Harrenhal

Harrenhal
Information
Type	Castle (partially ruined)
Location	Westeros, the Riverlands, the north shore of Gods Eye
Rulers	House Whent House Slynt
Religion	The Faith of the Seven
Places of note	Kingspyre Tower Tower of Dread Widow's Tower Wailing Tower Tower of Ghosts

Map showing the location of Harrenhal on the continent of Westeros.

Harrenhal is a huge castle, the largest castle in all of Westeros, though it is also the most ill-omened. It is located in the Riverlands, on the north shore of the immense lake known as Gods Eye. It was held by House Whent until the outbreak of the conflict between House Lannister and House Stark, when its title was given to House Slynt as a reward for betraying Eddard Stark. However, due to the area being a warzone, the castle currently remains in the hands of House Whent.

In the series

Season 1

Catelyn Stark recognises a knight of Harrenhal at the Crossroads Inn and asks him if he is loyal to Lady Whent and Catelyn's father, Whent's liege lord. When he replies this is the case, she asks his aid in restraining Tyrion Lannister and receives it.

King Joffrey Baratheon gives the castle of Harrenhal to Janos Slynt, commander of the City Watch, for his part in betraying Eddard Stark.

Following the Lannister defeat at the Battle of the Whispering Wood, Lord Tywin Lannister announces that he will take his army of 30,000 men, capture Harrenhal and use it as a stronghold whilst Robb Stark's numerically superior forces consolidate near Riverrun.

In the books

In the Song of Ice and Fire novels, Harrenhal is a colossal castle consisting of five massive towers (the Tower of Dread, Widow's Tower, Wailing Tower, Tower of Ghosts and Kingspyre Tower) and immense walls. The castle is located on the northern shore of the lake known as Gods Eye at the heart of the Riverlands, south of the River Trident and north-west of King's Landing.

The castle was built over 300 years ago by House Hoare, the ruling house of the Iron Islands which had overrun and conquered the Riverlands. It took three generations to construct. King Harren the Black completed the castle, boasting that it was impregnable. Unfortunately, the day he completed the castle was the same day that Aegon the Conqueror invaded Westeros. His dragons were not obstructed by the towering walls and roasted Harren alive in the tallest tower of the castle, now known as the Kingspyre.

Since Harren's death the castle has passed through a number of other noble houses (Qoherys, Towers, Harroway, Strong and Lothston), each of which has come to ruin. It is currently in the possession of House Whent, loyal vassals to Lord Hoster Tully of Riverrun.

Harrenhal is seen as something of a White Elephant: while it is technically the biggest castle in Westeros, it is so ridiculously large that the surrounding area cannot possibly afford to produce the basic level of foodstuffs needed to support the massive army that would be needed to fully man it. Rulers of Harrenhal usually lose money and resources simply by posessing it. As a result, Harrenhal is rarely if ever fully manned with the extremely large garrison that it would need to be 100% functional, leaving major gaps in its defenses where not enough men are assigned to certain walls. More gaudy than functional, even if Harrenhal were fully manned with the large garrison it requires (which it essentially never has been), it has enough major weaknesses in its design that an enemy army would have an easier time capturing it than they would the impregenable castle of Storm's End, which while somewhat smaller is much better designed.

See also

• Harrenhal at A Wiki of Ice and Fire.