Just expanding on a previous post on Bran gazing into the past to see the lives of past Starks and others
"The oak is the acorn, the acorn is the oak. And the weirwood … a thousand human years are a moment to a weirwood, and through such gates you and I may gaze into the past."
And now the lords Bran glimpsed were tall and hard, stern men in fur and chain mail. Some wore faces he remembered from the statues in the crypts, but they were gone before he could put a name to them. - Bran III ADWD
Bran will use this ability day and night to learn things he needs to know and quickly.
Learning more about battle strategy through seeing how King Rickard defeated the Marsh King, how Brandon Ice Eyes took back the wolf's den, how Willam and Artos defeated Raymun Redbeard.
How different castles have been sieged by using their heart trees like casterly rock, highgarden etc. How Harlon Stark sieged the Dreadfort.
Learning how to build and sail ships through watching Brandon the Shipwright, how Lords of the arbor maintained their fleet given the arbor likely has a weirwood too.
Learning how to rebuild and reinforce castles by looking at how Brandon the Builder and other Kings built and expanded winterfell, not to mention the other castles, using the citadel's weirwood to see how that was built.
Lord Edwyle Stark fue cabeza de la Casa Stark y, como tal, Señor de Invernalia y Guardián del Norte durante los reinados de Maekar I, Aegon V y Jaehaerys II Targaryen.
Edwyle fue el primer hijo de Lord Willam Stark y Lady Melantha Blackwood. Tuvo una hermana, Jocelyn, quien se casó con un hijo menor de Lord Raymar Royce. En 226 d.C., Edwyle se convirtió en Señor de Invernalia y Guardián del Norte sucediendo a su padre.
Se casó con Lady Marna Locke y tuvo sólo un hijo con ella, Rickard, quien a su muerte le sucedió como cabeza de la casa. En las criptas de Invernalia existe una estatua de Lord Edwyle.
Lord Edwyle Stark was Head of House Stark and as such Lord of Winterfell and Guardian of the North during the reigns of Maekar I, Aegon V, and Jaehaerys II Targaryen.
Edwyle was the first child of Lord Willam Stark and Lady Melantha Blackwood. He had a sister, Jocelyn, who married a younger son of Lord Raymar Royce. In 226 AD, Edwyle became Lord of Winterfell and Guardian of the North, succeeding his father.
He married Lady Marna Locke and had only one son with her, Rickard, who on his death succeeded him as head of the house. In the crypts of Winterfell there is a statue of Lord Edwyle
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Sansa Stark & Lyarra Stark, Sansa Stark & Brandon Stark, Sansa Stark & Visenya Targaryen, Sansa Stark & Rickard Stark, Jon Snow & Sansa Stark, Bran Stark & Sansa Stark
Characters: Sansa Stark, Lyarra Stark, Brandon Stark, Rickard Stark, Visenya Targaryen, Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers, Jon Snow, Minisa Whent, Elia Martell, Willam Stark, Joramun (ASoIaF), Brandon "The Breaker" Stark
Additional Tags: Women Being Awesome, BAMF Women, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Unreliable Narrator, Stark family feels
Summary:
There’s nobody named Lyarra in Winterfell, according to her father; the last person who bore that name was his mother, and she was buried decades ago.
Sansa speaks to her the next week.
[Sansa can speak to ghosts, and this changes everything.]
is it possible that melantha blackwood and betha blackwood were sisters?
Possible? Sure. Probable? Well … hard to say, but I think it’s not unlikely. We actually have a pretty accurate read on Betha Blackwood’s age: Yandel tells us that the Blackwood maid married Prince Aegon in 220 AC, when she was 19 and he was 20. Therefore, Lady Betha Blackwood had to have been born in or around 201 AC.
Melantha, however, is harder to get a read on: we know she was married to Lord Willam Stark as one of his eventual two wives, we know that she bore him two children, and we know that Willam himself died in 226 AC at Long Lake, fighting the King-Beyond-the-Wall Raymun Redbeard. That’s not much, but I think with a little (or maybe a lot of) guesswork we can pierce together a rough estimate of Melantha’s age.
