What was the bard singing to Rhaenyra in the new House of the Dragon?

On the latest episode of House of the Dragon, we got a brief scene where Rhaenrya Targaryen was in the godswood reading and being serenaded by a bard named Samwell. Apparently, Rhaenyra was having him play the same song over and over, until he was dismissed by Queen Alicent Hightower.

We heard a few snatches of the song he was singing, although parts of it are drowned out by the conversation between Rhaenyra and Alicent. “She fled with her ships and her people, her heart broken for those…” the song begins. And it ends like this: “Under the dragon’s eye, under the dragon’s eye.”

So what is this song about? It’s actually pretty easy to suss out.

The bard was singing about Nymeria and her 10,000 ships

In the first episode of House of the Dragon, Rhaenyra and Alicent are hanging out in this same godswood, and Alicent is quizzing the princess of the realm on her history. Rhaenyra plays dumb at first, but then shows that she had absorbed the history lesson when she recites it back to Alicent like this:

"Princess Nymeria led her Rhoynar across the Narrow Sea on 10,000 ships to flee their Valyrian pursuers. She took Lord Mors Martell of Dorne to husband, and burned her own fleet off Sunspear to show her people that they were finished running."

This is the story of Princess Nymeria of Ny Sar, who fled Essos after leading her people in a losing fight against the Valyrian Freehold, eventually mixing them with the people of Dorne. That’s definitely what the bard is singing out. Apparently Rhaenyra likes this story.

Incidentally, HBO is developing a separate spinoff based on Nymeria called 10,000 Ships, although it’s hard to tell if it will actually go through. The story has been mentioned in two of three episodes already, so maybe the network is priming us.

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