Brotherhood Without Banners

The Brotherhood Without Banners is an outlaw organization in George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. Also known as the Knights of the Hollow Hill, their goals include fighting the Lannisters and protecting the common people of the the Riverlands from depredation by warriors fighting the War of the Five Kings.

History

The Brotherhood was originally founded by Beric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr. In response to the sacking of several Riverland villages, Hand of the King Eddard Stark charged them to bring the Lannister bannerman Gregor Clegane to justice in the name of King Robert. Beric, having the command of the party, led his men into an ambush and was killed. Afterwards, Thoros unintentionally resurrected Beric during a common burial ritual of his god R'hllor. The revived Beric swore to uphold his oath to King and resumed his quest for Gregor's head. Once Robert died and the Lannisters assumed control of the Iron Throne, Beric's men became an outlaw organization.

As outlaws, Beric's men formed the Brotherhood as a way to uphold the spirit of Robert's decree and protect the people. With the help of local communities, Beric began leading successful ambushes on Gregor Clegane's men and other soldiers of all sides of the ongoing conflicts. Due to the odds against him, however, Beric died several more times, but was resurrected each time when Thoros performed his burial ritual. Beric developed a heroic reputation and was dubbed "the Lightning Lord" for his Dondarrion arms and his lethal ambushes. His various deaths and inexplicable reappearances fed the Brotherhood's mystique. Despite numerous opportunities, however, the Brotherhood could not kill Gregor.

Groups of the Brotherhood managed to capture Arya Stark and Sandor Clegane and bring them to Beric's hideout at the same time. Beric decided to hold Arya until they could ransom her to her Tully relatives. He put Sandor on trial for Lannister atrocities. On Arya's eyewitness testimony, Beric convicted Sandor of murdering a butcher boy, but allowed him to choose a trial by combat. He fought Sandor personally with a flaming sword, but was killed. The Brotherhood allowed Sandor to leave, though they seized his possessions in exchange for a deed. Thoros resurrected Beric once again, and later Arya was captured by Sandor.

After the Red Wedding, the Brotherhood discovered Catelyn Stark's corpse, upon which Beric performed R'hllor's burial ritual. He exchanged his life for hers, dying in truth and resurrecting Catelyn's half-decayed body. Though rendered nearly mute from an unhealed throat injury, Catelyn took the name Lady Stoneheart and became the Brotherhood's new de facto leader.

Organization

The Brotherhood acts as a grassroots, altruistic outlaw society with strong ties to local communities. All men are welcome to join the Brotherhood and each new member is knighted, making all members equal. They conduct guerrilla strikes against anyone that they believe threatens the smallfolk (peasants) and the King's peace, regardless of the target's allegiance. Members of the Brotherhood consider themselves to have no allegiance but to each other and King Robert. Some members also participate in religious prayers and rituals to R'hllor. The Brotherhood is divided into many smaller cells operating under the leadership of various influential warriors. The behavior of the various groups varies depending on their leader. Beric's men give their prisoners a fair, if speedy, trial and a quick execution, while men under the Mad Huntsman torture their captives. The Brotherhood receives intelligence and supplies from local river lords and smallfolk who are grateful for its protection. To supplement its income, members of the Brotherhood commandeer supplies whenever they can find them. In one instance, smallfolk loyal to the Brotherhood operated an inn with the express purpose of stealing the possessions of their lodgers. The Brotherhood considers the goods it takes to be loans, and exchanges them for written deeds, to be repaid at a more opportune time.

Leadership

Beric Dondarrion

A handsome, gallant young lord with great martial skill, Beric Dondarrion was Lord of Blackhaven. House Dondarrion was located in the Dornish Marches, making Beric a marcher lord and a bannerman of House Caron, the Lords of the Marches.

Beric entered King's Landing as a brash and hot-headed youth looking to prove himself in the Hand's Tourney. As Hand, Eddard Stark gave him command of a party sent out to arrest Ser Gregor Clegane and bring peace to the Riverlands. He was ambushed and killed in the attempt. His close companion Thoros of Myr accidentally revived him with magic during a funeral service common to Thoros' faith. The revived Beric continued his campaign to bring peace to the region, which quickly became a grassroots campaign against all raiders and soldiers rampaging through the area. Dondarrion recruited all willing followers, mostly smallfolk, into a Brotherhood Without Banners, each swearing allegiance only to the late King Robert's authority and Thoros' fire god R'hllor. Now an outlaw, Beric led the Brotherhood in waging guerilla war against all those who threatened the smallfolk, mostly Lannister bannermen and Gregor Clegane especially. The success of his ambushes earns him the name "the Lightning Lord" in reference to the lightning bolt arms of House Dondarrion. Due to his selfless daring and the overwhelming odds against him, Beric was killed and resurrected at least five more times. Each time he was brought back, he emerged a diminished man, with fewer memories and a more corpselike appearance. By the end, he appeared as a scarecrow of a man and no longer remembered much of his life before the war.

