Beyond the Wall

"We don't kneel for anyone beyond the Wall."

- Mance Rayder

Beyond the Wall is a generic term employed by the people of the Seven Kingdoms to refer to the large area of Westeros that lies north of the Wall. It is the only part of the continent that is not part of the realm, and thus the only place where particular attention is given to the difference between "Westeros" (the continent), and "the Seven Kingdoms" (the realm to the south of the Wall ruled by the Iron Throne).

It is inhabited by tribes that refer to themselves as the "Free Folk", known by the people of the Seven Kingdoms as wildlings. The wildlings themselves are not politically unified but consist of numerous and diverse groups. Many are semi-nomadic hunters, due to the impracticality of agriculture in the far north. Some wildlings are little more than savage and primitive raiders, but other groups live in small settled communities and villages.

The Free Folk sometimes refer to these lands as "the real North", because they are actually located north of the northernmost of the Seven Kingdoms, which is named simply "The North" - and they think it odd to say that "the north" is south of where they live.

Geography


The lands Beyond the Wall are mostly uncharted. The region immediately north of the Wall includes the Haunted Forest, a vast taiga-forest which covers most of the area, extending from the Wall to the furthest uncharted north.

The forest extends from the eastern coast to a large mountain chain in the west known as the Frostfangs. The Frostfangs extend an unknown distance to the north and are quite inhospitable. However, there are rumors that even the northern Frostfangs contain hidden valleys, heated by volcanic activity, which are actually the most hospitable regions north of the Wall, and heavily settled by the wildlings.

Southwest of the Frostfangs there is a narrow strip of land between the mountains and the sea known as the Frozen Shore, a harsh area inhabited by fierce and primitive warriors who frequently cross the Bay of Ice to raid the lands in the North sworn to House Stark. This small area is totally enclosed by the Frostfangs, which run southeast to northwest, and the ocean.

Beyond all of these areas, in the furthest north are the Lands of Always Winter. The forest ends and gives way to these truly polar regions, which are unexplored. The White Walkers are rumored to originate in the depths of the Lands of Always Winter.

Economy
cccThe Free Folk living north of The Wall have a hardscrabble, survival-based economy, with little settled agriculture. Most of their economic activity is fixated on hunting and gathering: they live to catch what they can eat, and they eat whatever they can catch. They use no official currency, as they are more interested in obtaining things that are directly useful to them, and thus function on the barter system.

However, the wildlings do engage in at least some long-distance trade: the heavy furs of local animals adapted to the harsh cold of the extreme north are fairly valuable, and they often trade them to passing smuggler ships in exchange for iron weapons, which they cannot forge on their own. In past centuries the Night's Watch tried to stop the fur-for-iron trade along the coasts, but in recent centuries as their numbers dwindled they abandoned any attempts to prevent passage around the Wall by sea.

Notable locations

 * Haunted Forest
 * Craster's Keep
 * White Tree
 * The Fist of the First Men
 * The Frostfangs
 * Skirling Pass
 * The Milkwater
 * Lands of Always Winter
 * Frozen Shore
 * Storrold's Point
 * The Valley of Thenn
 * ​The Cave of the three-eyed raven

Notable inhabitants
His lieutenants and followers:
 * Mance Rayder, the King-Beyond-the-Wall, leader of the Free Folk and feared opponent of the Night's Watch. Now a prisoner of Stannis Baratheon.
 * Tormund, called Tormund Giantsbane, a wildling leader and one of Mance Rayder's most trusted lieutenants. After the Battle of Castle Black, he's now a prisoner for the Night's Watch.
 * The Lord of Bones, a wildling leader and a fearsome raider. Whereabouts unknown.
 * {Styr}, Magnar of Thenn, a notorious and brutal wildling leader. Killed by Jon Snow during the Battle of Castle Black.
 * {Mag Mar Tun Doh Weg}, called Mag the Mighty, king of the Giants, killed by Grenn during the Battle of Castle Black.
 * {Orell}, a wildling raider and a Warg, killed by Jon Snow.
 * {Ygritte}, a Free Folk Spearwife and lover of Jon Snow. Killed by Olly during the Battle of Castle Black.

At Craster's Keep:
 * {Craster}, an unsavory ally of the Night's Watch, killed by Karl during a mutiny.
 * Gilly, his wife and daughter.
 * Sam, their son. Named after Samwell Tarly.

In a hidden cave:
 * The Three-eyed raven, a greenseer.
 * Leaf, a child of the forest.

In the books
Author George R.R. Martin has stated that the land-area inhabited by the Free Folk beyond the Wall is vast, roughly the size of Canada: "There's actually quite a lot of Westeros north of the Wall, it's a large expanse of land, probably as large as Canada."

The World of Ice and Fire companion book features a map of Westeros and western Essos that shows a significant amount of land north of the Wall, possibly extending further east and west as well, backing up the suggestion that the lands beyond the Wall are vast.