The Song of the Griffins

The Song of the Griffins is the ancient battle cry and heraldic air of House Connington, the exiled lords of Griffin's Roost. In the narrative of A Dance with Dragons, it functions not as a sung lyric but as a shouted war cry, a sonic emblem of identity and vengeance that the Golden Company uses to announce their return to Westeros. When Jon Connington's forces storm Griffin's Roost, the cry "A griffin! A griffin!" rings out along the battlements, confusing the defenders and signaling the restoration of the house's ancient claim. The cry is a deliberate invocation of the Connington sigil—a griffin—and serves to rally the attackers while disorienting the garrison, who had believed the house extinct or its lords dead in exile. Later, as the Golden Company consolidates its foothold in the stormlands, the song becomes a rallying point for the exiled sellswords, many of whom are themselves descendants of dispossessed Westerosi houses. For Jon Connington, the cry is both a personal declaration of purpose and a political tool, meant to remind the stormlords of his family's former power and to attract allies who remember the griffin's reign. The song thus embodies the themes of return, restoration, and the reclaiming of lost identity that drive Connington's campaign to place Aegon Targaryen on the Iron Throne.