House Arryn
House Arryn of the Eyrie | |
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As High as Honor
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Coat of arms |
A sky-blue falcon soaring against a white moon, on a sky-blue field (Bleu celeste, upon a plate a falcon volant of the field) |
Seats |
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Head | Robert Arryn |
Region | Vale of Arryn |
Titles |
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Heir | Ser Harrold Hardyng |
Overlord | House Baratheon of King's Landing |
Cadet branch | House Arryn of Gulltown |
Founder | Ser Artys Arryn |
Founded | Coming of the Andals |
House Arryn of the Eyrie is one of the Great Houses of Westeros, and is the principal noble house in the Vale of Arryn. Their main seat is the Eyrie, which is considered impregnable, but they have many other holdings, including their winter castle at the Gates of the Moon, which was once their main seat. Both of these fortifications sit astride the Giant's Lance, the tallest mountain in the Vale, the Gates of the Moon at its foot, the Eyrie at its top.
The Arryn sigil is a sky-blue falcon soaring against a white moon on a sky-blue field, and their words are "As High as Honor".[1] Usually marrying other Andal nobles, House Arryn has the oldest and purest line of Andal nobility. The Arryn kings proudly traced their lineage to Andalos, with some claiming descent from Hugor of the Hill.
The Arryns of the Eyrie have a collection of distant relatives located throughout the Vale. Although they are much poorer than their cousins from the main branch, aside from the Arryns of Gulltown, they are described by Petyr Baelish as proud due to their name and heritage.[2]
Contents
History
Kings of Mountain and Vale
The Arryns claim descent from the oldest and purest line of Andal nobility, which they say reaches back to Andalos and possibly Hugor of the Hill.[3]
When King Robar II Royce began to unite the First Men and defeat some of the petty Andal kings during the Andal invasion, the Andals of the Vale united behind Ser Artys Arryn, the Falcon Knight, a native Valeman esteemed amongst his peers as the finest warrior of his day. Robar was slain in the Battle of the Seven Stars, possibly by Artys. The First Men houses who remained bent the knee and swore fealty to Artys Arryn, the First of His Name, new-crowned King of Mountain and Vale. From that day, the Vale became known as the Vale of Arryn.[4] Songs of the Vale conflate Artys with the legendary Winged Knight, who is said to have slain the Griffin King atop the Giant's Lance.[2][3] The First Men who did not accept Artys as their king were forced into the Mountains of the Moon, becoming the Vale mountain clans.
The Arryns initially lived at the Gates of the Moon, but over generations they constructed the Eyrie.[5] They often used the Eyrie as a summer pleasure palace,[6] descending to the Gates of the Moon before winter made the Eyrie inaccessible.[2]
The Arryn kings added Pebble, the Paps, and the Witch Isle to their realm. They battled with the Stark Kings of Winter over the Three Sisters in the War Across the Water, which featured King Osgood Arryn and his son and successor, Oswin Arryn, who burned the Wolf's Den. There were bloody battles wherein the Arryn fleet turned back slavers from Volantis, ironborn reavers, and pirates from the Stepstones and the Basilisk Isles.[4] Lady Alyssa Arryn gave her name to Alyssa's Tears, a waterfall on the Giant's Lance, when she did not shed a tear for her murdered husband, brothers and children.[5]
War of Conquest
During the War of Conquest the Arryn and Targaryen fleets fought in a battle in the waters off Gulltown, which resulted in the destruction of the Targaryen fleet and the death of its commanding officer, Daemon Velaryon. Visenya Targaryen, on her dragon Vhagar, burned the Arryn fleet in response. Since both fleets were destroyed, the battle was considered a tactical draw, but a strategic defeat for the Targaryens as they were unable to take Gulltown. For House Arryn the trouble did not end there, since the Sistermen on the Three Sisters revolted against after the destruction of its fleet.
In a later stage of the War of Conquest, Visenya was charged with subduing the Vale. Sharra Arryn, Queen Regent of the Vale, ruling in the name of her son, the boy-king Ronnel Arryn, amassed the Vale's army at the Bloody Gate. Visenya. however, flew on her dragon Vhagar up to the courtyard of the Eyrie to obtain the surrender of the Vale of Arryn. When Sharra returned to the Eyrie she found her son sitting on Visenya's lap asking if he could ride the dragon with her. Sharra yielded and bent the knee and Ronnel would get to fly with Visenya and Vhagar twice.[7] Since then, the Arryns remained Defenders of the Vale and were also named Wardens of the East, a title that they have held since.[8]
Targaryen Era
The Arryns were involved in the Targaryen civil war, the Dance of the Dragons. It was a contest of claims between Viserys I Targaryen's elder daughter, Rhaenyra Targaryen, by Aemma Arryn and his younger son, Aegon II Targaryen by Alicent Hightower. The head of House Arryn at that time, Lady Jeyne Arryn, supported the blacks and her kinswoman Rhaenyra. At the start of the civil war, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, Rhaenyra's eldest son, came to the Eyrie to secure aid for his mother's cause. Jeyne kept true to her promise and sent men by sea by way of Gulltown to join Rhaenyra's hosts.
