Long before the Andal invasion or Targaryen Conquest, the First Men ruled over the continent
of Westeros, supplanting the giants and children of the forest who originally inhabited the
land.
Roughly 8000 years before Aegon’s Conquest, Westeros suffered a terrible cataclysm when
the Long Night brought forth a generation of darkness, cold and famine, along with a
vicious war against the Others, a mysterious race of pale skinned creatures able to revive
the slain and form armies of undead Wights.
Though the First Men and remaining Children of the Forest allied to counter the invasion,
their efforts were largely in vain until discovering the enemy could be killed with dragonglass,
allowing them to save Westeros and claim victory in the battle for the Dawn.
In order to prevent another such invasion, legends say Bran “The Builder”, founder
of House Stark, constructed a massive wall of Ice across the land, possibly aided by
giants and the Children of the Forest who cast powerful spells to ensure the Others
could not pass through.
Taking vows to guard the realms of men, the Night’s Watch were charged with defending,
maintaining and expanding the Wall.
Yet in truth, they only guarded the southern realms of men, ignoring those who lived in
the far north beyond the division created.
These northerners therefore, became a people apart from the rest of Westeros, calling themselves
Free Folk, while others named them Wildlings.
Though living in the frozen north beyond the wall meant a life of hardship and violence,
struggling to survive in a land without agriculture, it also meant they were free from the feudal
and authoritarian politics of the south, allowing them to develop into various, diverse clans
like the Thenns, Cave Dwellers, Hornfoots, Nightrunners, Ice River clans, and Men of
the Frozen shore, each with their own laws, customs and leadership structures.
Growing radical in their devotion to this freedom, it became a near impossible task
to unify their people, meaning no long term kingdom was ever established.
Yet there were, on occasion, men of extraordinary ability, who found ways to unite the Free
Folk into some semblance of an army and realm, earning the rare title of King-Beyond-the-Wall.
Among the few to attain this prestigious rank, there was Joramun, the brother kings Gendel
and gorne, the Horned lord, Bael the Bard, Raymund redbeard and Mance Rayder.
Though the means of attaining power might vary, possibly bribing, manipulating, or breaking
Free Folk tribes into submission, the nature of their authority was unlike that of southern
monarchs, ruling over a non-hereditary composite monarchy, in which their clans and tribes
continued to follow their own laws, customs and leaders, remaining faithful to the King
only so long as he remained strong and worthy of their loyalty.
As a result, the death of a king often meant the end of their unification, and a return
to scattered factions engaging in tribal warfare.
A harsh, unforgiving land teeming with dangerous beasts, where the last of the giants and children
of the forest sought refuge from human expansion in the south, any who ventured beyond the
wall, were first greeted by the Haunted Forest, a vast wilderness extending from the Shivering
Sea in the East to the Frostfang mountains of the West, and as far north as the Valley
of Thenn.
Composed of various tree types, including Weirwoods, associated with the Old Gods religion
of the First Men and Children, the Haunted Forest was home to the Fist of the First Men,
an ancient ruin with a chest high ringwall built upon a tall hill near the milkwater
river, as well as many Free Folk villages like Whitetree and Holdings such as Craster’s
Keep, where a man named Craster lived with his wives and daughters, serving as an ally
and informant for the Night’s Watch.
Clearing a half mile of trees near to the Wall, the Night’s Watch often patrolled
the Haunted forest, and honoured a nearby Weirwood grove for those among them who still
worshiped the Old Gods.
Though most Free Folk shared this reverence for the ancient deities of the First Men,
there was some variations in their beliefs, like how those living in the Storrold’s
Point peninsula, east of the haunted forest, were believed to worship crab gods.
Storrold’s point was also where Hardhome was established, the largest settlement of
the far north ruled over by 4 chieftains who kept the peace.
Much of the information southerners knew about this location came from Maester Wyllis who
spent three years in Hardhome under the protection of Gorm the Wolf, a local chieftain who was
eventually killed.
Roughly 300 years before Aegon’s Conquest, a mysterious, fiery cataclysm destroyed the
settlement, leaving it a smoking ruin where distant screams could be heard for many years
to come.
North of Storrold’s Point was the Antler river, flowing into the Shivering Sea, while
the Gorge on the Western side of the continent, acted as a natural division between the southern
realms and lands beyond the wall.
Just past the Gorge were the vast Frostfang Mountains, which extended far into the north,
separating the Haunted Forest from the frozen wastelands of the west.
A dangerous and rugged mountain range, few ways into or through the Frostfangs were commonly
known, like the Giant’s stairs, Skirling pass and Milkwater river.
Yet as difficult as life was east of the Frostfangs, it was far worse in the West, where the Men
of the Frozen shore were said to worship gods of snow and ice.
