Jon Snow (character)
Jon Snow is a fictional character from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. He is a POV character. Jon Snow is the bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark. His surname is "Snow" because that is the surname given to all illegitimate children in the North. He grew up with his half-brothers and half-sisters at the Stark ancestral home of Winterfell. He has a direwolf called Ghost, white and silent.
When his father traveled to King's Landing Jon went north to the Wall to join the Night's Watch, the organization devoted to guarding the Wall against wildlings and other possible invaders from beyond the Wall. While training in preparation for swearing his binding oath to remain with the Watch for the rest of his life, Jon befriended a number of other recruits, most notably Sam Tarly.
Although torn by the desire to travel south and aid his family in the conflict that was brewing, Jon eventually took the vow of the watch and became steward to the Lord Commander of the Watch, Jeor Mormont. He accompanied Mormont and a large force of rangers beyond the wall in an expedition to search for Benjen Stark, First Ranger and Jon uncle's, who had disappeared while searching for another missing ranger.
Jon and another ranger, Qhorin Halfhand, were eventually captured alone by wildlings. The Halfhand had ordered Jon to pretend to join the wildlings to gather information on them for the Watch, and Jon did so, though it meant taking Qhorin's life to prove his loyalty. While among the wildlings, Jon fell in love with the girl Ygritte and began a sexual relationship with her. He eventually abandoned the wildling forces and returned to Castle Black, the Watch's central fortress, to defend it against the wildling army.
The wildlings were defeated with the help of the armies of Stannis Baratheon. Stannis offered to legitimize Jon and make him Lord of Winterfell if Jon would swear allegiance to him, but Jon refused, not wanting to break his vow to the Watch. Jeor Mormont had been killed beyond the Wall, and Jon found himself voted Lord Commander as a result of Sam Tarly's plotting.
Theories about Jon's mother
Template:Spoiler There are two possibilities presented in the series regarding Jon Snow's mother. They are:
- Ashara Dayne is Jon's mother. The servants at Winterfell think so, and Catelyn Stark and Cersei Lannister both consider it a possibility. Meera Reed suggests in her story of the tournament at Harrenhal that Eddard was attracted to Ashara.
- Wylla, Edric Dayne's wetnurse, is Jon's mother. Eddard Stark told Robert Baratheon that Jon's mother's name was Wylla, and in A Storm of Swords, Edric told Arya that Wylla was Jon's mother.
Whether Jon's mother is either of these women or someone else altogether has yet to be revealed.
External link
- Who are Jon Snow's parents? - article exploring the various theories, including fan hypotheses not mentioned in text