Hill tribes

Tyrion Lannister enlists the aid of the Hill tribes

Kevan Lannister: "They do seem rather ferocious."

Tyrion Lannister: "Ferocious? Last night, a Moon Brother stabbed a Storm Crow over a sausage. Three Storm Crows seized the Moon Brother and opened his throat. Bronn managed to keep Shagga from chopping off the dead man's cock - which was fortunate, but even still, Ulf is demanding blood money. Which Shagga and Gunther refuse to pay."

— Tyrion and his uncle Kevan discuss the Hill tribesmen

The hill tribes or mountain clans are clans who live in the foothills of the Mountains of the Moon on the western fringes of the Vale of Arryn. They reject and resist the rule of House Arryn.

The hill tribes are also sometimes derisively referred to as "wildlings", but out of context the term is usually understood to refer to the peoples living beyond the Wall, who refer to themselves as the "Free Folk" ("wildlings" is used as a generic synonym for "barbarians" or "savages").

Culture

The hill tribes are divided into clans of varying size and strength. Three of the most notable are the Stone Crows, Burned Men, and Black Ears, led by Shagga, Timett, and Chella respectively. They are a frequent danger to travelers along the Eastern Road which crosses over the mountain into the Vale from the Riverlands.

The hill tribes are quite ferocious and will often resort to violence at slight provocations. However, they are not entirely uncivilized: sometimes when a member from one tribe kills a member from another, their leaders have been known to negotiate a non-violent end to the feud by demanding blood money be paid as compensation by the offending tribe.

The Clans

Shagga, son of Dolf

• Stone Crows - led by Shagga
• Burned Men - led by Timett
• Black Ears - led by Chella
• Moon Brothers - led by Ulf
• Painted Dogs

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels a number of warrior clans eke out a mean existence in the foothills of the Mountains of the Moon, including the Black Ears, Burned Men, Stone Crows, Moon Brothers, and Painted Dogs. Other less prominent hill tribes that have been mentioned in the books are the Milk Snakes and the Sons of the Mist. They hold outsiders as enemies and wish to destroy House Arryn and loot the Vale for themselves, but lack the weapons and armor needed, particularly siege engines.

See also

• The mountain clans at A Wiki of Ice and Fire.

References

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