After capturing Sandor Clegane, Beric put him on trial for Lannister atrocities, but ultimately only convicted him of a crime based on Arya's testimony. When Sandor demanded a trial by combat, Beric fought Sandor himself with a sword that he caused to burst into flames. Due to Sandor's fear of fire, Beric was able to gain the upper hand, but a last, desperate swing by Clegane broke Beric's flaming sword and cleaved him from shoulder to hip. Shortly afterwards, Thoros resurrected Beric for the sixth and final time. After the events of the Red Wedding, when he and his men came across the corpse of Catelyn Stark, Harwin urged Thoros to revive her, but Thoros refused, saying she had been dead for too long and the ceremony wouldn't work. Beric then performed the ceremony himself, giving up his life in the process and dying for the seventh and last time in order to restore her life.

Lady Stoneheart

:"For more on the woman who became Lady Stoneheart, see Catelyn Stark (nee Tully)"

Under the leadership of Lady Stoneheart, the focus of the Brotherhood changed dramatically. It moved from helping the smallfolk to taking vengeance on all those responsible for the Red Wedding. Thoros believed that the Brotherhood had become a cruel institution and has suffered greatly without Beric's strong and conscientious leadership. Catelyn's total lack of pity manifested itself when members of the Brotherhood captured Brienne and two of her companions. Catelyn viewed Brienne as a traitor and ordered her to be hanged along with her adolescent squire after she refused to assassinate Jaime Lannister.

Thoros of Myr

Thoros was born in the Free City of Myr and was given to the red priests of R'hllor at a young age. He earned his priesthood but was never overly pious due to his tastes for fighting and drinking. He was sent to King's Landing in hopes he could convert the fire-obsessed King Aerys II, however he was unsuccessful and started to question his own faith. After Robert's Rebellion, he became a frequent drinking companion of King Robert. During the Greyjoy Rebellion, he earned recognition for being the first over the wall at Pyke. He is a frequent tourney mêlée champion, using a sword set aflame with wildfire to spook the other combatants' horses. He is described as a fat, bald man in loose red robes.

After winning the mêlée at the Hand's Tourney, Thoros joined Beric to seek out Gregor Clegane and bring him to the king's justice. Gregor Clegane ambushed their party, however, and Beric was killed. While performing a traditional burial ritual of his faith, Thoros inadvertently resurrected him. The two men founded an outlaw group they called the Brotherhood Without Banners to protect the smallfolk from soldiers foraging in the Riverlands. As an outlaw, Thoros experienced a spiritual reawakening, and continued to be able to resurrect Beric through means beyond his understanding. He also succeeded at many of the feats he had failed to achieve as a red priest, such as seeing visions in flame, and lighting swords on fire with blood and prayer. Thoros also changed externally, transforming into a loose-skinned, grey haired man in faded red robes and piecemeal armor. He never took a leadership position in the Brotherhood, and allowed Lady Stoneheart to take control of the group despite his disapproval of her motives. The changes she made in the Brotherhood once again lowered Thoros's spirits and self-confidence.

Other members

*Anguy the Archer, a skilled young bowman from the Dornish Marches who won the archery competition at the Hand's Tourney.
*Edric Dayne, heir to one of the more important houses in Dorne, this twelve-year old serves as Beric's squire.
*Harwin, formerly in the service of Eddard Stark. Arya revealed herself to him in the hopes that he would reunite her with her family, but his loyalty was only to his Brotherhood.
*Lem Lemoncloak, a burly former soldier, Lem joined the Brotherhood after his family was killed. He earned his name by wearing a bright yellow greatcloak. He obtained and wears Sandor Clegane's snarling-dog helm, which Thoros saw as a sign of how far the Brotherhood had fallen from its idealistic beginnings.
*Tom of Sevenstreams, also known as Tom Sevenstrings and Tom o' Sevens, a skilled harpist and lothario. He once bedded a woman desired by a young Edmure Tully and wrote a song about the incident, mocking Edmure's "floppy fish." He observed the siege of Riverrun, where Jaime Lannister ordered him to play "The Rains of Castamere" as a threat to Edmure, though Jaime was unaware of the two men's previous history.

The Fan Group

George R.R. Martin's official fan group takes its name from the Brotherhood without Banners.

External links

* [http://www.bwbfanclub.com/ Brotherhood without Banners official site]