Jenny
Jenny of Oldstones was a young woman of uncertain origin — perhaps a peasant, perhaps of much older blood — who married Prince Duncan Targaryen while he still stood to inherit the Iron Throne.
Her story, turned into song by the bards of the Seven Kingdoms, is that of a prince who chose to lose a crown rather than lose her.
Chapter 1
The prince without a crown
239 ACBooks only
Duncan Targaryen was traveling through the Riverlands in 239 AC when he met a girl who called herself Jenny and claimed to come from Oldstones. He married her even though the local folk took her for a strange peasant girl, or worse, a witch, and even though she herself claimed descent from the old Kings of the First Men.
King Aegon V tried to undo the marriage, backed by the High Septon, the Grand Maester, and the Small Council, but his son would not budge. Rather than part from Jenny, Duncan gave up his claim to the throne and stepped down as Prince of Dragonstone, leaving the title to his younger brother Jaehaerys.
Chapter 2
The smallfolk's favourite
Books only
Over time Jenny won the affection of the common people and came to be treated, out of courtesy, as a lady in her own right. When she arrived at court already married to Duncan, she brought with her a friend who claimed to be a Child of the Forest, which she was not.
For years the couple were the subject of songs and poems across the Seven Kingdoms.
Chapter 3
The shadow of Summerhall
Books only
Duncan died in the Tragedy of Summerhall, and it was assumed that Jenny's friend, the woman who claimed to be a Child of the Forest, perished alongside him. Whether Jenny herself was present, and whether she survived if she was, remains unknown.
The song written about her suggests she did live on, but spent the rest of her days undone by the loss of the man for whom she had given up a throne.