North

This page is about the region. For the short, see: The North

North
Information
Type	Independent kingdom
Location	Westeros
Geography	Rivers and plains, with forests and mountains in the northwest; temperate to sub-arctic Swamps in the Neck along southern border
Population	Under 1 million: Northmen Crannogmen in the Neck Free Folk in the Gift Knights of the Vale in Winterfell
Rulers	House Stark {House Bolton} (formerly)
Culture	Northmen (majority) Andals (minority) Crannogmen (in the Neck) First Men, Giants, Children of the Forest (pre-coming of the Andals)
Religion	Old Gods (majority) Faith of the Seven (minority)
Military	Over 20,000 men (pre-War of the Five Kings) 5,000 men (post-Battle of Winterfell)
Capital	Winterfell
Castles	Castle Cerwyn · Deepwood Motte · Dreadfort · Flint's Finger · Greywater Watch · Hornwood · Karhold · Last Hearth · Moat Cailin · Oldcastle · Queenscrown · Ramsgate · Torrhen's Square · Widow's Watch
Cities	White Harbor
Towns	Barrowton
Places of note	Barrowlands · Bay of Ice · Bay of Seals · Bear Island · Bite · Blazewater Bay · Broken Branch · Cape Kraken · Gift · Grey Cliffs · Ironman's Bay · Last River · Long Lake · Neck · Rills · Sea Dragon Point · Skagos · Skane · Stony Shore · Wall · Weeping Water · White Knife · Wolfswood
Founded	By {Brandon the Builder}

"The North is by far the largest of the Seven Kingdoms; it can fit the other six inside it. Not that the others care... cold and damp, that's how the southerners see the North. But without the cold, a man can't appreciate the fire in his hearth. Without the rain, a man can't appreciate the roof over his head. Let the south have its sun, flowers, and affectations. We northerners have home."

―Jon Snow

The North, also known as the Kingdom of the North, is a realm of Westeros. It was formerly one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms after Aegon's Conquest, but seceded during the War of the Five Kings under King in the North Robb Stark. Following the Red Wedding, the North returned to the jurisdiction of the Iron Throne under House Bolton. After House Stark regained control of the region, the North once again seceded under Jon Snow, who later pledged the North to Queen Daenerys Targaryen in exchange for House Targaryen's aid during the Great War. It was finally allowed to become independent again by Bran Stark following the Last War.

Travelers in the North, with the castle of Winterfell in the distance.

Map of the continent of Westeros, marking the location of the North in red.

The North is ruled from the castle of Winterfell by House Stark. It is the largest of the nine major regions of the continent, almost equal in size to the other eight combined. Its total population is under one million. The North is also considered the poorest region of the Seven Kingdoms.

According to legend, the Kingdom of the North was established eight thousand years ago by Bran the Builder, the founder of House Stark, who constructed the Wall as a shield against the possible return of the White Walkers. The North is the only region where the First Men were able to successfully resist the coming of the Andals, six thousand years before the War of the Five Kings. As a result the North is the only region of Westeros in which the ethnic makeup is predominantly First Men, and the only region where the culture, customs, and traditions of the First Men still predominate. Among these is the belief that the man who passes the sentence of death must swing the sword himself. In particular, the religion of the First Men, the worship of the Old Gods, is still the dominant faith in the North. The Faith of the Seven introduced in southern Westeros by the Andals has found little foothold in the North. As a result, warriors from the North are not "knights" (with very few exceptions), because "knighthood" is a code of values associated with the Faith of the Seven. However, mounted warriors are still an honored and esteemed military asset in the North, so that while northmen like Ned Stark may not carry the title "Ser", Northern cavalry are functionally equivalent to mounted knights.

Bastard children of noble blood born in the North are given the surname Snow. People of the North are known as Northmen (or Northerners), and, derogatorily as wolves, in reference to the sigil of House Stark.

Geography

The borders of the North are held to be the Sunset Sea to the west and the Shivering Sea to the east, the Wall to the north and the hills and bogs of the Neck to the south. Greywater Watch and its ruling house, House Reed, are the southernmost noble family owing fealty to Winterfell. Likewise, Last Hearth and its ruling House, House Umber, are the northernmost noble family sworn to Winterfell. Beyond Last Hearth comes the lands of the Gift under the control of the politically neutral Night's Watch and eventually the Wall itself.

In the northwestern coast of the North is the large Bay of Ice in the Sunset Sea. Bear Island, the seat of House Mormont, is in the central portion of the bay. The southern coast of the Bay of Ice is just north of the large forested Wolfswood. The peninsula Sea Dragon Point is surrounded by the bay. In the northeastern coast of the North lies the Bay of Seals in the Shivering Sea. The large and remote Skagos and the smaller Skane are both in the bay as part of an island group all considered parts of the North.

The climate and biomes of the North, though harsh overall, varies from cool and swampy around the Neck, to moderate tundra around Winterfell, and to subarctic at the Wall. The lands south of Winterfell leading to the Neck are almost as fertile as the Riverlands to the south, and are the most agriculturally productive region of the North. The Neck itself is filled with swamps. Snowfall generally increases as one moves north along the Kingsroad.