Start with Rickard Stark. Pycelle notes to Eddard that the summer of King Maekar’s reign, which occurred before Rickard’s birth, lasted seven years, followed by a quick autumn and brutal winter; moreover, we know from Yandel that there was a winter that lasted from 230 to 236 AC. So if summer lasted from, say, 222 to 229 AC, then autumn from 229 to 230 AC, then winter, I think Rickard might have been born in the midst of that winter (to fit with Pycelle noting that Maekar’s summer was forgotten before Rickard’s birth; after five years of winter, I might expect people to have forgotten about the longer summer). If Rickard was indeed born in roughly 235 AC, then I think it’s a fair guess that Papa Edwyle Stark was born in roughly 210-215 AC. I think a later date on that scale is more likely: William died in 226, and while it’s possible Edwyle succeeded automatically, I think it makes a little more sense that Uncle Artos “the Implacable”, who had slain Raymun Redbeard and ordered the Night’s Watch around after the battle, ruled as his nephew’s regent until Edwyle came of age - hence his getting a statue in the crypts of Winterfell.
ALL of this is to say, if Edwyle was born ~215 AC, then we might expect that Melantha might have been around 16 or 17 when he was born, on the younger end (neither too young - there was no pressure for Willam to marry a child bride, with the surplus of Starks in his generation and memory of recent family infighting - nor too old as to arouse comment, like Fat Walda’s cheerful disdain of Fair Walda’s unmarried state at 19). That would place her own birth in the 198 AC area, give or take a few years for Edwyle’s age and her own birth relative to that. Naturally, if she were born in or around 198 AC, that would make her perfectly of an age to be an elder sister to Lady Betha.
Obviously, this is a good handful of guesses and assumptions re: age. Melantha could have been older or younger than I paint her here, and even if her age is correct, that doesn’t necessarily mean she was a sister and not, say, a cousin (hell, the future Queen Victoria was only three days older than her first cousin, the eventual King George V of Hanover). That said, I think it’s a perfectly acceptable belief with the current state of information to say that Melantha was Betha’s sister (interestingly enough, that would make Rickard and his murderer Aerys second cousins, and Rhaegar a third cousin of Lyanna).
My headcanons on the history of House Stark from the end of F&B to present day (Part 2 of 2)
In 212 AC, as Lord Beron Stark lay dying, he knew that his eldest son Donnor (age 12) was not old enough to lead the North in the war against Dagon Greyjoy's ironmen;
Beron appointed a council of five regents - five wives of the Lords of Winterfell - to rule the North in his son Donnor's name until he came of age;
The five regents were: Beron's wife, Lorra Royce (age 32), Beron's sister-in-law, Myriame Manderly (age 35), Beron's mother, Alys Karstark (age 54), Beron's aunt, Robyn Ryswell (age 54), and Beron's grandmother, Lynara Stark (age 82);
(More under the cut)
There were several reasons Lorra Royce had not been trusted to rule the North on her own, among them being that having come from Runestone in the distant Vale, she was an outsider in the North, she kept the Faith of the Seven and was a deeply devout woman, having even brought her own septon to Winterfell and promised her youngest daughter Alysanne (age 5) to the Faith;
The ironborn problem, however, had to wait for a problem inside Winterfell's own walls to be resolved: the twins Torrhen and Cregard Stark (age 35), sons of the late Edric and Serena Stark, had returned to Winterfell to reclaim what they saw as their stolen birthright (Winterfell and the North) from Beron's line of usurpers;
Torrhen and Cregard had been barred from inheriting Winterfell when they were only 9 because the North had been at war with the Skagosi at the time, and few then had wanted a child as Warden of the North during wartime. Now, as war threatened the North again, some thought Donnor too weak to be Warden of the North during wartime and wanted him unseated for Torrhen Stark, the elder of the twins;
Chief among Torrhen's supporters was Lady Myriame Manderly, who had been a childhood companion of the twins and had become Torrhen's lover; over the years Myriame lived at Winterfell, she would regularly travel to nearby Castle Cerwyn, where Torrhen would guest with his sister Argelle and her husband. Torrhen had promised Myriame that he would take her to wife when he took Winterfell back from the usurping Beron; Myriame lived for the day she would become Lady of Winterfell once again and marry her beloved;
