House Stark

"Oh, the Starks! Quick tempers, slow minds."

- Petyr Baelish



House Stark is one of the Great Houses of Westeros, ruling over the vast region known as the North from their seat in Winterfell. It is by far one of the oldest lines of Westerosi nobility, claiming a line of descent stretching back over eight thousand years. The head of the house is the Lord of Winterfell. Before the Targaryen conquest, the leaders of House Stark ruled over the region as the Kings in the North.

House Stark's sigil is a grey direwolf on a white field, sometimes white and pale green. They are one of the few noble Houses whose family words are not a boast or threat. Instead, the House Stark family motto is the ominous warning, "Winter is Coming".

Background
Before the Targaryen conquest, the leaders of House Stark ruled over the region as the Kings in the North. King Torrhen Stark was on the throne at the time of the Targaryen conquest and marched his army south to face them. He surrendered when he saw their vast host and dragons, believing that fighting was futile. He was made Lord Paramount of the North and served them as Warden of the North.

Season 1
Lord Eddard Stark was executed for treason. His son and heir Robb Stark was declared the King in the North by his bannermen (the first in 300 years) and fought to secede from the Seven Kingdoms in what would become the War of the Five Kings.

Season 2
Robb Stark continues his campaign against the Lannisters, winning a trio of victories in the Riverlands and a further three victories in the Westerlands at Oxcross, The Yellow Fork and The Crag.

Members

 * Lord {Eddard Stark}, called "Ned", the former head of the family. Lord Paramount of the North, Warden of the North, Lord of Winterfell, and Hand of the King to Robert I. executed under a false charge of treason by Joffrey Baratheon.
 * His wife, Lady Catelyn, of House Tully.
 * Lord Robb Stark, called "The Young Wolf", the head of the family. Eldest son of Eddard and Catelyn. Now the "King in the North", fighting for Northern independence.
 * Robb's wife, Queen Talisa, of the Free City of Volantis.
 * Their eldest daughter, Sansa Stark, now Princess, a hostage of Queen Cersei Lannister at the Red Keep.
 * Their youngest daughter, Arya Stark, also Princess, missing in the Riverlands under the alias "Arry", then serving as cupbearer to Tywin Lannister in Harrenhal under another false identity. Has escaped Harrenhal and is somewhere in the Riverlands.
 * Their second son, Bran Stark, now Prince and Robb's heir, a crippled boy, now fugitive.
 * Their youngest son, Rickon Stark, also Prince, now fugitive.
 * Eddard's bastard son by an unknown mother, Jon Snow, called "Lord Snow", serving in the Night's Watch and fighting for them in the Beyond the Wall. Currently a captive of the Lord of Bones, intending to spy on the Wildlings from within.
 * Eddard's younger brother, Benjen Stark, First Ranger of the Night's Watch, missing in action.

Vassal Houses

 * House Bolton of the Dreadfort.
 * House Cerwyn of Castle Cerwyn.
 * House Dustin of Barrowton.
 * House Glover of Deepwood Motte.
 * House Hornwood of Hornwood.
 * House Karstark of Karhold (also a cadet branch of House Stark).
 * House Manderly of White Harbor
 * House Mormont of Bear Island.
 * House Reed of Greywater Watch.
 * House Tallhart of Torrhen's Square.
 * House Umber of the Last Hearth.
 * House Cassel

Household

 * Maester {Luwin}, counselor, healer and tutor. Killed by Dagmer Cleftjaw prior to the Sack of Winterfell
 * Theon Greyjoy, ward and hostage of Lord Eddard. Betrayed House Stark to his father Balon and took over Winterfell in the name of House Greyjoy. Betrayed in turn by his men when Ramsay Snow came to retake Winterfell. Current location unknown.
 * {Vayon Poole}, steward of Winterfell. Executed during the purge of the Stark household.
 * Jeyne Poole, his daughter. Whereabouts unknown.
 * Ser {Rodrik Cassel}, master-at-arms. Executed by Theon Greyjoy.
 * {Jory Cassel}, his nephew and Lord Stark's captain of the guards. Killed by Ser Jaime Lannister
 * Septa {Mordane}, tutor of Sansa and Arya. Executed during the purge of the Stark household.
 * {Nan}, called "Old Nan", a former wetnurse turned storyteller. Perished of old age.
 * Hodor, a simpleminded stableboy. Now a fugitive.
 * Osha, a captive wildling spearwife made kitchen wench, now a loyal protector Princes Bran and Rickon. Also a fugitive and protector of the Princes.
 * Farlen, the kennelmaster at Winterfell. Possilby killed during the Sack of Winterfell.
 * Mikken, a smith. Possilby killed during the Sack of Winterfell.

