Heresy 191 The Crows

[LynnS]

On 2016-09-15 at 1:30 PM, Black Crow said:

So, leaving aside family feuding we see the Ironborn following two factions religion-wise. At the moment the Drowned Men/Lady of the Seas lot are on top. Its the official religion; but then opposed to them are the followers of the Storm God and his crows, and amongst them is Euron.

The question it begs is where they fit in with those crows working with the three-fingered tree-huggers? Are they connected? And is House Morrigen/Morrigan a significant clue? 

 

I have wondered for a long time if Euron isn't himself an abomination and if the crow's eye (or blood-eye now) represent another entity riding Euron the crow.   I'm thinking of Bran's coma vision of the spears shooting up and the impaled bodies/bones that he sees. 

Then this from Aeron's vision:

Quote

Impaled upon the longer spikes were the bodies of the gods. The Maiden was there and the Father and the Mother, the Warrior and Crone and Smith…even the Stranger. They hung side by side with all manner of queer foreign gods: the Great Shepherd and the Black Goat, three-headed Trios and the Pale Child Bakkalon, the Lord of Light and the butterfly god of Naath.

And there, swollen and green, half­-devoured by crabs, the Drowned God festered with the rest, seawater still dripping from his hair.

Also Euron's speech about being the holiest man around:

"Who knows more of gods than I? Horse gods and fire gods, gods made of gold with gemstone eyes, gods carved of cedar wood, gods chiseled into mountains, gods of empty air... I know them all. I have seen their peoples garland them with flowers, and shed the blood of goats and bulls and children in their names. And I have heard the prayers, in half a hundred tongues. Cure my withered leg, make the maiden love me, grant me a healthy son. Save me, succor me, make me wealthy... protect me! Protect me from mine enemies, protect me from the darkness, protect me from the crabs inside my belly, from the horselords, from the slavers, from the sellswords at my door. Protect me from the Silence." He laughed. "Godless? Why, Aeron, I am the godliest man ever to raise sail! You serve one god, Damphair, but I have served ten thousand. From Ib to Asshai, when men see my sails, they pray."  

This sounds like someone who can use the moon's eye or god's eye view; look across continents or look back through time, not unlike Bran.

"The night they moved him, he had seen the moon floating on a black wine sea with a leering face that reminded him of Euron." - the Foresaken

In addition, there is a kind of reference to the crone:

The light would leave when the mute did, and once again his world would become a damp darkness smelling of grime and mold and feces. Sometimes, Euron came himself. Aeron would wake from sleep to find his brother standing over him, lantern in hand.

The moon and the crone... maybe this is getting a little closer to the Morrigan? 

 

[Frey family reunion]

On 9/14/2016 at 3:46 PM, wolfmaid7 said:

I think House Blackwood has positioned themselves nicely Bertha Blackwood is also the Grandmother and to Robert and his brothers

I remember we had spoken a while back on a Westrosi version of the Eugenics program involving Blackwood blood.

It seems to be coming up a lot.

I think maternal bloodlines are a big part of the story.  GRRM distracts us with the paternal lines with the sigils and mottos, but I think a lot of the magical abilities are passed down through the women.  It's not as easy to follow because we don't give these bloodlines a name.  I think Cat may be from a maternal line that has included Blackwood and/or Losthon and it may be her bloodline more than the Stark bloodline that has contributed to the kids' skinchanging abilities.  

I'm not discounting the presence of the direwolves, but I think if the kids didn't have the necessary bloodline then they couldn't have formed a link with the wolves.  I'm also not sure if the Starks were ever wargs before Ned and Cat's children.  There is some historical evidence, however, that they may have been able to control winter.  If they inherited something from Eddard then it might have been that.

[Brad Stark]

26 minutes ago, Frey family reunion said:

I think maternal bloodlines are a big part of the story.  GRRM distracts us with the paternal lines with the sigils and mottos, but I think a lot of the magical abilities are passed down through the women.  It's not as easy to follow because we don't give these bloodlines a name.  I think Cat may be from a maternal line that has included Blackwood and/or Losthon and it may be her bloodline more than the Stark bloodline that has contributed to the kids' skinchanging abilities.  

I'm not discounting the presence of the direwolves, but I think if the kids didn't have the necessary bloodline then they couldn't have formed a link with the wolves.  I'm also not sure if the Starks were ever wargs before Ned and Cat's children.  There is some historical evidence, however, that they may have been able to control winter.  If they inherited something from Eddard then it might have been that.

