Winterfell
Seat of House Stark, Kings and later Wardens of the North
- House
- House Stark
- Region
- The North
- Raised by
- Bran the Builder, in the Age of Heroes — so the North remembers
- Age
- Some eight thousand years, if the tales run true
The stones themselves
Winterfell is no single tower but a small walled town of granite, two great curtain walls with a wide moat sunk between them, so that a foe who wins the outer wall finds another rising beyond it. Hot springs are piped through the stones, so the castle steams in the depth of winter and its glass gardens grow summer fruit under the snow. The keeps are joined by covered bridges and a maze of cellars, and no two towers stand at the same height, for eight thousand years of Starks each added as they pleased.
Famous halls and features
The crypts
A cold and cavernous vault deeper than the castle is tall, where the Kings of Winter and the Lords of Stark are laid in stone, an iron longsword across each lap to keep the vengeful spirits at rest.
The godswood
Three acres of old forest never cut, at its heart a weirwood with a face carved by the children of the forest, brooding above a black pool where the Starks keep the old gods.
The First Keep
The oldest tower in the castle, round and squat and long disused, its roof fallen, ringed by grotesque gargoyles worn faceless by the ages.
The broken tower
A lightning-struck ruin no man climbs, home only to crows and, on one fateful morning, to eyes that should not have seen what they saw.
Sieges and history
Where the story of Winterfell touches the great chronicle of the realm — follow each thread back into the timeline.
A legend of Winterfell
The smallfolk hold that there must always be a Stark in Winterfell, and that the stones grow cold and the crypts stir uneasy when there is not. It is only a saying — yet the maesters have noted, dryly, how often the saying has proved its own dark prophet.
Beyond the chronicle's edge
The heir to the newest fear may not wish to learn what became of Winterfell after its lord rode south.
Te rozstaje wymieniają śmierci, zakończenia i drogi, którymi w książkach jeszcze nie podążono. Odsłoń je tylko, jeśli znasz obie drogi — albo jeśli nie boisz się wiedzieć.
Common questions
Who built Winterfell?
The Starks hold that Brandon the Builder raised Winterfell in the Age of Heroes, some eight thousand years past — the same legendary figure the North also credits with the Wall. The tale is old and unverifiable; what is certain is that the Starks have held it as long as any records reach.
Why is Winterfell always warm?
Winterfell is built over natural hot springs, and its founders channelled the scalding water through the walls and floors. That heat keeps the castle habitable through the northern winter and feeds the glass gardens, where vegetables grow beneath the snow.
What is in the crypts of Winterfell?
The crypts hold the tombs of the Kings of Winter and the Lords of Stark, each stone likeness seated with an iron sword across its lap — placed, the tale says, to bind the restless dead. The vaults run deeper and older than the living castle above.
Is there a weirwood tree in Winterfell?
Yes. The godswood at the castle's heart holds an ancient weirwood with a carved face, standing over a black pool. It is one of the last living heart trees south of the Wall, kept by the Starks who still hold to the old gods.