Barthogan Stark

"They'll hide in their castle. The black brothers did before, and the dragon will, too. Fire cannot kill a dragon, so I'll flush the monster out with Ice and snow. Maybe then I can look it in the eye when I demand the honor we deserve."

- Barthogan 'Blacksword' Stark to his Northern host, 187 AC Barthogan 'Blacksword' Stark was a Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North under the reign of King Jaehaerys II Targaryen. He inherited his position after the unexpected death of his brother, Jonnel Stark. He is known for slaying the self-crowned King of the Wall and Beyond, and marching a host into the Riverlands to confront the Crown for their debt to the North. He was succeeded by his only son Rickard Stark.

Personal Background
Barthogan was widely considered to have been more wolfish than cold. Though born nearly a decade after the end of the Dance of the Dragons, he was combative, stubborn, and impulsive. Always the more martial-minded of his father's sons, he bore the family blade Ice before his elder brother Rickon. The death of his elder brother shook him deeply, and left a poor taste in his mouth for deceit and treachery.

After a hot-blooded debate about 'the Ryswell plot' with his brother, Jonnel, the youngest of Cregan's sons set his own path. He returned Ice to the hands of his grandfather, took his horse and as much ale as he could carry, and departed for parts unknown. His youth was wrought with feasting and fighting, taking part in tournaments, melees, and tavern brawls from Mole's Town to Bitterbridge. He returned to Winterfell only to see that it still stood, and watch the progress of his only son, Rickard. Yet on each return, he saw the failing health of his father, Cregan, and felt the end of his life creeping closer. Barthogan returned, for certain this time, in 174 AC.

He was a stalwart companion to Cregan in his final years, rarely leaving his father's side. When the Old Man in the North rode out to hunt a direwolf plaguing the Wolfswood, he and his son joined alongside them. As their quarry was skinned for her pelt, his father decided that Ice should be wielded by no other man but his youngest son.

More on the Silence of the Snows can be read here: The Silence of the Snows
When Cregan faded from the world in 177 AC, Barthogan and Jonnel came to an impasse. The Silence of the Snows tested their family ties down to the wire, forcing him, his wife, and son to hold their tongues as Sansa Stark was taken against her will to marry her uncle. Mere days after the wedding, they concocted a plan to smuggle out her sister. Under the cover of darkness, Berena was taken from Winterfell by trusted men and sent to the Iron Islands on Barthogan's command.

During the Silence, Barthogan was an ardent opponent to his brother in all respects. Arguments were frequent, public, and long-lasting. With a small, but vocal support among the houses that backed Jonnel's rise to power, the dour Lord of Winterfell did as he pleased.

More on the Day of the Blacksword can be read here: The Day of the Blacksword
To the relief of many northmen, Jonnel died abruptly in White Harbor after a comparably short reign of five years. As Jonnel died without siring any trueborn children, it left only his younger brother to inherit Winterfell. Barthogan became the new head of House Stark, and Warden of the North.

His reign was quickly punctuated by trouble. A messenger from the distant north of his realm arrived, haggard and weak, proclaiming a brother of the Night's Watch had declared themselves King of the Wall and Beyond. With the North still weakened by both prolonged peace and the reign of Jonnel Stark, Barthogan made haste to assemble what men he could and set out for Castle Black. His heart was steeled, and backed by the men of Glover, Umber, and the mountain clans.

The small host arrived at Castle Black within weeks, and Barthogan did not delay. Despite the strength within the ancient hold, he demanded multiple direct assaults. After the first one was repelled, he led the second himself. The Watch was so bloodied by the fighting that Barthogan was named Blacksword, and the moniker would stick forever.

More on Blacksword's Folly can be read here: Blacksword's Folly
Barthogan's costly victory at Castle Black earned the respect of his countrymen, if not their love. It was not the first time the lord of Winterfell's foolhardy nature jeopardized the North, and it would not be the last. Galvanized by the rush of battle and liberated from the thumb of his brother, he proved to be a strong-armed ruler, unafraid to mete out justice at the end of a sword. He personally saw to any punishment given by his court, from the lowest hangings to the highest beheadings, and saw restitution to those that suffered under the wicked.

In private, Barthogan grew increasingly discontent with his King. In Cregan's day, the Starks and the Targaryens struck a Pact of Ice and Fire for arriving in the hour of Rhaenyra's need, and in every instance the North found itself wavering in face of adversity, the south was quiet and dismissive. Though he loathed the avenue of petition, he instructed the maester of Winterfell to dispatch ravens carrying letters seeking redress. Each year, as the Blacksword toiled to stoke the fire that burned in the North in days of old, his demands were increasingly blunt and forthright. Some could call the last of them threats.

The North convened to march on the south. Not to declare their independence, or reave and pillage, but send a message that could not be ignored. The Crown met this host in the Riverlands. Barthogan was foolish, but not callous. He met the Crown's champion, Lord Commander Olyvar Oakheart, on the field. A duel would decide whether the Pact of Ice and Fire would be met. Barthogan ultimately lost that duel, and was forced to agree to the King's demands: his grandchild, likely the heir to Winterfell in generations to come, would be a ward of King's Landing. The northmen returned with their heads hung in shame, and Barthogan bloodied and miserable.

The Blacksword died the next year, despondent and drunk. Those who loved him called it death by a broken heart.