A handmaiden or handmaid is a woman in service of a noblewoman, either a Queen or a noble lady.
Women of vassal houses sometimes also serve as hand maidens and companions to noble ladies in the household of their overlords or at the royal court.
Known handmaidens
- {Doreah}, a Lyseni pleasure slave purchased to serve as handmaiden to Daenerys Targaryen. Locked inside Xaro Xhoan Daxos' vault for treason.
- {Irri}, a Dothraki handmaiden of Daenerys Targaryen, killed by an agent of Xaro Xhoan Daxos.
- Jhiqui, a Dothraki handmaiden of Daenerys Targaryen, status unknown.
- Shae, a Lorathi handmaiden of Sansa Stark and, secretly, Tyrion Lannister's concubine.
- Missandei, a Naathi freedwoman in Daenerys Targaryen's service as handmaiden, herald, and translator.
- An Unidentified handmaiden in service of Sansa Stark but reporting to Queen Cersei Lannister.
- An unidentified handmaiden in service of Margaery Tyrell.
In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels the tasks of handmaidens or "lady attendants" vary depending on their origin. Highborn women aid and accompany higher-status ladies and even share their beds but do not perform tasks such as preparing baths or emptying chamber pots, which are reserved for lowborn women.