House Heddle
Casa Heddle
House Heddle is a family of knights from the Riverlands who hold no lands of their own, only an inn: the one beside the kingsroad that came to be called the Inn of the Jingling Dragon, after the metal sign that rang in the wind.
They serve as a sworn sword of House Butterwell, but it is the inn that has shaped their history: it has changed hands more than once, seen violence break out between travelers, and ended up a refuge for those with nowhere else to go.
Chapter 1
The inn of the jingling dragon
Books only
Jon Heddle, known as Jon the Tall, was a knight from the Riverlands who was left crippled and took over an old inn beside the kingsroad, in the first century after the Conquest. He hung a metal sign shaped like a three-headed dragon over the door, and it rang in the wind — so the inn came to be known as the Inn of the Jingling Dragon.
Chapter 2
The sign that enraged Lord Darry
196 ACBooks only
When House Blackfyre rose against the Iron Throne, in 196 AC, the descendant of Jon the Tall who ran the inn was already a grown man. Lord Darry, lord of those lands and an outspoken supporter of House Targaryen, saw a resemblance between the iron dragon on the sign and the rebels' arms and flew into a rage: he had it smashed and thrown into the river. One of the dragon's heads washed up on Quiet Isle.
Chapter 3
Ser Tommard and the three dead suitors
Books only
Generations later, Ser Tommard Heddle killed three rival suitors to win the hand of Lord Ambrose Butterwell's daughter. He married her and went on to serve as a sworn sword of House Butterwell, seated at Murosblancos.
Under the Heddles, the inn grew popular among travelers, who could catch a ferry there to Lord Harroway's Town and to Murosblancos.
Chapter 4
Blood at Masha Heddle's inn
Books only
After Masha Heddle's death, her nephew took over the inn and began offering whores as well, to draw in customers. One day Sandor Clegane and Arya Stark arrived and ran into three of Ser Gregor Clegane's men: Polliver, the Tickler, and a squire. Sandor warned the innkeeper that the men meant to torture him for his gold, and the conversation ended in a fight; Sandor and Arya killed all three, though Sandor himself came out of it badly wounded.
Chapter 5
Masha's nieces and the Brotherhood
Books only
Masha Heddle's nephew ended up killed by an unnamed lord, and the inn went without an owner for a time. Later it was reopened by two of her nieces, Jeyne and Willow Heddle, who also gave shelter there to orphaned children. From then on, the inn and the family were tied to the Brotherhood without Banners.