Humfrey Lefford

Humfrey Lefford was an aged Lannister lord whose final command ended in the destruction of the western host at the Fishfeed. Already so badly wounded that he had to command from a litter, he inherited an army slowed by its own commander’s infirmity and was caught between converging enemies near the Gods Eye, without the help he had urgently sought from Prince Aemond.

Identity and Command

Lefford enters the account as the replacement commander of the Lannister host. After the westermen prevailed in two engagements near Acorn Hall, Lord Adrian Tarbeck was killed by Ser Harry Penny, and the Lannisters resumed their march east under Lefford. His age and many wounds made him a stark contrast to the forward motion expected of a conquering army: he directed its progress from a litter, and the march slowed to a crawl.

The Army Trapped by the Gods Eye

As Lefford’s force approached the western shore of the Gods Eye, it encountered a large army assembled from several contingents. Roddy the Ruin’s two thousand Winter Wolves had joined Forrest Frey and Red Robb Rivers; Frey brought two hundred knights and three times as many foot, while Rivers commanded three hundred archers. A separate force of survivors and fresh riverlords approached from the south. Lefford therefore faced enemies both ahead and behind, with no safe direction in which to commit his men.

Rather than advance against either force and risk an attack from the other, Lefford put the lake at his back and fortified his position. He sent ravens to Prince Aemond at Harrenhal to ask for aid. A dozen birds took wing, but none reached the prince: Red Robb Rivers shot them down. The severed line of communication left Lefford’s army exposed, waiting for relief that could not learn of its predicament.

The Fishfeed and Lefford’s Death

The next day, additional riverlords arrived, including Ser Garibald Grey, Lord Jon Charlton, and the eleven-year-old Lord of Raventree, Benjicot Blackwood. With these reinforcements, the queen’s forces decided to attack before the dragons arrived. The ensuing Battle by the Lakeshore, known to its survivors as the Fishfeed, became the bloodiest land battle of the Dance of the Dragons.

Attacked from three sides, the westermen were forced back into the lake. Two thousand men died by nightfall, and the Lannister host was shattered. Lefford was among the dead, alongside Lord Forrest Frey and several other prominent commanders. The battle thus brought his slow, beleaguered campaign to an abrupt end: the appeal for help had failed, and the army he led was annihilated before relief came.