House Tarly

House Tarly of Horn Hill is a vassal house which holds fealty to House Tyrell of Highgarden. Their lands are in the south-west of the Reach. Their stronghold is a castle known as Horn Hill.

Their sigil is a striding huntsman, red on green. Their motto is "First in Battle". They possess a rare Valyrian steel blade, a greatsword called 'Heartsbane'.

Members

 * Lord Randyll Tarly, the head of the family.
 * Lady Melessa Tarly, formerly of House Florent, Randyll's wife.
 * Samwell Tarly, his eldest son and former heir, disinherited when he was sent to join the Night's Watch.
 * Dickon Tarly, Randyll's youngest son and his current heir.

Lord Snow
King Robert Baratheon relates the story of the first time he killed someone, a highborn member of House Tarly in a battle near Summerhall. This knight's relationship to Randyll Tarly is unknown.

Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things
Samwell Tarly arrives at the Wall and tells Jon Snow about how disappointing he is to his hard-hearted and ruthless father.

In the books
In the Song of Ice and Fire novels, House Tarly is a loyal vassal of the Tyrells. Lord Randyll Tarly has a formidable reputation as a general, and has been named the finest battlefield commander in all of the Seven Kingdoms. During Robert's Rebellion, Randyll Tarly was the only royalist general to win a decisive victory over Robert Baratheon, defeating his army at the Battle of Ashford despite being outnumbered. Randyll's skills were later squandered during the fruitless Siege of Storm's End, whilst Robert and Eddard Stark won great victories further north.

Lord Randyll is a hard, ruthless man. When his son Samwell showed a preference for songs, poetry, fine clothes and good food over martial valor and a love of warfare, Randyll disinherited him and sent him to the Wall to join the Night's Watch. His fiercer, younger son Dickon was made heir in Samwell's stead.