Brienne And Tormund

2016Shipping meme / reaction GIFclassic

Also known as: Briemund · Torienne

Brienne And Tormund is a 2016 shipping meme and reaction-GIF format featuring wildling warrior Tormund's hilariously intense, unrequited attraction to Brienne of Tarth in HBO's Game of Thrones.

Brienne and Tormund is a shipping meme from HBO's *Game of Thrones* based on the wildling warrior Tormund Giantsbane's hilariously intense, unrequited attraction to Brienne of Tarth. The pairing first went viral on May 15, 2016, after a scene in Season 6's "Book of the Stranger" showed Tormund staring at Brienne with unabashed desire1. It became one of the most beloved running jokes in the GoT fandom, spawning countless reaction GIFs, fan edits, and memes across four seasons5.

TL;DR

Brienne and Tormund is a shipping meme from HBO's *Game of Thrones* based on the wildling warrior Tormund Giantsbane's hilariously intense, unrequited attraction to Brienne of Tarth.

Overview

The Brienne and Tormund meme centers on the absurd, puppy-love staring that Tormund Giantsbane directs at Brienne of Tarth throughout *Game of Thrones*. In a show defined by political scheming, brutal warfare, and tragic deaths, Tormund's wide-eyed romantic fixation on the stoic, towering knight offered a rare bright spot of comedy that fans latched onto immediately4.

The meme typically takes the form of GIFs showing Tormund's exaggerated, awestruck expressions as he watches Brienne, or image macros and fan edits pairing the two characters in romantic or comedic contexts7. The humor comes from the contrast: Tormund is a rough, boastful wildling who once claimed he was nursed by a giantess, while Brienne is a noble, duty-bound warrior with zero interest in his advances6. Much of the meme content plays on this one-sided dynamic, with Tormund shooting his shot in increasingly absurd ways while Brienne looks uncomfortable or disgusted.

The pairing also fed into a wider fan debate about a love triangle between Tormund, Brienne, and Jaime Lannister, which gave the shipping meme an extra layer of dramatic tension and community engagement4.

On May 15, 2016, the fourth episode of *Game of Thrones* Season 6, titled "Book of the Stranger," premiered on HBO8. In the episode, Brienne arrives at Castle Black with Sansa Stark and Podrick. Tormund Giantsbane catches sight of her and is visibly struck by instant attraction, gawking at her during a courtyard scene and again during a meal5.

Director Daniel Sackheim later admitted he wasn't even sure the romantic subtext would land with audiences. "It was like a fun little bit, but I wasn't sure it was really clear that he had these amorous feelings for Brienne," Sackheim told Vogue. "I'm always amazed what fans pick up"2.

They picked up on it fast. Within hours of the episode airing, Twitter user @VictoriaAveyard posted a GIF of Tormund's stare set to a "Baby Got Back" quote by Sir Mix-a-Lot5. The tweet pulled in over 3,800 retweets and 6,500 likes in its first three years. Three days later, on May 18, 2016, YouTube user imperiallimpala uploaded a fan edit setting the Tormund-Brienne scenes to Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," which racked up over 235,000 views5.

Origin & Background

Platform
HBO (source scene), Twitter / Tumblr (viral spread)
Key People
David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, Daniel Sackheim
Date
2016

On May 15, 2016, the fourth episode of *Game of Thrones* Season 6, titled "Book of the Stranger," premiered on HBO. In the episode, Brienne arrives at Castle Black with Sansa Stark and Podrick. Tormund Giantsbane catches sight of her and is visibly struck by instant attraction, gawking at her during a courtyard scene and again during a meal.

Director Daniel Sackheim later admitted he wasn't even sure the romantic subtext would land with audiences. "It was like a fun little bit, but I wasn't sure it was really clear that he had these amorous feelings for Brienne," Sackheim told Vogue. "I'm always amazed what fans pick up".

They picked up on it fast. Within hours of the episode airing, Twitter user @VictoriaAveyard posted a GIF of Tormund's stare set to a "Baby Got Back" quote by Sir Mix-a-Lot. The tweet pulled in over 3,800 retweets and 6,500 likes in its first three years. Three days later, on May 18, 2016, YouTube user imperiallimpala uploaded a fan edit setting the Tormund-Brienne scenes to Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," which racked up over 235,000 views.

