A Feast for Crows: Prologue–Chapter 6

by George R.R. Martin
Following their victory in the "War of the Five Kings," the Lannisters consolidate their power on the Iron Throne. Although the war in the Seven Kingdoms has wound down, new conflicts arise in its bitter aftermath.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Chapter 6, Chapters 7–15, Chapters 16–25, Chapters 26–34, Chapters 35–45
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. acolyte
    an assistant to a priest or minister in a liturgical service
    Armen wore a leather thong about his neck, strung with links of pewter, tin, lead, and copper, and like most acolytes he seemed to believe that novices had turnips growing from their shoulders in place of heads.
  2. doggedly
    with obstinate determination
    “The last dragon in Westeros was the last dragon,” said Armen doggedly.
  3. ribald
    humorously vulgar
    Spotted Pate the pig boy was the hero of a thousand ribald stories: a good-hearted, empty-headed lout who always managed to best the fat lordlings, haughty knights, and pompous septons who beset him.
  4. hovel
    small crude shelter used as a dwelling
    Pate had never seen King’s Landing, but he knew it was a daub-and-wattle city, a sprawl of mud streets, thatched roofs, and wooden hovels.
  5. pious
    having or showing or expressing reverence for a deity
    Downstream, below the black marble walls and arched windows of the Starry Sept, the manses of the pious clustered like children gathered round the feet of an old dowager.
  6. deign
    do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
    Aeron Damphair did not deign to try.
  7. cudgel
    a club that is used as a weapon
    Another presented him with a driftwood cudgel.
  8. harry
    make a pillaging or destructive raid on, as in wartimes
    Aeron had seen his eldest brother not a moon’s turn past, when he had returned to the Iron Islands from harrying the Stony Shore.
  9. reave
    steal goods; take as spoils
    At fifteen he had sailed with Dagmer Cleftjaw to the Stepstones and spent a summer reaving.
  10. prate
    speak about unimportant matters rapidly and incessantly
    “Too long have the ironborn listened to you chain-neck maesters prating of the green lands and their laws. It is time we listened to the sea again. It is time we listened to the voice of god.”
  11. galley
    a large medieval vessel with guns at stern and prow
    In the end the Golden Storm went down off Fair Isle during Balon’s first rebellion, cut in half by a towering war galley called Fury when Stannis Baratheon caught Victarion in his trap and smashed the Iron Fleet.
  12. callow
    young and inexperienced
    Once, long ago, a callow youth had come from Norvos, a big broad-shouldered boy with a mop of dark hair.
  13. draught
    a dose of liquid medicine
    “Shall I fetch a draught for the pain?”
  14. dapple
    color with streaks or blotches of different shades
    Hotah bore him up the long stone steps of the Tower of the Sun, to the great round chamber beneath the dome, where the last light of the afternoon was slanting down through thick windows of many-colored glass to dapple the pale marble with diamonds of half a hundred colors.
  15. dais
    a platform raised above the surrounding level
    She was sitting cross-legged on a pillow beneath the raised dais where the high seats stood, but she rose as they entered, dressed in a clinging gown of pale blue samite with sleeves of Myrish lace that made her look as innocent as the Maid herself.
  16. retinue
    the group following and attending to some important person
    Such a man deserves a retinue to attend his needs in hell.
  17. ermine
    the expensive white fur of a small mammal
    He must be bathed and dressed as befits his stature, in ermine and cloth-of-gold and crimson silk.
  18. rebuff
    a deliberate discourteous act
    “A Hand without a hand? A bad jape, sister. Don’t ask me to rule.”
    Their uncle heard the rebuff.
  19. doddering
    mentally or physically infirm with age
    Pycelle was a doddering lickspittle, Jaime had lost his courage with his sword hand, and Mace Tyrell and his cronies Redwyne and Rowan could not be trusted.
  20. simper
    smile in an insincere, unnatural, or coy way
    Lord Tywin had never had any love for the simpering master of whisperers.