Vassals and allies
The Lords of the North The Riverlords
 * Lord Greatjon Umber, called "The Greatjon", Lord of Last Hearth
 * Galbart Glover, Master of Deepwood Motte
 * Lady Maege Mormont, Lady of Bear Island
 * Lord Rickard Karstark, Lord of Karhold
 * {Torrhen} and {Eddard Karstark}, his sons. Killed by Jaime Lannister during the War of the Five Kings
 * Lord Roose Bolton, Lord of the Dreadfort
 * Ramsay Snow, his baseborn son and Castellan of the Dreadfort
 * Lady Barbrey Ryswell, Lady of Barrowton
 * Lord Howland Reed, Lord of Greywater Watch
 * Meera Reed, his only daughter
 * Jojen Reed, his son and heir
 * Lord {Hoster Tully}, Lord of Riverrun and Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, now deceased
 * Lord Edmure Tully, his only son and heir, the new Lord of Riverrun
 * Ser Brynden Tully, called "the Blackfish", his brother.
 * Lord Walder Frey, called "the Late Lord Frey", Lord of the Crossing
 * Lord Jonos Bracken, Lord of Stone Hedge

Military strength
Due to the North's vast size, gathering the full military strength of the Starks and their vassals is a difficult process, requiring months of travel time and the ability to supply and feed the host even before it sets out.

For this reason, the 18,000 men Robb Stark takes south to confront the army of the Westerlands is not the full strength of the North, only what could be assembled at relatively short notice.

By the time of the Battle of the Yellow Fork, however, the Stark force is allied with House Tully and their vassals, including House Frey, so it is estimated that their force is even or greater than the Lannister force, which would place it at around 30,000-35,000 soldiers at least in the Westerlands/Riverlands, with at least 1,000 further soldiers left to guard The North.

The average Stark soldier wears a brown or dark blue coat with green or grey sleeves protected by chainmail underneath, grey or brown leather boots, a grey steel or iron helmet and a grey shield emblazoned with the Stark Direwolf, presumably steel or iron. Warriors in the Northern heavy cavalry or heavy infantry wear a chainmail and leather suit of armor with some steel or iron work, as compared with the expensive plate armor of the well equipped Lannister troops.

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, House Stark was founded by Brandon the Builder, a semi-mythical figure who is credited with building the Wall and Winterfell, founding the Night's Watch and ensuring the survival of the people of Westeros after the mythical Long Night and the War for the Dawn against the enigmatic Others (called "White Walkers" in the TV series). The family has survived for over 8,000 years and was the independent royal house of the vast territories of the North until King Aegon the Conqueror overran the southern half of the continent. By the time the King in the North, Torrhen Stark, had gathered together his widely scattered bannermen, Aegon had already conquered most of the South. Particularly, Aegon had already used his dragons to inflict a crushing defeat on both the Westerlands and the Reach at the Field of Fire. Torrhen Stark finally advanced south to the Riverlands with the amassed armies of the North to a confrontation with Aegon, but upon seeing Aegon's vast numerical superiority and his dragons realized he had no hope of victory, and chose to bend the knee in submission.

The civil war known as Robert's Rebellion began when Lyanna Stark was kidnapped by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Lord Rickard Stark and his son and heir Brandon both demanded her return from King Aerys II Targaryen and were executed by the Mad King for their presumption. Eddard Stark, now the head of the family, called the banners of the North to war, supported by House Baratheon, House Tully and House Arryn. It was decided that Robert Baratheon would claim the throne due to his strong claim as the grand-nephew of a previous Targaryen king. During the civil war Stark troops were instrumental in several engagements, including the Battle of the Bells and the Battle of the Trident, and it was Eddard Stark's forces which reached King's Landing just after the Lannisters had sacked it, ensuring the city was turned over to Robert's army when it arrived. The Starks also proved instrumental in the later Greyjoy Rebellion, lending troops used by Robert to storm the castle of Pyke and crush the uprising.

In the novels, all of Lord Eddard Stark's children take after their mother Catelyn's looks, possessing the auburn hair and blue eyes distinctive of House Tully. The one exception among Catelyn's children is Arya, who possesses the dark hair and stern long face typical of the Starks. While this has resulted in Arya being mockingly called "Horseface", Ned assures her that she bears a striking resemblance to his beautiful deceased sister Lyanna when she was a girl. Jon Snow, as a bastard and not Catelyn's son, does not possess Tully blood. While Ned has never revealed the exact circumstances of Jon's birth, all agree that he bears such a striking resemblance to Ned that he is obviously his blood relative. Indeed, as a little girl Arya once feared that she might be a bastard because she and Jon share the same dark physical features (distinctive of House Stark), though Jon assured her that she was not.

In the novels, the Stark banner is a whole direwolf. In the TV series, the Stark banner most often used is just a direwolf's head, though the alternate version showing the whole direwolf is also seen (i.e. on banners during the Tourney of the Hand, tapestries at Winterfell, and Ned Stark's wax seal on the letter he sends to Stannis Baratheon). Further, the sigil in the books is just a grey direwolf on a white field. This is used in the TV series, but it also frequently uses a subtle variant which has the grey direwolf on a white field, surmounting a small green escutcheon at the bottom.

Many houses sworn to House Stark in the books have yet to appear in the series:

Lesser Houses
 * House Condon
 * House Fenn
 * House Flint of Flint's Finger
 * House Ironsmith
 * House Lake
 * House Lightfoot
 * House Locke
 * House Marsh
 * House Mollen
 * House Moss
 * House Overton
 * House Poole
 * House Reed
 * House Slate
 * House Stout
 * House Waterman
 * House Wells
 * House Woolfield

Mountain Clans
 * Burley
 * Flint of the Mountains
 * Harclay
 * Nott
 * Liddle
 * Norrey
 * Wull

Skagos Clans
 * Crowl
 * Magnar
 * Stane