- "Plenty of little men tried to put their swords through my heart. And there's plenty of little skeletons buried in the woods."
- ―Tormund to Jon Snow
Tormund, often called Tormund Giantsbane, is a recurring character in the third season. He is played by Kristofer Hivju.
Biography
Background
Tormund is a trusted leader in his own right of a large warband of wildlings. He has joined his forces to those of King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder, and now functions as one of Mance's most trusted lieutenants.
Season 3
When Jon enters Mance's tent, he initially believes Tormund is Mance and kneels before him.
Tormund leads twenty other of the Free Folk, including Jon Snow and Ygritte, in scaling The Wall, where he was instructed to await a signal from Mance; several of his party fall to their deaths in the climb. Later when Jon Snow is outed as a spy, Tormund restrains Ygritte to prevent her from helping him in the ensuing scuffle, and more still of his party are killed as Jon escapes.
Appearances
Template:Season Three Appearances
Image gallery
Behind the scenes
The role was announced in May 2012.[1] Kristofer Hivju was confirmed in the role in July 2012.[2]
In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Tormund Giantsbane, also known as Tormund Thunderfist, is a wildling chieftain following Mance Rayder, the King-Beyond-the-Wall. He serves alongside the Lord of Bones, Styr the Magnar of Thenn and several other chieftains as an advisor and lieutenant to "the Mance". He is a charismatic, hearty, good-humored man with a sense of humor (unlike his TV portrayal) and, by wildling standards, a rough sense of honor. He styles himself Tall-talker, Horn-blower, Breaker of Ice, Husband to Bears, Mead-King of Ruddy Hall, Speaker to Gods and Father of Hosts. He has four sons (Toregg, Torwynd, Dryn, and Dormund) and a daughter (Munda). Tormund is a bit older in the books than in the TV series: he is described as having a white beard so he is not a young man, but he is also described as large, broad, and still very strong. He wears thick gold bands graven with runes on his massive arms, and a heavy shirt of black ringmail that could only have come from a dead ranger. Tormund likes to brag about his deeds, but he is not arrogant.
While Jon travels with the Wildlings, he and Tormund become good friends. Jon is rather amused to hear Tormund's stories. Tormund approves of the growing romance between Jon and Ygritte, and encourages Jon to have sex with her. When the Lord of Bones acts hostilely and suspiciously toward Jon, Tormund supports Jon.
In the books it is not Tormund but Styr that leads the wildling party to scale the Wall.
References
See also
- Tormund at A Wiki of Ice and Fire (MAJOR spoilers from the books)