We have historically evidence the older Starks had direwolves, many of the crypt statues have them together.  The first book strongly implies Ned is familiar with the connection.

If this is from the maternal line, Jon's is different from the other Starks.

[Frey family reunion]

1 hour ago, Brad Stark said:

We have historically evidence the older Starks had direwolves, many of the crypt statues have them together.  The first book strongly implies Ned is familiar with the connection.

If this is from the maternal line, Jon's is different from the other Starks.

And it wouldn't surprise me if the Lannisters might have statues of themselves with lions, it doesn't mean, necessarily, they were wargs.  As for Jon, are we sure he is the warg of the Ghost-Jon partnership?

[Black Crow]

4 hours ago, Frey family reunion said:

And it wouldn't surprise me if the Lannisters might have statues of themselves with lions, it doesn't mean, necessarily, they were wargs.  As for Jon, are we sure he is the warg of the Ghost-Jon partnership?

Varamyr and Borroq certainly recognise him as one, but its a symbiotic one. I did once upon a time wonder whether there was something to do with ancestry [on both sides] involved, but I think that involves over-analysis of the text and in particular reading rather too much into family trees - other than the white ones with pretty red leaves.

I think its brutally simple. The Starks, including the late Lord Eddard, all had/have warging blood, but it took a pairing off with a direwolf in order to wake that power in the present children of Winterfell. Lord Eddard never became a warg because he didn't have a direwolf. Simple as that.

It does raise a couple of questions though, neither contradictory of this.

Is the wolf just a dog on speed or is it the dominant partner?

Does it also work with crows - and I'm thinking here of Benjen - and, as I assume, does the inital bond need to be made in childhood?

[wolfmaid7]

On 9/16/2016 at 5:43 PM, Frey family reunion said:

I think maternal bloodlines are a big part of the story.  GRRM distracts us with the paternal lines with the sigils and mottos, but I think a lot of the magical abilities are passed down through the women.  It's not as easy to follow because we don't give these bloodlines a name.  I think Cat may be from a maternal line that has included Blackwood and/or Losthon and it may be her bloodline more than the Stark bloodline that has contributed to the kids' skinchanging abilities.  

I'm not discounting the presence of the direwolves, but I think if the kids didn't have the necessary bloodline then they couldn't have formed a link with the wolves.  I'm also not sure if the Starks were ever wargs before Ned and Cat's children.  There is some historical evidence, however, that they may have been able to control winter.  If they inherited something from Eddard then it might have been that.

I certainly agree that bloodlines are part of if and i agree that particular bloodline made it possible for the Direwolves to bond.As for the Starks having been Wargs pre the "Special 6" i think it was in the bloodline but i don't think they had shadow selves so to speak. Its quite remarkable that the exact amount of pups,gender correct and one whit as snow for he bastard named Snow is pretty spectacular.An anomally that won't ever get answered.

18 hours ago, Black Crow said:

Varamyr and Borroq certainly recognise him as one, but its a symbiotic one. I did once upon a time wonder whether there was something to do with ancestry [on both sides] involved, but I think that involves over-analysis of the text and in particular reading rather too much into family trees - other than the white ones with pretty red leaves.

I think its brutally simple. The Starks, including the late Lord Eddard, all had/have warging blood, but it took a pairing off with a direwolf in order to wake that power in the present children of Winterfell. Lord Eddard never became a warg because he didn't have a direwolf. Simple as that.

It does raise a couple of questions though, neither contradictory of this.

Is the wolf just a dog on speed or is it the dominant partner?

Does it also work with crows - and I'm thinking here of Benjen - and, as I assume, does the inital bond need to be made in childhood?

I agree with the part i bolded i think ts the old glowing flint and oxygen analogy but i'll add ....There wer no wolves for Eddard and his siblings.None came doen the magical portal for them.

As to the nature of the Direwolves i think they are the dominant partner. Ghost need only appear and Jon would start experiancng what Ghost was. Not to mention in Dance he said only when Ghost didn't sleep with him did the wolf dreams stop.

Now Jon's relationship with Ghost imo seems a bit more intimate than the others so that may be a factor.

 

[Black Crow]

5 hours ago, wolfmaid7 said:

I certainly agree that bloodlines are part of if and i agree that particular bloodline made it possible for the Direwolves to bond.As for the Starks having been Wargs pre the "Special 6" i think it was in the bloodline but i don't think they had shadow selves so to speak. Its quite remarkable that the exact amount of pups,gender correct and one whit as snow for he bastard named Snow is pretty spectacular.An anomally that won't ever get answered.

