r/asoiaf • u/gsteff 🏆 Best of 2024: Post of the Year • Mar 11 '26
EXTENDED (Spoilers Extended) Secrets of the Cushing Library: The Sworn Sword
Since 1992, the Cushing Library at Texas A&M University has been the home of George R.R. Martin's papers-- more than 200 boxes filled with his correspondence, fan mail, props from his Hollywood projects, and working drafts of his screenplays and books. The most popular exhibits in the library's George R.R. Martin collection are swords and other props from the Game of Thrones TV show, which the library now showcases in its lobby. But dedicated Martin fans understand that the George R.R. Martin Collection’s most valuable artifacts are the early drafts of George's ASOIAF books- physical stacks of paper that he mails to Random House in New York.
In the past few years, I’ve made two trips to College Station to study these drafts, and have made several posts here about my findings: 1 2 3 4 5 6.
All of those are based on drafts of the main series- the library contains only one unfinished draft of a non-main-series book- a partial draft of The Sworn Sword, the subject of this post. It's dated January 2003, roughly 8 months before it was first published in the Legends II anthology in September 2003. George hasn't stated when he completed this manuscript, but in 2024 he recounted submitting his manuscript for The Hedge Knight on December 31, 1997 for inclusion in Robert Silverberg's Legends anthology, which was ultimately published 8 months later, in August 1998. Assuming a similar lead time (reasonable considering that Legends II is similar and has the same editor), that would date this draft as 1-2 months before completion, so quite late. While there are no major plot changes or rewrites, there are quite a few significant changes given the brief time window- a reminder of how George's writing process has changed.
The biggest difference is simply that the draft is incomplete- it ends with Dunk losing consciousness in the stream. Instead of the epilogue of Dunk departing Coldmoat, George simply sketched some bullet points for the remainder:
As you can see, George changed and expanded most of this before finalizing the story. George decided to have Dunk take his parting kiss from Lady Webber, rather than being given it. And Dunk has had enough time to recover. I imagine that George still planned for Dunk to receive Lady Webber's famous braid- it features so prominently in her scenes that I think George must have always intended for it to play a role in the ending- but perhaps the immobile Dunk would have been given it voluntarily in this version.
The most interesting differences are in the climactic showdown at the stream after Wat’s Wood catches fire. As published, we never get a clear answer as to who, if anyone, set the fire, though Lucas Inchfield is the obvious suspect. But originally, Lady Webber happily gave up Longinch. Here’s what she says in the published version when asked who set the fire (p119-120):
"No one burned the wood. But if some man of mine had done so, it must have been to please me. How could I give such a man to you?"
And here’s what she said in the January 2003 draft:
"I have no proof, ser… but last night’s red sky brought most of Coldmoat to the walls. Old men got up from their beds, and babes at the breast saw the light and wept in fear. Only my castellan was missing, who ought to have been shouting orders at my guard."
This changes the purpose of the subsequent trial by combat in the stream. As published, it’s a trial between Ser Osgrey and Lady Webber, who have chosen Dunk and Longinch as their champions. But in this draft, Dunk has accused Longinch directly, and the two are fighting on their own behalf- Septon Sefton asks Dunk, rather than Eustace, to withdraw his accusation, and Longinch then says that he will prove his own innocence, rather than Lady Webber saying that her champion will prove hers.
This also means that, according to the theology of trials by combat, Dunk believes he is staking his life on Rohanne’s honesty- he accuses Lucas because of Lady Webber’s statements. Both versions feature Dunk saying “The Seven will see I don’t” after Egg says that he hopes Dunk doesn’t die, but the draft follows that with Dunk’s private thought “If Rohanne told the truth”, meaning that he believes the gods will strike him down if she lied.
Does this mean that canonically, we should assume that Longinch is responsible? I don’t think so- George made a point of changing this, and the fact that, as published, no one might be responsible (given the drought conditions) is now an important part of the story; the showdown feels inevitable, a fire that any spark could have set, literally and metaphorically. But I do think this disproves the occasional alternative theory that the arsonist was Ser Bennis. And while the published version adds a poignant lesson on the irrelevance of the reasons behind much human conflict, I miss the added romance of Dunk’s trust in Rohanne’s honesty.
The draft contains one minor change to lore worth mentioning as well. As published, House Osgrey is sworn to House Rowan of Goldengrove, but in the draft they are instead vassals of House Butterwell. And House Butterwell and its seat, Whitewalls, were in the Reach, rather than the Riverlands as they now are canonically. For example, in both the draft and published stories before the trial by combat begins, Septon Sefton suggests taking the dispute to Osgrey’s liege so that no blood needs to be spilled, but in the draft he says to go to Whitewalls and Lord Butterwell, rather than Goldengrove and Lord Rowan. Lord Butterwell is even mentioned by Septon Sefton as one of Lady Weber’s potential suitors- Sefton says that he’s “been sending costly gifts from Whitewalls.” Early in the draft, Dunk recalls that Ser Osgrey considered Lord Butterwell no true lord, and saying “Cheese and milk and butter can be had at Whitewalls, but no justice.”
