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| “ | Jon: You command Thenns, not free folk. Styr: I see no free folk. I see a crow and a crow wife. |
„ |
| ~ Styr accusing Jon Snow of being still loyal to the Night's Watch and manipulating Ygritte. |
| “ | I know we've had our differences, Tormund. But just one time, before you die, you really ought to try... crow. | „ |
| ~ Styr to Tormund Giantsbane. |
Styr is a supporting antagonist in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation, Game of Thrones. A fearsome warrior, he is the Magnar of Thenn, a region and mountainous valley beyond the Wall, and the leader of its inhabitants, the Thenns. His people are the most advanced and civilized clan of the Free Folk. During the march to the Wall, Styr leads one of the wildling warbands sent by the King-Beyond-the-Wall, Mance Rayder to climb the Wall and invade the Seven Kingdoms, attempting the destruction and sack of Castle Black.
He has a young son and successor named Sigorn, the current Magnar of Thenn, husband of Alys Karstark, and founder of the noble family House Thenn, new vassals of House Baratheon.
He serves as a major antagonist in the Night's Watch storyline in the A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novel series. In the HBO-adapted television series Game of Thrones, he serves as one of the two main antagonists of the Night's Watch storyline in Season 4, alongside Mance Rayder. In this version, his tribe was turned into a more savage and cannibalistic group, resembling more the ice-river clans beyond the Wall, from the novels.
He was portrayed by Yuri Kolokolnikov.
Biography[]
The Thenn consider themselves the last of the First Men. They speak the Old Tongue, and most have only a few words of the Common Tongue. They are led by the Magnar, who is considered more a god than a man by his people. Because they have laws and lords in their valley, some consider the Thenns more sophisticated than other free folk and closer to the people south of the Wall. They have more dealings with giants than other men.
The Thenns are savage fighters, but because of their belief in the Magnar as their god, they are absolutely obedient and more disciplined than other free folk. They are often better equipped than most free folk, with bronze helms, axes of bronze and a few of chipped stone, short stabbing spears with leaf-shaped heads, shirts sewn with bronze discs, and plain, unadorned shields of black boiled leather with bronze rims and bosses.
Magnar Styr.
Styr rules with an iron fist and commands absolute loyalty from his men. He climbs the Wall with Jon Snow, Ygritte, and other wildlings. Styr and his men die during the first attack of the Battle of Castle Black. He was caught in a trap while climbing the stairs of the Wall; he was seen falling as a portion of the Wall collapsed.
After his death, Styr's son, Sigorn, becomes the new Magnar of Thenn. Later, after Stannis Baratheon officially allows the wildlings to live in the Gift, Sigorn marries Alys Karstark, Lord Rickard's daughter. Melisandre conducts the wedding, as the wildlings had to officially embrace R'hllor as their god (though they don't pray to him). The first Free Folk noble house is born from the marriage: House Thenn.
Game of Thrones (TV series)[]
In the adaptation, Styr and the Thenns are drastically different. They are cannibalistic, all bald, and are viewed as uncivilised and abhorrent by other factions of the Free Folk, including the faction led by Tormund.
Styr is not introduced until after the scaling of the Wall, with much of the character's actions before and during the event being given to Tormund. Styr and his Thenns cross paths with and join Mance Rayder's army and subsequently lead an attack on a small village and on Mole's Town, killing and consuming many people, including Olly's parents.
During the Battle of Castle Black, the Thenns aim to kill and consume as many "crows" as possible, with Styr making Jon Snow his chief priority. When the two come face-to-face, Styr almost kills Jon, but Jon manages to gain the upper hand by spitting in his face before grabbing a hammer, knocking him down, and caving his skull in.
Quotes[]
| “ | Styr: Crow, do not take me for Mance Rayder. If you lie to me, I will have your tongue. Jon: I'm no crow, and won't be called a liar. Styr: [studies Jon for a while] We shall learn their numbers soon enough. Go. I will send for you if I have further questions. Jon: [bows and leaves] |
„ |
| ~ Styr and Jon Snow, after the latter lies by inflating the numbers of the Night's Watch's garrisons of Castle Black, the Shadow Tower and Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. |
| “ | If all the wildlings were like Styr, it would be easier to betray them. The Thenns were not like other free folk, though. The Magnar claimed to be the last of the First Men, and ruled with an iron hand. His little land of Thenn was a high mountain valley hidden amongst the northernmost peaks of the Frostfangs, surrounded by cave dwellers, Hornfoot men, giants, and the cannibal clans of the ice rivers. Ygritte said the Thenns were savage fighters, and that their Magnar was a god to them. Jon could believe that. Unlike Jarl and Harma and Rattleshirt, Styr commanded absolute obedience from his men, and that discipline was no doubt part of why Mance had chosen him to go over the Wall. | „ |
| ~ Thoughts of Jon Snow |
Trivia[]
- The fandom of book readers was very annoyed by the change of the Thenn clan, who are supposed to be the most advanced and civilized faction from Beyond the Wall, yet screenwriters Benioff and Weiss turned them into cannibals when they could have simply used the ice-river clans, who are the actual cannibal wildling factions in the ASoIaF novels.
- The word 'Styr' is Swedish for 'Stir'.
- In the novels, during the Attack on Castle Black, Styr is killed by being lured into Donal Noye's trap while climbing the Wall from the southern side, by using Castle Black's own stair (the alternative to the cage elevator) in an effort to reach his retreated enemies above him. The stair, soaked in oil between the seventh and ninth landing, is set ablaze by the defenders of the Night's Watch, destroying it. Styr falls to his death as a portion of the Wall collapses at the barricade, and most of his force is killed either by the fire or by the ice that breaks down from the Wall due to the heat.
- In the TV series, Styr is killed by Jon Snow with a blacksmith hammer, while facing him in single combat. In the novels, Jon is not as high-level fighter as his television counterpart, being a boy training every day to improve and preferring strategy and fighting from the rear instead of charging into combat.
External Links[]
- Styr on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Styr on the Wiki of Westeros.
