Best Swordsman in Game of Thrones?

[Salah-ad-deen]

I'm relatively new to the a song of fire and ice series but, I was curious who in the books is the greatest swordsman?

[Feanaro Curufinwe]

Robert used a Hammer, not a sword when he (fortunately) crushed Rhaegar.

I'm not so sure about Ned or Stannis. Ned was good enough to fight Arthur Dayne and survive though. In the TV show, both are much better fighters than in the books. Eddard fights Jaime to a standstill and Stannis slaughters Lannisters left and right.

Gregor is only considered to be as serious a threat because he's massive. Otherwise, the Mountain is a relatively mid-tier knight. Not Boros Blount, but no Barristan either.

Loras is more of a jouster. Apparently Garlan is the better swordsman of the two.

We don't know much about Rhaegar. In my personal opinion, he seems vastly overrated. Both as a fighter and as a character.

[Bcman]

I like to think that barrision Selmy in his prime was better than Jamie.

But in current Westros I think that either Jamie or maybe Robert.

Robert just because he has brute force.

[Korpskog]

I would rank Jaime and Ser Barristan at the top followed by Sandor Cleagane! However Sandor got my vote since he is awesome!

[Pinkie Pie]

Gregor can not be the best, he was shown to be inferior to Oberyn during a Trial by Combat, the only reason he won was because of certain circumstances that stopped Oberyn from killing him in the first minutes.

Rhaegar can not be the best simply because he was defeated and killed by Robert.

In one of Alayne's chapters she remembers Bronze Yohn Royce defeating both Eddard Strk and Rodrik Cassel in a mock battle so Lord Stark is clearly not the best.

Stannis has not proven himsel to be a great fighter at any point so while we can not rule him out we can hardly place him in the top few without some evidence otherwise we could just as easily say Maester Lewyn is one of the best.

While Drogo is clearly a good warrior there is no way to compare him to anyone else on the list so as with Stannis a lack of evidence keeps him from the top spot.

Loras Tyrell himself stated his brother, Garlan Tyrell, was a better swordsman so he is already out of the running.

That leaves:
Ser Barristan Selmy
Sandor Clegane
King Robert Baratheon
Ser Jaime Lannister

If we are going by the timeline in the books Robert has to be removed due to his clear deterioration from too much drinking and eating. While still one of the better fighters I highly doubt he could match the others by the time the of the books.

The same can be said for Barriston Selmy, while one of the best I think age would have slowed him down enough to keep him from the title of "best swordsman".

That only leaves Ser Jaime Lannister and Sandor Clegane (who was never nighted and thus never a ser by the way) and out of those two I would have to say Jaime Lannister wins.

[The Forgotten]

Khal Drogo wasn't so much of a swordsman as a good fighter. He probably had to be a decent duelist to handle any challengers but his main strength lied in fighting on horseback. One of his sworn bodyguard, a man who was probably a fairly capable fighter himself was killed by a mid tier, middle aged knight from Westeros.

Barristan is the best on the list currently and might even have been better than Jaime beforehand, pardon the pun.

Garlen is probably the best swordsman in Westeros currently with maybe Mance or Bronn in distant. Other notables that we don't know too much are Arthur Dayne and Qhorin Halfhand.

[Feanaro Curufinwe]

Bronn? Really? There is a difference between being able to dance around an old knight from the Vale and being the best swordsman in the continent.

[Salah-ad-deen]

I should of probably specified but I meant in their prime. :S

[Pinkie Pie]

I should of probably specified but I meant in their prime. :S

Then your point of asking for the best sworsman from A Game of Thrones is a waste of time. You clearly wanted our opinions based on their status in the books/series not from a time twenty years beforehand. Hell when Robert was at his best Ser Arthur Dayne would have had him for breakfast.

[Lordinquisitor]

Best Swordsman? That question is often asked and quite a can of worms.

First, let`s rule out those who aren`t.

Stannis Baratheon is a fine soldier, but not a great fighter. At least nobody ever said so.
King Robert Baratheon is a great fighter, but did use a warhammer, in fact.
Prince Rhaegar Targaryen was a skilled fighter, but skilled and that`s it- I think someone somewhere also stated it in the books.
Lord Eddard Stark is also a fine fighter; But not one of renown. True enough- He survived the tower of joy, but they outnumbered the Kings Guard and without Howland Reed he would have died, as he confesses.
Ser Loras Tyrell is a fine knight, perhaps one of the best, but he states that his brother Garlan is a better swordsman than he is.
Khal Drogo might be a terrifying opponent, but in the end, he would most certainly lose to one of the skilled swordsmen in heavy armor which he would face in westeros.

This leaves, from your poll, Sandor and Ser Gregor Clegane, Ser Barristan Selmy and Ser Jaime Lannister.

Sandor Clegane is a monstrous fighter and a good swordsman; But it just doesn`t feel right to handle the title of "best" to him.
Ser Gregor Clegane is huge, and strong, and a brutal swordsman; That`s true- But Jaime, Bronn and Oberyn point out his weaknesses, and how they would fight him- And they make valid points, as is shown, and therefore he isn`t the best.
Ser Barristan Selmy is an amazing knight; Even in his age, and he was much better when he was young. In comparison there are Jaime Lannister, though, and Arthur Dayne, which seem to surpass him- Barristan himself states that Jaime is a natural swordsman, and amazing, and while he doesn`t outright state that he`s better it is implied. IIRC GRRM once said that Selmy and Dayne would have been equally matched in their prime, if Danye wouldn`t have used Dawn, though.

Ser Jaime Lannister must be the best swordsman on your list. Even though, and that`s a bit sad, he didn`t kill or fight anyone that noteworthy. But every character in the book agrees that Jaime is a swordsman of high skill.