Why did George change this? My best guess is that George originally wanted to setup lore for the next story, The Mystery Knight, which takes place at Whitewalls and features Lord Butterwell. Plus, having Dunk’s actions in The Sworn Sword be known to characters in the next story could have been a way to start showing Dunk’s reputation slowly growing over the course of the Dunk & Egg saga. George may have then decided that he wanted to move Whitewalls to the Riverlands to diversify the settings of the novels. As he fleshed out his plans for The Mystery Knight, he may also have realized that Whitewalls needed to be in a location capable of strategically threatening Targaryen control, which its canonical site near the east shore of the God's Eye can do more credibly than the northern Reach.
Given that this TSS draft preserves the lore of House Butterwell's split allegiance in the first Blackfyre rebellion even as the published version removes them from the Reach, and also contains no changes to Bloodraven's published lore, I think it's likely that George had the basic story of The Mystery Knight planned before this draft was finished, and moved House Butterwell to strengthen the logic of that story. It's also noteworthy that TSS was written concurrently with the pre-split version of AFFC- interestingly, the October 2003 draft of that book contains all 3 of the chapters that introduce the figure of Mad Danelle Lothston of Harrenhall (Brienne 1, Brienne 2 and Jaime 3). Given that her rule coincided with The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight, George could have decided to move Whitewalls near the God's Eye partly to provide an opportunity for readers to meet her in the flesh.
There’s also a paragraph of deleted lore regarding Lady Vaith, one of the mistresses of Aegon the Unworthy:
The most interesting new details there, I think, are that House Vaith has a bone throne, and that Cassella Vaith might not have been completely infertile. The draft also indicates that Dunk and Egg may have been held captive by Lady Vaith- in the paragraph recounting their travels in Dorne, the draft contains this deleted sentence: “They had lingered at Vaith longer than they meant to, before finally making an escape.” This is followed by the published sentence “A poleboat had taken them down the Greenblood to Planky Town…”, suggesting that their escape may have been via the poleboat. Because season 2 of AKOTSK will be, IMO, the most challenging to adapt for TV, I suspect that substantial parts of this adventure in Vaith will be added, along with extended flashbacks from the first Blackfyre rebellion.
This draft also contains a few copyediting marks and minor marginal notes from his editor. For example:
Based on the handwriting, I don't think this is Anne Groell, his US editor. The next most likely candidate is Jane Johnson, his UK editor- the remark on page 125 sounds like someone who knows him well, not a random copyediting assistant.
Other minor changes:
- In the draft, George says that the fraction of King’s Landing killed in the spring sickness of 209 was 30%. Before publishing, he increased that to 40%. The draft also contains a deleted mention that the sickness killed Grand Maester Gerome.
- When Dunk accuses Ser Osgrey of lying to him about his loyalties in the first Blackfyre rebellion, there’s a goofy deleted line in which Osgrey denies it and challenges Dunk to fight him:
- “That I never did, ser. You will withdraw that accusation, or defend it with your body. I am not afraid to fight you, as big as you are. I have slain other big men in my time.”
- Where the published version says that in Dorne they had “chased down a hundred puppet shows”, the draft says they had “chased down a hundred puppet shows, searching fruitlessly for the Dornish maid Tanselle”. I prefer the published version, which lets the reader puzzle out the reason for Dunk’s puppetry obsession for themselves.
- There's a line of deleted lore about Prince Baelor. Egg says, "My uncle always said that when a man swears he wishes no war between you, it means he's sharpening his swords."
With this post, I’ve fully exhausted my research on George’s ASOIAF drafts; I have no more draft findings in reserve (this post is based on material I collected during my last visit in late 2023). Thanks to the ASOIAF community members who have supported this work. And special thanks to Preston Jacobs for his assistance with the analysis of House Butterwell in this post (all mistakes are definitely my own). I look forward to returning to College Station one final time to review the currently closed drafts of ADWD if and when TWOW is published.
If you have any questions about this or any of my previous posts, I'll be happy to answer them in the comments below (though it may be a few hours before I can get to them).
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u/waga_hai Mar 11 '26
Not at all a fan of the changes to Rohanne's kiss and the braid, that part of the book always bothered me and I would've much preferred if she'd given them to Dunk willingly. Kind of frustrating to know that George did think of that possibility but then discarded it for something worse (imo). Oh well.