  21. piebald
    having sections or patches colored differently and brightly
    As Brienne mounted up again, she glimpsed a skinny boy atop a piebald horse at the far end of the village.
  22. trundle
    move slowly or heavily
    Begging brothers trundled by with their bowls dangling on thongs about their necks.
  23. rheumy
    watery and red, as of the eyes
    Ser Creighton’s brown gelding was an old swaybacked creature with rheumy eyes, and Ser Illifer’s horse looked weedy and half-starved.
  24. hauberk
    a long tunic of chain mail formerly worn as defensive armor
    Brienne had found it in the stables with her mare, along with much else; saddle and bridle, chainmail hauberk and visored greathelm, purses of gold and silver and a parchment more valuable than either.
  25. regale
    occupy in an agreeable, entertaining or pleasant fashion
    They broke their fast on roast squirrel, acorn paste, and pickles, whilst Ser Creighton regaled her with his exploits on the Blackwater, where he had slain a dozen fearsome knights that she had never heard of.
  26. mirth
    great merriment
    She turned away to hide her smile. Thankfully, Ser Creighton was too intent on the tale of his epic battle with the Knight of the Red Chicken to make note of the maiden’s mirth.
  27. beseech
    ask for or request earnestly
    They are beseeching the Warrior for protection, asking the Crone to light their way.
  28. succor
    assistance in time of difficulty
    “We are marching to the city,” said a tall woman in the traces of the wayn, “to bring these holy bones to Blessed Baelor, and seek succor and protection from the king.”
  29. niggardly
    petty or reluctant in giving or spending
    Hibald is as niggardly as he is fearful.
  30. taper
    stick of wax with a wick in the middle
    The ceiling in her room was low; entering with a taper in her hand, Brienne had to duck or crack her head.
  31. compendium
    a publication containing a variety of works
    I should not have brought so many, he told himself as he brushed the dirt off Colloquo Votar’s Jade Compendium, a thick volume of tales and legends from the east that Maester Aemon had commanded him to find.
  32. apotheosis
    the elevation of a person, as to the status of a god
    The book appeared undamaged. Maester Thomax’s Dragonkin, Being a History of House Targaryen from Exile to Apotheosis, with a Consideration of the Life and Death of Dragons had not been so fortunate.
  33. craven
    an abject coward
    From this day forth, you will not call yourself a craven. You’ve faced more things this past year than most men face in a lifetime.
  34. smattering
    a slight or superficial understanding of a subject
    Most of the Daughter's crew had a smattering of the Common Tongue from nights ashore in Oldtown and King’s Landing and Maidenpool, though only the captain and his sons spoke it well enough to talk to her.
  35. trebuchet
    a heavy war engine for hurling projectiles such as stones
    Ahead rose another sea mont, a knob of rock that pushed up from the water like a spiked fist, its stony battlements bristling with scorpions, spitfires, and trebuchets.
  36. wrought
    shaped to fit by altering the contours of a pliable mass
    Slender boats slid in and out among them, wrought in the shapes of water serpents with painted heads and upraised tails.
  37. brazen
    made of or resembling brass, as in color or hardness
    She saw huge flat-bottomed barges too, heaped high with crates and barrels and pushed along by twenty polemen to a side, and fancy floating houses with lanterns of colored glass, velvet drapes, and brazen figureheads.
  38. flagon
    a large metal or pottery vessel with a handle and spout
    Another was upending a stone flagon to send an endless stream of water splashing down into the canal.
  39. brazier
    large metal container in which coal or charcoal is burned
    Atop its great square tower a fire blazed in an iron brazier twenty feet across, whilst smaller fires flanked its brazen doors.
  40. waif
    a person, especially a young woman, who is extremely thin
    Beneath the cowl was a gaunt and bony face, hollow cheeks, and dark eyes that looked as big as saucers. “Don’t grab me,” Arya warned the waif. The girl said some words that Arya did not know.
Created on Fri Aug 26 14:40:29 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Sep 09 09:29:52 EDT 2022)

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