Alayne laughed. Sers, the Lady Alayne, my natural and very clever daughter. First, the acknowledgements. This essay is possible because of the original post here by the invaluable contributor on the westeros. I was inclined to agree and even was able to find evidence to expand upon that idea. This essay sets out to show how this is even possible, how these three men work together in the plot, that this is what GRRM actually intends to happen, and to lay out the textual evidence and clues as clearly as possible.
Other forum contributors who must be thanked for their astute reading and dogged assistance in building this theory are sweetsunray and Ashes of Westeros.
Note: To avoid bogging down an already long essay, I will provide links to smaller, less important quotes if needed for textual support. Before exploring the individual identities of our hedge knights, we should first look at how GRRM intends for us to view them: as a team. Because the author places the men together in consecutive order we should be considering not just their individual identities, but also considering how they will fit together logically and thematically in the story.
They should harmonize well together with each contributing something important for the task at hand. This makes the name Shadrich all the more a significant choice if we look to the similarities with the biblical Shadrach and his companions Meshach and Abednego from the Book of Daniel.
Their real Hebrew names are Hanania, Mishael, and Azaria. The king builds a golden statue and commands that all of his officials must bow down before it on pain of execution in a fiery furnace. Of course the three being Hebrew and godly men refuse to do so.
