What Is Under Casterly Rock? - ASOIAF

In Deep Geek

The host explores the hidden architecture, historical lore, and psychological symbolism beneath Casterly Rock in A Song of Ice and Fire. The ep

Key takeaways

• Casterly Rock stands three times taller than the Wall, with dungeons stretching over a mile underground and oubliettes so narrow prisoners cannot turn their heads.
• The Hall of Heroes houses hundreds of armored suits in eternal vigil, while the gilded Golden Gallery fuels rumors of a palace made entirely of gold.

Main topics

• Casterly Rock geography and architecture
• Lannister mines and gold vaults

Notable quotes

Casterly Rock, the seat of House Lannister, is more mountain than castle.

Conclusion

This episode synthesizes geographical lore, historical legends, and ch

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) What is under Casterly Rock? A goldmine, yes, but so much more. Let's take a look. Hi everyone, this is Robert. Welcome to In Deep Geek. If you like theories, background, history and lore about A Song of Ice and Fire, The Lord of the Rings and The Witcher, then this is the place for you. Welcome. This is another collaboration with the excellent History of Westeros. Please do check out their podcast and YouTube channel. There's a link down below. Casterly Rock, the seat of House Lannister, is more mountain than castle. In fact, the only building atop the rock, per se, is a single watchtower used for the Maester's Ravens. This makes the rock itself, with its natural defences, the strongest castle in all Westeros, according to George RR Martin himself. It stands three times as tall as the Wall, and looks out over the Sunset Sea, Lannisport and the mountains of the Westerlands. As grand as that sounds, Today we're going to where there's little to no light at all, let alone a view. The Red Viper once commented that even the rooms for high-born guests have the feel of a dungeon due to the lack of sunshine, but some of the actual dungeons are likely a mile or more from the surface. The upper areas are reserved for the Lannisters, their noble guests and the like, with ample space to receive and entertain. Lannister lords can communicate disfavour to relatives and others by housing them in the lower-level rooms, which Tyrion refers to as the Bowels of Casterly Rock. He claims his father did this to their most embarrassing cousins. The term Bowels is actually used quite a few times to describe the depths of the rock. Another example is when Tyrion tells Jon that he used to go to the bowels of the castle to light fires and stare at them while thinking of dragonfire and fantasising about burning his sister and father. During his imprisonment, Jaime tells Catelyn that, compared to some of the cells in Casterly Rock, his cell in Riverrun is a sunlit garden. Of course, this statement is fuelled by bravado, but it's certainly believable that the Rock has worse prisons and certainly deeper below the earth. Jamie even gives an example later on to Edmure this time. He threateningly brings up that they have oubliettes deep down in the rock. An oubliette is a small pit with no exit and no light. It comes from the French word oublier, which means to forget. You would throw someone into one of them and then forget about them. Jamie says some are so narrow that they fit like a suit of armour, so tight one cannot turn their head to see the rats gnawing at their feet. grizzly stuff. Not all of the cells are so terrible, though. The ones for Highborne prisoners are not sunlit gardens by comparison, but they are perhaps not overly torturous. Aaron Damper and Sir Hostein Frey have both been imprisoned there, though Sir Hostein said that he was not eager to repeat the experience. Lord Edmure Tunny is to be sent there as of the start of the Winds of Winter, but he will likely be allowed greater freedom of the castle than Aaron and Hostein. Assuming he makes it there, if he does, his wife, Lady Roslyn, is supposed to join him after she gives birth to their child. Thus, the Lord, Lady, and soon-to-be young heir to Riverrun could be among the valuables held within, if not under, Casterly Rock. All told, the Lannisters, combined with the Casterlys before them, have had eight millennia or so to expand inside and below the mountain. We're told in the World of Ice and Fire that it is riddled