Walda

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Walda grew up in House Frey, where sons were strongly favored over daughters. She practiced riding and archery from childhood and preferred swords and spears to the marriage her brother hoped to arrange. Her fighting ability made it difficult for the family to force her into marriage, and she raised a private force of two hundred soldiers, including twenty women she personally trained 167 168.

Her mother’s Blackwood heritage exposed her to Old Gods traditions and stories of people controlling animals through weirwoods. As a child, Walda studied ancient books at her maternal grandfather’s home and practiced beneath the family weirwood without success. She believed the destruction of many Riverlands weirwoods might explain the declining number of skinchangers in her mother’s family 179.

Lord Frey encouraged her to seek Danyla’s favor, suggesting that service to the first royal princess with her own fief might eventually give Walda an opportunity to rule lands herself 167.

Appearance

Walda is described as a striking beauty with a distinctly valiant bearing 167.

• Height: Nearly six feet tall 169.
• Build: Firm, well-developed muscles from martial training; strength comparable to an average grown man 169 179.
• Dress at introduction: Knight-like clothing, despite not holding formal knighthood 167 169.
• Later guard uniform: Black armor accented with gold and red, a black-and-red cloak, and a red gemstone on the belt 222.

Personality

Walda is outspoken, proud of her abilities, and unwilling to accept the subordinate role expected of women in House Frey. Her welcoming toast to Danyla openly insults Riverrun’s male-dominated atmosphere. She credits her martial training with saving her from an unwanted marriage and rejects a life defined by submission and childbirth 168.

She enjoys difficult fights but can acknowledge a superior opponent. After Harold defeats her, she thanks him for the lesson, recognizes his strength, and promises to beat him within a year. She also cautions Maggie against confusing confidence with blind confidence 222 228.

Her loyalty to Danyla shapes both her courage and her judgment. At Stone Hedge, she refuses to let Earl Blackwood disregard innocent inhabitants, insisting that overwhelming strength does not justify harming them or damaging the princess’s reputation 311. That restraint does not extend to everyone: she captures noble retinues without trial, rejects ransom offers, and sends prisoners into forced labor or slavery. Later, she purchases slaves overseas to increase Oldstones’ population and replenish military recruits 309 318 511.

Abilities & Skills

Swordsmanship and Close-Quarters Combat

• House Frey’s leading fighter: No man in the household could defeat her when she entered Danyla’s service 169.
• Powerful swordplay: Uses broad attacks, precise blocks, and heavy downward strikes to exploit her strength and reach 169.
• Adaptable tactics: Changes between light and heavy attacks, feints, evasive footwork, and close combat when direct attacks prove ineffective 183.
• Unarmed fighting: Uses punches, kicks, and wrist control alongside her swordsmanship 169 183.
• Limits: Danyla’s close-quarter techniques initially disrupt her sweeping style; the stronger Umber opponent numbs her arms through repeated blade clashes, while Harold ultimately defeats her in training 169 183 228.

Riding and Archery

• Trained in both disciplines from childhood 168.
• Leads female soldiers noted for their skilled riding and near-Valyrian-quality horse barding 310.

Warging and Magical Perception

• Can enter the bodies of Sable and her falcon 221 295.
• Uses Sable’s abilities to help avoid danger during the search for Danyla 221.
• Senses a frightening power in Winterfell’s crypt after her magical awakening 179.
• Her gift is initially extremely weak and requires further development through companionship and training 189 221 295.

Water Dance

• Studies the Scythians’ Water Dance under Lecia alongside her female soldiers 295.
• Makes exceptional progress within a week, becoming lighter, more agile, and more effective in combat 295.
• Questions the technique’s origins and suggests that the Giant Turtle credited with inspiring it might be the Old Man of the River 295.

Command and Training

• Personally trains the original twenty female soldiers who accompany her into Danyla’s service 168.
• Commands mixed forces of female warriors, Dragon Guards, and House Frey soldiers during Riverlands operations 318.
• Trains one hundred young female warriors for Ishys and Isilia; even the oldest are still in their teens when she brings them to High Heart 473.
• Helps develop the women of the Iron Islands into a powerful regular army over years of training 511.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Longsword — Her principal weapon before receiving Danyla’s new guard equipment. Her blade is notched during the recruitment duel with Dawnlight 169 182.
• Dawnlight, also called the Dawn Sword — Borrowed from Danyla for the Umber duel; Walda uses it to sever her opponent’s heavy sword 182 183.
• Firefall — Danyla’s Valyrian dagger, temporarily entrusted to Walda for the finer work of processing lizard-lion carcasses 171.
• Personal Guard armor and sword — Specially commissioned armor with a matching false-Valyrian-steel sword. The sword’s hilt contains a Magic Gem that slows the loss of magical energy 222.
• Sealskin pouch — Carries Sable at her waist 221.
• Caltrop Dragonfire Bombs — Supplied by Danyla and taught to her forces by Jili. The devices detonate roughly ten seconds after activation; Walda also deploys them by trebuchet against Stone Hedge 309 310.

