First Men

Line 12:

=== The Dawn Age ===

The First Men began to enter Westeros approximately seven thousand years before the Coming of the Andals, though the migrations never took place all, despite myths of a single leader and migration. The migrations came to an end with the breaking of the Arm of Dorne roughly two thousand years ''after'' the First Men first step foot onto Westeros, permanently separating Westeros and Essos. Though it is debated whether it came about as the 'Hammer of the Waters' sent by the [[Greenseers]] of the [[Children of the Forest]] or more mundane natural causes.

The First Men began to enter Westeros across the Arm of Dorne approximately seven thousand years before the Coming of the Andals, though the migrations never took place all at once, despite myths of a single leader and migration. The migrations came to an end with the breaking of the Arm of Dorne roughly two thousand years ''after'' the First Men first step foot onto Westeros, permanently separating Westeros and Essos. Though it is debated whether it came about as the 'Hammer of the Waters' sent by the [[Greenseers]] of the [[Children of the Forest]] or more mundane natural causes.

~~The First Men settled~~ [[Dorne]] first, but the vast majority found it barren and unappealing and moved northwards to more fertile lands<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. The next regions they migrated to over the next few centuries were the [[The Reach|Reach]], the [[The Stormlands|Stormlands]], and the [[The Riverlands|Riverlands]]<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. The [[Mountain and Vale]] and the [[the North|North]] were the last to be settled<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. The [[Iron Islands|Ironborn]] also begin to appear during these migrations, launching raids on the First Men kingdoms immediately, but it is unknown whether these were also First Men or an [[Deep Ones|entirely different]] people<ref name="IronIslands175>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Iron Islands''. London: HarperVoyager. p.175.</ref>.

[[Dorne]] was the first region the First Men arrived in and settled, but the vast majority found it barren and unappealing and moved northwards to more fertile lands<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. The next regions they migrated to over the next few centuries were the [[The Reach|Reach]], the [[The Stormlands|Stormlands]], and the [[The Riverlands|Riverlands]]<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. The [[Mountain and Vale]] and the [[the North|North]] were the last to be settled<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. The [[Iron Islands|Ironborn]] also begin to appear during these migrations, launching raids on the First Men kingdoms immediately, but it is unknown whether these were also First Men or an [[Deep Ones|entirely different]] people<ref name="IronIslands175>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Iron Islands''. London: HarperVoyager. p.175.</ref>.

In every region they settled, bar Dorne, the First Men encountered the elder races of the Giants and the Children of the Forest. Initially they cohabited together, but as the First Men began to farm, erect ring-forts and build settlements in the early days of their arrival, they chopped down woods and [[Weirwoods|weirwoods]] alike. Enraged by the desecration of their [[Old Gods|woodland gods]] the Children attacked the First Men and war broke out between the two races<ref name="FirstMen8">George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Coming of the First Men''. London: HarperVoyager. p.8.</ref>.

However from the beginning of the conflict, the First Men had many advantages over the Children brought with them, such as horses, stoneworking techniques, and above all else, bronze<ref name="FirstMen8">George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Coming of the First Men''. London: HarperVoyager. p.8.</ref>. The First Men slaughtered the Children, cut down vast swathes of weirwoods - fearful of the strange Children watching them through their bleeding eyes, and claimed large tracts of land throughout Westeros. The wars between men, giants and the children were many and terrible, but as the conflict continued over centuries and generations, the Children turned in desperation to their [[Greenseers]] who gathered together and with their combined magics broke the Arm of Dorne<ref name="FirstMen8">George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Coming of the First Men''. London: HarperVoyager. p.8.</ref> and swamped the Neck<ref name="DaveHill">Dave Hill. (2014). ''The North'' in ''Histories & Lore: Season 3''. Home Box Office.</ref>, putting a stop to the migrations and separating Westeros from Essos permanently. This occured about two thousand years after the First Men began migrating westwards.

