Blackfyre

The first Targaryen king's sword, and the house it named.

Blackfyre was the sword of the first Targaryen king. It gave its name to House Blackfyre, a now almost extinct cadet branch of House Targaryen whose sigil reverses the Targaryen arms: a three-headed black dragon on a red field.

Quick Facts

Original owner: Aegon I, the first Targaryen king
Given to: Daemon Blackfyre by Aegon IV
Gave its name to: House Blackfyre

Lore & Background

King Aegon IV, called the Unworthy, legitimised all of his bastard children on his deathbed. He had given Blackfyre to his bastard son Daemon, which seemed to mark Daemon as his favourite over the heir apparent, his trueborn son Daeron.

Reader's Guide

The Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas revisit the first rebellion and its end at the Battle of the Redgrass Field, and in The Mystery Knight the hedge knight Dunk unmasks the tourney guest John the Fiddler as Daemon Blackfyre's son, whom Bloodraven keeps as a hostage rather than make a martyr of him.

When Aegon IV died, Daemon I Blackfyre challenged Daeron II's right to the Iron Throne. That challenge set off a series of conflicts across the next eight decades in which Blackfyre pretenders fought for the crown. Brynden Rivers, Bloodraven, stayed loyal to Daeron II throughout.