Castles

• Winterfell, the seat of House Stark, administrative center of the North.
  • Castle Cerwyn, the seat of House Cerwyn.
  • Deepwood Motte, the seat of House Glover, recently liberated from ironborn occupation.
  • The Dreadfort, the seat of House Bolton (now extinct).
  • Greywater Watch, the seat of House Reed, the southernmost House sworn to Winterfell.
  • Hornwood, the seat of House Hornwood.
  • Karhold, the seat of House Karstark (now extinct).
  • Last Hearth,the seat of House Umber (now extinct).
  • Mormont Keep, the seat of House Mormont (now extinct).
  • Torrhen's Square, the seat of House Tallhart.
  • White Harbor, the seat of House Manderly, the only city and principal port of the North.
  • Flint's Finger
  • Moat Cailin, a ruined castle at the northern edge of the Neck, currently unoccupied.
  • Barrowton, a holdfast in the Barrowlands, seat of House Dustin.
  • Oldcastle
  • Ramsgate, a holdfast at the mouth of Broken Branch.
  • Widow's Watch, the seat of House Flint, vassals of House Stark.

Regions

• The Neck
• The Rills
• Cape Kraken
• The Barrowlands
• The Stony Shore
• Sea Dragon Point
• The Wolfswood
• The Grey Cliffs

Islands

• Bear Island
• Skagos
• Skane

Coastal areas

• The Bay of Ice
• The Bay of Seals
• Blazewater Bay
• The Bite

Rivers and lakes

• The White Knife
• The Broken Branch
• The Weeping Water
• The Last River
• Long Lake

Military strength

Robb Stark's Northern armor.

Northerner soldiers are renowned of being fierce warriors. In comparison to soldiers from the other six kingdoms, Northern soldiers are easily distinguishable by their heavy usage of leather armor and uniforms. For instance, Stark soldiers wear studded leather over their mail and padding, while Bolton soldiers were equipped with boiled leather tunics over chain mail, and Mormont soldiers equip themselves with leather jerkins. Due to The North not being as wealthy as the other regions, steel plate armor is rare with only a few Houses, like House Glover, being able to afford it. However, some nobles can afford many plate armor parts, like Robb Stark, and in rare occasions whole suits of expensive plate, like Jorah Mormont.

Due to the North's vast size, gathering the full military strength of the Starks and their vassals is a difficult process, requiring months of travel time and the ability to supply and feed the host even before it sets out.

For this reason, the 18,000 men Robb Stark takes south to confront the army of the Westerlands is not the full strength of the North, only what could be assembled at relatively short notice. The forces left to guard were unknown, but main castles like Winterfell and Dreadfort were able to rise a few hundreds men with ease.

By the time of the battle at the Yellow Fork, the Stark army is allied with House Tully and their vassals, including House Frey, making its numbers comparable to or even greater than the Lannister army at the time.

During the Red Wedding, almost the entire Northern army present at the Twins is annihilated, with anyone who manages to escape the massacre being hunted by House Frey. While Houses Bolton and Karstark remain mostly unscathed and represent half of the manpower in the North with the Umbers, the only possibility of military support to the scattered heirs of House Stark comes from the remaining garrison and levies of other northern houses, provided they do not bend the knee to the new Warden of the North, Roose Bolton.

During the conflict beyond the Wall, Jon establishes an alliance between the Night's Watch and at least 2,000 Free Folk. With his temporary death freeing him from his vows, and the wildlings still loyal to him, the wildlings are now unofficial Northern soldiers. Jon and Sansa convince some of the smaller houses to unite around them, giving them 2,405 men. During the Battle of the Bastards, the Starks and their allies came close to total destruction; they were saved by the intervention of a sizable army from the Vale of Arryn led by Sansa and Petyr Baelish.

Shortly after the Battle of the Bastards, Jon and Sansa treat with all the Northern Lords and the Lords of the Vale. Lyanna Mormont declares Jon the King in the North and is soon followed by Wyman Manderly, Robett Glover, Cley Cerwyn and the rest of the Northern Lords.

At Dragonstone, Jon laments to Davos that the entire combined strength of arms in the North at this point (including old men and green boys) is probably fewer than 10,000 men. While it is not specified, it is possible that the North possesses several ships, as Jon uses one for his voyage from White Harbor to Dragonstone.

During the Battle of Winterfell, half of the Northern army is obliterated. The Northern forces later partake in the Battle of King's Landing alongside the Vale and Targaryen troops, apparently not taking significant losses.

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the North is an area vast in size but relatively light in population. The North, due to its location, is particularly badly affected during the long winters, with thousands of people killed and famine not an uncommon occurrence due to the inability to raise crops for years on end, outside of special greenhouses and castles built on or near hot springs, like Winterfell, or volcanic vents, like the Dreadfort of House Bolton.

The people of the North, popularly called "northmen" or "northerners", are known as a hardy, tough breed who hold the comforts of the warm, "soft" south in disdain. They worship the old gods, and the "new gods" of the Andals have made little headway in the North. With a few exceptions, the warriors of the North refuse to take holy orders and thus cannot become knights.

Some of the northmen live in remote, distant areas where they act little more as clans and tribes of savage warriors. Even these remote folk are vassals of the Starks, however, and are allowed to maintain their own ways and traditions as long as they remain loyal to Winterfell - which most of them usually do, as the Starks have a history of being just and honorable rulers. The Starks treated the mountain clans with respect by referring to them as if they were small-scale noble houses, i.e. calling them "House Wull" and "House Norrey", instead of dismissively thinking of them as lowly "clans".

Characters in the novels frequently remark that the North is almost as large as the rest of the Seven Kingdoms put together (a remark repeated in the TV series). In the World of Ice and Fire sourcebook (2014), the in-universe author Maester Yandel explains that while this is a very common saying, maesters have conducted fairly accurate land surveys over the centuries, which have revealed that the North is actually closer to about one third of the total land area of the Seven Kingdoms, not one half.

External links

• North on A Wiki of Ice and Fire (potential spoilers for House of the Dragon)