South of the Wall the direwolf had not been seen in two hundred years — until Ned Stark's children found six pups in the summer snows, one for each of them, as though the old gods had counted heads. What follows is each wolf in turn: the child it chose, what the bond has come to mean, and, behind the veil, where the tale has left it.
The six
Grey Wind
Bonded to Robb Stark
Smoke-grey, swift and lean
What the bond means
Named for his speed, Grey Wind runs at the head of Robb's host as the young wolf-king runs at the head of the North. Where the boy is crowned, the beast is his banner made flesh — men call Robb the Young Wolf and mean the animal as much as the lord.
The warg-gift
Robb never learns to slip his skin, and of the six children he is the least a warg — a lord too busy being a king to dream as his brothers and sisters do.
Fate
Slain at the Red Wedding in 299 AC, penned away from his master and cut down with crossbows — his head struck off and sewn upon Robb's own body in mockery. See the moment in the chronicle
These partings name deaths, endings, and roads not yet ridden in the books. Unveil them only if both roads are known to you — or if you do not fear to know.
SourceA Game of Thrones, Bran IA Storm of Swords, Catelyn VII
Lady
Bonded to Sansa Stark
Sleek and grey, gentlest of the litter
What the bond means
The smallest and most biddable of the pups, named by a girl who dreamed of songs and courtesies. Lady mirrors the Sansa of the first book — well-mannered, trusting, and wholly unready for the world she is carried into.
The warg-gift
Sansa shows the least of the wolf-blood; her bond is cut too early for any gift to wake, and she alone of the children never wolf-dreams.
Fate
Put to death at Castle Darry on Cersei's demand after Nymeria bit Joffrey — Ned Stark does the deed himself rather than leave it to the queen's men. The first of the six to fall, and the only one killed by a Stark's own hand.
These partings name deaths, endings, and roads not yet ridden in the books. Unveil them only if both roads are known to you — or if you do not fear to know.
SourceA Game of Thrones, Sansa IA Game of Thrones, Eddard III
Nymeria
Bonded to Arya Stark
Grey and gold-eyed, wild from the first
What the bond means
Named for the warrior-queen of the Rhoyne who burned her ships and would not kneel — a fitting sign for the least tameable of the Stark girls. Wolf and girl are two of a kind: neither will be a lady, and neither will be leashed.
The warg-gift
Arya's wolf-blood runs strong; though she drives Nymeria off to spare her Lady's fate, the girl still dreams through the wolf's eyes across half a continent.
Fate
Driven away with stones by Arya to save her life, then grown huge and terrible in the riverlands — she leads a great pack hundreds strong and, in Arya's dreams, drags a dead woman from the Trident's waters.
These partings name deaths, endings, and roads not yet ridden in the books. Unveil them only if both roads are known to you — or if you do not fear to know.
SourceA Game of Thrones, Arya IIA Storm of Swords, Arya XIII
Summer
Bonded to Bran Stark
Silver-grey with smoke-dark eyes
What the bond means
Named by a broken boy for a warmth he can no longer run out into. Summer becomes Bran's legs when his own fail him — the first wolf whose master learns, truly, to climb inside its skin and see.
The warg-gift
Bran is the strongest warg of the six and more besides: a greenseer in the making, he wears Summer so completely that boy and wolf can scarcely be told apart in the dark.
Fate
Still at Bran's side beyond the Wall as the fifth book closes, sharing his master's dreams within the cave of the three-eyed crow.
These partings name deaths, endings, and roads not yet ridden in the books. Unveil them only if both roads are known to you — or if you do not fear to know.
SourceA Game of Thrones, Bran IVA Dance with Dragons, Bran III
Shaggydog
Bonded to Rickon Stark
Coal-black with green eyes, wildest of all
What the bond means
Black and snapping, named by the youngest child in the careless way of the very young. The wildest wolf answers to the wildest, least-tended boy — as Rickon grows feral and grief-mad, so does Shaggydog.
The warg-gift
Rickon's bond is the rawest and least governed; too young to master it, he and his black wolf run half-savage together, a warning of the gift left untaught.
Fate
Last seen carrying its master toward the stony isle of Skagos, whither Rickon was spirited away for safekeeping when Winterfell fell.
These partings name deaths, endings, and roads not yet ridden in the books. Unveil them only if both roads are known to you — or if you do not fear to know.
SourceA Game of Thrones, Bran IVA Dance with Dragons, Davos IV
Ghost
Bonded to Jon Snow
White as snow, eyes red as blood, and mute
What the bond means
The runt, found apart from the litter and silent where the others squalled — an albino, white and red, marked out as Jon is marked out a bastard among trueborn Starks. Named Ghost for his silence, he is the outsider's outsider, and the fiercest of the six for it.
The warg-gift
Jon's gift wakes slowly at the Wall; he slips into Ghost in sleep without meaning to, and the direwolf's senses save the man's life more than once before he understands what he is doing.
Fate
Shut away and howling as Jon is cut down by his own Sworn Brothers at Castle Black — a warg's bond, and a body, left in the balance at the fifth book's end. See the moment in the chronicle
These partings name deaths, endings, and roads not yet ridden in the books. Unveil them only if both roads are known to you — or if you do not fear to know.
SourceA Game of Thrones, Jon IA Dance with Dragons, Jon XIII
A word on warging
The Stark children are skinchangers — wargs, in the common tongue of the free folk — able to slip their minds into their wolves, seeing and running through them, most often in dreams. The gift runs unevenly: Bran is the strongest, a greenseer besides; Sansa shows none of it at all. This is old magic, waking again with the wolves.
What are the names of the six direwolves?
Grey Wind (Robb's), Lady (Sansa's), Nymeria (Arya's), Summer (Bran's), Shaggydog (Rickon's), and Ghost — Jon Snow's white, red-eyed pup, found apart from the litter as a bastard is set apart from trueborn kin.
What kind of animal is Ghost?
A direwolf — a great wolf far larger than the common kind, once found only beyond the Wall. Ghost is the runt of the litter and an albino, white of fur with red eyes, and mute where his siblings squalled. He belongs to Jon Snow.
What is warging, and how does it relate to the direwolves?
Warging, or skinchanging, is the magical ability to enter and control an animal's mind. Each Stark child shares a bond with their direwolf and, to differing degrees, can slip into it — usually while dreaming. Bran Stark is the most gifted; the wolves are the vessels through which the old Stark blood wakes.
Which direwolves are still alive?
Not all six survive the tale so far, and their fates run from the earliest chapters to the latest. Because each ending is a turn of the story in itself, the chronicle keeps them behind the spoiler veil — lower the shield above to read where every wolf now stands.