Decades later, during yet another Targaryen civil war, the First Blackfyre Rebellion, the house remained loyal to King Daeron II Targaryen. At the climactic Battle of the Redgrass Field Lord Donnel Arryn's van was smashed by Daemon I Blackfyre, who had been unstoppable that day.
Lord Arryn was defeated by Ser Humfrey Hardyng at the tourney of Maidenpool the year before the tourney at Ashford Meadow.
Robert's Rebellion
In more recent times the descendents of Lord Jasper Arryn have experienced a variety of calamities that have left the house with few trueborn members. Jasper's successor, Lord Jon Arryn, married several times to try to sire heirs. His first wife, Jeyne Royce, died in childbirth, their daughter stillborn. His second wife, Rowena Arryn, a cousin, died childless of a winter chill. His younger brother Ronnel died of a bad belly at roughly the same time as his son Elbert was born. Their sister, Alys, birthed nine children by her husband, Ser Elys Waynwood, dying soon after the last one. Eight died or took religious orders before they could reproduce; their youngest daughter died shortly after giving birth to a son, Harrold Hardyng.
The war that became Robert's Rebellion started when Jon Arryn refused to surrender his wards, Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark, to the Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen. The battle against Marq Grafton at Gulltown saw Lord Arryn defeat his royalist bannermen. During the war, Jon was one of the principal leaders and his marriage to his third wife, Lysa Tully, helped secure Lord Hoster Tully as an ally. Unfortunately, casualties mounted among the few remaining Arryns. Jon's nephew and heir Elbert Arryn had been part of Brandon Stark's doomed party that went to King's Landing, and his distant cousin Ser Denys, the "darling of the Vale", was killed at the Battle of the Bells. After the war, Nestor Royce ruled as High Steward of the Vale as Jon became Robert's Hand of the King.
Lord Jon's marriage to Lysa remained a distant one. At first the union produced only miscarriages, but finally she gave him a son, Robert, the last Arryn. Robert has been spoiled by Lysa despite the efforts of Jon, and she makes no effort to teach him the ways of lordship. Jon has served King Robert Baratheon loyally for fourteen years at the beginning of A Song of Ice and Fire.
Recent Events
A Game of Thrones
As Hand of the King to Robert Baratheon, Lord Jon Arryn is approached by Stannis Baratheon, who suspects that his brother, King Robert, has no trueborn heirs, and that Queen Cersei Lannister has cuckolded him with her own brother, Jaime Lannister. The two investigate in King's Landing, but Jon is poisoned and dies suddenly before they can reveal their revelation.
After Jon's death, Lord Tywin Lannister offers to foster Jon's young heir, Robert Arryn, at Casterly Rock, a plan which the clueless King Robert supports, but Jon's widow, Lysa Tully, flees with young Robert to the Eyrie. Meanwhile, lords sworn to the Eyrie are incensed when Robert Baratheon grants the traditional Arryn title of Warden of the East to Jaime Lannister rather than young Lord Arryn. Many of these lords court Lady Lysa; she strings them along to keep them vying for her favor.
Despite overtures from her sister, Catelyn Tully, Lysa keeps the knights of the Vale from joining the war against the Lannisters. Lysa gains the custody of Tyrion Lannister, but soon loses it when her captain of guards, Ser Vardis Egen, loses a trial by combat. When Catelyn leaves the Eyrie she offers to foster Robert at Winterfell, which provokes Lysa to threaten to throw her sister from the Moon Door. Lysa declines to provide escort for Tyrion as he leaves the Vale, hoping he will be killed by the Vale mountain clans, but Tyrion turns the clansmen to his side.
Lady Lysa and Lord Robert are among the nobles Joffrey commands to swear fealty to him or be branded traitors to the realm.
