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Winter Court
Winter court

The Winter Queens by Nana Leonti

The Winter Court or Unseelie Court is one of the Faerie Courts, ruling over part of Faerie in the Nevernever. Their fae members are termed Winter Sidhe, or Winterfae.[1][2]

Description[]

Corte-de-Invierno

The Winter Court by Javier Charro.

Winter’s nature was beautiful violence, stark clarity, the most feral needs and animal desires and killer instinct pitted against the season of cold and death—the will and desire to fight, to live, even when there was no shelter, no warmth, no respite, no hope, and no help.Harry Dresden[3]

It is the Winter Court's job to defend the Outer Gates from Outsiders.[4] and the White Council estimates Mab's troop count to be about fifty thousand. Yet at the Outer Gates, there are more than that in one single formation.[4] The capital of the Winter Court is Mab's fortress, Arctis Tor.

Hawthorne wood does not care much for creatures of winter, it burns hot.[5]

Order[]

Winter Queens

The Winter Queens by Erin Rosenzweig (Website)

The Winter Court is ruled by the three Winter Queens: Mother Winter, Winter Queen, and Winter Lady. It also keeps a mortal champion, the Winter Knight.

Mother Winter[]

Mother Winter is the oldest of the three Winter Queens and The Queen Who Was; the previous holder of the title Winter Queen. She is sometimes the mother of the current one, and is not referred to by name but by her position.[6]

The current holder of the title is Mab's mother, Mother Winter.[6]

Winter Queen[]

The Winter Queen is the ruler of the Winter Court and The Queen Who Is; the former Winter Lady. She will be the future Mother Winter.[7]

The current Winter Queen is Mab.[7]

Winter Lady[]

The Winter Lady, or the Cold Lady,[1] is the youngest of the three Winter Queens, and The Queen Who Is To Come.[8] She is the heir to the Winter Queen, and may be her daughter.[9][5]

During most of Harry Dresden's time in Chicago, the Winter Lady was Maeve, a daughter of Mab. As of Cold Days, the Winter Lady is Molly Carpenter.[5]

Winter King[]

Fan
You have the Queens, the Ladies, and the Knights. Where are the Kings? Do the Kings exist?
Jim Butcher
Yes they do. And actually there's been one on stage and one mentioned. One on stage would be the Erlking, kind of the image of the Hunter King, and the other one is Santa Claus.
— Dragon-Con, 2010[10]
There is no such thing as a Summer King in the Dresden Files faerie cosmology. Mab and Titania need a King like a fish needs a bicycle. There are a ton of independent rulers of the Wyld, though, much like the Erlking, who is a member of the Winter Court more or less as a sign of courtesy and respect. They will occasionally make alliances (and dalliances) with the great rulers of the Sidhe.— Jim Butcher, 2014 AMA[11]

While it has been stated by Jim Butcher that faerie kings do exist, he later clarified in subsequent AMAs that these are not absolutely attached to either court, and are not needed for the functioning of either Court. The "Winter King" as such is not an actual title.

Winter Knight[]

The Winter Knight is a mortal chosen as the champion of the Winter Court.[7] The power of the Mantle comes from Mab.[12]

Lloyd Slate was the Winter Knight from Summer Knight until Changes,[13] when he was killed and replaced by Harry Dresden.[14]

Winter Law[]

When the Law is defied, the power, or Mantle, is stripped away.[12]

References[]

See also[]

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