How It Spread

After the initial explosion around "Book of the Stranger," the shipping meme became a recurring event in the GoT calendar. Every new episode featuring Tormund and Brienne together triggered fresh waves of content.

Season 6, Episode 5, "The Door," gave Tormund additional screen time at Castle Black alongside Brienne, keeping the joke alive. Fans quickly assigned the couple ship names: Torienne and Briemund both gained traction on Tumblr and Twitter. Romper published a roundup of memes calling them the "ray of sunshine in another season of bleak coldness" and urged Brienne to "crack and realize that being in love with Tormund would kind of be the best thing ever". TIME covered the emerging fan romance, noting how many viewers were "fixated on a moment between two other characters" instead of the major Sansa-Jon reunion in the same episode.

The meme carried through Season 7 in 2017. The premiere episode "Dragonstone" featured another Tormund-Brienne flirting scene. By the time Season 7, Episode 6 "Beyond the Wall" aired, Tormund was part of Jon Snow's ranging party north of the Wall, and his absence from Brienne kept fans speculating about the pairing's future.

Vogue ran a piece calling the Tormund stare one of the best *Game of Thrones* memes, noting the internet "got all fired up with a new and refreshing plot device: sexual tension". UPROXX, TIME, and Insider all published articles covering the meme and the characters' dynamic.

The biggest chapter came during Season 8 in April 2019. Episode 2, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," dedicated significant screen time to both Tormund and Brienne. In a drinking scene before battle, Tormund tells a wild story about being breastfed by a giantess for three months, horrifying everyone except himself. Memes of this moment flooded Twitter, with users captioning Tormund's behavior as the ultimate failed pickup attempt. In the same episode, Jaime Lannister knights Brienne, a deeply emotional scene that reignited the Jaime-vs-Tormund shipping war.

Two episodes later, in "The Last of the Starks," the show resolved the triangle: Jaime and Brienne sleep together, only for Jaime to leave her and ride south to Cersei. Tormund, meanwhile, heads back north with the wildlings, never getting his chance. Fans split between devastation and dark comedy, producing a final burst of Tormund-Brienne memes mourning what could have been.

Also in April 2019, The Ringer ran a *Game of Thrones* meme bracket tournament. Brienne and Tormund advanced all the way to the Final Four, beating the Night King's iconic Hardhome stare by just 44 votes in one round. The Ringer called them "the unrequited love that launched a thousand memes".

How to Use This Meme

The Brienne and Tormund format is flexible but usually follows one of a few patterns:

- Reaction GIF: Use a GIF of Tormund staring at Brienne to express intense, awkward, or unrequited attraction. Works for "when your crush walks in" scenarios or any moment of someone being way too obvious about their feelings. - Image macro / captioned screenshot: Take a still of Tormund's face during a meal scene and add text about a one-sided crush, a bold romantic move, or oblivious confidence. - Love triangle format: Create content playing Tormund and Jaime Lannister against each other as competing suitors for Brienne. This works for any "two people competing for the same thing" setup. - Quote format: Pair Tormund's actual dialogue (especially the giant's milk story) with reaction images of Brienne or the other characters looking disturbed.

The core joke is always the same: one person is wildly, shamelessly into someone who wants absolutely nothing to do with them.

Cultural Impact

The Brienne and Tormund ship crossed over from fandom in-joke to mainstream pop culture coverage. Major outlets including TIME, Vogue, UPROXX, and Insider all ran dedicated articles about the pairing and its memes. BuzzFeed compiled listicles of Tormund memes during Season 8, treating him as the show's chief source of comic relief.

The pairing also became a lens through which entertainment media discussed *Game of Thrones* shipping culture more broadly. The Ringer's 2019 meme bracket, which pitted iconic GoT moments against each other in a March Madness-style competition, saw Brienne and Tormund reach the Final Four, beating out the Night King. That a romantic comedy subplot defeated one of the show's most dramatic villains said a lot about what fans actually cared about.

The meme tapped into a universal comedic dynamic: the unshakeable optimist pursuing someone clearly out of their league. That structure made it easy to remix beyond *Game of Thrones* contexts, and Tormund's stare GIFs were widely used as general-purpose reaction images for years after the show ended.

Fun Facts

Director Daniel Sackheim wasn't confident viewers would even notice Tormund's attraction to Brienne, calling it "a fun little bit" that he wasn't sure read clearly on screen.