I agree with the part i bolded i think ts the old glowing flint and oxygen analogy but i'll add ....There wer no wolves for Eddard and his siblings.None came doen the magical portal for them.

As to the nature of the Direwolves i think they are the dominant partner. Ghost need only appear and Jon would start experiancng what Ghost was. Not to mention in Dance he said only when Ghost didn't sleep with him did the wolf dreams stop.

Now Jon's relationship with Ghost imo seems a bit more intimate than the others so that may be a factor.

 

But if we take this argument through to its logical conclusion there isn't an anomaly in the pairing at all. Whether or not the she-wolf was convoyed through by Gared, as we've speculated, or whether some other agency was involved, it isn't a coincidence that at the right moment in history six children of Winterfell were each [unquely] paired with an appropriate direwolf.

Bran, the one destined to become a greenseer, also gets visited by a crow.

Without going deeper into the relationships at this point what's significant is that both direwolves and crow came from beyond the Wall to claim the children.

[aDanceWithFlagons]

On 9/13/2016 at 10:03 PM, Frey family reunion said:

There definitely seems to be something about some of the Blackwood girls.  It really comes to the fore in Jaime's dealing with Lord Bracken and Lord Blackwood in ADWD.  First Lord Bracken is the one to suggest that Jaime takes Blackwood's only daughter as hostage:

And Lord Blackwood is a real cool customer with Jaime until the subject of his daughter comes up:

We have a Blackwood mother giving birth to one of the most powerful skinchangers in the book, and both House Stark and House Targaryen have recently taken Blackwood brides, so I think there is something there.

And it is interesting that for all their feuding, it appears that there is a lot of intermarriage between House Bracken and House Blackwood.  My guess is that they may have a similar relationship that House Targaryen had with House Velaryon.  When House Targaryen couldn't marry brother to sister, they reached out to House Velaryons, who seemed to be First Cousins to House Targaryen.  If you can't keep a genetic trait in in your direct line, then the next best place to go is your to the family of your first cousin I suppose.

I wonder if historically, Bracken served the same purpose to House Blackwood as Velaryon did to House Targaryen, they were a repository for Blackwood's magic genes, since House Blackwood probably could not practice incest like the Targaryens did.  Interesting that both the Brackens and Velaryons have a type of horse as their sigil.  It just appears that Brackens might have chafed at the yolk a little more than House Velaryon.

I know this is straying from the topic a bit.... Bracken is a type of fern. Bracken can be detrimental to other plants by choking out new growth or by leaving toxins in the soil. The name fits the Bracken family well...

The sigil of a horse house Bracken makes me think of the original FM invaders arriving on horses and whatever gods they brought along, yet they are now followers of the Seven. The Blackwood's sigil reflects the change of gods to the old with the affinity to the ravens.  The corvid-skinchangers could be the catalyst for all the feuding at some point in time when skinchangers became evil and monstrous. 

[aDanceWithFlagons]

As to House Stark always being skinchangers, well, there's not a single story I recall of an old Stark with a wolf companion. The only wolves we see or hear of are made of stone. Not going to stray down that path in this thread yet the one animal Winterfell does still hold is the corvids. Wild crows amd caged ravens. The crows who hang around the broken tower waiting for Bran are the only literal crows I recall 'seeing' in the story. Yes, there are crows mentioned - in context with ravens and the dead, the three-eyed crow of the subconscious, and the crows of the Night's Watch, but all the other black birds we see are Ravens. 

I'm curious if there's a reason for the crows in Winterfell.

[JNR]

6 hours ago, Black Crow said:

But if we take this argument through to its logical conclusion there isn't an anomaly in the pairing at all. Whether or not the she-wolf was convoyed through by Gared, as we've speculated, or whether some other agency was involved, it isn't a coincidence that at the right moment in history six children of Winterfell were each [unquely] paired with an appropriate direwolf.

I think what Wolfmaid means, and I agree with her, is that there is no agency that could explain, or will even attempt to explain, how such a thing could happen. 

It is just not possible for anybody including Bloodraven to arrange for a female direwolf to conceive and bring to term exactly six cubs, all surviving, which are found by the Starks at exactly the right time and place, one of them clearly distinct from the others in particular ways that map to Jon, etc.

So why are the pups there?  That's simple enough.  GRRM's told us outright in interviews that this chapter -- the very first ASOIAF content he ever turned out -- wasn't written after he had worked out his world in logical and consistent detail, but long before, and solely through inspiration.  He felt like writing it that way, he did write it that way, he stuck with it, and here we are.

