Age of Heroes

The Age of Heroes was a legendary epoch in the ancient history of Westeros, beginning after the First Men made their Pact with the children of the forest and lasting some thousands of years. It was the age of the great founding legends of the noble houses and of the dread Long Night.

The Age

The Age of Heroes followed the signing of the Pact on the Isle of Faces, which ended the long wars between the First Men and the children of the forest. During this age, by legend, the great houses of Westeros were founded by larger-than-life figures whose deeds blur into myth. The maesters caution that the dates and details of this age are unreliable, drawn from songs and tales told for thousands of years.

Legendary Figures

Many founding legends belong to this age. Brandon the Builder is said to have raised both the Wall and Winterfell and founded House Stark. Lann the Clever supposedly won Casterly Rock by trickery and founded the line of House Lannister. Garth Greenhand, the Grey King of the Iron Islands, Durran Godsgrief of the Stormlands, and many others trace their houses to this time.

The Long Night

The Age of Heroes was shattered by the Long Night, the generation-long winter in which the Others nearly destroyed mankind. The legends of the War for the Dawn, the last hero, and the founding of the Night's Watch belong to its close. The age represents the deep, half-mythic past from which the houses and institutions of Westeros claim descent.