King in the North

**King in the North** (or **King of the North**) and **King of Winter** are ancient titles held for thousands of years by House Stark of Winterfell. They were the last kingdom of the First Men and continued to rule the north after the Andals invaded and took over the southern kingdoms of Westeros. While the running direwolf is the sigil of House Stark, some Kings in the North had personal variants.

## Customs

The crown of the Kings of Winter was an open circlet of hammered bronze incised with runes of the First Men, surmounted by nine black iron spikes in the shape of longswords.

The Kings in the North are buried in the crypt of Winterfell, with older kings buried in deep and dark lower levels. Each king's stone statue has an iron sword across its lap and is guarded by a stone wolf. The servants of the kings are buried in a lichyard next to Winterfell's First Keep.

## History

House Stark traces their descent from the legendary Bran the Builder, who is said to have lived in the Age of Heroes and built the Wall and Winterfell in the aftermath of the Long Night. Ballads claim the ancient Kings of Winter, the Lords of Winterfell, drove giants from the north and slew the skinchangers led by Gaven Greywolf in the War of the Wolves.

Over thousands of years, the Kings of Winter expanded from Winterfell, conquering and reducing to vassalage a number of rival kings, including Barrow Kings in the Thousand Years War, Red Kings of House Bolton, Flints, Slates, Umbers, Lockes, Glovers, Fishers, and Ryders. They defeated the Warg King and Marsh Kings, forced the Blackwoods to flee, and vanquished the Greenwoods, Towers, Ambers, and Frosts. Many of their defeated enemies were forced to yield their women as prizes or brides.

The Stark kings often warred with the ironborn from the Iron Islands and wildlings from beyond the Wall. After the Rape of the Three Sisters, the Starks battled with the Arryn Kings of Mountain and Vale for a thousand years over the Bite in the War Across the Water. The Starks also eventually conquered the troublesome island of Skagos.

While "King of Winter" was used by ancient Stark monarchs, "King in the North" was used in more recent centuries. The last King in the North was Torrhen Stark, who bent the knee to House Targaryen during Aegon's Conquest, thus making the north part of the Seven Kingdoms controlled by the Iron Throne. The crown of the Kings of Winter was surrendered to Aegon. Since then Lord Stark has traditionally held the title Warden of the North for the Iron Throne.

## Known Kings

The following is a possible chronology of known Kings in the North; no precise lineage is known and some published information may be contradictory.

### Antiquity

* Brandon Stark, also known as *Brandon the Builder*, founder of House Stark and the first King in the North, alleged builder of Winterfell, Storm's End, the Hightower, and the Wall.
* Brandon Stark, also known as *Brandon the Breaker*, who allied with Joramun to defeat the Night's King.

### Wolf's Den

* Jon Stark, who built the Wolf's Den after driving sea raiders—possibly Ibbenese, Valyrians, or early Andals—away from the White Knife.
	+ Rickard Stark, also known as *the Laughing Wolf*, son of Jon, who defeated the Marsh King and extended the Stark kingdom to include the Neck.
* Theon Stark, also known as *the Hungry Wolf*, who defeated the greatest Andal invader, Argos Sevenstar, conquered the Three Sisters, and attacked the Fingers, possibly beginning the War Across the Water.
* Edrick Stark, also known as *Edrick Snowbeard*, who ruled for near a century but lost the Wolf's Den to slavers from the Stepstones.
	+ Brandon Stark, also known as *Ice Eyes*, Edrick's great-grandson, who recovered the Wolf's Den from slavers.

### Recent kings

* Torrhen Stark, also known as *the King Who Knelt*, who bent the knee to Aegon the Conqueror, making the north part of the Seven Kingdoms subject to the Iron Throne.

### Uncertain era

* Brandon Stark, also known as *Brandon the Shipwright*, who loved to sail and built up a mighty northern fleet thousands of years before Aegon's Conquest.
	+ Brandon Stark, also known as *Brandon the Burner*, who burned the northern shipyards after the disappearance of his father, Brandon the Shipwright, on the Sunset Sea. The north has since had no strength at sea for centuries.
* Dorren Stark, who reigned when Redwyn fought giants and traded with children of the forest.
* Brandon IX Stark, who destroyed the ships of the Skagosi.
* Rodrik Stark, who won Bear Island from the ironmen in a wrestling match and awarded it to House Mormont. This occurred after the death of the Old Kraken, Loron Greyjoy, a High King of the Iron Islands chosen in a kingsmoot. Rodrik's sons and grandsons battled the ironborn over Cape Kraken.
* Harlon Stark, who centuries ago starved out the Dreadfort in a siege lasting two years.
* Benjen Stark, also known as *Benjen the Bitter*
* Benjen Stark, also known as *Benjen the Sweet*
* Eyron Stark
* Edderion Stark, also known as *Edderion the Bridegroom*
* Walton Stark, also known as *Walton the Moon King*
* Brandon Stark, also known as *Brandon the Bad*
* Jorah Stark
* Jonos Stark
* Edwyn Stark, also known as *Edwyn the Spring King*