But there are some other contenders, which you didn`t list.

Brienne of Tarth might be a swordswoman, but Jaime Lannister praises her skill and her strength. True, when he fought her, he was weakened and shackled- But still, she`s very good- Don`t forget that she won a melee and a fight with Loras Tyrell as well.

Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning- We know little about him- But he wasn`t just a paragon of knightly virtues but also a very, very, dangerous fighter. Everyone holds him in high respect- And he also wielded the coolest sword ever forged in Westeros, dawn. How much his strength depended on that weapon isn`t known, sadly and IIRC GRRM once said that Selmy and Dayne would have been equally matched in their prime, if Dayne wouldn`t have used Dawn, though.


Ser Garlan Tyrell- As stated by his brother, garlan is a very dangerous swordsman. He also often spars against two or three enemies at the same time, in order to prepare him for real combat.

Ser Bronn of the Blackwater- A dangerous and skilled fighter without a shrewd of honor. Tyrion states that he`s nearly as good as Jaime; And he should be considered, altough "nearly as good" implies that he`s worse, ofc.

Ser Gerold Dayne, the Darkstar- Said to be the most dangerous man in dorne and also said to be a skilled fighter. Sadly, at the only point we see him draw his blade, he.. fails. Well. But he`s dangerous.

Ser Lyn Corbray- Wields a Valyrian sword and is said to be a good fighter and a dangerous man. We don`t see him in action, though, altough he has earned some renown during the battle of the trident.

[Riverknight]

Barriston pointed out he has never seen a sword wielded so naturally as he has with Jaime.

Jaime would be the best... No doubting it, Barriston is no doubt good, but I don't think he is as good as Jaime.

But I think the Hound stands a good chance against any of these knights, he is big, fast and brutally effective, his only flaw is his fear of fire.

[Rhaegal]

Tyrion said Bronn was a swordsman near as good as Jaime, and he certainly proves this. He should definitely be considered.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Plus he has both his hands

[The Forgotten]

It is a lillte stupid to go back this far but Aemon the Dragonknight was the most famous knight ever in Westeros. His skill with the sword was legendary. It is also stated that he fought Cregan Stark and claimed their was no greater swordsman that he had faced. Worth a mention anyways.

[Pinkie Pie]

Lordinquisitor, another for your list.

Bronze Yohn Royce, he beat both Rodrik Cassel and Eddard Stark at once and from his brief talk with Lyn Corbray I get the feeling he is one of the few in the Vale who could take on Corbray and have a chance of winning, valyrian steel or not.

Also concerning both Ser Arthur Dayne and Jaime Lannister, Jaime states that Arthur was the best swordsman he ever knew and that he could have taken on Tommen's Kingsguard with one hand. While an obvious exaggeration he does not seem like the type to give out praise like that so easily.
Jaime Lannister also remembers fighting the Smiling Knight as a squire and holding his own, keep in mind that the Smiling Knight tested even Arthur Dayne's skills to the limit.

The Forgotten.
I always thought Aemon was not as good as the legends state. While defenitely a great fighter he was killed defending the king from two people yet Jaime Lannister cut down ten people in Whsipering Woods while trying to get to Robb Stark.

[jomas]

Couldn't Howland Reed be considered one? One of the only survivors at the Tower of Joy, and Ned even says he would have died without him, I could see him as a Dark Horse in this contest, he also apparently did well at Harrenhal (If that was him).

I'd probably put my money on Barristan Selmy or Jaime Lannister though (In their primes of course). I wouldn't be shocked though if Robert was actually the best, if you count his hammer as a sword in his time, although I also wouldn't be shocked if Jaime or Barristan could beat him.

[Pinkie Pie]

Howland Reed was not the Mystery Knight at Harrenhal afaik.

That person was more likely to be Lyanna Stark considering her skill as a fighter (Reed lost his weapon to the three squires yet she chased them all away with a tourney sword) and her capability as a rider (something Howland was stated to be not very good at at this point).

[The Forgotten]

Pinkie
Like I said we know almost nothing about them and can only go off their legends, so you could be correct, but even the best can die if caught offguard.

[Lordinquisitor]

True pinkie, well stated! I sadly didn`t have time to go into the detail i wanted.

In any case; Any fight between the top contenders would be quite epic. And don`t forget- They are all skilled and thus a battle between, let`s say, Dayne or Jaime, would be a matter of luck or chance.

/I also don`t think that Howland Reed is a good swordsman. Skilled, yes, probably, but he likely used some other weapon or used some kind of trick. The Reeds don`t strike me as the ones who would be proficient with a sword. We also know next to nothing about him.

[jomas]

True pinkie, well stated! I sadly didn`t have time to go into the detail i wanted.

In any case; Any fight between the top contenders would be quite epic. And don`t forget- They are all skilled and thus a battle between, let`s say, Dayne or Jaime, would be a matter of luck or chance.

/I also don`t think that Howland Reed is a good swordsman. Skilled, yes, probably, but he likely used some other weapon or used some kind of trick. The Reeds don`t strike me as the ones who would be proficient with a sword. We also know next to nothing about him.

If Robert is in the list, even though it's clear he used a war-hammer, why not Howland, who I could see using a spear. I also used the the word, "Darkhorse" because of the fact there's little known other then he saved Ned, and he was considered strong and smart (qualities of a good fighter). I do agree with the fact he isn't likely to be the best, but if Gregor is on the list (Who's only known for his sheer size) why not the slayer of the sword in the morning?

[evildarksheep]

I don't understand how any would vote for Ned. I mean yeah he was competent but he wasn't anything special
http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/FAQ/...rdsman_was_Ned