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This is a character listing for the members of House Waynwood who appear in A Song of Ice and Fire.

For the main character index, see here

For the main Vale entry, see here

House Waynwood of Ironoaks

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A noble house seated at Ironoaks, to the east of the Eyrie. They are one of the great noble families sworn to House Arryn. They are known for their insistence on ceremony.

They blazon their arms with a black broken wheel on green. Their words do not appear in the books.

Tropes related to House Waynwood:

  • Famous Ancestor: "Wild" Wyl Waynwood, a member of the house who fought in the Blackfyre Rebellion and was slain by Daemon Blackfyre on the Redgrass Field.
  • The Ghost: Carolei Waynwood, the wife of Geremy Frey.
  • Meaningful Name: "Wayn" is an old-fashioned word for a wagon, which runs on wheels; their sigil is a broken wheel.
  • Posthumous Character: Marsella Waynwood, the third wife of Ser Stevron Frey, who died on childbed.
  • Tangled Family Tree: Involved in a direct one with the Arryns and the Hardyngs. Oh, and incidentally, there's a branch of Freys they're also directly related to. Along with having a female-linked connection with the Starks. Incidentally, Miranda Royce has fun calling the lot of them "horse-faced", and Alayne Stone also notices this quirk, combined with the dark hair. Without quite realising what both mean in relation to her. Seriously, Sansa — they're your cousins! They resemble Ben, Jon and Arya for a reason! And, there's probably a good reason you find it easy to get along with the lot of them with minimum effort.

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Anya's family

    Lady Anya Waynwood 

Lady Anya Waynwood, Lady of Ironoaks

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anya_waynwood_borja_pindado_ffg.jpg
"None of us wants war. Autumn wanes, and we must gird ourselves for winter."

Head of House Waynwood and Lady of Ironoaks. She is one of the Lords Declarant who seek to remove Petyr Baelish from his position as Lord Protector of the Vale and protect Robert Arryn from him. She has three sons and an unspecified number of daughters.


  • Benevolent Boss: After Harrold Hardyng impregnated Cissy, one of House Waynwood's lowborn servants, and then abandoned her when she grew fat during the pregnancy, Anya arranged for Cissy to marry one of her vetted men-at-arms to ensure she and the baby would get a decent shot at being looked after.
  • Blackmail: Well, she's got good, old fashioned extortion hanging over her feisty head, at least. And, knows it. Not only is Littlefinger the creditor behind her House's many debts, but he has been fairly clear in pointing out that Harry isn't necessarily the only possible heir, depending on circumstances and who he chooses to back...
  • Brutal Honesty: During the meeting between the Lords Declarant and Littlefinger:
    Lady Anya: You... let us be frank, you are no Arryn, and Lord Robert is no blood of yours. By what right do you presume to rule us?
  • Cool Old Lady: She's a sarcastic and powerful noblewoman who isn't afraid to call dangerous men like Ser Lyn Corbray out for their actions.
  • Deadpan Snarker: She makes several sharp and biting comments. Even after her relations with Littlefinger improve, she still makes some comments about him and his cronies, particularly Nestor Royce.
    Ser Edmund Breakstone: Lord Nestor has an open hand.
    Anya: An open hand and a little finger.
  • Impoverished Patrician: House Waynwood is in great debt by the time of A Feast For Crows. This allows Littlefinger to purchase their debts in exchange for Anya's support and arranging for her ward Harrold Hardyng to marry Alayne Stone, aka Sansa Stark.
  • Iron Lady: Has to be in order to command one of the most powerful houses in the Vale.
  • Nice to the Waiter: She's generally courteous to everyone, including Alayne Stone, who she and everyone else believes is only Littlefinger's bastard daughter. She scolds Lyn Corbray for making a crude comment about Alayne being "ripe for plucking".
  • The Smurfette Principle: The only female member of the Lords Declarant.
  • Unwitting Pawn: She gets completely played by Littlefinger, with her decisions greatly furthering his plans when she agrees to give him the year he wants to serve as Lord Protector of the Vale, and also when she agrees to arrange a marriage between Harrold and "Alayne".
  • War Hawk: She is one of the Lords of the Vale who wanted to join the war against the Lannisters in the War of the Five Kings.

    Ser Morton Waynwood 

Ser Morton Waynwood

First son of Lady Anya and heir to House Waynwood.


  • Bit Character: Thus far he has only appeared briefly in one scene in A Game of Thrones.
  • Straw Misogynist: Dismisses Catelyn Stark's concern about Bronn beating Ser Vardis Egen in a duel by claiming that since she is a woman, she has little understanding of how these matters work.
  • Underestimating Badassery: Considers Bronn to be of little threat to Ser Vardis due to his belief a common sellsword could never match a seasoned and noble knight.
    Ser Morton: Ser Vardis is a knight, sweet lady. This other fellow, well, his sort are all cowards at heart. Useful enough in battle, with thousands of their fellows around them, but stand them up alone and the manhood leaks right out of them.
  • Unwanted Harem: He is part of the group of lords who vie for Lysa's hand after Lord Arryn dies, seeking to gain claim to her control over the Vale.

