Cultures and Peoples

This article is a quick guide to the numerous and diverse cultures and peoples living in the Known World, across the three known continents of Westeros, Essos, and Sothoryos. It is a navigation portal, meant to give a brief description of each group and its relationship to other groups, but more extensive information can be found by following the links to the main article devoted to each.

The dividing line between "ancient" cultures and peoples and "contemporary" ones in this article is defined as before or after the Targaryen Conquest of the Seven Kingdoms, which took place three hundred years before the War of the Five Kings. The last major migration to Westeros was made by the Rhoynar, about seven hundred years before the Targaryen Conquest (the Targaryens themselves were Valyrians but their numbers were so few that they did not have a significant impact on the continent's overall ethnic makeup). The cultures of the Free Cities and other lands of Essos in the present were largely shaped by the Doom of Valyria, which occurred one century before the Targaryen Conquest, during which the Valyrian Freehold collapsed and its surviving colonies reformed into independent city-states and realms.

Therefore, the Targaryen Conquest makes a convenient cutoff point (it is also used to mark Year 1 of the dating system used in Westeros). Some of the "ancient" cultures, however, simply evolved into modern ones gradually: the Andals who invaded the Westerlands 6,000 years ago initially formed many small petty kingdoms, and only coalesced into the "Kingdom of the Rock" many centuries later. Yet by the time of the Targaryen Conquest, they had been unified under their own Lannister kings, and had thought of themselves as "Westermen", for many centuries. Still, for the purposes of the Game of Thrones TV series, this provides a fairly reliable break between "ancient" and "contemporary" or ("modern") cultures and peoples.

=Ancient Cultures and Peoples of Westeros=

First Men
"- My father was Ned Stark. I have the blood of the First Men. My ancestors lived here, same as yours! - So why're you fightin' us?"

- Jon Snow, a Northman, and Ygritte, of the Free Folk.

The First Men are the original human inhabitants of Westeros, who first migrated to the continent 12,000 years ago. They ruled the continent for millennia before the Andals invaded from the eastern continent of Essos. The Andals overran most of southern Westeros, but failed to take the North. While the blood of the First Men and the Andals has intermingled over thousands of years of dynastic marriages, the inhabitants of the North have the greatest amount of First Men blood in their veins and keep their traditions.


 * To be clear: the "First Men" are not the first humans who lived in the entire world. Humans were already living on the eastern continent of Essos for untold millennia (and probably also on Sothoryos, the Africa-like continent south of Essos). The exact origins of the human race are not known, because just as in real life, written history does not extend that far back. Even oral history eventually fades into varying fables, legends, and religious explanations for the origins of humans. The "First Men" are simply the first humans that migrated to the western continent of Westeros.

Andals
The Andals are a race of men who invaded Westeros six thousand years prior to the events of the series. In the present day, they are the dominant ethnic and cultural group in the continent.

The original homeland of the Andals is a region on the west coast of Essos which was called Andalos, located north of the modern Free City of Pentos, across the Narrow Sea from Westeros. Six thousand years ago, after allegedly receiving visions from the "Seven-faced God", the Andals were spurred on by their new Faith to migrate to Westeros, where they overran and conquered most of the continent, then inhabited by the First Men. The Andals brought the concept of chivalry and iron-wrought weapons and armor with them from Essos.

In many cases the Andals did intermarry with the First Men they conquered, so that even House Lannister claims at least some minor descent from the First Men. Still, the overwhelming influence on the bloodlines of the continent are from the Andals, to the point that the Seven Kingdoms are often called "the Land of the Andals" by peoples in Essos (such as the Dothraki).

The exceptions are the North, which the Andals never conquered and where the blood of the First Men is still strong, and Dorne, where the Andal inhabitants later intermingled with the refugees from the east.

Ironborn


The ironborn (or rarely, ironmen) are the natives of the Iron Islands off the west coast of Westeros. They are a fiercely independent seafaring people who chafe at the rule of the Iron Throne.

The ancient ironborn were apparently First Men who colonized the islands, but their culture radically diverged from their cousins on the mainland. The modern ironborn are an intermingling of the blood of the original First Men settlers of the islands and the Andals who followed six thousand years later. While the Andals and the Faith of the Seven came to dominate everywhere else below the Neck, they found less purchase on the Islands. While a few converts to the Faith of the Seven may be found there even in the present day, most of the Andal invaders converted to the native deity, the Drowned God, instead. The Andal invaders completely acculturated to the distinct "ironborn" culture, and their invasion had relatively little impact upon the Iron Islands.

