House Arryn

 

House Arryn is a fictional family in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. House Arryn is the principal noble house in the Vale; many lesser houses are sworn to them. Their main seat is at the Eyrie, but they have many other holdings. Their sigil is a white moon-and-falcon on a sky-blue field, and their words are "As High as Honor." Their line dates back to the old Andal nation that invaded Westeros. Usually marrying other Andal nobles, House Arryn to this day has the purest line of Andal nobility.

History

Prior to the arrival of the Andals, the Vale was ruled by the First Men under the Mountain Kings. Ser Artys Arryn slew the last of the Mountain Kings and the Arryns became Kings of Mountain and Vale. They renamed the land the Vale of Arryn, and their kings wore the Falcon Crown. They submitted to Aegon the Conqueror and house Targaryen, and became lords paramount of the Vale and Wardens of the East. During Robert's Rebellion, they supported Robert Baratheon.

House genealogy

Jasper

Lysa Tully

Jon

Rowena Arryn

Alys

Elys Waynwood

Ronnel

Robert

daughter

Denys Arryn

daughter

Ser Hardyng

Others

Elbert

Child died young

Harrold Hardyng "Harry the Heir"

Current members

Lysa Tully

Lysa Tully Arryn is the second daughter of Hoster Tully, Lord of the Riverlands. At the age of sixteen, she became the wife of Lord Jon Arryn. She is the mother of Robert Arryn.

Robert

The only son of Jon Arryn and his wife, Lysa Tully. He is a sickly, whiny child of six, now Lord of the Eyrie and Defender of the Vale. Robert is afflicted with a disease that causes frequent seizures. His maester bleeds him frequently and often administers a painkiller during his fits that, if used continuously, has an increasing level of toxicity. His mother, Lady Lysa, rules the Vale as regent in his name, but makes no effort to school him in the governance of his realm. He is intellectually and physically stunted, and is not even weaned from his mother's breast.

Upon the death of Robert's mother, Petyr Baelish assumed the position of Lord Protector of the Vale, and claimed the rule of the Vale and the guardianship of Lord Robert through his brief marriage to Lady Lysa. Several of the more prominent nobles of the Vale signed a declaration to oust Petyr from the Eyrie and assume the rearing and training of Robert Arryn, calling themselves the 'Lords Declarant.' Robert has become even more emotional and unstable after his mother's death, and has become highly attached to his cousin, Sansa Stark, in her guise of Alayne Stone, who has taken on a surrogate maternal role with regards to him.

Harrold Hardyng

Often called "Harry the Heir," Harrold is a gallant, handsome squire of fifteen years, and a ward of Lady Anya Waynwood. He is not presently a member of House Arryn as his descent is through the female line, but as the only other trueborn member of the Arryn bloodline, he is nonetheless Lord Robert's heir. Should Lord Robert suffer an untimely death, Harrold would become a member of the house as Lord of the Eyrie and Defender of the Vale.

Gossip holds that, despite his youth, Hardyng has already fathered at least one baseborn child. He has been knighted by Lord Yohn Royce. Lord Petyr Baelish, Lord Protector of the Vale of Arryn, arranged a betrothal between Harrold and Sansa Stark, who was masquerading as Baelish's bastard daughter, "Alayne Stone". He schemes to reveal Sansa's true identity and reclaim Winterfell in her name.

Past and historic members

Alyssa

An Arryn from some six thousand years ago, Alyssa lived to see her husband, children and siblings all die. A legend tells that she never shed a tear through her hardship, but the gods cursed her to know no peace until the glaciers on the mountain of Giant's Lance watered the earth below. In the years since her death, the waterfall created by the melting glaciers became known as Alyssa's Tears. The water of the falls evaporates before reaching the ground or freezes in the winter.

Artys

Ser Artys was the legendary figure called The Winged Knight. He was one of the leaders of the Andal knights that landed on the Fingers. He led them in battle against the First Men of the Mountains ruled by the Griffin King. Legend has it that he flew to the top of the Giant's Lance on a giant falcon to slay the Griffin King. After the death of their king the First Men fled the Mountains leaving the land to the Andals who named Ser Artys as the King of Mountain and Vale, henceforth it is known as the Vale of Arryn.