Lady Robyn Ryswell also supported Torrhen's claim, respecting his and his brother's skill at arms, and believing only their strength could hold the North together and fend off the Ironborn;
Aside from two of the five regents, Torrhen's claim was also supported by House Ryswell, House Manderly, and Houses Umber and Cerwyn, which his sisters had married into;
The last adult male family member in Winterfell (besides Torrhen and Cregard) was Lonnel Snow (age 39), the cousin of Torrhen and Cregard, whom he did not like, and the half-uncle of Donnor, whose claim he was supportive of. Lonny Snow would have been Lorra Royce's choice to lead the armies of the North, but Alys Karstark, Lonny's stepmother, who despised him, suspected him of treachery and would not allow it;
Alys Karstark had no reason to like the twins Torrhen and Cregard; not only did Torrhen want to take Winterfell from Alys's grandson, but Cregard wanted to take Alys's only daughter from her;
While Torrhen had a long-standing love affair going with Lady Myriame, his younger brother Cregard had hopes to marry his cousin, Lady Arsa (age 22), the younger sister of Lord Beron and the last living child of Lady Alys. Arsa did not desire Cregard and had no interest in marriage, preferring to only have male companionship when it suited her;
Most recently, Arsa had set her eye on the handsome Ser Duncan the Tall, a hedge knight just arrived from the south;
Like Lucas Inchfield and Alyn Cockshaw before him, Cregard immediately identified Dunk as a threat and was extremely hostile to his presence at Winterfell;
Cregard could not stop Dunk from defeating him in a duel or from sharing a kiss with Arsa in the godswood;
Torrhen failed to assert his claim to Winterfell when Lynara Stark joined forces with Lorra Royce and Alys Karstark against Myriame Manderly and Robyn Ryswell, meaning that three of the five regents supported Donnor's claim to Winterfell; also, Arsa Stark was able to reconcile her mother Alys to the idea of Lonny Snow being given command of the North's armies;
The Targaryens eventually defeated the ironborn and Donnor's claim was secured; soon after, Lynara Stark died of old age, Robyn Ryswell was reconciled with Lorra Royce and Alys Karstark, and the three regents asked Myriame Manderly to leave Winterfell and return to White Harbor;
Dunk and Egg left Winterfell for their next adventure in good spirits, and the Stark household was settled;
Lonny Snow would go on to marry and have sons whose surname would be 'Cassel'. Beth Cassel, the last of that line, is Lonny's great-great-granddaughter;
Of the six younger siblings of Lord Donnor Stark, only four survived to adulthood; Berena was betrothed to Lord Robard Cerwyn's son and heir, but she died before the wedding could take place, and Errold Stark died in childhood as well.
Alysanne Stark went to a motherhouse in White Harbor as a novice, as had been her mother's wish, and would return to Winterfell years later as a septa;
In 217 AC, Lord Donnor Stark died at the age of 17 and his younger brother Willam became Lord of Winterfell;
In 218 AC, Lord Willam Stark reached his 16th nameday and no longer needed his mother, grandmother, and great-aunt to act as his regents; however, he still took their counsel, and at their urging, he married the 22-year-old Lady Lyanne Glover later that year;
In 219 AC, Lady Lyanne died giving birth to a son named Brandon; a 16-year-old girl named Nan came to Winterfell to be the boy's wetnurse (Old Nan is 95 years old in AGOT);
In 220 AC, Lord Willam became determined to remarry; having known the hostility his mother had faced for keeping the Seven that had spilled over into him and his siblings being considered "too southron" by others, he did not want a bride who kept the Seven, but neither did he want an ambitious Northern bride whose ambitious Northern family would try to displace Brandon as his heir. Willam would decide to marry a Blackwood girl who kept the old gods, but who also had no ties to the Houses of the North and could not hope to displace Willam's son Brandon as heir even if she wanted to;
Lord Willam sent a raven to Lord Robert Blackwood, inquiring after a Blackwood maid of marriageable age; alas, Lord Robert's only daughter had recently married a Targaryen prince, but he had a niece, daughter of his younger brother Roland, that would be suitable;
In 221 AC, Willam Stark married Lady Melantha Blackwood when he was 19 and she was 18; that same year, his brother Artos Stark would marry Lady Lysara Karstark when he was 17 and she was 16;
In 222 AC, Lady Melantha presented Lord Willam with their first child, a small, sickly boy named Edwyle;
In early 223 AC, Brandon Stark died of a summer chill; some blamed his stepmother Melantha for the boy's death;