However from the beginning of the conflict, the First Men had many advantages over the Children brought with them, such as horses, stoneworking techniques, and above all else, bronze<ref name="FirstMen8">George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Coming of the First Men''. London: HarperVoyager. p.8.</ref>. The First Men slaughtered the Children, cut down vast swathes of weirwoods - fearful of the strange Children watching them through their bleeding eyes, and claimed large tracts of land throughout Westeros.

Despite the disastrous losses that befell the First Men, and the mass-death wrought by the first and second 'Hammer of the Waters', they had already been established in Westeros for centuries, and outnumbered both the Children and the Giants three-to-one even after this event<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. And the conflict continued over millennia. Eventually, the Children acknowledged they could not win and continuing would spell the end of their people. The kings of the First Men agreed, tired of a war their ancestor's started a both sides met on what would become the [[Isle of Faces]] at the centre of the God's Eye, and there sealed the [[The Pact|Pact]]. The First Men would claim the highlands, the bogs, the plains, and other lands, while the Children would live in the deep forests, in exchange no more weirwoods would be cut down<ref name="FirstMen8">George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Coming of the First Men''. London: HarperVoyager. p.8.</ref>.

The wars between men, giants and the children were many and terrible, but as the conflict continued over centuries and generations, the Children turned in desperation to their [[Greenseers]] who gathered together and with their combined magics [[Dawn Age#The Breaking|broke the Arm of Dorne]]<ref name="FirstMen8">George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Coming of the First Men''. London: HarperVoyager. p.8.</ref> and swamped the Neck<ref name="DaveHill">Dave Hill. (2014). ''The North'' in ''Histories & Lore: Season 3''. Home Box Office.</ref>, putting a stop to the migrations and separating Westeros from Essos permanently. This occured about two thousand years after the First Men began migrating westwards.

Despite the disastrous losses that befell the First Men, and the mass-death wrought by the first and second 'Hammer of the Waters', they had already been established in Westeros for centuries, and outnumbered both the Children and the Giants three-to-one even after this event<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. And the conflict continued over millennia. Eventually, the Children acknowledged they could not win and continuing would spell the end of their people. The kings of the First Men agreed, tired of a war their ancestor's started a both sides met on what would become the [[Isle of Faces]] at the centre of the God's Eye, and there sealed the [[The Pact|Pact]]. The First Men would claim the highlands, the bogs, the plains, and other lands, while the Children would live in the deep forests, and the Giants the mountains, in exchange no more weirwoods would be cut down<ref name="FirstMen8">George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Coming of the First Men''. London: HarperVoyager. p.8.</ref>.

==== The First King ====

Line 32:

Line 34:

Garth Greenhand as a potential First King in Westeros who settled in the Reach is also called into question by the existence of the Green Kings - the self-proclaimed High Kings of Dorne who dwell near the mouth of the Greenblood. The similar associations of these kings with the harvest, fertility and a sense of community call into question the unique circumstances of Garth, and the kingdom his declared descendants forged in the Reach.

=== The Age of Heroes ===

=== The [[Age of Heroes]] ===

~~What prompted the Pact is uncertain.~~ Some would claim that the Long Night was the beginning of cooperation between men and the children, whilst others would claim that the two races had begun to interbreed to the point that the boundaries between their interests were becoming ever more blurred. The identification of 'the Last Hero' as the saviour from the Others during the Long Night is a puzzling one if this is the case, for the sealing of the Pact is oft associated the beginning of the Age of Heroes, not the end. Whatever the case, the Pact was agreed on the island at the centre of the Gods' Eye - the First Men would have the fields and hills to live on, the Children the deep forests. The First Men would not cut down any more weirwoods, and in fact the majority of the First Men took the gods of the children for their own. From this time onwards, the First Men have lived in peace with the Children of the Forest - if sometimes uneasily. The Pact is still maintained, but it has been broken in certain places, leading to dire consequences. The Green Men of the Isles of Faces are said to maintain the Pact - though none are sure how, and almost no one was permitted to reach the shores of the Isle of Faces by the time of the Coming of the Andals.

