Lord Roose Bolton is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones. Introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones, Roose, a Northern lord with his seat at the Dreadfort, is a retainer of Lord Eddard Stark. His family is notorious for their cruelty and custom of flaying their enemies; he frequently has himself leeched, leading him to be known as the Leech Lord across Westeros. He later appears in A Clash of Kings (1998), A Storm of Swords (2000), and A Dance with Dragons (2011). Roose joins Robb Stark's rebellion as one of his chief lieutenants. With the help of the Brave Companions, he takes and holds Harrenhal until rejoining Robb Stark to help retake the Neck occupied by the Greyjoys. In truth he is a chief orchestrator of the Red Wedding alongside Tywin Lannister and Walder Frey, receiving the title of Warden of the North from the former after personally slaying Robb. His rule as Warden in the North is punctuated by unrest, and several forces conspire to unseat him and House Frey and restore the Starks to power. Roose is portrayed by Irish actor Michael McElhatton in the HBO television adaptation. Character description Lord Roose Bolton is a significant vassal of Lord Eddard Stark. His seat is the Dreadfort and his sigil is a flayed man, a homage to the ancient Bolton tradition of flaying enemies. He is nicknamed the Leech Lord for regular leechings meant to improve his health. Roose Bolton is not a point of view character in the novels, so his actions are witnessed and interpreted through the eyes of other people, such as Catelyn Stark, Arya Stark and Theon Greyjoy/Reek. Background Roose illicitly practiced an ancient and banned tradition called the first night, in which a lord had the right to bed a commoner's wife. One day, prior to Robert's Rebellion, Roose was fox hunting along the Weeping Water when he came across a young woman washing clothes in the stream, who was married to the old miller without Roose's knowledge. Desiring the woman, and angered for not being informed of the marriage, Roose had the miller hanged and violently raped the woman beneath the tree where her husband still hung. A year later, the woman came to the Dreadfort with a newborn