House Tully
House Tully is a fictional family from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. House Tully is the principal house in the riverlands; many lesser houses are sworn to them. Their seat is at Riverrun. They are an old line dating back to the Age of Heroes as Lords of Riverrun but were never kings. Their sigil is a silver trout leaping on a blue and red striped field, and their words are "Family, Duty, Honor."
History
House Tully rose to prominence during the Targaryen conquest. When Aegon the Conqueror attacked, Edmyn Tully was the first to rebel against King Harren of the Isles and support the invading Targaryen army. Afterwards, Aegon made House Tully lords paramount of the Trident.
House genealogy
Family tree for House Tully at the beginning of A Game of Thrones (297 AL).
| Hoster Tully *242? |
Minisa Whent †273? in childbed |
Brynden Tully ‘The Blackfish’ *247? |
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| Eddard Stark *262 |
282 | Catelyn *264? |
Lysa *265? |
282 | Jon Arryn *222? †297 |
Edmure *272 |
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| Robb *283 |
Sansa *286 |
Arya *288 |
Brandon *290 |
Rickon *294 |
Robert *291 |
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Notes. Dates are deduced from the characters' ages given in the books, and may be off by one year. Dates marked with ‘?’ are rough estimates.
Current members
Hoster
Lord of Riverrun and Lord paramount of the Trident, Hoster Tully is an old, sick man, torn by decade-old regrets. He was deeply saddened by his wife's death and never fully recovered from her death. As a younger man he was tall and broad, and grew portly in age, but is rendered shrunken by his illness. He traveled the Riverlands extensively and was fond of gazing at his rivers.
Years ago, Hoster forced his daughter Lysa to drink tansy tea in order to terminate her illegitimate pregnancy. He used her pregnancy as proof that she was fertile when arranging her marriage to the heirless widower Jon Arryn, in exchange for House Tully's support in the rebellion of Arryn's ward Robert Baratheon. On his deathbed, Hoster made delirious references to "tansy" and expressed regret, a puzzle Catelyn came to piece together though she was unable to repair the rift between father and sister. He died of his illness before regaining lucidity and was given a funeral on the river according to family custom.
Minisa Whent
Minisa Whent Tully was the wife of Lord Hoster. At the time they were married House Whent of Harrenhal was the strongest bannermen to house Tully. She bore him three surviving children: two daughters and a son. Two other sons died in infancy. She died in childbirth trying to bear him another son while her other children were still young. It is unclear what relation she bore to either Ser Oswell Whent of Aerys II's Kingsguard or to Shella Whent, current lady of Harrenhal.
Catelyn
Catelyn Tully Stark (a POV character) is Hoster's eldest child and once his heir until the birth of her brother. She is the wife of Eddard Stark of Winterfell and mother of their five children, Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon. Catelyn is seen as honorable and upright by acquaintances, holding duty over desire as a governing principle of behavior. She has a deep love for family and a strong faith in the Seven. However, she regards the bastard Jon Snow as an outsider to her family, and has never forgiven Eddard for bringing him into her household. She has a strong and stately beauty, with auburn hair, blue eyes, and long fingers.
After Bran was attacked by an assassin, Catelyn traveled to King's Landing to inform Eddard. There, Petyr Baelish told her that the dagger used in the attack belonged to Tyrion Lannister. Attempting to return home unseen in order to prepare for possible war, she encountered and arrested Tyrion, taking him to the Vale of Arryn for trial, where he escaped execution. This arrest was a casus belli of the war that followed.
Catelyn met her son Robb and aided him in leading his rebellion against King Joffrey. She traveled to Bitterbridge in an attempt to broker an alliance with surviving Baratheon brothers Stannis and Renly, but was unsuccessful. She witnessed Renly's murder and took Brienne of Tarth into her service as an armswoman. The two returned to Riverrun, and Catelyn attempted to persuade her brother Edmure out of his shortsighted plans to attack Tywin Lannister's men at Stone Mill, again to no avail. Upon hearing of her younger sons' murder at the hand of Theon Greyjoy, she freed prized Stark war hostage Jaime Lannister in a covert attempt to exchange him for her daughters, captives at King's Landing.
Robb placed Catelyn under house arrest at Riverrun, but allowed her to attend Edmure's wedding at the Twins. Despite her wariness throughout the ceremony, she, Robb, and many of Robb's men were murdered by members of House Frey, an act of treachery that earned it the name "The Red Wedding". Three days later she was resurrected by Beric Dondarrion, who gave his life for hers. Her face remains mutilated, her throat is still slit, leaving her limited ability to speak, and she is able to go without sleep. She became consumed with the desire for vengeance over her family's betrayal and murder. She took the name "Lady Stoneheart" and assumed command of Dondarrion's outlaw band the Brotherhood Without Banners. She led the Brotherhood to mercilessly pursuing and executing everyone she perceived to be a traitor.
Catelyn Stark will be played by Jennifer Ehle in the HBO adaption of the books
Lysa
Hoster's second child, Lysa Tully Arryn is the widow of the recently deceased Jon Arryn and mother of their one son, Robert. A flighty, unstable, sad woman, Lysa was unhappy in her marriage, arranged as part of a military alliance. Once slender and shyly sweet, she is now thick-bodied, pale and puffy of face, with restless watery blue eyes and a small petulant mouth. Upon the death of Lord John Arryn, Lysa fled Kings Landing with her son and household and returned to her husband's stronghold, the Eyrie. Upon her return to the Eyrie, Lysa informed her sister Catelyn, via a coded message, that the Lannnisters had murdered Lysa's husband. Installed in the Eyrie, she ruled in regency over the Vale for her son, and refused all her suitors, who were politically suitable Vale lords.