A Storm of Swords
The Vale's neutrality is a cause of contention for all sides. Lysa's nephew, King Robb Stark, bemoans his inability to march through the region, and King Stannis Baratheon wishes for their support as well. Lysa defies expectation by falling on the outskirts of the Lannister camp. She marries her lover from her youth, Petyr Baelish, nicknamed Littlefinger. Later, Lysa sees Petyr kissing her niece, Sansa Stark, and flies into a jealous rage, revealing that she secretly plotted with Littlefinger to murder her husband, Lord Jon, when it seemed Jon might send young Robert away to be fostered by Stannis on Dragonstone. Lysa is killed when Petyr shoves her through the Moon Door.
A Feast for Crows
The frail Robert Arryn remains the ward of Lord Petyr Baelish, who rules as Lord Protector of the Vale. Should anything happen to Robert, the heir presumptive of the Eyrie is Harry the Heir, Harrold Hardyng, a recently knighted squire and the great-nephew of the late Lord Jon Arryn thanks to a daughter of his sister Alys's marriage into that house. Petyr plots to wed Sansa to Harry the Heir, with the eventual goal of liberating Winterfell in her name from Bolton control using the Knights of the Vale. Several powerful nobles array themselves against Baelish's rule, calling themselves the Lords Declarant. As the Vale has been untouched by the war, they command a sizable military force; thus far their opposition has been peaceful.
Robert Arryn and his household descend from the Eyrie to the Gates of the Moon as Winter approaches.
House Arryn at the end of the third century
The known Arryns during the timespan of the events described in A Song of Ice and Fire are:
- Lord {Jon Arryn}, Lord of the Eyrie, Defender of the Vale, Warden of the East, and Hand of the King. He died unexpectedly.
- Lady {Jeyne Royce}, Jon's first wife. She died in childbed, her daughter stillborn.
- Lady {Rowena Arryn}, Jon's second wife and his cousin, died of a winter chill, childless.
- Lady {Lysa Tully}, Jon's third wife. Died from a fall.
- Lord Robert Arryn, Jon's only child, called "Sweetrobin", Lord of the Eyrie, Defender of the Vale, and Warden of the East. A sickly boy.
- Ser {Ronnel Arryn}, Jon's brother. Keeper of the Gates of the Moon. He died of a bad belly.
- Ser {Elbert Arryn}, Ronnel's son. He was killed by Aerys II. Heir to the Vale at the time of his death.
- {Alys Arryn}, Jon's sister. Married Ser {Elys Waynwood} and bore him nine children.
With unspecified familiar relationship to the main branch there are also:
- Ser {Denys Arryn}, known as "the Darling of the Vale", married a distant cousin who descended from the main Arryn branch. As such was considered heir to the Vale after Elbert Arryn.
Jasper | Unknown wife | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rowena Arryn | Jeyne Royce | Jon | Lysa Tully | Alys | Elys Waynwood | Ronnel | Lady Belmore | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stillborn daughter | 2 stillborn children | Robert | Daughter | Denys Arryn | Daughter | 6 daughters | Jasper Waynwood | Elbert | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Son | Harrold Hardyng | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Household
- Lord Petyr Baelish, called "Littlefinger", Lord of Harrenhal, Lord Paramount of the Trident and Lord Protector of the Vale.
- Alayne Stone, Lord Petyr's natural daughter, a maid of four-and-ten, actually a disguised Sansa Stark.
- Ser Lothor Brune, called "Lothor Apple-Eater", a sellsword in Lord Petyr's service, the Eyrie's captain of the guards.
- Oswell, a grizzled man-at-arms in Lord Petyr's service, sometimes called 'Kettleblack'.
- Ser Shadrich of the Shady Glen, called "the Mad Mouse", Ser Byron, known as "the Beautiful", Ser Morgarth, known as "the Merry", Ser Targon, called "the Halfwild", hedge knights in Lord Petyr’s service.
- Maester Colemon, counselor, healer, and tutor.
- Gyles Grafton and Terrance Lynderly, squires to Lord Robert.
- Ser {Vardis Egen}, captain of the guard. Slain by Bronn in a trial by combat.
- Ser {Hugh of the Vale}, once squire to Lord Jon Arryn as Hand of the King. Slain by Ser Gregor Clegane during a joust at the Hand's tourney.
- The Brotherhood of Winged Knights, bodyguards to Lord Robert.
- {Marillion}, a handsome young singer and favourite of Lady Lysa accused of her murder. Either fell or jumped to his death from one of the sky cells.
- Gretchel, Maddy, called "Fat Maddy", and Mela, serving women.
- Ossy and Carrot, mule handlers.
