Nine houses stand above the rest — the paramount lords who hold the seven kingdoms in Aegon's name. Here are their words and their seats, the founders of legend, and a maester's plain account of what each house is, drawn from the histories rather than the songs.
“Winter is Coming”
FounderBran the Builder, if the songs are true
The oldest blood in Westeros, the Starks have kept Winterfell since the Age of Heroes, when they ruled as Kings in the North. Grey and grave as the direwolf on their banner, they keep to the old gods and the weirwoods, and to a hard northern creed: the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. Their words are less a boast than a warning.
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“Hear Me Roar!”
FounderLann the Clever, who is said to have winkled the Casterlys from the Rock
Golden, proud, and rich beyond reckoning, the Lannisters have ruled the westerlands from Casterly Rock since Lann the Clever's day. Gold flows from their mines as surely as arrogance from their line, and it is whispered that a Lannister always pays his debts — a saying spoken as often in dread as in trust. Their true words are 'Hear Me Roar!', though the realm remembers the other.
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“Fire and Blood”
FounderAenar the Exile, who heeded his daughter Daenys's dream and quit Valyria before the Doom
Dragonlords of old Valyria who alone foresaw the Doom, the Targaryens crossed the narrow sea to Dragonstone and, a century later, forged the Seven Kingdoms into one with fire and blood. For near three hundred years the dragon sat the Iron Throne that Aegon raised from the swords of his enemies. Silver-haired and violet-eyed, they wed brother to sister to keep the blood of the dragon pure.
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“Ours is the Fury”
FounderOrys Baratheon — bastard brother to the Conqueror, some whispered — who won Storm's End by the sword
Youngest of the great houses, the Baratheons sprang from Orys Baratheon, who took Storm's End and wed the last of the Durrandons, inheriting their crowned stag and their storm-lashed seat. Strong of arm and hot of temper, the lords of Storm's End are counted among the fiercest warriors in the realm. Their fury, the saying goes, is the storm's own.
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“Growing Strong”
FounderGarth Greenhand, from whom they claim descent, though they came to Highgarden as stewards
Lords of the fertile Reach and its golden fields, the Tyrells rose as stewards of House Gardener and claim descent from Garth Greenhand of the green legends. Wealthy, courtly, and second only to the Lannisters in gold, they can call more swords to banner than any house in Westeros. Their rose grows strong on soil others would kill to hold.
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“Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken”
FounderPrincess Nymeria of the Rhoynar and her lord Mors Martell, who made one realm of a hundred squabbling lords
Last to bow and never truly conquered, the Martells rule Dorne from Sunspear, a land of sun, sand, and long memory. Rhoynish blood runs in their veins, carried across the sea by Nymeria's ten thousand ships, and with it laws and customs unlike any north of the Red Mountains. Unbowed, unbent, unbroken — dragons could not break them, and Dorne joined the realm at last on its own terms, by marriage rather than the sword.
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“As High as Honor”
FounderSer Artys Arryn, the Winged Knight of legend, if the singers may be trusted
One of the oldest and purest lines of Andal nobility, the Arryns keep the Vale from the Eyrie, a castle set so high among the Mountains of the Moon that no army has ever taken it. As high as honor, their words run, and they guard their dignity as jealously as their impregnable seat. The falcon and the moon have flown over the Vale since the Winged Knight's day.
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“We Do Not Sow”
Founderthe Grey King of the Age of Heroes, if the priests of the Drowned God speak true
Iron and cold, the Greyjoys reave from Pyke amid the storm-battered Iron Islands, worshipping a Drowned God who bids them take by force what greener lands are given. They claim descent from the Grey King of legend, who is said to have ruled the western sea and taken a mermaid to wife. What is dead may never die — and the ironborn do not sow, for they pay the iron price.
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“Family, Duty, Honor”
FounderNo hero of the songs — river lords raised to Riverrun's rule, made Lords Paramount of the Trident by Aegon the Dragon
Lords of the rivers and hills from their strong seat at Riverrun, the Tullys were raised to Lords Paramount of the Trident by Aegon the Conqueror as reward for bending the knee. No legendary founder graces their line; their honor is plainer stuff, bound up in three words — family, duty, honor. The leaping trout of Tully has ever been quicker to make marriages than war.
In the chronicle
Nine great houses hold the seven kingdoms as Lords Paramount: Stark of the North, Lannister of the westerlands, Targaryen of the crownlands, Baratheon of the stormlands, Tyrell of the Reach, Martell of Dorne, Arryn of the Vale, Greyjoy of the Iron Islands, and Tully of the riverlands.
Stark 'Winter is Coming', Lannister 'Hear Me Roar!', Targaryen 'Fire and Blood', Baratheon 'Ours is the Fury', Tyrell 'Growing Strong', Martell 'Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken', Arryn 'As High as Honor', Greyjoy 'We Do Not Sow', and Tully 'Family, Duty, Honor'. A house's words are its motto, blazoned beneath the sigil.
The Starks claim descent from Brandon the Builder, the legendary hero said to have raised both Winterfell and the Wall in the Age of Heroes. As with all founders of that age, the maesters caution that the songs run ahead of the record — but no house in Westeros keeps older blood.
Stark rules from Winterfell, Lannister from Casterly Rock, Targaryen from Dragonstone and the Red Keep, Baratheon from Storm's End, Tyrell from Highgarden, Martell from Sunspear, Arryn from the Eyrie, Greyjoy from Pyke, and Tully from Riverrun.