The loss of his son hurt Lord Willam deeply, and he became somewhat estranged from his wife;
Later that year, Melantha gave birth to her and Willam's last child, a girl named Jocelyn, and Lysara Karstark gave birth to Artos Stark's twin sons, Brandon and Benjen, a birth that she barely survived;
In 226 AC, King-Beyond-the-Wall Raymun Redbeard attacked the North, and Willam Stark raised an army to fight him. Though the northmen defeated the free folk, Lord Willam was slain by Raymun Redbeard in single combat; he was avenged by his brother Artos, who killed Raymun Redbeard and took command of the victorious northmen;
Artos Stark became Warden of the North and Lord Regent for his four-year-old nephew, Edwyle, now Lord of Winterfell;
Upon returning to Winterfell from the battle with Willam's body, Artos had a falling out with his youngest brother, 14-year-old Rodrik, who had been desperate to ride with his brothers' host against the free folk; Artos had insisted that Rodrik was too much a green boy and had left him behind at Winterfell. Rodrik blamed Artos for Willam's death, and the brothers were never on good terms again;
In 228 AC, Rodrik turned 16 and left Winterfell for several years, first going to White Harbor, where he competed in a tourney; in his first tilt, he broke his lance clean and unhorsed his opponent, a mystery knight, leaving him senseless in the dirt. When Rodrik lifted the man's helm, he was shocked to find that he was no man at all, but Lady Marna Locke, the 19-year-old daughter of the Lord of Oldcastle. Rodrik felt ashamed and humiliated for having tilted with a woman, and he put aside his ambitions of becoming a tourney champion. From White Harbor he would sail to the Free Cities, eventually becoming a sellsword in the Disputed Lands and beyond, earning himself the moniker "the Wandering Wolf;"
Artos Stark wished to speak for Prince Maegor at the Great Council of 233 AC, but was persuaded to vote for Prince Aegon by Dowager Lady Melantha, who was a first cousin of Prince Aegon's wife Lady Betha - the two women had grown up as close as sisters - and knew her cousin's husband Egg to be a good-hearted and noble man;
It was an open secret in Winterfell that Artos had never been fond of his own wife, Lysara, and that he had loved his brother's wife, Melantha, from the moment he laid eyes on her. Artos never acted on those feelings, partly because his own wife stood in the way, partly because he was ashamed of desiring his brother's wife, even long after his brother's death;
Artos was always fiercely protective of his nephew Edwyle despite his frailty, partly because he felt guilty for Willam's death; he feared that other northerners would try to usurp Edwyle, and he feared the most that any man who married Jocelyn would try to seize her brother's lordship;
In 236 AC, Rodrik Stark returned to the North after eight years abroad, but he would rarely visit Winterfell, where his brother Artos lived; instead he travelled all over the North and even to the Wall, entertaining people wherever he went with tales of his adventures;
Lady Melantha and her cousin Queen Betha remained in close contact over the years via letter, and in 237 AC, when Betha told her that king and council were looking for spouses for the royal children, Melantha sensed opportunity; she urged Betha to ask her husband to give the hand of his eldest son, 16-year-old Duncan Targaryen, to her 14-year-old daughter Jocelyn Stark, arguing that her daughter was a sweet and good-natured girl, close in age to the prince and his second cousin to boot. It was Artos Stark's opinion that since the Starks and their bannermen had spoken for Aegon at the Great Council, the North's friendship to the king deserved a rich reward, and Jocelyn would make a fine queen someday;
Queen Betha, at her dear cousin's urging, fiercely advocated for young Jocelyn before the small council, but the royal septon objected; the realm had begrudgingly accepted one queen who kept the old gods, but lords and commons alike would take less kindly to a second one. The small council set Jocelyn Stark aside and gave Duncan Targaryen's hand to 11-year-old Elinor Baratheon instead. King Aegon V decided to increase food shipments to the North for their "rich reward;"
Melantha was frustrated by the king's decision and angry with her cousin, the queen; only the following year, in 238 AC, 15-year-old Jocelyn Stark married 20-year-old Benedict Royce, the second son of Lord Raymar Royce of the Gates of the Moon. Benedict had no skill at arms and was never knighted, but he was an accomplished singer and harpist. His relatively low birth, lack of martial ability, and his living in the Vale were all reasons why he could not pose a challenge to Edwyle Stark's rule, which was why Artos Stark had chosen him for Jocelyn. Melantha was disappointed that her only daughter would marry so low, and the fact that Jocelyn would live so far away from her would hurt all the more for it, but Melantha loved her son Edwyle more, and so she accepted Artos's decision;
