The Bannered Mare

Image screencapped from zemalf, possibly the only other person to ever enjoy this view.

Faraway traveller, song-regaled battler,
Bards that are skilled in both rhythm and rhyme:
Though other lands wait and their castles be great,
There’s still an establishment begs your time.
Rest for the weary and wine for the dreary,
And song for those without a care—
A coin and a road are the requisite load
To enter the halls of the Bannered Mare.

Man lived in Bravil, where he met a girl,
She with hair of red, he a pauper bred;
How to win the maiden fair?
He wooed her with his charms, she fell in his arms,
Wed the first of June, by the second noon
They had come to Whiterun square.
Rest for the weary and wine for the dreary,
And song for those without a care—
Comfort is old and a comforter bold
Under the sign of the Bannered Mare.

When you have done with the rain and the sun
And your thoughts of more travelling all go remiss,
Then wend here your way; there’s a place you can stay
And rest and repose in a homelier bliss.
Rest for the weary and wine for the dreary,
And song for those without a care—
Your ease can be found on the hallowed ground
That’s under the roof of the Bannered Mare.

This one has been a tough nut to crack. I've wanted to do it since I published A Winter's Tale back in January, and I knew that the last line ended with "the Bannered Mare". That's about it, and I'm super happy to have finally gotten this done finally. Also it intersects with marketing, another semi-love, so I guess you can call me Don Draper and buy me a Coke.

The Bannered Mare itself is the inn in Whiterun. ("Inn in", ha!) After a long day's travelling, aka my playing for the day is over, I like to get a room and just sit in the balcony for a few minutes, listening to the music and soaking in the atmosphere. For some reason the lighting in particular always gets me, which you can see in the screenshot above. Of all the lodgings in Skyrim, and for all the houses I've owned there—some of them rather spectacular—the Bannered Mare is the place that feels most like home.



P.S. – to explain that bit about Bravil: It's in the south of Cyrodiil, the capitol country of the Empire, and maybe a week's journey from Whiterun, which is smack in the middle of Skyrim to the north. I guess they wanted to get to the Bannered Mare! (Where's my Coke.)

P.P.S. – I have not seen Mad Men yet and hope I am getting it right with the Coke references.