As for how the female direwolf got there, that's been hashed out over and over, but it's not much of a mystery.

[Black Crow]

44 minutes ago, JNR said:

I think what Wolfmaid means, and I agree with her, is that there is no agency that could explain, or will even attempt to explain, how such a thing could happen. 

It is just not possible for anybody including Bloodraven to arrange for a female direwolf to conceive and bring to term exactly six cubs, all surviving, which are found by the Starks at exactly the right time and place, one of them clearly distinct from the others in particular ways that map to Jon, etc.

So why are the pups there?  That's simple enough.  GRRM's told us outright in interviews that this chapter -- the very first ASOIAF content he ever turned out -- wasn't written after he had worked out his world in logical and consistent detail, but long before, and solely through inspiration.  He felt like writing it that way, he did write it that way, he stuck with it, and here we are.

As for how the female direwolf got there, that's been hashed out over and over, but it's not much of a mystery.

Whether its possible or not we're differing only in terms of degrees. Ultimately the point is that GRRM wanted it to happen; the children of Winterfell were each paired with their very own direwolf, right down to Jon getting the white one because it was "meant to happen" and likewise with all this business of three and three heads of the dragon, Danaerys was presented with three viable dragon eggs. In both cases it happened and happened more or less contemporaneously  because it needed to happen, not because a father or grandfather  from house A married someone from house B to create the magical blood formula.

The "agency" may simply be GRRM rather than an unseen or at best shadowy figure but its that agency rather than an accident of blood which is responsible

[Black Crow]

3 hours ago, aDanceWithFlagons said:

I know this is straying from the topic a bit.... Bracken is a type of fern. Bracken can be detrimental to other plants by choking out new growth or by leaving toxins in the soil. The name fits the Bracken family well...

Weren't the Brackens accused of poisoning the Blackwood tree?

[wolfmaid7]

9 hours ago, Black Crow said:

But if we take this argument through to its logical conclusion there isn't an anomaly in the pairing at all. Whether or not the she-wolf was convoyed through by Gared, as we've speculated, or whether some other agency was involved, it isn't a coincidence that at the right moment in history six children of Winterfell were each [unquely] paired with an appropriate direwolf.

Bran, the one destined to become a greenseer, also gets visited by a crow.

Without going deeper into the relationships at this point what's significant is that both direwolves and crow came from beyond the Wall to claim the children.

I didn't effectively convey what i was getting at. I think this one we can chuck up to magic. I've said before that amidst the physical and the sorcery there's another element in play....Magic. The natural untouched thing that happens that's unexplainable.Sorcery ran amock and this was nature's response.Regarding this i don't think any explanation will be forthcoming on how.Don't get me wrong i don't think its coincidence i just think its natural magic at play.

2 hours ago, JNR said:

I think what Wolfmaid means, and I agree with her, is that there is no agency that could explain, or will even attempt to explain, how such a thing could happen. 

It is just not possible for anybody including Bloodraven to arrange for a female direwolf to conceive and bring to term exactly six cubs, all surviving, which are found by the Starks at exactly the right time and place, one of them clearly distinct from the others in particular ways that map to Jon, etc.

So why are the pups there?  That's simple enough.  GRRM's told us outright in interviews that this chapter -- the very first ASOIAF content he ever turned out -- wasn't written after he had worked out his world in logical and consistent detail, but long before, and solely through inspiration.  He felt like writing it that way, he did write it that way, he stuck with it, and here we are.

As for how the female direwolf got there, that's been hashed out over and over, but it's not much of a mystery.

This!  Though i will say, i think its just natural magic at play it happened because nature needed it the happen.

1 hour ago, Black Crow said:

Whether its possible or not we're differing only in terms of degrees. Ultimately the point is that GRRM wanted it to happen; the children of Winterfell were each paired with their very own direwolf, right down to Jon getting the white one because it was "meant to happen" and likewise with all this business of three and three heads of the dragon, Danaerys was presented with three viable dragon eggs. In both cases it happened and happened more or less contemporaneously  because it needed to happ not because a father or grandfather  from house A married someone from house B to create the magical blood formula.

The "agency" may simply be GRRM rather than an unseen or at best shadowy figure but its that agency rather than an accident of blood which is responsible

The Dany angle is different somebody actually gave her the eggs given that Targs had a history off hatching them.I think her getting the eggs have more agency to it.