Some would claim that the Long Night was the beginning of cooperation between men and the children, whilst others would claim that the two races had begun to interbreed to the point that the boundaries between their interests were becoming ever more blurred. The identification of 'the Last Hero' as the saviour from the Others during the Long Night is a puzzling one if this is the case, for the sealing of the Pact is oft associated the beginning of the Age of Heroes, not the end. Whatever the case, the Pact was agreed on the island at the centre of the Gods' Eye - the First Men would have the fields and hills to live on, the Children the deep forests. The First Men would not cut down any more weirwoods, and in fact the majority of the First Men took the gods of the children for their own. From this time onwards, the First Men have lived in peace with the Children of the Forest - if sometimes uneasily. The Pact is still maintained, but it has been broken in certain places, leading to dire consequences. The Green Men of the Isles of Faces are said to maintain the Pact - though none are sure how, and almost no one was permitted to reach the shores of the Isle of Faces by the time of the Coming of the Andals.

The Age of Heroes is sometimes referred to as the Age of a Hundred Kingdoms, though it would be more accurate to describe this as the state of Westeros during the high point of these untold centuries, before a myriad of petty kingdoms began to congregate into larger, more regional realms. Most of the great tales and epics of the First Men come from the Age of Heroes, along with many of their greatest and most powerful Houses. Most of the towns and larger settlements built by the First Men came into existence gradually during this period, including [[Duskendale]], [[Maidenpool]], [[Barrowton]], [[Sisterton]], [[Fairmarket]], [[Kayce]], [[Lordsport]], and most recently [[Lannisport]]<ref>Lannisport stands as something of an exception due to the complicated circumstances of its emergence. For details, see [[House Lannister]].</ref> and [[Lord Hewett's Town]].

