House Stark

Winter is Coming: the direwolves of Winterfell.

House Stark is one of the great houses of the Seven Kingdoms and the principal house of the North. Its seat is Winterfell, one of the oldest castles in the realm; its arms show a grey direwolf running on white, its words are Winter is Coming, and bastards of the North take the surname Snow.

Quick Facts

Seat: Winterfell
Region: The North
Words: Winter is Coming
Sigil: Grey direwolf on white

Lore & Background

Descended from Bran the Builder, the architect of the Wall, the Starks are the chief First Men dynasty in Westeros, having repelled the Andal invasion. They ruled as Kings in the North for thousands of years, defeating the Barrow Kings and slowly uniting the North, until the Targaryen conquest made them Lords of Winterfell and Wardens of the North.

Reader's Guide

Prized for honour and devotion to duty, House Stark is the closest of the noble houses to heroism. After Eddard Stark's arrest and execution his son Robb rebels against the Crown and tries to take the North out of the Seven Kingdoms; the Freys later massacre him at the Red Wedding.

Their long rivals are the Boltons of the Dreadfort, the second most powerful Northern house, with a sinister reputation for flaying. House Reed holds the Neck for them, and the Manderlys, exiled from the Reach, became vassals at White Harbor.