Lysa was secretly in love with her father's ward Petyr Baelish, who had deflowered and impregnated her when they were young. Hoster Tully was enraged when he learned of it and sent Baelish back to his own desolate home. He had Lysa's child aborted, though he later used its existence as proof of Lysa's fertility when wedding her to Jon Arryn, a man older than Hoster himself. As the Lady Regent of the Vale, Lysa maintained a strict neutrality in the War of the Five Kings, failing to call her banners and send aid to her sister's son, Robb Stark, and her father, Hoster Tully, though her posture rankled many of her vassals; she also was unresponsive to the threat posed by the increasingly active and hostile tribes of mountain men. It was her decision to try Tyrion Lannister, and allow him a trial by combat via a chosen champion that allowed Tyrion to escape Catelyn Stark's custody. Near the conclusion of the War of the Five Kings, Petyr Baelish was dispatched to woo and wed Lady Lysa as a means to assuring the compliance of the Vale with the regime of King Joffrey, and return it to the king's peace. Lysa ecstatically accepted his courtship and married him, but he murdered her shortly thereafter by defenestration to keep her from revealing all his secrets to her niece Sansa, but not before Lysa divulged in a drunken hysterical episode that she had murdered Jon Arryn at Baelish's behest and instruction. After her murder, Baelish used the minstrel Marillion as a scapegoat.
Edmure
Hoster's third child, only son, and heir, Edmure is a dutiful but rash young man, known more for his large heart than his sound head. He wishes to earn the respect of his father and protect his smallfolk. He is stocky and tall, with shaggy auburn hair and a fiery beard.
Rescued by Stark forces following the battle of the Whispering Wood, Edmure swore fealty to his nephew Robb upon his coronation and took part in his battle plans. He defended the Red Fork of the Trident against Tywin Lannister's forces, winning a battle at the Stone Mill, but in so doing he unwittingly ruined Robb's plan to draw Tywin out into a battle of Robb's own choosing. As amends Edmure agreed to marry Roslin Frey, a match needed to repair a shaky alliance with the tactically critical House Frey. His father's death shortly thereafter made him the Lord of Riverrun. His wedding became the site of a slaughter perpetrated by Bolton and Frey men in league with the Lannisters. This betrayal became known as the Red Wedding. Despite the bloodshed, he was still able to impregnate his wife during the wedding. Edmure was captured and imprisoned by the Freys, while many other guests were killed, and the crown took Riverrun away from the Tullys. Jaime Lannister spared him from execution and threatened the life of his unborn child unless he surrendered Riverrun to the crown. Edmure yielded, and is presently a prisoner en route to Casterly Rock, where his family is to undergo a life of service to House Lannister.
Brynden
Hoster's younger brother, Brynden is a great knight who earned renown during the War of the Ninepenny Kings. His refusal to obey Hoster's order to marry caused a rift in the brothers' relationship for decades. A gruff but warm man, Brynden gained the nickname "Blackfish" when Hoster accused him of being the family's black sheep, which Brynden jokingly amended to reflect the Tullys's leaping-trout banner. His auburn hair has greyed with age, but he is still strong and fit, with a craggy face and deep blue eyes.
Brynden left the service of his niece Lysa Arryn once Tywin Lannister made signs of attacking the Riverlands, and upon Robb Stark's coronation allied himself with his cause, becoming ostensibly indispensable to his great-nephew as a tactician and warrior. He was named Warden of the Southern Marches and ordered to hold Riverrun while Robb took his forces north. He refused to surrender Riverrun even after King Robb's death. Eventually his nephew Edmure was forced to give up Riverrun to its new lords. Brynden escaped during the surrender. His present whereabouts are unknown.
Sworn Houses
- Blackwood of Raventree Hall. Once Kings of the Trident, the Blackwoods have feuded with their ancient rivals the Brackens since the Age of Heroes. The two houses rarely join the same side of a battle or argument.
- Bracken of the Stone Hedge. Once Kings of the Trident, the Brackens have feuded with their ancient rivals the Blackwoods since the Age of Heroes. The two houses rarely join the same side of a battle or argument.
- Darry of Darry. During Robert's Rebellion they were notable Targaryen loyalists. The Darrys have been dispossessed of Castle Darry and its lands, which have been transferred by royal writ to Lancel Lannister, and his new wife, Amerei Frey, whose mother was a Darry by birth.
- Frey of the Twins
- Mallister of Seagard. Seagard was built as defence against Ironborn raiders. The motto of House Mallister is "Above the Rest".
- Mooton of Maidenpool
- Piper of Pinkmaiden. Their motto is "Brave and Beautiful".
- Ryger of Willow Wood
- Smallwood of Acorn Hall, sworn to House Vance. Their motto is "From these Beginnings".
- Vance Consists of two branches:
- Vance of Atranta.
- Vance of Wayfarer's Rest.
- Whent of Harrenhal. Like all houses who have possessed Harrenhal, the Whents are in decline after the men of House Whent died in the War of the Usurper supporting King Aerys II.
