House Bracken of Stone Hedge is a noble house from the Riverlands. They are sworn to House Frey of
Harrenhal.
Seat: Stone Hedge[]
House Bracken rules large swaths of land in the Riverlands south of the Red Fork of the Trident from their seat, Stone Hedge. In addition to the areas south of the river, House Bracken controls the villages of Woodhedge, Crossbow Ridge, Buckle, Lord's Mill, and Honeytree, which they were awarded 200 years ago after the War of the Five Kings. Each of those towns were previously the lands of House Blackwood of Raventree Hall.
Stone Hedge, sometimes called the Stone Hedge, is the seat of House Bracken in the Riverlands. There is a village surrounding it.
George R. R. Martin has not published the location of Stone Hedge on maps yet, but the non-canon map for the television adaptation Game of Thrones places the castle east of Riverrun and south of the Red Fork, and therefore between High Heart and the Inn of the Kneeling Man.
Important Events[]
Prior to the First Era[]
The Brackens and the Blackwoods have been rivals since the Age of Heroes when (according to the Brackens) the Blackwoods betrayed House Bracken, who were serving as Petty Kings of the Riverlands at the time.
The Brackens have the blood of the First Men in their veins and were kings of the Riverlands during the Age of Heroes. They have an old and bitter feud against their neighbors, the Blackwoods. According to the Brackens, the Blackwoods were vassals who betrayed the Brackens and usurped their crown. The feud has continued throughout the years, aided by House Bracken's change to the Faith of the Seven after the Andal invasion. The Blackwoods believe the Brackens poisoned the weirwood at Raventree Hall. Battle Valley and the village of Blackbuckle are part of the disputed land. There have been numerous peaces between the Brackens and Blackwoods, many sealed by marriage, but the feud always restarts.
House Bracken aided Aegon the Conquerer during his War of Conquest and rebelled against King Harren the Black of Harrenhal.A Bracken fought a duel with a Blackwood over Rhaenyra Targaryen in 112AC, but the princess eventually wed Ser Laenor Velaryon.
Barba Bracken, the fifth mistress of King Aegon IV Targaryen, was the mother of Aegor Rivers, the Great Bastard known as Bittersteel. According to Ser Eustace Osgrey, Lord Bracken was to sail with Myrish crossbowmen to aid Daemon Blackfyre and Bittersteel during the Blackfyre Rebellion, but was delayed by storms.
Ser Otho Bracken slew Lord Quentyn Blackwood at a tourney in King's Landing, reinvigorating the feud. Three years later Otho and some Blackwoods participated in the tourney at Ashford Meadow.[10] Ser Steffon Fossoway considered convincing Otho or the Blackwoods to fight for Dunk at his trial of seven, but decided it would be impossible to make them fight on the same side. When Lord Bracken lay dying, Septon Sefton explained that Otho would inherit and the Blackwoods would not suffer him, meaning war. Lord Bracken's eldest son died in the Great Spring Sickness. The then-Hand of the King, Bittersteel's rival Lord Bloodraven, was half-Blackwood, so he was unlikely to stop it