[Black Crow]

3 hours ago, aDanceWithFlagons said:

I'm curious if there's a reason for the crows in Winterfell.

Its an interesting point and there could well be a significance if we are linking weirwoods, crows and direwolves, I'd just add the caution that in order to establish any significance to the crows of Winterfell we'd need to demonstrate that there wasn't a corresponding presence in other castles

[LynnS]

Och! I found it:

"What is most evident is that from the texts, "Morrigan" or "Morrigu" is a title applied to different women who for the most part seem to be sisters or related in some manner, or sometimes it is the same woman with slightly differing names in different manuscripts and redactions. We see that Morrigan is identified with Badb Macha, Anann, and Danann. The first is usually identified with the raven and battle, the second usually identified with the archetypical Celtic horse goddess, the third with the land goddess, and the fourth with a mother goddess."

Well, this seems to fit Dany like a glove. 

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/godsandgoddesses/p/Morrighan.htm

This link is even better:

http://www.maryjones.us/jce/morrigan.html

Mother of Mountains:

We also learn that the three sisters Badb, Macha, and Morrigu are also sisters to the three goddesses of the land, Eriu, Fotla, and Banba.[2] However, in one text, Anann--here called Ana--is listed as the seventh daughter, identified as the one "of whom are called the Paps of Ana in Urluachair"--the two mountains south of Killarny called "The Breasts of Anu". In a yet a different version of the second redaction, Anann is again identified as Morrigan, and for her the mountains are named.

 

The Morrigan--the Mare Queen and the Great Queen--is the goddess of war and sovereignty, the goddess of the land and its rivers and its animals. Only through appealing to her can a warrior become king or an army succeed.

 

 

[aDanceWithFlagons]

25 minutes ago, Black Crow said:

Weren't the Brackens accused of poisoning the Blackwood tree?

Yep. The name could be coincidence or could be planted purposely.  Unless I'm forgetting details, with all the feuding stretching way back in time, it's hard to tell when the tree would have been poisoned. Could have been to fight against the Blackwood's 'magic'. Could have been when the Brackens turned to the Seven. Or any other time or circumstance. Yet the ravens still flock to the tree.

I take that as a sign that ravens still think of the tree as home.The birds are the eyes of the weirwood. 

[Black Crow]

1 hour ago, LynnS said:

Och! I found it:

"What is most evident is that from the texts, "Morrigan" or "Morrigu" is a title applied to different women who for the most part seem to be sisters or related in some manner, or sometimes it is the same woman with slightly differing names in different manuscripts and redactions. We see that Morrigan is identified with Badb Macha, Anann, and Danann. The first is usually identified with the raven and battle, the second usually identified with the archetypical Celtic horse goddess, the third with the land goddess, and the fourth with a mother goddess."

Well, this seems to fit Dany like a glove. 

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/godsandgoddesses/p/Morrighan.htm

This link is even better:

http://www.maryjones.us/jce/morrigan.html

Mother of Mountains:

We also learn that the three sisters Badb, Macha, and Morrigu are also sisters to the three goddesses of the land, Eriu, Fotla, and Banba.[2] However, in one text, Anann--here called Ana--is listed as the seventh daughter, identified as the one "of whom are called the Paps of Ana in Urluachair"--the two mountains south of Killarny called "The Breasts of Anu". In a yet a different version of the second redaction, Anann is again identified as Morrigan, and for her the mountains are named.

 

The Morrigan--the Mare Queen and the Great Queen--is the goddess of war and sovereignty, the goddess of the land and its rivers and its animals. Only through appealing to her can a warrior become king or an army succeed.

 

 

Nice and very apposite.

[Frey family reunion]

On 9/17/2016 at 1:34 AM, Black Crow said:

Varamyr and Borroq certainly recognise him as one, but its a symbiotic one. I did once upon a time wonder whether there was something to do with ancestry [on both sides] involved, but I think that involves over-analysis of the text and in particular reading rather too much into family trees - other than the white ones with pretty red leaves.

I think its brutally simple. The Starks, including the late Lord Eddard, all had/have warging blood, but it took a pairing off with a direwolf in order to wake that power in the present children of Winterfell. Lord Eddard never became a warg because he didn't have a direwolf. Simple as that.

It does raise a couple of questions though, neither contradictory of this.

Is the wolf just a dog on speed or is it the dominant partner?

Does it also work with crows - and I'm thinking here of Benjen - and, as I assume, does the inital bond need to be made in childhood?