Thus the ironborn are ethnically composed of the same First Men/Andal mix as most of the rest of Westeros: they are culturally, not ethnically distinct. Even so, their culture developed so radically differently from societies on the mainland that the ironborn essentially form the fourth major cultural group in Westeros, besides the First Men, Andals, and Rhoynar.

One of the few notable changes was that the ironborn switched to speaking the Common Tongue of the Andals. On the other hand, the independent First Men of the North also eventually took up using the language of their Andal neighbors through cultural proximity, not because it was imposed upon them, and therefore it might be wrong to say that the Andals even "forced" the ironborn to speak their language.

Rhoynar
The Rhoynar were a people from the eastern continent who fled to Dorne one thousand years ago, after losing a series of massive wars with the Valyrian Freehold. They intermingled with the local First Men and Andal inhabitants.

Dornishmen are descendants of the Rhoynar and still keep some of their customs and laws alive.

=Ancient Cultures and Peoples of Essos=

Ghiscari
The Ghiscari Empire was one of the oldest - if not the oldest - civilizations known to have existed. It ruled much of the continent of Essos, centered around the region known as Slaver's Bay. It was already thriving and building vast cities with massive pyramids when the Valyrians were still humble shepherds tending their flocks on hillsides. Like the Valyrians, the Ghiscari extensively practiced slavery, refining it into a well-developed discipline. While the Valyrians rode dragons into battle, the Ghiscari fielded vast lock-step legions of slave-soldiers.

After the Valyrians discovered and learned to ride dragons as beasts of war, they began their own expansion, and eventually came into conflict with the Ghiscari Empire. The Valyrian Freehold and Ghiscari Empire fought a series of five great wars, contesting which would be the dominant power in Essos. At the end of the last war the Valyrians finally defeated the Ghiscari Empire when their armies and their dragons attacked the Empire's capital city of Ghis. The buildings and streets were burned to ash, and the Valyrians sowed the earth with salt so that nothing would grow again. Five thousand years later, Old Ghis is still a ruin.

Valyrians
The Valyrians created the largest empire the world has ever seen, which lasted for five thousand years, only to be destroyed in a single day when a volcanic cataclysm known as "the Doom" ruined their capital city, four hundred years before the War of the Five Kings. At its height their empire, known as the Valyrian Freehold, encompassed nearly half of the continent of Essos.

Originally a community of shepherds, the Valyrians rose to prominence after discovering dragons in the volcanic area known as the Fourteen Fires. After taming the mighty beasts, they established the city of Valyria and became skilled in both magic and metallurgy - creating a unique type of steel.

With their dragons and weapons, the Valyrians conquered their surrounding lands and began their westward expansion. However, they came into conflict with the Rhoynar as well as the Ghiscari peoples. The Ghiscari Empire fought five wars against the Valyrian Freehold and was eventually defeated, their capital destroyed, and its people enslaved.

For nearly five thousand years, Valyrian hegemony was uncontested, until "the Doom" destroyed much of the Valyrian peninsula. Not only dragons, but also the Valyrians' spells, knowledge and recorded history, were lost.

The cause of the Doom remains unknown, with some believing the Valyrians themselves caused it with their reckless use of magic. In any event, the power of the Valyrians was broken, the ruling dragonlords dead, and soon their colonies throughout Essos declared their independence and a period of constant warfare began: the Century of Blood.

Rhoynar
The Rhoynar were a people from the eastern continent, named for their homeland along the immense Rhoyne River and its numerous tributaries, near the modern Free Cities. One thousand years ago, their territories were conquered by the Valyrian Freehold in a series of massive wars. The survivors fled west across the Narrow Sea and settled in Dorne, where they intermingled with the local population (a mixture of First Men and Andals), giving rise to their descendants, the modern Dornishmen.

=Contemporary Cultures and Peoples of Westeros=

Descendants of the First Men
Over the millennia, the ancient First Men diversified into several different groups: the Northmen, the Crannogmen, the wildling tribes (or "Free Folk" as they call themselves) who live beyond the Wall, and the hill tribes of the Vale.

