Weirwood

A weirwood tree in the godswood of Winterfell.

"At the hill. A great weirwood tree."

―Jojen Reed

Weirwood is a species of deciduous tree found all over Westeros; it has white bark with five-pointed, blood-red leaves and sap. The heart trees are weirwood trees with faces carved on their barks found in the center of godswoods. The Children of the Forest are thought to have carved the faces that decorated the heart trees.

According to Alys Rivers, weirwoods are imbued with the spirits of ancient people, and their whispers can still be heard sometimes.

History

Night's Watch recruits taking their vows before a weirwood.

During the coming of the Andals six thousand years ago, the Andals cut down most of the weirwood trees in southern Westeros, to suppress worship of the Old Gods in favor of the Andals' new religion, the Faith of the Seven. The only weirwoods still in the south are the handful of heart trees that survived in castle godswoods that were converted to secular gardens, instead of being destroyed. Weirwoods also survive in southern Westeros on the Isle of Faces in Gods Eye lake, in the southern Riverlands. Weirwoods still grow in significant numbers, but only in the forests of the North. Beyond the Wall, they are even more prevalent.

Weirwood, as seen in one of Bran's visions.

Bran Stark before a weirwood with a carved face.

The area around the weirwood where Bran Stark meets the Three-Eyed Raven is shown to destroy wights. It is stated by a child of the forest that they "hold no power here", though it is unclear whether it is because of the tree, the reason why the tree is there, or some other factor.

Behind the scenes

The "weir" in weirwood is a reference to musician Bob Weir, a member of the band Grateful Dead.

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, weirwood trees live an extremely long time, and even when they die they do not rot. Objects made of weirwood are as lasting as stone. This is how the faces in the weirwood trees could actually be carved by the Children of the Forest, even though they disappeared six thousand years ago. Weirwood trees like the ones in the Winterfell godswood are thousands of years old. Even dead weirwood trees like the one at House Blackwood's seat of Raventree Hall can remain freestanding for thousands of years after they die.

External links

• Weirwood on A Wiki of Ice and Fire