House Bolton

"In my family we say: A naked man holds few secrets; a flayed man, none."

- Roose Bolton

House Bolton of the Dreadfort is a vassal house that holds fealty to House Stark of Winterfell. Their lands are in the north east of the Stark territories. Their stronghold is a castle called the Dreadfort and the head of the house is the Lord of the Dreadfort.

House Bolton is infamous for its centuries-old practice of flaying their enemies alive, to the point that they use a flayed man as their House sigil. Lord Eddard Stark outlawed flaying in the North, but it is implied that the Boltons continue this practice in secret.

House Bolton's sigil is a faceless flayed man upside-down on an x-shaped white cross over a field of black. Their official motto is "Our Blades Are Sharp" but a common saying of members of the house is "A Flayed Man Holds No Secrets".

Members

 * Roose Bolton, the head of House Bolton, Lord of the Dreadfort. Fighting for King Robb Stark in the War of the Five Kings
 * Ramsay Snow, his bastard son, acting as castellan of the Dreadfort.

In the books
In the Song of Ice and Fire novels, House Bolton is noted as one of the most powerful families of the North, and in the past has contested with House Stark for control of the North, being famous for flaying their enemies, including some Starks, and even wearing their skins as cloaks. They vied with House Stark for dominance in the North since the Age of Heroes thousands of years ago, possibly even before the Andal invasion. They were finally forced to bend the knee to the Starks about a thousand years ago. However, they rose again three hundred years later in a rebellion that lasted four years, before they finally submitted again.

The Boltons are considered a sinister and ill-omened house, but Lord Roose Bolton is noted as a very capable battle commander.

Besides Lord Roose, the members of the family in the books are:


 * Bethany Ryswell, Roose Bolton's late wife.
 * Domeric Bolton, their only son and heir.
 * Ramsay Snow, his bastard son.

The sigil of House Bolton in the books is a red flayed man on a field of pink with red drops. The TV series design has specified that the flayed man is displayed hanging upside down on an X-shaped cross. The color scheme in the TV series is slightly different: it is a red flayed man, but on a white cross with a black background.