Old Gods of the Forest

The Old Gods of the Forest are the nameless, ancient deities worshipped by the First Men and, before them, the children of the forest who first taught their faith. The oldest religion in Westeros, the worship of the old gods survives most strongly in the North and among the Free Folk beyond the Wall.

Nature of the Faith

The old gods are innumerable, unnamed spirits of the earth, the trees, the rivers, and the stones. They have no scriptures, no septs, no priests, and no idols. Instead the faithful keep godswoods, groves of trees at the heart of which stands a weirwood with a face carved into its pale bark, weeping red sap. The faithful pray before these heart trees, and the old gods are said to witness through their carved eyes.

History

The children of the forest carved the first weirwood faces and worshipped the old gods long before men came. When the First Men made the Pact with the children, ending their long wars, they adopted the children's gods. The Andals who later invaded the south brought the Faith of the Seven and burned many weirwoods, but the North, never conquered, kept the old gods.

Observances

Worshippers swear oaths and grant guest right before the heart tree, and weddings and vows are spoken in its sight. The Starks of Winterfell keep an ancient godswood, and the practice of the old gods marks the North as a land apart from the Andal, Seven-worshipping south.