Jocelyn and Benedict had their first daughter in late 238 AC, their second daughter in 240 AC, and their third daughter in 241 AC;
In 238 AC, Lord Edwyle Stark reached his 16th nameday and became old enough to rule the North in his own right; though his uncle Artos would relinquish the regency, he was still the voice the young lord respected above all others;
In 239 AC, at his uncle Artos's suggestion, Lord Edwyle Stark married Lady Marna Locke when he was 17 and she was 30. Rickard Stark, born in 240 AC, was their only child;
Also in 239 AC, Rodrik Stark would seek his nephew Edwyle's permission to marry Lady Arya Flint of the mountain clans, which Edwyle readily granted;
In 241 AC, Artos Stark, known as the Implacable, died at the age of 37. His 18-year-old sons Brandon and Benjen left Winterfell for Barrowton soon after; they had never been close to their father, as he was forever scolding them for misbehaving and telling them to be nicer to their cousin Edwyle. The fact that he had asked for Lady Melantha on his deathbed angered them on their mother's behalf;
Lord Edwyle deeply mourned his uncle's passing and commissioned a statue in his likeness to stand over his grave, an honor previously reserved for the Lords of Winterfell, in recognition of his long years of devoted service to House Stark and the North;
In 242 AC, with his hated brother now in his grave, Rodrik Stark settled at Winterfell permanently with his wife, the Lady Arya; there they had two daughters: Branda in 242 AC and Lyarra in 243 AC;
In 259 AC, Branda Stark married Ser Harrold Rogers, the son of a friend of her father Rodrik, when she was 17 and Harrold was 21; unfortunately, while attending his daugher's wedding at Amberly, Rodrik Stark died of a ruptured appendix at the age of 47;
Lord Edwyle Stark, ever a sentimental man, took pity on his 16-year-old cousin Lyarra, who was now fatherless and motherless, and he decided to marry her to his son Rickard;
Rickard Stark received his father's decision poorly; Rickard's great-aunt, Septa Alysanne, had been a major influence in his life, and she had inspired in him a love of chivalry and all things southron. Rickard had hoped to marry a beautiful maid from the south with flowers in her hair, not his plain-featured cousin whom he had never liked; nevertheless, he abided by his father's decision without much objection;
In 260 AC, shortly before he left to fight in the War of the Ninepenny Kings, Rickard married his cousin Lyarra when he was 20 and she was 17;
In late 260 AC, shortly after his son's return from war, Lord Edwyle Stark died at the age of 38, and Rickard Stark became Lord of Winterfell;
Though Lord Rickard and Lady Lyarra's marriage was loveless, they had four children together: Brandon in early 262 AC, Eddard in early 263 AC, Lyanna in early 267 AC and Benjen in mid-268 AC;
In 270 AC, Lyarra Stark died at the age of 27;
In 271 AC, Lord Rickard Stark sent his two eldest sons away for fostering: 9-year-old Brandon Stark to Lord Dustin of Barrowton, and 8-year-old Eddard "Ned" Stark to Lord Jon Arryn of the Eyrie;
Lord Rickard wanted his children to have the happiness he never had and marry beautiful, elegant, sophisticated, glamorous southron people; to that end, he betrothed 15-year-old Brandon to pretty 12-year-old Catelyn Tully of Riverrun in 277 AC, and 13-year-old Lyanna to handsome 18-year-old Robert Baratheon in 280 AC;
Ned's fostering at the Eyrie put some distance between him and his siblings: Benjen barely knew his older brother, and Brandon and Lyanna both were deeply jealous of Ned's fellow ward Robert Baratheon, who Ned loved more than either of them;
In 281 AC, the four Stark siblings attended the tourney at Harrenhal, where shy 18-year-old Ned became infatuated with the beautiful 18-year-old Lady Ashara Dayne of Starfall, who did not return his feelings and preferred his older, bolder brother Brandon, and 14-year-old Lyanna became infatuated with the handsome 22-year-old Prince Rhaegar Targaryen;
In late 281 AC, 19-year-old Brandon Stark visited Riverrun and met his betrothed, 16-year-old Catelyn Tully, for the very first time. He was very disappointed in her: she was younger and less beautiful than Ashara Dayne, prim and proper and not given to bawdy jests, and she was smitten with Brandon from the moment she laid eyes on him and made no secret of it, unlike Ashara, who had played hard to get and aroused Brandon in that way. When he heard Petyr Baelish boast that Catelyn had given him her maidenhead, Brandon was thoroughly turned off by her and resolved to call off the wedding;
