Battle of the Golden Tooth

The Battle of the Golden Tooth was the opening clash of the War of the Five Kings, a swift and brutal Lannister victory that shattered the river lords' first line of defense and cleared the path for Tywin Lannister's invasion of the riverlands. Fought in the hills below the Golden Tooth, the engagement pitted Ser Jaime Lannister's seasoned host against the hastily assembled forces of Lords Vance and Piper, who had been sent to hold the pass by Ser Edmure Tully. The result was a rout that left Lord Vance dead, Lord Piper in flight, and the western approach to Riverrun undefended.

Causes and Background

In the wake of Catelyn Stark's arrest of Tyrion Lannister, Lord Tywin Lannister had called his banners and begun a campaign of raiding and intimidation along the borders of the riverlands. Ser Edmure Tully, acting as commander of his ailing father Lord Hoster Tully's forces, responded by scattering small troops of men along his borders to stop the Lannister raids. Among these were the forces of Lord Vance and Lord Piper, whom Edmure ordered to guard the pass below the Golden Tooth, a strategic gateway through the mountains that controlled access between the west and the riverlands. The Lannisters, however, had already massed a substantial army under Ser Jaime, and they moved with a speed and coordination that the scattered Tully forces could not match.

What Happens

Ser Jaime Lannister descended on the pass with his host, catching the defenders in a position they could not hold. The battle was brief and one-sided. Lord Vance was slain in the fighting, and Lord Piper's forces were put to flight. The defeat was so complete that the survivors fell back in disarray, with Piper himself retreating to join Edmure Tully and his other bannermen at Riverrun, with Jaime Lannister in close pursuit. The engagement demonstrated the Lannisters' superior organization and the vulnerability of Edmure's strategy of dispersing his strength. As Catelyn Stark later learned from reports reaching her son Robb, the Kingslayer had "gone through him like an axe through ripe cheese."

Consequences and Aftermath

The Battle of the Golden Tooth had immediate and far-reaching consequences. It left the western border of the riverlands undefended, allowing Jaime Lannister to march on Riverrun itself and lay siege to the Tully stronghold. Lord Vance's death deprived the river lords of an experienced commander, and Lord Piper's routed forces were unable to regroup in time to offer effective resistance. The defeat also exposed the weakness of Edmure Tully's command, as his strategy of scattering his forces had allowed the Lannisters to destroy them piecemeal. The battle set the stage for the larger confrontation under the walls of Riverrun, where Jaime would go on to defeat Edmure's main host and take him prisoner. For the Lannisters, the victory at the Golden Tooth was the first step in a campaign that seemed, for a time, to be rolling inexorably toward total victory in the riverlands.