Once held as the furthest northern holding of the Iron Islands at the height of their
power, the people of Frozen Shore relied on fishing the Bay of Ice and Sunset sea for
their survival as well as raiding nearby Bear Island and warring with the cannibalistic
Ice River clans further west.
Beyond the Haunted forest, near the northern most edges of the Frostfang Mountains, the
high valley of Thenn was home to the Thenn people, who named themselves the last of the
First Men, speaking the Old Tongue while wielding weapons and armor of bronze.
Known to be harsh and brutal warriors, they were more disciplined and loyal then other
Free Folk clans as they followed a leader called the Magnar of Thenn, whom they revered
as god-like in his authority.
Living in mountain caverns near the Valley of Thenn, the Cave Dwellers were a wild and
savage people who painted their faces, filed their teeth and were believed to worship dark
gods who dwelt beneath the Frostfangs.
Moving past the Thenn and Cave Dwellers, were the Lands of Always Winter, an expansive frozen
wasteland the extent of which remained unexplored by humans.
Yet while no Free Folk tribes lived in this region, it was believed to be home to the
White Walkers, who retreated to these lands after their defeat during the Long Night.
As the people of the southern realms almost never interacted with the Free Folk beyond
the wall, most of the information they had, came from men of the Night’s Watch, like
the Ranger Redwyn who explored the lands up to Lorn Point in the Frozen Shore, or from
books written by knowledgeable Maesters, like Lies of the Ancients , History of the Kings-Beyond-the-Wall,
and Hardhome: An Account of Three Years Spent Beyond-the-Wall among Savages, Raiders, and
Woods-witches.
On the rare occasion when Southerns did interact with Free Folk, it was usually during times
of war, like when King Joramun allied with the Brandon the Breaker to defeat the 13the
Lord Commander, also known as the traitorous Night’s King, who attempted to establish
his own kingdom with the Night’s Watch as his personal army.
Yet while this rare example saw the Free Folk and Southerners working together, they mostly
warred against each other, with Kings beyond the wall often attempting to invade the south
and establish their realm in a more hospitable environment.
To counteract these efforts, southerns sometimes launched pre-emptive strikes, like when King
Theon Stark marched beyond the wall to slaughter their enemies, doing so much damage it took
the Free Folk a generation to recover.
Although the people of the far north never successfully invaded the south, the desperation
incurred by their brutal living conditions led them to keep trying in spite of the odds
against them.
Such was the case in 298 AC, when the Free Folk faced the most horrifying threat encountered
in thousands of years, as the Others returned to slaughter their people, raising an undead
army in preparation for another invasion of Westeros.
Knowing they needed to flee, the free folk tribes and clans put aside their grievances
to follow Mance Rayder as King Beyond the Wall, amassing their forces to attack the
night’s watch and migrate south.
In response to rumors about trouble in the far north, Lord Commander Jeor Mormont led
a great ranging to the Fist of the First Men, only to be attacked and slaughtered by an
army of Wights, forcing their retreat to Craster’s Keep.
Yet the misfortunes of their company continued, as their losses and meagre conditions triggered
a mutiny, where the Lord Commander was killed.
With the Night’s Watch at its weakest point, Mance Rayder launched a first strike against
Castle Black and the Wall, but was unable to secure victory.
Yet before a second attack could be authorized, Stannis Baratheon, one of several claimant
kings vying for the Iron Throne of the south, arrived North of the wall and scattered the
Free Folk Army, forcing Mance Rayder’s surrender.
Knowing they needed help to defend against the impending invasion of the Others, Jon
Snow, elected as the new Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, attempted to make peace
with the Free Folk by striking a deal with Tormund Giantsbane, allowing them to cross
peacefully into the Seven Kingdoms of the south.
Yet everything fell apart when Jon snow received a pink letter, supposedly from Ramsay Bolton,
an enemy of his family, claiming to have defeated his ally King Stannis in battle.
Jon snow then decided to break his oath and lead a volunteer army south to destroy Bolton
forces, but this action was seen as a betrayal of their neutrality and so some of his fellow
black brothers mutinied, stabbing their leader several times and leaving him to die.
Meanwhile, Jon Snow’s half brother Bran Stark underwent his own mission in the far
north, searching for a 3 eyed crow which haunted his dreams.
Once passed the Wall, Bran and his companions were found by Coldhands, a mysterious creature,
appearing to be an undead Wight, who helped them reach a cave, where they found dozens
of children of the forest and the man Brynden Rivers now known as the three eyed crow.
This decrepit old man whose body was interconnected to a weirwood tree, summoned Bran to the cave
in order to pass on his knowledge about greenseeing and skin changing.