Brandon Stark's plan was simple: he would convince Elbert Arryn (his new best friend and surrogate little brother/replacement Ned) to marry Catelyn Tully in his stead, while he, Brandon, would elope with Ashara Dayne, and Ned would marry Catelyn's younger sister Lysa Tully;
In 282 AC, while Brandon was on his way to Riverrun to tell Hoster Tully he would have none of his daughter, he heard that 15-year-old Lyanna had eloped with the already-married 23-year-old Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and became so enraged he rode to the Red Keep, intending to fight Rhaegar to the death for dishonoring his sister. He was instead imprisoned by King Aerys II;
Rickard Stark hoped to resolve the situation peacefully, but Aerys Targaryen would not give him that chance; the king was still deeply bitter over Tywin Lannister having separated him from his true love Joanna, and he had no intention of letting anyone separate his son Rhaegar from his true love Lyanna. King Aerys resolved to kill anyone who could take Lyanna away from Rhaegar, starting with her father and eldest brother, who were within his reach, and continuing with her other older brother and her betrothed, who were not;
Eddard Stark became Lord of Winterfell upon the deaths of his father Rickard and older brother Brandon, and he and Robert Baratheon and Jon Arryn declared war on the Crown;
In 283 AC, Ned Stark won the Battle of the Bells at Stoney Sept; a fortnight later, he married Lady Catelyn Tully at Riverrun when he was 20 and she was 18 in exchange for her father's help in the war;
Later in 283 AC, after Robert had slain Prince Rhaegar at the Battle of the Trident, Ned marched to King's Landing to find the city sacked by the Lannisters and Prince Rhaegar's children dead at Tywin Lannister's hand; Ned was horrified by the murders and had a falling out with his best friend Robert (now the new king), who justified them. Ned left King's Landing "in a cold rage," just missing the news of the birth of his son by Catelyn Tully, a boy named Robb Stark;
Three weeks later, after he had lifted the siege of Storm's End and travelled to the watchtower in the Prince's Pass where Lyanna was hidden, he found her bleeding to death from childbirth; overwhelmed with grief, Ned promised to protect her newborn son, Aemon (later renamed Jon Snow) from his best friend (now king) Robert Baratheon;
Ned then travelled to Starfall, from where he intended to elope with Ashara and leave Catelyn Tully behind; however, Ashara rejected him, and he learned that Lady Catelyn had birthed his son, forcing him to reconsider: instead he would send Lord Howland Reed to Winterfell with baby Jon Snow, while he would go to King's Landing to collect his wife and son before going home;
At Winterfell, 15-year-old Benjen told Ned that he had known of Lyanna's intention to elope with the prince and had kept it a secret from their father. Ned blamed Benjen for the deaths of Brandon, Rickard, and Lyanna. Benjen blamed Ned for not being with Brandon to stop him from riding to King's Landing, and argued that Ned was really the one responsible for the deaths of their family. Benjen decided to leave Winterfell for the Night's Watch, and the brothers parted on bad terms;
Ned gradually fell in love with Catelyn, and they had four more children together: Sansa in late 286 AC, Arya in early 289 AC, Brandon "Bran" in mid-290 AC, and Rickon in early 295 AC;
ok so if i’m reading this right and the three boys Donnor Erold and Brandon all died young and childless. Was Eddards mother the daughter of the last ruling Stark before it went to Rickard. WAS RICKARD HIS LADY WIFE’S HEIR. WAS SHE HIS HEIR BEFORE THEY HAD CHILDREN????? IS THERE A PRECEDENT FOR A LADY STARK IN HER OWN RIGHT?????
Please remember that the order of people on the tree does not necessarily correspond to birth order. (As the image says.) Willam Stark was Lord of Winterfell, and died in battle against the King-Beyond-the-Wall Raymund Redbeard. While he was avenged by his younger brother Artos, presumably he was succeeded by his son Edwyle (father of Rickard).
However, the events caused by this may have been what GRRM referred to when asked about a ruling Stark lady. While he said there never has been one, he did talk about a potential story about Dunk and Egg meeting the "She-Wolves of Winterfell" -- and people have theorized this might refer to a Stark lady regent for a young son. Possibly this story took place in the previous generation, though, and deals with something that happened after Beron Stark's death... But either way there's certainly a lot of women in those generations, wives and daughters, who might be the "she-wolves".
