where does house stark get its warg blood from?

[Lord Warwyck]

Wargs are often looked down as monsters and demons but he noblest house of the north seems to have a lot warg connection. Does this come from bran the builder or did a stark marry some crannogwoman? i don't think a stark would marry a wildling....

[ARYa_Nym]

I don't think it's anything inherent but it either came about during the pact with the COTF or when Rickard Stark married the Marsh King's daughter.

[Chatty Duelist]

The blood of the First Men.

[Robb_Starkers]

I think this is something that will be answered in the books. I think it's something that Howland Reed will reveal.

We never found out whether Eddard or Lyanna could warg too. We also never found out who was the mother of Eddard, perhaps if she had blood of the first men too this made the blood "pure" enough to beginn warging.

Alternatively it may have been something which was there all along but was woken by a combination of the close relationship with the direwolves and the reappearance of magic (dragons/others) in the world.

[Amelyn]

To me the most logical source of the young Stark's warging abilities seems to be Eddard's mother, especially if we assume that Jon Snow is the son of Lyanna. So far we haven't had any hint of warging abilities in the Stark family in previous generations, so it must have come into the family recently. And who the mother of Eddard and Lyanna was is still a mystery.

[Beorn Snow]

This is something well ancient. Brandon the builder was somekind of a sorcerer I´m pretty sure. And the Starks of old probably didn´t mind sacrificing people to gain powers or protection. (Just check out Bran´s last chapters).

I once saw GRRM say that he didn´t want to get into genetics because that is too scifi. All noble houses of the north have some Stark blood I´m pretty sure. But the Starks are the ones to receive direwolves when magic is reawakened. Maybe it´s all those unknowing sacrifices Edd has been making by chopping up people infront of a heart tree. Or just an older pact that we do not yet know. I don´t think this is some kind of a crannogmen interbreeding thing... We´re talking direwolves, the sigill of house Stark, not some lizard lion-alligator thingies.

[Danelle]

The blood of the First Men.

:agree:

I think that it is their connection to the First Men, which strengthens their warging abilities.

don't think a stark would marry a wildling....

According to the stories, Bael the Bard, King-Beyond-the-Wall, had an affair with the daughter of Brandon Starl and fathered a boy who later became Lord Stark.

[Ice Turtle]

IMO Stark sigil and statues of direwolves in the crypts hint that at least some of Starks of old were wargs. More noble FM families like Blackwood, Reed, Tully and Casterly were probably wargs too in old days.

I think that it came from breeding with CoTF or some kind of blood magic practiced by them.

It's interesting that though there are skinchangers beyond the Wall none of them bonded with a direwolf. That seems to be specific to Starks. Direwolves unlike fish or bears are magical creatures and I think that they are somehow connected to ice magic There could be also more to the saying that there always must be Stark in Winterfell. IMO Starks like NW are part of some long forgotten defense mechanism against whatever lives North. Direwolves live far North and form huge packs and I think hat they are only predators who prey on wights.

[intheswamp]

Well, they are the blood of the First Men. We're told that 1 in every 1000 First Men are wargs (however, most of them must never realize this or develop the ability, because we'd have wargs all over the place).

The current generation of Starks, and really the Stark family as a whole, do seem special even amongst First Men.

Perhaps, it was caused by some dealing with the Children of the Forest in the long past, some magic or mating, or maybe it has something to do with the Long Night. I assume that the Last Hero in Old Nan's story is a Stark, possibly even the Brandon that founded the house, and he meets the Children and may help unite the two races. Bran also sees the past Starks performing sacrifices through the Weirnet. It might be similar to the old Valyrians, who used to know all kinds of magic. And, most magic seems to be blood and death based. So perhaps both Houses have these forgotten things in their pasts that may still live on in their blood and ancestral lands in some form.

Some posters believe that the Three Eyed Crow and/or Children of the Forest sent the direwolves to the Stark kids to develop the warging bond for some great importantance.

But, we don't really know yet what makes the Starks so special, but I'm guessing we'll eventually find out.

[naik2902]

may be we will find out in She wolves of Winterfell, GRRM next edition for Tales of dunk.

[Fire Eater]

I think warging is magical in nature, and magic is mysterious in ASOIAF as Varamyr was a warg even though his parents weren't and his children aren't. The blood of the First Men may also play a factor as being exposed to the magic of their region like Valyrians being exposed to the magic of theirs.

[Queen‍‍‍‍‍‍ Alysanne‍‍™]

You should check the heresy threads, there are alot of good theories on that. :)

[Overlord of Skagos]

to OP, I do not think we can tag Starks as the noblest house of north,or the fact that being noble or not has anything to do with their ability to warg.

Ned Stark might have been honorable and noble but I think he is quite the exception,being fostered in Eeyrie by Arryns.

From what we know of the Starks of old, they seem to be cold ,stern and harsh(look at Brandon,Rickard or even Benjen)..and to have a house like Bolton as lesser lord serving them,they might have been pretty ruthless themselves.

Also,I feel that Starks are respected and followed by other houses in North not just because of their love,but a certain fear as well...possibly because the older Starks had warging abilites.