House Arryn of the Eyrie is one of the Great Houses of Westeros and the principal noble house of the Vale. They descend in unbroken line from Artys I Arryn, the Falcon Knight, who flew his banner over the Mountains of the Moon in the dawn of the Andal Invasion. Their seat is the Eyrie, a slender white castle planted high on the shoulder of the Giant's Lance, reached only by a long winding stair and a chain of waycastles.
The Arryns alone of the Andal kings were never humbled, for they bent the knee to Aegon the Conqueror without battle, and so kept their lands, their honor, and the title of Defender of the Vale. By the events of A Game of Thrones Jon Arryn has been Hand of the King for seventeen years and foster-father to both Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark. His death is the spark that sets the realm aflame.