House Bolton

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

- Roose Bolton

House Bolton of the Dreadfort is the ruling house of The North. Their lands are in the northeast of the formerly-owned 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 Has No Secrets".

Members

 * Roose Bolton, the head of House Bolton, Lord of the Dreadfort, Warden, and Lord Paramount of the North.
 * Ramsay Snow, his bastard son, acting as castellan of the Dreadfort.
 * Walda Frey, his new wife.

Household

 * "Reek", formerly Prince Theon Greyjoy, Ramsay Snow's hostage.
 * Qyburn, a former maester acting as healer and in charge of the ravens during the Bolton occupation of Harrenhal. Now at King's Landing with Jaime Lannister.
 * Locke, Lord Bolton's master-at-arms, holding Harrenhal in Lord Bolton's name.
 * Steelshanks, a man-at-arms sworn to Lord Bolton. At King's Landing with Jaime Lannister.
 * Myranda and Violet, Ramsay's bedwarmers.

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, House Bolton is noted as one of the most powerful families of the North. They are noted for flaying their enemies alive and even wearing their skins as cloaks. They have even captured and flayed Starks in the distant past. House Bolton were unruly vassals of the Starks until approximately a thousand years ago, when they finally bent the knee. Three hundred years later they rebelled but were defeated. The armies of House Stark besieged the Dreadfort for four years before finally forcing the Boltons to surrender and submit.

The Boltons are considered a sinister and ill-omened house, but Lord Roose Bolton is noted as a capable battle commander. Roose Bolton fought alongside Eddard Stark during Robert's Rebellion. After the Battle of the Trident, Roose suggested executing the defeated Barristan Selmy, but Eddard and Robert Baratheon refused.

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.

Domeric Bolton died shortly before the beginning of the series, having sought out his bastard half-brother Ramsay (Domeric having always wanted a brother of his own). With no other trueborn heirs, Roose brought Ramsay to the Dreadfort and began to treat him as his heir.

The sigil of House Bolton in the books is a red flayed man on a field of pink with red blood 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 hanging upside-down on a white X-shaped cross with a black background.