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“ | What is outside my walls is of no concern to me. Those walls are strong and thick. | „ |
~ Harren, to Aegon I Targaryen |
King Harren Hoare, also known as Harren the Black or Black Harren, is a posthumous character in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series.
He was the son of King Halleck Hoare and the grandson of King Harwyn "Hardhand" Hoare, a King of the Iron Islands who had conquered the Riverlands from House Durrandon of the Stormlands. Harren was the last ironborn king to rule over both the Iron Islands and the Riverlands until he met his end at the hands of Aegon the Conqueror.
Appearance[]
At the time of the Targaryen conquest of Westeros, Harren Hoare was an old and grey man who wore black armor.
Personality[]
Being a proud and vain tyrant, Harren is famous all throughout Westeros, most notably in the Riverlands, for his cruelty. He is willing to enslave entire regions just to achieve his own goals or doing so out of benefit. However he has one flaw: his overconfidence and arrogance, similar to King Argilac Durrandon, and this would end up sealing his fate. An example of Harren's arrogance is when he believed that nothing can withstand the thick stone walls of his castle and also believed that stone cannot burn. He would ultimately be proven wrong in the end when Aegon and his dragon flew over Harrenhal and burned the castle under cover of darkness.
Biography[]
Harren Hoare was born to House Hoare, a noble house from Orkmont who's past members also built Hoare Castle at Great Wyk. By the time of his birth, the seat of the Hoares was Fairmarket, a town in the riverlands. Harren's grandfather King Harwyn Hardhand, had extended ironborn territory over the riverlands from the Neck to the Blackwater Rush during his rule. King Halleck Hoare, Harren's father, was not as successful as Harwyn, while Harren's brother became Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
Throughout his reign as king, Harren, called Harren the Black by many, was a vain, bloody tyrant, whose cruelty made him despised by many. Though he is an ironborn, he returned to the Iron Islands infrequently. Though his father ruled from a modest tower keep at Fairmarket, King Harren desired a grander seat. He spent most of his reign constructing Harrenhal, the largest castle in all of Westeros, which is designed to have five towers and vast walls. The Riverlands and Iron Islands were beggared to build this huge castle while thousands of captives died as they labored. After nearly forty years of construction, Harrenhal was completed.
However, the day that Harrenhal was completed was also the same day that Aegon the Conqueror landed in Westeros to begin his conquest of the Seven Kingdoms. Prior to the beginning of the conquest, the Storm King Argilac "the Arrogant" Durrandon had been so wary of King Harren that he had tried to make an alliance with Aegon to protect his weakening Kingdom, but was unable to reach terms with the conqueror.
While Aegon was victorious over Harren's men in the Battle of the Reeds, two of Harren's sons were victorious at the Wailing Willows. However, as they crossed the God's Eye to return to Harrenhal, they were killed by Aegon's dragon, Balerion the Black Dread. As Aegon's forces advanced in the Riverlands, they were joined by the Riverlords, who finally revolted against Harren. They were led by Lord Edmyn Tully, who had been summoned to defend Harrenhal, though Edmyn defied this order. Aegon was also joined by the Blackwoods, Mallisters, Vances, Brackens, Pipers, Freys, and Strongs, which swelled the conqueror's rank while Harren took refuge in Harrenhal.
During a parley with Aegon, Harren was ordered to yield so that he could remain as Lord of the Iron Islands, but the ironborn king, full of arrogance, rejected, as he is confident that the vast walls of his castle could withstand anything. However, Aegon warns him that dragons can fly but Harren brushes it off, claiming that stone doesn't burn. Aegon eventually warns him, "When the sun sets, your line shall end". Harren just spat at this and returned to Harrenhal.
Harren then armed his men, promising lands and riches to whichever brought down Aegon's dragon. He said if he had a daughter he would give them to the dragonslayer, but he would give them one of Tully's daughters, or all three, or Blackwood's, or Strong's, or any girl of the Trident. However that night, Aegon flew Balaerion up into the clouds, then descended on Harrenhal, setting the entire castle alight. Harren and his remaining sons were then burned alive within the castle's tallest and largest tower, which would be called Kingspyre Tower, and the rule of House Hoare came to an end. The next day, Aegon accepted the fealty of the Riverlords and named Edmyn Tully the Lord Paramount of the Trident.
Legacy[]
The death of Harren Hoare along with the burning of Harrenhal had a major impact throughout the conquest, in which it spread fear in different parts of Westeros, as well as revealing that even castles can be useless against dragons. The lords of Crackclaw Point, after learning of Harren's fate, immediately surrendered to Queen Visenya Targaryen, one of Aegon's two sister-wives.
Meanwhile, Argilac the Arrogant, not wanting to be burned alive within his own castle of Storm's End, decided to meet the Targaryen army, which was being led by Orys Baratheon, in open battle. After Argilac was slain, his only child, Princess Argella, barred Storm's End and declared herself Storm Queen. However, the fate of Harren the Black had installed such fear in Argella's men that they immediately betrayed her and they delivered Argella in chains to Orys Baratheon, who then took her to wife.
Years later, in 37 AC, during the first year of the reign of King Aenys I Targaryen, the firstborn son of Aegon the Conqueror, an outlaw named Harren, also known as Harren the Red and Red Harren, is claimed to be the grandson of Harren the Black. Harren the Red was the first of the four rebels to revolt against House Targaryen but was killed in a battle at a village west of the God's Eye.
As for Harrenhal, which was left half-melted and in ruins, it was given to many houses though they all went extinct due to known reasons. After House Harroway, one of the houses that has been granted Harrenhal, was extinguished by King Maegor I Targaryen, this caused many to believe that Harrenhal is cursed. It was believed that the ghosts of Harren and his sons haunt the cellars of the Wailing Tower, another of the five towers of Harrenhal, and that their cries were the reason behind the tower's mysterious wailing noise, despite the fact they had died in Kingspyre Tower. A story claims that Harren and his sons only come around at dusk and that anyone who look upon them would immediately burst into flame.
In children's stories, as a result of notorious reputation, Harren is often branded as an evil figure.