Unbowed. Unbent. Un Broken!

‘Unbowed, unbent, unbroken.’ The words of House Martell. A promise to our enemies, and a challenge to our lovers.

OBERYN MARTELL

House Martell of Sunspear is one of the Great Houses of Westeros. It rules the peninsula of Dorne in the far south of the continent. Though loyal to the Iron Throne, the Martells were never conquered by the Targaryens and have pursued a more isolated role in wider political events since Robert’s Rebellion.

House Martell’s sigil is a red sun pierced by a golden spear, on an orange field, a combination of the original Martell sigil — a yellow spear — and the emblem of Princess Nymeria — a red sun — to symbolize the marriage of the warrior-queen to Mors Martell. Their house words are “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken.”

Ygritte: “Is that how you lot do your fighting? You march down the road banging drums and waving banners?”

Jon Snow: “Most of the time, yes.”

Ygritte: “How do the men holding the banners fight?”

Jon Snow: “They don’t, really. It’s a great honor to carry your House sigil.”

— Jon Snow explains to Ygritte the wildling the importance of heraldry in the Seven Kingdoms.

The various noble houses of the Seven Kingdoms use distinctive heraldry[1] to identify families and individuals. These heraldic devices are also carried by armies on the battlefield as a sign of status, as well as allegiance to those noble houses.

Before the Seven Kingdoms, before the Iron Throne, there was Dorne. Twelve thousand years ago the First Men crossed the land bridge from Essos to here. Of course they were men so they soon broke it. Then while their cousins to the north built kingdoms, the Dornish squabbled over land, water and wives, for centuries. Until Nymeria, a warrior princess in Essos. She led a fleet of 10,000 ships across the Narrow Sea to Dorne. Almost all of the petty lords made it clear that she wasn’t welcome. All but one, Mors of House Martell. He saw in her a strength to match any man, including his rivals. After she accepted his marriage offer she set fire to her ships. For 50 leagues the coast was bright as day. And in the burning light, Princess Nymeria names Mors Martell, the Prince of Dorne.

Art by Stella Nova!