I don't know.  I think Varamyr's observation that out of all the runts he sired none of them possessed his gift, is Martin's way of telling us skinchanging isn't a paternal trait.  And we have nothing to indicate that Eddard was ever a frustrated skinchanger in search of his totem.  Nor is there ever a discussion about the Stark's history as wargs.  

I'm also not one hundred percent sure that all of the Stark kids are in fact wargs.  Out of our POV's we obviously know that Bran is one, but we really don't have any evidence that Sansa is one.  Arya's ability as a skinchanger actually become more apparent ironically after she sends Nymeria away.  I think there is evidence that Robb is one but it's not one hundred percent certain.  As for Rickon, I think it's probable but once again we don't know for sure.  So I don't think just having the Stark last name necessarily insures some type of magical ability.  If it ever did, my guess is it was more related to powers over winter then an ability to skinchanger.

And I do think that GRRM loves his family trees.  Martin is a sci-fi writer making his first forway into fantasy, and I think that Martin likes having a certain set of rules with his magic.  In doing so he's made magic a heritable, genetic trait.  My guess is like the Targaryens, made a blood pact with their dragons, the Starks made a blood pact with their weirwood, perhaps the sacrifice that Bran saw in his past vision.  And I think this blood pact was what gave them their link to winter.  Perhaps also why it was necessary for a Stark to be in Winterfell.  

[Dornish Neck Tie]

On 9/17/2016 at 3:34 AM, Black Crow said:

Varamyr and Borroq certainly recognise him as one, but its a symbiotic one. I did once upon a time wonder whether there was something to do with ancestry [on both sides] involved, but I think that involves over-analysis of the text and in particular reading rather too much into family trees - other than the white ones with pretty red leaves.

I think its brutally simple. The Starks, including the late Lord Eddard, all had/have warging blood, but it took a pairing off with a direwolf in order to wake that power in the present children of Winterfell. Lord Eddard never became a warg because he didn't have a direwolf. Simple as that.

It does raise a couple of questions though, neither contradictory of this.

Is the wolf just a dog on speed or is it the dominant partner?

Does it also work with crows - and I'm thinking here of Benjen - and, as I assume, does the inital bond need to be made in childhood?

100% agree about lineage (not) determining the presence of magical traits.

I think warging qualities in humans are necessarily introduced, if not during childhood, then during profoundly impressionable states of being. Something akin to whatever happens between dying/"breaking" and being reborn in the manner of such characters as Sandor, Aeron, and Davos (if any of them have received gifts from the gods, it probably isn't skinchanging, but a second chance at living). It fits with the idea that gifts from the gods come at a very steep price.

[Black Crow]

5 hours ago, Frey family reunion said:

I don't know.  I think Varamyr's observation that out of all the runts he sired none of them possessed his gift, is Martin's way of telling us skinchanging isn't a paternal trait.  And we have nothing to indicate that Eddard was ever a frustrated skinchanger in search of his totem.  Nor is there ever a discussion about the Stark's history as wargs.  

I'm also not one hundred percent sure that all of the Stark kids are in fact wargs.  Out of our POV's we obviously know that Bran is one, but we really don't have any evidence that Sansa is one.  Arya's ability as a skinchanger actually become more apparent ironically after she sends Nymeria away.  I think there is evidence that Robb is one but it's not one hundred percent certain.  As for Rickon, I think it's probable but once again we don't know for sure.  So I don't think just having the Stark last name necessarily insures some type of magical ability.  If it ever did, my guess is it was more related to powers over winter then an ability to skinchanger.

And I do think that GRRM loves his family trees.  Martin is a sci-fi writer making his first forway into fantasy, and I think that Martin likes having a certain set of rules with his magic.  In doing so he's made magic a heritable, genetic trait.  My guess is like the Targaryens, made a blood pact with their dragons, the Starks made a blood pact with their weirwood, perhaps the sacrifice that Bran saw in his past vision.  And I think this blood pact was what gave them their link to winter.  Perhaps also why it was necessary for a Stark to be in Winterfell.  

I suppose it depends on what's actually going on. We seem to be agreed that there is some kind of blood pact between the Starks and Ice just as between Targaryens and Fire. What's going on stems from that and not from any sort of magical formula requiring a quart of Stark, a pint of Blackwood and a tincture of Tully.

Ultimately I think that a King of Winter is needed for the upcoming battle, and then a King of Summer to put everything to rights afterwards; six direwolves were sent to the six children with all of them having the potential to bring on those roles - indeed Rob was proclaimed King of Winter by Maege Mormont - but in the end just two of them have to make it.