- Mord, a brutal gaoler.
- Benjicot, a fool and jester.
Historical Members
- King Artys I Arryn, known as the Falcon Knight, the first King of Mountain and Vale and founder of House Arryn.[4]
- King Roland I Arryn, the grandson of Ser Artys and fourth Arryn king, who began the process of building the Eyrie.[4]
- Queen Teora, King Roland's wife.[4]
- King Roland II Arryn, the great-grandson of Roland I, whose passions were wenching and war.[4]
- King Robin Arryn, brother to Roland II. He restarted the work on the Eyrie that his brother stopped.[4]
- Queen Teora, King Roland's wife.[4]
- King Roland I Arryn, the grandson of Ser Artys and fourth Arryn king, who began the process of building the Eyrie.[4]
- King Osric V Arryn, who constructed the Bloody Gate fortress anew.[4]
- King Hugh Arryn, the Fat, extended the Arryn rule to Pebble.[4]
- King Hugo Arryn, the Hopeful, grandson of King Hugh, who took the Paps.[4]
- King Alester II Arryn, married Arwen Upcliff and brought the Witch Isle, seat of House Upcliff into the realm.[4]
- King Mathos II Arryn, provided help to the Sistermen, to help them fight off the Northerners.[4]
- Alyssa Arryn, a half-legendary figure of House Arryn, whose name was given to Alyssa's Tears in the Vale.[9]
- King Osgood Arryn, the Old Falcon, saw war with Winterfell during his lifetime.[10]
- King Oswin Arryn, the Talon, the son of King Osgood, who burned the Wolf's Den during his father's war with Winterfell.[10][11]
- King Oswell I Arryn, one of the candidates for the Andal king in the tale of the Rat Cook.[11]
- Queen Sharra Arryn, Queen Regent to her son. Submitted to Visenya Targaryen.[4]
- King Ronnel Arryn, called the King Who Flew, last King of Mountain and Vale. Known as Lord Arryn, after the Conquest.[4]
- Jonos Arryn, known as the Kinslayer, younger brother of Lord Ronnel, whom he murdered violently.[4]
- Lord Hubert Arryn, a cousin of Ronnel and Jonos, who continued House Arryn after Ronnel and Jonos' deaths. He was married to a member of House Royce, and had six children by her.[12]
- Lord Rodrik Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie during the reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen and married Princess Daella Targaryen, one of the kings daughters.[13]
- Queen Aemma Arryn, daughter of Lord Rodrik, the first wife of King Viserys I Targaryen. Aemma and Viserys had three children: an unknown son and Prince Baelon Targaryen, both who died in infancy, and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen[14][15][13]
- Lady Jeyne Arryn, called the Maiden of the Vale. Lady of the Eyrie during the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen and during the Dance of the Dragons.[15][14]
- Lord Donnel Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie in the reign of King Daeron II Targaryen.[4]
- Lady Alys Arryn, the wife of Prince Rhaegel Targaryen.[16]
- Lord Jasper Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie and father of Jon Arryn.[2]
Sworn Houses
House Arryn of Gulltown.
32px House Baelish of the Fingers.
32pxHouse Belmore of Strongsong.
32pxHouse Corbray of Heart's Home.
32px House Donniger.
32px House Egen.
32px House Elesham of The Paps.
32px House Grafton of Gulltown.
32px House Hersy of Newkeep.
32px House Hunter of Longbow Hall.
32px House Lynderly of Snakewood.
32px House Melcolm of Old Anchor.
32px House Moore.
32px House Pryor of Pebble.
32px House Redfort of Redfort.
32px House Royce of Runestone.
32px House Royce of the Gates of the Moon.
32px House Ruthermont.
32px House Sunderland of Sisterton.
32px House Templeton of Ninestars.
32px House Upcliff.
32px House Waynwood of Ironoaks.
32px House Wydman.
32px House Waxley of Wickenden.
The following are not directly sworn to House Arryn: Borrell, Longthorpe, Torrent, Shett, Coldwater, Tollett, Hardyng.
References and Notes
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 37, Bran V.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 41, Alayne II.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Vale: House Arryn.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 The World of Ice & Fire, The Vale.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Vale: The Eyrie.
- ↑ George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Eyrie.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 4, Eddard I.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 40, Catelyn VII.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 29, Davos IV.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The North.
- ↑ The Sons of the Dragon reading,LonCon 2014
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 The World of Ice & Fire.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 The Princess and the Queen.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 The Rogue Prince.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, Appendix: Targaryen Lineage.
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