 'princess.' Whether Azor Ahai and the prince that was promised are one figure is disputed.
What did Daenerys see in the House of the Undying?
A cascade of riddles from the warlocks of Qarth: three fires, three mounts, and three treasons to know; that she would be the slayer of lies and the bride of fire; a cloth dragon paraded on poles; and a blue rose growing from a chink in a wall of ice — the last read by many as a hidden Targaryen born in the cold north.