Fans coined two competing ship names: Torienne and Briemund. Both got real usage but neither fully won out.

In The Ringer's 2019 GoT meme bracket, the Brienne-Tormund pairing beat the Night King's Hardhome stare by only 44 votes in the semifinals.

Actor Kristofer Hivju's physical performance as Tormund, particularly his exaggerated facial expressions during meal scenes, drove most of the meme content without any dialogue needed.

The meme peaked twice: first in May 2016 with the original scene, and again in April 2019 when Season 8 gave Tormund extended screen time with Brienne.

Derivatives & Variations

"My Heart Will Go On" edit:

A fan video pairing Tormund's staring scenes with Celine Dion's *Titanic* theme, posted May 18, 2016, by YouTube user imperiallimpala. It got over 235,000 views[5].

Giant's milk memes:

A sub-category of Tormund memes spawned by his Season 8 story about being breastfed by a giantess. These stood on their own as absurdist comedy[6].

Tormund vs. Jaime shipping war memes:

Content pitting the two male characters against each other for Brienne's affection, often using the "distracted boyfriend" format or side-by-side comparisons[5].

"Baby Got Back" GIF tweet:

@VictoriaAveyard's original tweet pairing Tormund's stare with Sir Mix-a-Lot lyrics became a template others riffed on[5].

Frequently Asked Questions

References (18)

  1. 1
    ‘Game of Thrones’ Meme Bracket: Brienne and Tormund Skate Into the Final Four - The Ringerarticle
  2. 2
    Brienne & Tormund Memes From 'Game Of Thrones' You Didn't Know You Neededarticle
  3. 3
    30 Hilarious Memes About Tormund And Brienne's "Romance" | DeMilkedarticle
  4. 4
    Brienne and Tormund - Know Your Memeencyclopedia
  5. 5
    The Last of the Starksencyclopedia
  6. 6
    Book of the Strangerencyclopedia
  7. 7
    The Door (Game of Thrones)encyclopedia
  8. 8
    Beyond the Wall (Game of Thrones)encyclopedia
  9. 9
    A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Game of Thrones)encyclopedia
  10. 10
    A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Game of Thrones) - Wikipediaencyclopedia
  11. 11
    Dragonstone (Game of Thrones episode) - Wikipediaencyclopedia
  12. 12
    The Door (Game of Thrones) - Wikipediaencyclopedia
  13. 13
    Beyond the Wall (Game of Thrones) - Wikipediaencyclopedia
  14. 14
    Game Of Thrones Season 8: Memes About Tormund That'll Make You Snort-Laugharticle
  15. 15
    Game of Thrones Memes: Brienne and Tormund Find Love | Voguearticle
  16. 16
    TV – UPROXXsocial
  17. 17
    Game of Thrones: Brienne and Tormund Romance | TIMEarticle
  18. 18
    'Game of Thrones' Season 7 Premiere: Tormund Flirts With Brienne - Business Insiderarticle

BrienneAndTormund

2016Shipping meme / reaction GIFclassic

Also known as: Briemund · Torienne

Brienne And Tormund is a 2016 shipping meme and reaction-GIF format featuring wildling warrior Tormund's hilariously intense, unrequited attraction to Brienne of Tarth in HBO's Game of Thrones.

Brienne and Tormund is a shipping meme from HBO's *Game of Thrones* based on the wildling warrior Tormund Giantsbane's hilariously intense, unrequited attraction to Brienne of Tarth. The pairing first went viral on May 15, 2016, after a scene in Season 6's "Book of the Stranger" showed Tormund staring at Brienne with unabashed desire. It became one of the most beloved running jokes in the GoT fandom, spawning countless reaction GIFs, fan edits, and memes across four seasons.

TL;DR

Brienne and Tormund is a shipping meme from HBO's *Game of Thrones* based on the wildling warrior Tormund Giantsbane's hilariously intense, unrequited attraction to Brienne of Tarth.

Overview

The Brienne and Tormund meme centers on the absurd, puppy-love staring that Tormund Giantsbane directs at Brienne of Tarth throughout *Game of Thrones*. In a show defined by political scheming, brutal warfare, and tragic deaths, Tormund's wide-eyed romantic fixation on the stoic, towering knight offered a rare bright spot of comedy that fans latched onto immediately.

