Torrhen Stark, the King Who Knelt

When Aegon Targaryen came with his dragons, Torrhen Stark called his banners. The North is wide and slow to gather, and by the time he had thirty thousand men and had crossed the Neck, Harrenhal was a ruin and the Field of Fire had been fought. At the Trident he found Aegon waiting on the far bank with three dragons and a host half again the size of his own.

His lords gave him every counsel. Some wanted to attack at once. Some wanted to fall back to Moat Cailin and hold the Neck. His bastard brother Brandon Snow offered to cross the river in the dark and kill the dragons as they slept. Torrhen sent Brandon across instead, with three maesters, to talk, and messages went back and forth all night.

In the morning Torrhen crossed the Trident, knelt to Aegon, laid the crown of the Kings of Winter at his feet and swore him fealty. He rose Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, and his host went home. The North still calls him the King Who Knelt, and says it in more than one tone of voice.