    Ser Roland Waynwood 

Ser Roland Waynwood

A son of Ser Morton.


  • The Charmer: He hits on both Myranda Royce and Alayne Stone within minutes of arriving at the Gates of the Moon.
  • Everyone Has Standards: While he is a jerk towards his uncle, he and the other Waynwoods are stunned and apologetic when Harrold Hardyng insults Alayne for being a bastard upon meeting her.
  • Insistent Terminology: He insists in calling his uncle Wallace "squire" even though he has already been knighted.
  • Jerkass: Towards his uncle Ser Wallace Waynwood, mocking his stutter.
  • Large Ham: His efforts to hit on Alayne are pretty over the top, well to the point of being cringeworthy.
    Roland: I had heard that Lord Littlefinger’s daughter was fair of face and full of grace, but no one ever told me that she was a thief.
    Alayne: You wrong me, ser. I am no thief!
    Roland: Then how do you explain this hole in my chest, from where you stole my heart?

    Ser Donnel Waynwood 

Ser Donnel Waynwood, Knight of the Gate

"If it were up to me, I would take a hundred men into the mountains, root them out of the fastnesses, and teach them some sharp lessons, but your sister has forbidden it."

Second son of Lady Anya. After Ser Brynden Tully leaves the Vale, Donnel becomes the new Knight of the Bloody Gate.


  • Big Damn Heroes: He and his men arrive to save Lady Catelyn Stark and her men from further attacks by the mountain clans and safely escort them to the Bloody Gate.
  • The Captain: Commands a party of soldiers stationed at the Bloody Gate, and is later given command over the entire garrison.
  • Gate Guardian: As Knight of the Bloody Gate, he is tasked with guarding the entrance to the Vale and asking the traditional question "Who would pass the Bloody Gate?" to everyone who approaches.
  • Mr. Exposition: He provides Catelyn and the reader their first information about the goings-on of the Vale, including Lysa's paranoia, the increasing boldness of the mountain clans, and the sickly state of Robert Arryn.
  • Nice Guy: He is an earnest and polite knight.
  • Oh, Crap!: Has a brief moment of this after bitterly complaining about Lysa Arryn refusing to allow any attacks on the mountain clans in retaliation for their assaults and for keeping all her forces in the Vale with no explanation, and then suddenly remembering that the person he is talking to is Catelyn Stark, Lysa's sister. Catelyn tells him not to worry about it and that frank talk doesn't offend her.
  • Rank Up: By A Feast for Crows, he is given command of the Bloody Gate.
  • War Hawk: Wants the Knights of the Vale to go to war with the mountain clans, who have become bolder and increased their attacks since Jon Arryn's death, but is denied permission by Lysa. This failure to act on the part of Lysa leads to Tyrion Lannister allying with and supplying the mountain clans, making their assaults on the Vale even worse. In short: he's a fairly justified hawk of war.

    Ser Wallace Waynwood 

Ser Wallace Waynwood

The youngest son of Lady Anya. He's a newly knighted squire who suffers from stuttering.


  • Alliterative Name: Wallace Waynwood.
  • The Ghost: Only mentioned in the appendix for A Feast for Crows, but finally appears in The Winds of Winter.
  • No-Respect Guy: He gets no respect from his nephew Ser Roland, on account of being actually younger than him and his stutter.
  • Practically Different Generations: Though their exact ages are not given, Wallace is younger than his eldest brother's son.
  • Rank Up: Recently knighted.
  • Speech Impediment: Has a rather bad stutter, but Myranda Royce ignores it while Alayne Stone helpfully suggests "dubbed" when Wallace gets stuck on "knighting". The only one who draws attention to it is his nephew.
  • The Squire: Until recently, although his nephew still calls him squire to mock him.

Elys's family

    Ser Elys Waynwood 

Ser Elys Waynwood

Uncle of Lady Anya and husband of Alys Arryn.


  • Arranged Marriage: To Alys Arryn. Littlefinger lampshades their names being so similar.
  • The Ghost: To the point where Littlefinger doesn't even mention if Ser Elys is still alive or not.
  • I Have No Daughter!: Disowned one of his eight daughters for having an affair with a sellsword that got her pregnant, kicking her out of Ironoaks. She subsequently lost the child and joined the Silent Sisters.
  • Massive Numbered Siblings: He had nine children with Alys, with the first eight being all girls. The ninth was a son, but the birth killed Alys.
  • "Shaggy Dog" Story: His only son, Jasper, died after being kicked in the head by a horse at the age of three after so many attempts to have a son.


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