The meme typically takes the form of GIFs showing Tormund's exaggerated, awestruck expressions as he watches Brienne, or image macros and fan edits pairing the two characters in romantic or comedic contexts. The humor comes from the contrast: Tormund is a rough, boastful wildling who once claimed he was nursed by a giantess, while Brienne is a noble, duty-bound warrior with zero interest in his advances. Much of the meme content plays on this one-sided dynamic, with Tormund shooting his shot in increasingly absurd ways while Brienne looks uncomfortable or disgusted.

The pairing also fed into a wider fan debate about a love triangle between Tormund, Brienne, and Jaime Lannister, which gave the shipping meme an extra layer of dramatic tension and community engagement.

On May 15, 2016, the fourth episode of *Game of Thrones* Season 6, titled "Book of the Stranger," premiered on HBO. In the episode, Brienne arrives at Castle Black with Sansa Stark and Podrick. Tormund Giantsbane catches sight of her and is visibly struck by instant attraction, gawking at her during a courtyard scene and again during a meal.

Director Daniel Sackheim later admitted he wasn't even sure the romantic subtext would land with audiences. "It was like a fun little bit, but I wasn't sure it was really clear that he had these amorous feelings for Brienne," Sackheim told Vogue. "I'm always amazed what fans pick up".

They picked up on it fast. Within hours of the episode airing, Twitter user @VictoriaAveyard posted a GIF of Tormund's stare set to a "Baby Got Back" quote by Sir Mix-a-Lot. The tweet pulled in over 3,800 retweets and 6,500 likes in its first three years. Three days later, on May 18, 2016, YouTube user imperiallimpala uploaded a fan edit setting the Tormund-Brienne scenes to Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," which racked up over 235,000 views.

Origin & Background

Platform
HBO (source scene), Twitter / Tumblr (viral spread)
Key People
David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, Daniel Sackheim
Date
2016

On May 15, 2016, the fourth episode of *Game of Thrones* Season 6, titled "Book of the Stranger," premiered on HBO. In the episode, Brienne arrives at Castle Black with Sansa Stark and Podrick. Tormund Giantsbane catches sight of her and is visibly struck by instant attraction, gawking at her during a courtyard scene and again during a meal.

Director Daniel Sackheim later admitted he wasn't even sure the romantic subtext would land with audiences. "It was like a fun little bit, but I wasn't sure it was really clear that he had these amorous feelings for Brienne," Sackheim told Vogue. "I'm always amazed what fans pick up".

They picked up on it fast. Within hours of the episode airing, Twitter user @VictoriaAveyard posted a GIF of Tormund's stare set to a "Baby Got Back" quote by Sir Mix-a-Lot. The tweet pulled in over 3,800 retweets and 6,500 likes in its first three years. Three days later, on May 18, 2016, YouTube user imperiallimpala uploaded a fan edit setting the Tormund-Brienne scenes to Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," which racked up over 235,000 views.

How It Spread

After the initial explosion around "Book of the Stranger," the shipping meme became a recurring event in the GoT calendar. Every new episode featuring Tormund and Brienne together triggered fresh waves of content.

Season 6, Episode 5, "The Door," gave Tormund additional screen time at Castle Black alongside Brienne, keeping the joke alive. Fans quickly assigned the couple ship names: Torienne and Briemund both gained traction on Tumblr and Twitter. Romper published a roundup of memes calling them the "ray of sunshine in another season of bleak coldness" and urged Brienne to "crack and realize that being in love with Tormund would kind of be the best thing ever". TIME covered the emerging fan romance, noting how many viewers were "fixated on a moment between two other characters" instead of the major Sansa-Jon reunion in the same episode.

The meme carried through Season 7 in 2017. The premiere episode "Dragonstone" featured another Tormund-Brienne flirting scene. By the time Season 7, Episode 6 "Beyond the Wall" aired, Tormund was part of Jon Snow's ranging party north of the Wall, and his absence from Brienne kept fans speculating about the pairing's future.

Vogue ran a piece calling the Tormund stare one of the best *Game of Thrones* memes, noting the internet "got all fired up with a new and refreshing plot device: sexual tension". UPROXX, TIME, and Insider all published articles covering the meme and the characters' dynamic.

