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LChris24

Identity of Each of the "She-Wolves of Winterfell" (Spoilers Extended)

EXTENDED

As we know D&E will be headed north for the next (depending on what GRRM does with the Village Hero) for the She Wolves of Winterfell (working title). I "recently" posted about everything that we currently know about the upcoming story: What We Know: The She-Wolves of Winterfell.

If interested: Speculation of the Future of Dunk & Egg

In this post I would like to focus my speculation on the identities of each of the individual she-wolves.

Succession Crisis After Beron Stark's Death

He mentioned something about five Lady Starks running Winterfell -- the Wolf Women or something like that -- with four of them widows of a bunch of fairly recent former Lord Starks, and the current Lady Stark, whose 30-something husband is fading fast from a wound taken from fighting the Ironborn. -SSM, Boksone: 17 February 2006

Note: I initially tried to start with Lord Beron and his wife and work backwards, but it got messy, and it seemed much better to start at the source/beginning and move forward to the event so that context could be shown.

Background

Cregan Stark (aka the Old Man of the North) and veteran of the Dance of the Dragons, and a single day Hand of the King had three wives and ten children in his lifetime.

Cregan's Wives

  1. Arra Norrey - Rickon Stark
  2. Alysanne Blackwood (aka Black Aly) - Sarra, Alys, Raya, Mariah
  3. Lynara Stark - Jonnel, Edric, Lyanna, Barthogan, Brandon

Rickon Stark

Cregan's long life (Old Man of the North) complicated matters as his son Rickon was killed during the Conquest of Dorne in ~160AC. Rickon was never lord but was married to Jeyne Manderly and had two daughters Sansa and Serena.

  • Sansa was considered Cregan's heir, but instead the lordship passed to Jonnel (Cregan's second son) who later married Sansa. Sansa then dies and Jonnel remarries : Robyn Ryswell (likely a she wolf).
  • Serena marries Jon Umber and then her half-uncle Rodrik Stark.

Lord Jonnel Stark

  • Lord Jonnel was the younger brother of Rickon and married Rickon's daughter Sansa, before marrying Robyn Ryswell.
  • No children with Sansa or Robyn.

Edric Stark

  • Never Lord, but marries his older half-brother's daughter Serena (so both of Rickon's daughters married his younger half-brothers
  • Edric has 4 children: twin sons in Cregard/Torrhen and two daughters in Aregelle and Arrana
  • Edric likely died before Jonnel as the lordship of Winterfell passes to Bart

Lord Barthogan Stark

  • Bart was Cregan's fourth son (the last by Lynara Stark)
  • Killed during a Skagosi Rebellion

Lord Brandon Stark

  • Succeeded his older brother Bart
  • Married Alys Karstark
  • 4 Children: Rodwell, Beron, Arsa and bastard, Lonnel Snow (oldest child, via Wylla Fenn)

Lord Rodwell Stark

  • Succeeded his older brother Brandon
  • Married Myriame Manderly
  • No issue

Lord Beron Stark

  • Succeeded his older brother Rodwell
  • Married Lorra Royce
  • 7 Children: Donnor, Willam (Ned's great grandfather), Artos, Berena, Alysanne, Errold and Rodrik

The She-Wolves

Using the logic from the SSM (obviously this could change in the last 15 years):

five Lady Starks running Winterfell -- the Wolf Women or something like that -- with four of them widows of a bunch of fairly recent former Lord Starks, and the current Lady Stark, whose 30-something husband is fading fast from a wound taken from fighting the Ironborn

The factions seem likely to be:

Current Lady Stark = Lorra Royce

the current Lady Stark, whose 30-something husband is fading fast from a wound taken from fighting the Ironborn

We know D&E are headed North after the Mystery Knight, (although it is unknown which will take place first between the Village Hero and She Wolves). Beron Stark is (Lorra's husband is fighting the Ironborn at this time)

"Some never will," Dunk told him. "It doesn't matter what you do. Others, though… they're not all the same. I've met some good ones." He thought a moment. "When the tourney's done, Egg and I mean to go north. Take service at Winterfell, and fight for the Starks against the ironmen. You could come with us." The north was a world all its own, Ser Arlan always said. No one up there was like to know the tale of Penny Jenny and the Knight of the Pussywillows. No one will laugh at you up there. They will know you only by your blade, and judge you by your worth. -The Mystery Knight

4 Widows

Myriame Manderly, Alys Karstark are pretty much confirmed. They are the wives of the last two lords of winterfell (Beron's brothers).

After that it gets a little dicey, as Bart Stark doesn't have a spouse listed. So its possible that he married and his wife was one of the wolves (potential characters include Aregelle and Anna Stark and descendants of Black Aly's daughters).

Robyn Ryswell was married to Jonnel as well (no issue) and we don't have a confirmed death for Lynara Stark. Its likely that the two remaining widows come from this pool of women.

If interested: List of Characters that could appear in both D&E and the Main Series

As I mentioned earlier, just wanted to list out the characters before diving into the drama surrounding the situation in Part II. It should be fun to see how the different regions of the north support, etc.

TLDR: My attempt to find the identities of the 5 "She Wolves of Winterfell". Lorra Royce, Myriame Manderly and Alys Karstark are all but confirmed. The last two identities are a little harder but there is a small pool of women we can chose from.

Posted Mar 23, 2021, 4:06 PM UTC

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