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The Third Hand of Justice: Writing the Culture of Law in Fourth-Century Westeros by OldShrewsburyian
Fandoms: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
21 Sep 2025
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Summary
Did anyone ask for a fan theory about the way post-canon history probably won't happen (but could!) couched as an academic conference paper? Absolutely not. Is that what this is anyway? Absolutely yes. Is this a way of me to drag GRRM for his medievalism? Also yes. Is it a way for me to express some of my big feelings about cultures of law and literacy (or the lack thereof) in Westeros? Also yes!
"Examining how justice was understood, imagined, and enacted in the fourth century, I argue, can facilitate our understanding of what can often seem to be an overwhelmingly chaotic period, even to specialists. Moreover, analyzing the language and proliferation of legal documents in the fourth century can help fill a lacuna in the surviving chronicle evidence. I argue that formulae relating to the third hand or three hands of justice, frequently found in both charters and civic oath books, are connected to the sociopolitical developments that took place in the aftermath of the extraordinarily bloody period known to contemporary chroniclers as the Game of Thrones."
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