House Lefford of the Golden Tooth is one of the principal noble houses sworn to House Lannister of Casterly Rock. The house descends from an Andal warlord who took a bride of the First Men during the long centuries of Andal conquest in the westerlands, and the Leffords have held the Golden Tooth ever since that stronghold passed into Lannister dominion under Cerion Lannister, King of the Rock. Situated astride the main mountain pass eastward out of the westerlands, the Golden Tooth has always been a guardian post of the first importance: any army marching on Casterly Rock from the riverlands must first reckon with the Leffords.
During the Dance of the Dragons, the house threw its swords to the greens. Lord Humfrey Lefford assumed command of the westermen host after Lord Jason Lannister fell in battle, but Humfrey too was slain at the Battle by the Lakeshore, a reminder that loyalty to the Lannisters carries its own costs. At the outset of the War of the Five Kings, Lord Leo Lefford managed the stores and provisioning of Lord Tywin's host and rode in the center at the Battle of the Green Fork, only to drown in the Stone Mill during the Battle of the Fords in 299 AC. His death left Lady Alysanne Lefford as head of the house and Lady of the Golden Tooth, with the castle's famed pass already rendered moot by Robb Stark's army slipping through a goat track revealed by his direwolf Grey Wind.