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 === The Dawn Age ===
-The First Men began to enter Westeros approximately seven thousand years before the Coming of the Andals, though the migrations never took place all, despite myths of a single leader and migration. The migrations came to an end with the breaking of the Arm of Dorne roughly two thousand years ''after'' the First Men first step foot onto Westeros, permanently separating Westeros and Essos. Though it is debated whether it came about as the 'Hammer of the Waters' sent by the [[Greenseers]] of the [[Children of the Forest]] or more mundane natural causes.
+The First Men began to enter Westeros across the Arm of Dorne approximately seven thousand years before the Coming of the Andals, though the migrations never took place all at once, despite myths of a single leader and migration. The migrations came to an end with the breaking of the Arm of Dorne roughly two thousand years ''after'' the First Men first step foot onto Westeros, permanently separating Westeros and Essos. Though it is debated whether it came about as the 'Hammer of the Waters' sent by the [[Greenseers]] of the [[Children of the Forest]] or more mundane natural causes.
-The First Men settled [[Dorne]] first, but the vast majority found it barren and unappealing and moved northwards to more fertile lands<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. The next regions they migrated to over the next few centuries were the [[The Reach|Reach]], the [[The Stormlands|Stormlands]], and the [[The Riverlands|Riverlands]]<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. The [[Mountain and Vale]] and the [[the North|North]] were the last to be settled<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. The [[Iron Islands|Ironborn]] also begin to appear during these migrations, launching raids on the First Men kingdoms immediately, but it is unknown whether these were also First Men or an [[Deep Ones|entirely different]] people<ref name="IronIslands175>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Iron Islands''. London: HarperVoyager. p.175.</ref>.
+[[Dorne]] was the first region the First Men arrived in and settled, but the vast majority found it barren and unappealing and moved northwards to more fertile lands<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. The next regions they migrated to over the next few centuries were the [[The Reach|Reach]], the [[The Stormlands|Stormlands]], and the [[The Riverlands|Riverlands]]<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. The [[Mountain and Vale]] and the [[the North|North]] were the last to be settled<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. The [[Iron Islands|Ironborn]] also begin to appear during these migrations, launching raids on the First Men kingdoms immediately, but it is unknown whether these were also First Men or an [[Deep Ones|entirely different]] people<ref name="IronIslands175>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Iron Islands''. London: HarperVoyager. p.175.</ref>.
 In every region they settled, bar Dorne, the First Men encountered the elder races of the Giants and the Children of the Forest. Initially they cohabited together, but as the First Men began to farm, erect ring-forts and build settlements in the early days of their arrival, they chopped down woods and [[Weirwoods|weirwoods]] alike. Enraged by the desecration of their [[Old Gods|woodland gods]] the Children attacked the First Men and war broke out between the two races<ref name="FirstMen8">George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Coming of the First Men''. London: HarperVoyager. p.8.</ref>.
-However from the beginning of the conflict, the First Men had many advantages over the Children brought with them, such as  horses, stoneworking techniques, and above all else, bronze<ref name="FirstMen8">George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Coming of the First Men''. London: HarperVoyager. p.8.</ref>. The First Men slaughtered the Children, cut down vast swathes of weirwoods - fearful of the strange Children watching them through their bleeding eyes, and claimed large tracts of land throughout Westeros. The wars between men, giants and the children were many and terrible, but as the conflict continued over centuries and generations, the Children turned in desperation to their [[Greenseers]] who gathered together and with their combined magics broke the Arm of Dorne<ref name="FirstMen8">George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Coming of the First Men''. London: HarperVoyager. p.8.</ref> and swamped the Neck<ref name="DaveHill">Dave Hill. (2014). ''The North'' in ''Histories & Lore: Season 3''. Home Box Office.</ref>, putting a stop to the migrations and separating Westeros from Essos permanently. This occured about two thousand years after the First Men began migrating westwards.
+However from the beginning of the conflict, the First Men had many advantages over the Children brought with them, such as  horses, stoneworking techniques, and above all else, bronze<ref name="FirstMen8">George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Coming of the First Men''. London: HarperVoyager. p.8.</ref>. The First Men slaughtered the Children, cut down vast swathes of weirwoods - fearful of the strange Children watching them through their bleeding eyes, and claimed large tracts of land throughout Westeros.
-Despite the disastrous losses that befell the First Men, and the mass-death wrought by the first and second 'Hammer of the Waters', they had already been established in Westeros for centuries, and outnumbered both the Children and the Giants three-to-one even after this event<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. And the conflict continued over millennia. Eventually, the Children acknowledged they could not win and continuing would spell the end of their people. The kings of the First Men agreed, tired of a war their ancestor's started a both sides met on what would become the [[Isle of Faces]] at the centre of the God's Eye, and there sealed the [[The Pact|Pact]]. The First Men would claim the highlands, the bogs, the plains, and other lands, while the Children would live in the deep forests, in exchange no more weirwoods would be cut down<ref name="FirstMen8">George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Coming of the First Men''. London: HarperVoyager. p.8.</ref>.
