Iron Throne

The Iron Throne is the seat of the monarch who rules the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. Forged in the aftermath of Aegon's Conquest, it is at once a literal chair and the most potent symbol of royal authority in the realm. To "sit the Iron Throne" is to hold sovereignty over the continent, and the phrase is used interchangeably with the crown itself.

The throne was made, by command of Aegon I Targaryen, from the swords surrendered by his defeated enemies, melted and reshaped by the dragonflame of Balerion the Black Dread. By design it is an uncomfortable and even dangerous seat, jagged with blades and barbs. Aegon held that a king should never sit easy, and over the centuries the throne is said to have cut more than one ruler who handled it carelessly, giving rise to the saying that the Iron Throne is unkind to those who would master it.

Description

In the novels the Iron Throne is far larger and more monstrous than many depictions suggest. It is described as a great hulking tangle of barbs and jagged edges and twisted metal, a mass of a thousand swords so heavy that it took many men and the heat of dragonfire to assemble. Steep iron steps lead up to the seat, and a king who climbs them looks down upon his court from a considerable height. The metal is blackened and sharp, and careless contact can draw blood, a feature that the realm has long read as an omen of a ruler's fitness.

History

The throne was raised at the Aegonfort and later stood in the great hall of the Red Keep in King's Landing, the fortress and capital built by the Targaryen dynasty. For nearly three centuries it was held by Targaryen kings, descendants of Aegon and his sister-wives. It passed through times of peace, civil war such as the Dance of the Dragons, and the long reign of kings both able and mad.

The dynasty fell when Robert Baratheon overthrew Aerys II, the Mad King, in Robert's Rebellion, claiming the throne by right of conquest and a thread of Targaryen blood. The death of Robert sets in motion the War of the Five Kings, a multi-sided struggle in which rival claimants each press their right to the seat.

Significance

More than any crown or castle, the Iron Throne represents the unification of Westeros under a single ruler. Aegon forged it from the weapons of his enemies precisely so that every man who looked on it would remember the cost of defying the dragon. Its cruelty is deliberate: the legend that the throne wounds unworthy kings makes the chair itself a kind of judge.

Throughout A Song of Ice and Fire the throne functions as the central prize over which houses and factions contend, and the wounds it inflicts on those who sit it carelessly serve as a recurring symbol of the burdens and perils of rule.

Screen note: televised adaptations render the throne as a smaller, sleeker chair than the towering barbed structure described in the books.