Northmen
The Northmen are the proud descendants of the First Men who dwell in the region of Westeros known as the North, between the isthmus of the Neck and the Wall. When the Andals invaded Westeros six thousand years ago, only the First Men in the North were able to repulse their advance, stubbornly defending the narrow choke point of the Neck at the ancient fortress Moat Cailin. South of the Neck, the majority of people from the other kingdoms of Westeros are all descended from the Andals, intermixed with the conquered local First Men, but the defiantly independent First Men remained the dominant ethnic group north of the Neck. The blood and traditions of the First Men remain strong in the North to the present day, and belief in the Old Gods of the Forest - worshiped by their First Men forbearers - remains the dominant religion.

For many centuries, the Northmen formed their own independent Kingdom of the North ruled by House Stark of Winterfell, who were known as the Kings in the North (and earlier, the Kings of Winter). Three hundred years ago, however, the Northmen submitted to Aegon the Conqueror during Targaryen Conquest. "The North" became one of the constituent regions of the unified Seven Kingdoms, and the Starks were retained as the Lords Paramount of the North, under the Targaryen kings. The years-long winters that Westeros experiences hit the North the hardest. For millennia, the Northmen have also faced raids by wildlings coming over and around the Wall, and sometimes full-scale invasions when the wildlings were united by a King-Beyond-the-Wall. The North also has vast coastlines on both sides of the continent, vulnerable to attack by ironborn on the west coast, and pirates from the Free Cities on the east coast. As a result, Northmen have a reputation for being dour, stern, battle-hardened warriors. With every winter a fight for survival, Northmen take the burden of leadership very seriously as a matter of life and death. As a result, they still firmly believe in the tradition handed down by their First Men ancestors, that the man who passes the sentence of death must personally swing the sword used in the execution. The reasoning is that if a lord is not steadfast enough in his convictions to look a man he has sentenced in the eye and then kill him personally, there will be doubt that the condemned man was guilty.

Northmen are sometimes collectively referred to as "wolves", in reference to the sigil of House Stark. Northmen are also called "Northerners", interchangeably.

Crannogmen
The crannogmen are the inhabitants of the swamps of the Neck, the southernmost part of the North which borders the Riverlands, in central Westeros. They are a unique offshoot of the First Men, who branched off from their Northmen cousins. They are ruled by House Reed as vassals loyal to House Stark.

The crannogmen are so-called because they live in small villages in the deep swamps, formed of thatch and woven reeds which sit atop artificial floating islands made out of logs, which are known as crannogs. Hardy and reclusive swamp-dwellers, the crannogmen are derisively referred to by outsiders as "mudmen" and "frog-eaters". They are a poor people, mostly subsisting on fishing and frogging, as well as eating any game they can hunt. By the standards of some of their neighbors their culture is somewhat primitive, but they are very woodcrafty, with great knowledge of their terrain as well as of poisons made by local plants and animals in the swamps, which they often coat their weapons with. Crannogmen are typically short in stature.

The crannogmen are a different offshoot of the First Men, separate from the Northmen who also descend from the First Men. However, the crannogmen do consider themselves to politically be "Northmen", in a general sense, because they have been ruled by the Starks of Winterfell for centuries.

Wildlings (Free Folk)
The wildlings

Hill tribes of the Vale
The Hill tribes

Valemen
The Vale of Arryn

Reachmen
The Reach

Westermen
The Westerlands

Stormlanders
The Stormlands

Rivermen
The Riverlands

Crownlanders
The Crownlands

Ironborn
"We are ironborn. We're not subjects, we're not slaves. We do not plow the field or toil in the mine. We take what is ours."

- Balon Greyjoy

In the present day, the Ironborn generally think of their distinct culture as stretching back without interruption to the Dawn Age, long before the Andals arrived. Even back then, however, their culture had developed so differently from their First Men cousins who were on the mainland that the ironborn only consider themselves to have truly "originated", culturally, on the Iron Islands themselves.

Dornishmen: contemporary inhabitants of Dorne
There are actually three kinds of Dornishmen in modern times, one thousand years after the Rhoynar migration to Dorne. "Salty" Dornishmen live near the coasts and in the densely populated river valleys of eastern Dorne. "Sandy" Dornishmen live in the central deserts. "Stony" Dornishmen live in the Red Mountains along the western border.

Valyrian survivors: The Targaryens and their vassals
=Contemporary Cultures and Peoples of Essos=

Asshai
Asshai is port city in the far east of the Jade Sea, even further east than Yi Ti. It is so far away from Westeros that it half-legendary to its inhabitants, and infamous as a city of sorcerers, warlocks, and other practitioners of the dark arts. Worst of all are shadowbinders, who alone venture into the neighboring Shadow Lands in the Mountains of the Morn, seeking arcane riches, and relics such as dragonbone. But even the shadowbinders fear to travel further east into the heart of the Shadow Lands, where can be found the strange city of Carcosa, ruled by its Yellow King.