+The wars between men, giants and the children were many and terrible, but as the conflict continued over centuries and generations, the Children turned in desperation to their [[Greenseers]] who gathered together and with their combined magics [[Dawn Age#The Breaking|broke the Arm of Dorne]]<ref name="FirstMen8">George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Coming of the First Men''. London: HarperVoyager. p.8.</ref> and swamped the Neck<ref name="DaveHill">Dave Hill. (2014). ''The North'' in ''Histories & Lore: Season 3''. Home Box Office.</ref>, putting a stop to the migrations and separating Westeros from Essos permanently. This occured about two thousand years after the First Men began migrating westwards.
+Despite the disastrous losses that befell the First Men, and the mass-death wrought by the first and second 'Hammer of the Waters', they had already been established in Westeros for centuries, and outnumbered both the Children and the Giants three-to-one even after this event<ref name="Dorne237>George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - Dorne: The Breaking''. London: HarperVoyager. p.237.</ref>. And the conflict continued over millennia. Eventually, the Children acknowledged they could not win and continuing would spell the end of their people. The kings of the First Men agreed, tired of a war their ancestor's started a both sides met on what would become the [[Isle of Faces]] at the centre of the God's Eye, and there sealed the [[The Pact|Pact]]. The First Men would claim the highlands, the bogs, the plains, and other lands, while the Children would live in the deep forests, and the Giants the mountains, in exchange no more weirwoods would be cut down<ref name="FirstMen8">George R.R. Martin. (2014). ''The World of Ice and Fire - The Coming of the First Men''. London: HarperVoyager. p.8.</ref>.
 ==== The First King ====
@@ Line 32: / Line 34: @@
 Garth Greenhand as a potential First King in Westeros who settled in the Reach is also called into question by the existence of the Green Kings - the self-proclaimed High Kings of Dorne who dwell near the mouth of the Greenblood. The similar associations of these kings with the harvest, fertility and a sense of community call into question the unique circumstances of Garth, and the kingdom his declared descendants forged in the Reach.
-=== The Age of Heroes ===
+=== The [[Age of Heroes]] ===
-What prompted the Pact is uncertain. Some would claim that the Long Night was the beginning of cooperation between men and the children, whilst others would claim that the two races had begun to interbreed to the point that the boundaries between their interests were becoming ever more blurred. The identification of 'the Last Hero' as the saviour from the Others during the Long Night is a puzzling one if this is the case, for the sealing of the Pact is oft associated the beginning of the Age of Heroes, not the end. Whatever the case, the Pact was agreed on the island at the centre of the Gods' Eye - the First Men would have the fields and hills to live on, the Children the deep forests. The First Men would not cut down any more weirwoods, and in fact the majority of the First Men took the gods of the children for their own. From this time onwards, the First Men have lived in peace with the Children of the Forest - if sometimes uneasily. The Pact is still maintained, but it has been broken in certain places, leading to dire consequences. The Green Men of the Isles of Faces are said to maintain the Pact - though none are sure how, and almost no one was permitted to reach the shores of the Isle of Faces by the time of the Coming of the Andals.
+Some would claim that the Long Night was the beginning of cooperation between men and the children, whilst others would claim that the two races had begun to interbreed to the point that the boundaries between their interests were becoming ever more blurred. The identification of 'the Last Hero' as the saviour from the Others during the Long Night is a puzzling one if this is the case, for the sealing of the Pact is oft associated the beginning of the Age of Heroes, not the end. Whatever the case, the Pact was agreed on the island at the centre of the Gods' Eye - the First Men would have the fields and hills to live on, the Children the deep forests. The First Men would not cut down any more weirwoods, and in fact the majority of the First Men took the gods of the children for their own. From this time onwards, the First Men have lived in peace with the Children of the Forest - if sometimes uneasily. The Pact is still maintained, but it has been broken in certain places, leading to dire consequences. The Green Men of the Isles of Faces are said to maintain the Pact - though none are sure how, and almost no one was permitted to reach the shores of the Isle of Faces by the time of the Coming of the Andals.
 The Age of Heroes is sometimes referred to as the Age of a Hundred Kingdoms, though it would be more accurate to describe this as the state of Westeros during the high point of these untold centuries, before a myriad of petty kingdoms began to congregate into larger, more regional realms. Most of the great tales and epics of the First Men come from the Age of Heroes, along with many of their greatest and most powerful Houses. Most of the towns and larger settlements built by the First Men came into existence gradually during this period, including [[Duskendale]], [[Maidenpool]], [[Barrowton]], [[Sisterton]], [[Fairmarket]], [[Kayce]], [[Lordsport]], and most recently [[Lannisport]]<ref>Lannisport stands as something of an exception due to the complicated circumstances of its emergence. For details, see [[House Lannister]].</ref> and [[Lord Hewett's Town]].

First Men: Difference between revisions