Children of the Forest

The Children of the Forest are a race that reportedly inhabited the continent of Westeros many thousands of years ago. According to the knowledge of the maesters, the Children are either extinct, or never existed in the first place and are a purely mythical race. This is disputed by the people of the North, who hold that they inherited their worship of the old gods from the Children of the Forest, who were real and have long since departed the realms of men for regions unknown.

In the books
In the Song of Ice and Fire novels, legend holds that the Children of the Forest ruled Westeros for thousands of years before the arrival of the First Men from the eastern continent of Essos, some twelve millennia ago. The two races fought a desperate war for dominance, resulting in the destruction of the Arm of Dorne and the flooding of the Neck through sorcery, before they fought one another to a standstill. The two races agreed to peaceful coexistence and signed the Pact on the Isle of Faces, granting the open lands to humanity and the forests to the Children. The Pact lasted for four thousand years before the enigmatic Others invaded from the uttermost north, bringing death and destruction to both races.

After the defeat of the Others, the Children, much-reduced in number, are said to have helped Bran the Builder raise the Wall. Over the following centuries they gradually disappeared from Westeros, until they had all but disappeared by the time the Andals invaded Westeros.

According to myth, the Children were dimunitive in stature and few in number compared to humans, but formidable in battle. Their greenseers wielded powerful magics and their wood dancers were skilled warriors. It is hinted that the enigmatic green priests of the Isle of Faces in the midst of Gods Eye know some of the secrets of the Children and their ways, and others (especially in the North) may know something of their ways.