The biggest chapter came during Season 8 in April 2019. Episode 2, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," dedicated significant screen time to both Tormund and Brienne. In a drinking scene before battle, Tormund tells a wild story about being breastfed by a giantess for three months, horrifying everyone except himself. Memes of this moment flooded Twitter, with users captioning Tormund's behavior as the ultimate failed pickup attempt. In the same episode, Jaime Lannister knights Brienne, a deeply emotional scene that reignited the Jaime-vs-Tormund shipping war.

Two episodes later, in "The Last of the Starks," the show resolved the triangle: Jaime and Brienne sleep together, only for Jaime to leave her and ride south to Cersei. Tormund, meanwhile, heads back north with the wildlings, never getting his chance. Fans split between devastation and dark comedy, producing a final burst of Tormund-Brienne memes mourning what could have been.

Also in April 2019, The Ringer ran a *Game of Thrones* meme bracket tournament. Brienne and Tormund advanced all the way to the Final Four, beating the Night King's iconic Hardhome stare by just 44 votes in one round. The Ringer called them "the unrequited love that launched a thousand memes".

How to Use This Meme

The Brienne and Tormund format is flexible but usually follows one of a few patterns:

- Reaction GIF: Use a GIF of Tormund staring at Brienne to express intense, awkward, or unrequited attraction. Works for "when your crush walks in" scenarios or any moment of someone being way too obvious about their feelings. - Image macro / captioned screenshot: Take a still of Tormund's face during a meal scene and add text about a one-sided crush, a bold romantic move, or oblivious confidence. - Love triangle format: Create content playing Tormund and Jaime Lannister against each other as competing suitors for Brienne. This works for any "two people competing for the same thing" setup. - Quote format: Pair Tormund's actual dialogue (especially the giant's milk story) with reaction images of Brienne or the other characters looking disturbed.

The core joke is always the same: one person is wildly, shamelessly into someone who wants absolutely nothing to do with them.

Cultural Impact

The Brienne and Tormund ship crossed over from fandom in-joke to mainstream pop culture coverage. Major outlets including TIME, Vogue, UPROXX, and Insider all ran dedicated articles about the pairing and its memes. BuzzFeed compiled listicles of Tormund memes during Season 8, treating him as the show's chief source of comic relief.

The pairing also became a lens through which entertainment media discussed *Game of Thrones* shipping culture more broadly. The Ringer's 2019 meme bracket, which pitted iconic GoT moments against each other in a March Madness-style competition, saw Brienne and Tormund reach the Final Four, beating out the Night King. That a romantic comedy subplot defeated one of the show's most dramatic villains said a lot about what fans actually cared about.

The meme tapped into a universal comedic dynamic: the unshakeable optimist pursuing someone clearly out of their league. That structure made it easy to remix beyond *Game of Thrones* contexts, and Tormund's stare GIFs were widely used as general-purpose reaction images for years after the show ended.

Fun Facts

Director Daniel Sackheim wasn't confident viewers would even notice Tormund's attraction to Brienne, calling it "a fun little bit" that he wasn't sure read clearly on screen.

Fans coined two competing ship names: Torienne and Briemund. Both got real usage but neither fully won out.

In The Ringer's 2019 GoT meme bracket, the Brienne-Tormund pairing beat the Night King's Hardhome stare by only 44 votes in the semifinals.

Actor Kristofer Hivju's physical performance as Tormund, particularly his exaggerated facial expressions during meal scenes, drove most of the meme content without any dialogue needed.

The meme peaked twice: first in May 2016 with the original scene, and again in April 2019 when Season 8 gave Tormund extended screen time with Brienne.

Derivatives & Variations

"My Heart Will Go On" edit:

A fan video pairing Tormund's staring scenes with Celine Dion's *Titanic* theme, posted May 18, 2016, by YouTube user imperiallimpala. It got over 235,000 views[5].

Giant's milk memes:

A sub-category of Tormund memes spawned by his Season 8 story about being breastfed by a giantess. These stood on their own as absurdist comedy[6].

Tormund vs. Jaime shipping war memes:

Content pitting the two male characters against each other for Brienne's affection, often using the "distracted boyfriend" format or side-by-side comparisons[5].

"Baby Got Back" GIF tweet:

@VictoriaAveyard's original tweet pairing Tormund's stare with Sir Mix-a-Lot lyrics became a template others riffed on[5].

Frequently Asked Questions