Lann the Clever

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House Lannister.svg
Lann
House Lannister.svg
Lann the Clever.jpg
Lann, from Game of Thrones Blu-ray

Alias Lann the Clever
Title King of the Rock (posthumously)
Allegiance House Lannister
Race First Men/Andal (disputed)
Born In the Age of Heroes
Mother Florys the Fox or Rowan Gold-Tree (disputed)
Books

Lann the Clever is the legendary hero who founded House Lannister in the Age of Heroes,[1] winkling Casterly Rock from the Casterlys with only his wits.[2] Lann is popular amongst singers and storytellers.[2]

History

Origin

Most tales connect Lann with the First Men and the dawn of days[3] or the Age of Heroes.[1] In some tales of the Reach, Lann was a bastard born to Florys the Fox or Rowan Gold-Tree, legendary daughters of Garth Greenhand.[4] In the westerlands, however, it is more commonly claimed that Lann deceived Garth by posing as one of his plentiful sons and making off with part of the inheritance that belonged to Garth's children.[4] Some versions state he was an Andal adventurer from across the narrow sea, although this would have been thousands of years before the coming of the Andals.[5]

Casterly Rock

Stories differ in the method by which Lann took Casterly Rock from House Casterly. In the most common version, Lann, having stripped naked and coated himself in butter, squeezed through a secret cleft in the stone. Once inside he confused the sleeping Casterlys by whispering threats, howling like a demon, stealing treasures from one brother and placing them in the bedchamber of another, and rigging traps. Thus, he set the Casterlys at odds with one another and convinced them their seat was haunted.[5]

In another version of the tale, Lann used the cleft to fill the Rock with mice, rats, and other vermin to drive the Casterlys out. In yet another he smuggled inside a pride of lions which devoured Lord Casterly and his sons. Lann then claimed the lord's wife and daughters for himself. In the most notorious tale, Lann had his way with Casterly maidens while they slept, and nine months later the women gave birth to golden-haired children while insisting they had never slept with a man.[5]

Lann is said to have stolen gold from the sun to brighten his hair.[2] He supposedly lived to the age of three hundred and twelve, siring a hundred bold sons and a hundred lissome daughters, all fair of face, clean of limb and with hair "as golden as the sun". In a few generations, Lann's descendants were so numerous that Casterly Rock could not contain them all. The members of the lesser branches made their home in a nearby village that grew into the city of Lannisport.[5]

Legacy

Maesters are skeptical of Lann the Clever's existence.[5] Archmaester Perestan proposed that Lann was a retainer or guard in service to House Casterly who impregnated the lord's daughter—or daughters—and persuaded the father to give him the girl in marriage. Maester Yandel considers that if this lord had no trueborn sons, the Rock eventually passed to said daughter and Lann. Whatever the case, House Casterly vanished from chronicles and histories and in its place appears the hitherto-unknown House Lannister.[5] Lann is not believed to have claimed the title of king, although some tales have called him such posthumously.[5]

Some claim that Lann's ghost still haunts Casterly Rock.[6] Lann's Point is presumably named after Lann the Clever.[5]

Quotes

In the songs, Lann was the fellow who winkled the Casterlys out of Casterly Rock with no weapon but his wits, and stole gold from the sun to brighten his curly hair.[2]

—thoughts of Eddard Stark

Family

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Garth
Greenhand
 
Various
women
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Garth
the Gardener
 
John
the Oak
 
Gilbert
of the Vines
 
Foss
the Archer
 
Brandon of
the Bloody Blade
 
Maris
the Maid
 
Uthor of the
High Tower
 
Owen
Oakenshield
 
Bors
the Breaker
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
House Gardener.svg
House Gardener
 
House Oakheart.svg
House Oakheart
 
House Redwyne.svg
House Redwyne
 
House Fossoway of Cider Hall.svg
House Fossoway
 
Brandon
the Builder

[Note 1]
 
Urrigon
Hightower
 
Peremore
Hightower
 
 
 
 
 
House Bulwer.svg
House Bulwer
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
House Stark.svg
House
Stark
 
House Hightower.svg
House Hightower
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rose
of Red Lake
 
Ellyn
Ever Sweet
 
Rowan
Gold-Tree
 
Unknown
man
 
Florys
the Fox
 
Three
husbands
 
Harlon
the Hunter
 
Woods witch
 
Herndon
of the Horn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
House Crane.svg
House
Crane
 
House Beesbury.svg
House Beesbury
 
House Rowan.svg
House Rowan
 
Lann
the Clever

[Note 2]
 
House Florent.svg
House Florent
 
House Ball.svg
House
Ball
 
House Peake.svg
House Peake
 
House Tarly.svg
House
Tarly
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
House Lannister.svg
House Lannister
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes:
  1. In some tales of the Reach, Bran the Builder was the son of Brandon of the Bloody Blade.
  2. In some tales of the Reach, Lann the Clever was a bastard born to Rowan Gold-Tree or her sister Florys the Fox.


References