What little is known about Asshai from travelers' reports say that its enormous land walls enclose an area so vast that it could contain King's Landing, Oldtown, Qarth, and Volantis - but its current population is no bigger than that of a large market town. Asshai is located at the mouth of the Ash River, whose waters are poisonous. Absolutely nothing grows in Asshai, except for glowing Ghost grass, which is inedible to anything. All food, and even all basic drinking water, has to be imported to Asshai by foreign merchant ships - in exchange for gold and gems, which Asshai has in abundance. There are no horses, or even wild animals, in the city. Animals such as horses and dogs who are brought to Asshai by ship soon die. There are no children in Asshai. Even the very fumes of the Ash River (or some other malign presence) seems to render people sterile who live there for prolonged periods of time.

The people of Asshai are known as Asshai'i. Because there are no children in Asshai, its culture "reproduces" by purchasing foreign slaves and raising them as the next generation of Asshai'i. As a result, there is no set ethnic appearance for Asshai'i, who could have been born into slavery in the Free Cities, the Summer Islands, or Yi Ti before being taken to the city.


 * Only two characters from Asshai have appeared in the novels, Melisandre and Quaithe. Quaithe always wears a mask so her appearance is unclear from the text.  Melisandre is described as pale skinned and taller than most men, with unnaturally red hair and matching red irises (her appearance perhaps being enhanced by magic).  Melisandre states in both the books and TV series that she was a slave when she was a little girl - she was sold to and raised in Asshai.  The actress who plays Melisandre in the TV series is Dutch, and the actress who plays Quaithe is German, but Asshai'i are a culture, not a race, and can potentially be any ethnicity.

=Sothoryos=

Summer Islanders
The Summer Islands are tropical islands located far west of mainland Sothoryos, west of Naath. They are straight south of the Narrow Sea, and the northernmost is at about the same latitude as Old Valyria.

The Summer Islanders are an ancient and advanced civilization, and Summer Islanders are renowned as great mariners. Their merchant ships can be found in many major cities across the far corners of the globe. Summer Islanders believe that sex is a gift from the gods to humanity and a holy, life-affirming act, for which there should be no shame. Like the peoples of neighboring lands around Sothoryos, they are ethnically quite distinct from the peoples of much of Westeros and Essos, being notably dark-skinned.

Summer Islander sea-captains and merchants can also settle in other lands: the pirate-lord Salladhor Saan lives in the Free City of Lys but is ethnically a Summer Islander (Lys is very close to the Summer Isles), as is Xaro Xhoan Daxos, a Summer Islander who rose to become a powerful magister in Qarth.

The slave Grey Worm is ethnically a Summer Islander but he was taken in a slaving raid as a baby and has no memory of anything before he was forced to become an Unsullied slave-soldier.


 * In the books, Salladhor Saan is simply a Lysene, and Xaro is a Qartheen. The TV series cast black actors based on the strength of their performances, so they slightly altered their backstories to say that they were originally from the Summer Islands.  Nothing is known about Grey Worm's backstory in the novels, though as a slave-soldier in Astapor it is entirely plausible that he could ethnically be a Summer Islander taken in a slaving raid as a baby.


 * The books directly state that because they are prolific sea-traders, Summer Islander crews are commonly encountered in major port cities across both Essos and Westeros, including King's Landing itself. A few other more prominent Summer Islander characters actually appear in the novels but were cut from the TV series.  While Littlefinger does own several brothels in King's Landing in the novels, the high-class brothel that most highborn characters visit is owned by a Summer Islander madam named Chataya.  The TV series changed Chataya's brothel to be Littlefinger's brothel.

Naathi
The Naathi inhabit the island of Naath, located west of mainland Sothoryos, and east of the Summer Islands. As with these neighboring regions, its inhabitants are dark-skinned. The Naathi are are also known as the Peaceful People, because their religion commands utter pacifism. This restriction on violence is so great that they are vegetarians, refusing to kill animals for their meat. Unfortunately, their refusal to engage in martial endeavors even for self-defense has made them a frequent target of slaving raids from Slaver's Bay, which is located to the north across the Summer Sea.

Missandei is a Naathi who was captured in a slaving raid as a child, and brought to the slaver-city of Astapor.

=Non-Human Races=

Wights
=References=