Wolf's Den

From A Wiki of Ice and Fire
Revision as of 05:23, 18 February 2013 by Gonzalo (talk | contribs) (History)
Jump to: navigation, search

The Wolf's Den is an ancient fortress in White Harbor that now serves as a prison.[1]

History

King Jon Stark raised the Wolf's Den to defend the mouth of the White Knife from raiders from the sea. It was the seat of younger sons, brothers, uncles and cousins to the King in the North. Some passed the castle to their sons and grandsons, and cadet branches of House Stark had arisen. The Greystarks lasted the longest, holding the Wolf's Den for five centuries, until they joined the Dreadfort in rebellion against the Starks of Winterfell.

After the Greystarks, the castle switched many hands. House Flint held it for century, and House Locke for almost two. Slates, Longs, Holts and Ashwoods held the Wolf's Den, charged by Winterfell to keep the river safe. Reavers from the Three Sisters took the castle once, and made it their toehold in the north. During the wars between the North and the Vale, it was besieged by Osgood Arryn, the Old Falcon, and burned by his son, called the Talon.

The Wolf's Den was captured by slavers from the Stepstones when Edrick Stark had grown too feeble to defend his realm. A long, cruel winter came that froze the White Knife, when the slavers were huddled around their fires, Edrick's great-grandson, the new king called "Ice Eyes", took back the Wolf's Den. He stripped the slavers naked and gave them to the slaves chained up in the dungeon. They, among those Ser Bartimus's ancestors, hung the slavers' entrails in the branches of the heart tree as an offering to the Old Gods.

A thousand years before the conquest the Manderlys took oaths before the old gods and the new to be the Starks of Winterfell men forever in return for protection from their enemies and the land that became White Harbor.[2]

Ser Bartimus claims Wyman Manderly gave the Wolf's Den to him as a reward for saving his life at the Battle of the Trident.[3]

Staff

  • Ser Bartimus, castellan of the Wolf’s Den,
  • Garth, a gaoler and headsman,
  • Therry a young turnkey,
  • Six guardsmen,
  • A pair of washerwomen,
  • A cook.[4]

References

  1. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 15, Davos II, page 194.
  2. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 19, Davos III, page 250.
  3. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 29, Davos IV, pages 384-385.
  4. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 29, Davos IV, pages 383-384.