Relationships

• Danyla — Liege, beneficiary of Walda’s protection, and the person who awakens her warg gift. Walda searches for her through the Long Night and fiercely defends her reputation 169 179 221 311.
• Lord Forley Frey — Introduced as her older brother. He worries about her unmarried status, encourages her royal service, and later supplies troops for her search for Danyla 167 220.
• House Blackwood — Her maternal family and source of her early knowledge of weirwoods and skinchanging. Earl Blackwood is identified as her uncle, but she overrules him over civilian safety at Stone Hedge 179 310 311.
• Maggie and Meya — Close friends formed during the northern search. Maggie later serves alongside Walda in the women’s army and at Oldstones 222 511 567.
• Harold — Martial instructor and training rival. Walda respects his victory over her while promising a rematch within a year 222 228.
• Lecia — Water Dance teacher; discusses the discipline’s origins and the existence of supernatural powers with Walda 295.
• Sable — Magical animal companion and Walda’s first confirmed skinchanging bond 189 221.
• Umber suitor, named Anbilio and later Andarley — His unwanted courtship prompts Walda to demand that he defeat her first. She wins the duel; he later sells her Sable and interprets the payment as affection 182 183 189.
• Daemon — Entrusts Oldstones to Walda before leaving for Dorne 406.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Recruitment at Riverrun

At Danyla’s feast, Walda presents eight of her trained women in a war dance. Danyla rewards them and urges them to prove women’s equality on the battlefield. Walda then kneels with her soldiers and offers their allegiance 168.

Danyla tests her through a prolonged sword match. Walda eventually knocks the princess off balance and places her sword point against her lower back. Danyla accepts the women into her Personal Guard through a knight-style oath ceremony, while explicitly recognizing that they are not formally knights 169.

Northern Journey and the Search for Danyla

Walda accompanies Danyla through the Neck and the North, helping process lizard-lion remains and attending her at Winterfell. After her magical awakening, she scouts ahead during the secret visit to the Stark crypt. Though initially frightened by its preserved ice wights, she supports their destruction rather than risk their becoming White Walkers 171 179 180.

At Last Hearth, she defeats her persistent Umber suitor using borrowed Dawnlight. The household celebrates her victory, although its warm reception makes her regret the severity of the beating 182 183 184.

When Danyla disappears, Walda gathers her twenty female soldiers on Bear Island and receives two hundred elite Frey troops. For three months, she and Bear Island’s people search the Bay of Ice and Frozen Shore through blizzards and the Long Night. Danyla later embraces her and rejects her request for forgiveness 220 221.

Braavos

Walda accompanies Danyla during the Braavosi mission. During the spotted long-winged dragon’s attack, she and the other guards prepare to fight to the death before Danyla drives it back with fire magic. She later removes a basilisk’s venom sac and organs for potion ingredients 265 266.

She escorts Danyla through the ruins of the House of Black and White and reports the discovery of its underground chamber. She then accompanies the investigation that uncovers human-skin masks containing dark magic and traces of souls 271 276.

Riverlands Campaign

Danyla authorizes Walda’s female soldiers to demonstrate their strength after attacks on House Frey. With advanced equipment, they help Harold arrest more than a thousand members of noble parties; attendants and guards are sent to Cisland as serfs 306 309.

At Stone Hedge, Walda tests the trebuchets’ range with stones before launching twenty Caltrop Dragonfire Bombs. The barrage collapses walls and spreads green fire. She subsequently insists that civilians be allowed to leave before the final assault. Half the captured wealth is allocated to her as Danyla’s representative because her forces breached the castle 310 311.

Her later patrols capture noble retinues and Poor Fellows across the Riverlands. Obedient prisoners remain at High Heart for forced labor; others face slavery in the Stepstones or Cisland 318.

Green Fork Relief

After Borros burns Riverrun, Walda and her companions investigate the devastated region, distribute supplies, and help residents escape. They create drawings for King Vulture to carry into areas too dangerous for the women to enter, directing survivors toward the Green Fork 331.

Oldstones and the Iron Islands

Daemon hands Oldstones over to Walda, and she continues expanding its military population and training female warriors 406 473 511.

By the Royal Legion’s formation, the women’s army controls the Iron Islands, where its leaders hold land and noble titles. The islands have become a matriarchal society using male laborers and “salt husbands.” Walda regularly leads voyages to the Free Cities and Slaver’s Bay to purchase slaves for recruitment and settlement 511.

During Danyla’s later visit to Oldstones, Walda reports strong harvests, plentiful livestock, and Sheepstealer’s new lair. The settlement’s treatment of men concerns Omanrion, who warns against replacing one form of oppression with another; Danyla praises his judgment 567.

Notable Quotes

“We will be the sharp blades in your hand and the sturdy shields that hold back your enemies.” 168

“Within a year, I guarantee you'll be the one lying on the ground!” 228

“But using overwhelming power as an excuse to disregard innocent people is not the conduct of the truly strong.” 311

Trivia

• Walda’s family relationship is inconsistent in the text: her introduction calls her Lord Frey’s younger sister, while later passages call her his daughter or refer to him as her father 167 220 310.
• Her original sword is described both as a steel sword and as Valyrian steel within the recruitment duel 169.
• She strongly prefers meals containing meat 182.