Denys

Ser Denys was born of a lower branch of House Arryn from Gulltown, however he married the eldest granddaughter of Lord Jasper Arryn and thus was named heir after Ser Elbert's death. He was very popular with the lords of the Vale for his gallantry and was called the Darling of the Vale. During Robert's Rebellion he was killed at the Battle of the Bells. His wife and infant son did not long outlive him.

Elbert

Ser Elbert was the son of Ronnel Arryn, the younger brother to Lord Jon, and was the heir to the Vale for a long time. As the castellan of the Bloody Gate, he held the title of Knight of the Gate. He was executed by Mad King Aerys II after he accompanied Brandon Stark to King's Landing to challenge Prince Rhaegar Targaryen.

Jon

Lord of the Eyrie and Defender of the Vale, Jon was Warden of the East and Hand of the King during Robert Baratheon's reign. In his youth, Jon was the Keeper of the Gates of the Moon until his father, Lord Jasper, died. Jon was married to Jeyne Royce until her death without producing a heir. The same fate befell his second wife Rowena Arryn, a cousin of his. Jon Arryn was one of the principal leaders of Robert's Rebellion, raising his banners to protect his squires Robert and Eddard. To secure the support of Lord Hoster Tully in the rebellion, Jon married a third time to Lysa Tully. After Robert took the Iron Throne, he named Jon the Hand of the King. As Hand, Jon brokered peace with Prince Doran Martell to stop Dorne from revolting in the name of Prince Viserys Targaryen. Over Robert's fifteen year reign, Jon was left with much of the responsibility of running the Seven Kingdoms. He was a close friend and father figure to both King Robert and Lord Eddard through most of their lives.

Before his death, Jon worked with Stannis Baratheon to discover that Queen Cersei's children were fathered not by Robert but by the Queen's brother Jaime. Before he could publicly reveal this information, he was poisoned by his wife Lysa on the instigation of Petyr Baelish.

Sworn Houses

• House Baelish. Descends from a Braavosi mercenary. The current lord, Petyr Baelish, has risen above his humble roots to become Master of Coin and later Lord Paramount of the Riverlands and Lord Protector of the Vale of Arryn, with the castle of Harrenhal as his absentee seat.
• House Belmore of Strongsong.
• House Borrell of Sweetsister. Sweetsister is one of a trio of islands called the Three Sisters.
• House Corbray of Heart's Home, led by Lord Lyonel Corbray. His younger brother Ser Lyn owns the famous Valyrian steel sword Lady Forlorn.
• House Egen. Their motto is "By Day or Night"
• House Hersy of Newkeep.
• House Hunter of Longbow Hall, led by Lord Eon Hunter.
• House Melcolm of Old Anchor.
• House Redfort of Redfort. An ancient family descended from the First Men, it is led by the old Lord Horton Redfort. Their motto is "As Strong as Stone".
• House Royce. A powerful ancient house descended from the First Men, divided into two branches: Royce of Runestone, the main one, led by Lord Yohn Royce, and Royce of the Gates of the Moon, led by Lord Nestor Royce.
• House Waynwood of Ironoaks Castle. It is ruled by the elderly Lady Anya, who has two sons, ser Morton and ser Donnel.

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin
Novels	A Game of Thrones (1996) · A Clash of Kings (1998) · A Storm of Swords (2000) · A Feast for Crows (2005) · A Dance with Dragons · The Winds of Winter · A Dream of Spring
Novellas	The Hedge Knight · The Sworn Sword
Major Houses	Arryn · Baratheon · Bolton · Frey · Greyjoy · Lannister · Martell · Stark · Targaryen · Tully · Tyrell
Other characters	Minor Houses · Independent characters · Complete character list · Daenerys Targaryen
Organizations	Night’s Watch · Kingsguard · Maesters · Brotherhood Without Banners · Other organizations
Places	Westeros · Cities · Strongholds · The North · Across the narrow sea · Free Cities · Ghis
Wars and tourneys	Historic wars · War of the Usurper · War of the Five Kings · Tourneys
Games	A Game of Thrones: collectible card game · board game · role-playing game

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