Believed to occur roughly 8000 years before Aegon’s Conquest, the Long Night brought
forth not only a generation of darkness, cold and famine but also a terrible war against
the Others, a mysterious race of pale skinned warriors able to revive the slain and form
armies of undead Wights.
Though the First Men and Children of the Forest rose to counter the invasion, their weapons,
armor and magic were no match for the enemy until they eventually learned dragonglass
could kill the Others, allowing them to save Westeros and claim victory in the battle for
the Dawn.
In order to prevent another such invasion in the future, stories say Bran “The Builder”,
constructed a massive wall of Ice across the land, while the Children of the Forest cast
powerful spells and enchantments upon the ice, ensuring 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, as some lived in the far north
beyond the division created, and thus became a people apart from the rest of Westeros,
known as Wildlings and Free Folk.
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 politics
of the south, allowing them to develop into various tribes and clans, each with their
own laws, customs and leadership structure.
Growing radical in their devotion to this freedom, it became a near impossible task
for anyone to unify their people, and indeed 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.
Though the means of attaining this authority might vary, possibly bribing, manipulating,
or breaking Free Folk tribes into submission, the nature of their rule was unlike that of
the south, where a monarch was part of hereditary dynasty ruling largely in absolute terms,
as their word was the final say in all matters, above even established laws or religious traditions.
Instead, the King-Beyond-the-Wall ruled a non-hereditary composite monarchy, in which
each of the clans and tribes under his command continued to follow their own laws, customs
and leaders, remaining faithful to the King only so long as he remained strong and worthy
of that loyalty.
And even if such a King proved himself mighty, his accolades belonged to him alone, and thus
their position could not be inherited by any children.
As a result of this strict determination to remain independent, the death of a king often
meant the end of their unification, and a return to scattered factions fighting tribal
warfare.
Among the few great leaders able to claim the title King-Beyond the Wall:
There was Joramun, first known king of the free folk, who united their people during
the age of the Night King, when legends say the 13th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch
took a pale skinned Queen and rose in rebellion.
Taking the Nightfort as his castle and the Night’s Watch as his army, he ruled through
fear and cruelty for 13 years until the King of Winter, Brandon the Breaker Stark attacked
from the south, while Joramun and his Free Folk attacked from the north, at last vanquishing
the rebel and ending his reign of terror.
Among the many other legends surrounding Joramun, he was said to possess a magic horn able to
awaken giants, and according to the free folk might bring down the wall.
Moving on to the brother kings Gendel and Gorne, songs speak of a time when they were
called upon to settle a dispute between Children of the Forest and Giants, as each claimed
ownership of a cavern.
Yet when the brother discovered the cavern was actually part of a larger tunnel system
leading south of the wall, they tricked both parties into abandoning their claims, so the
Free Folk might take it for themselves.
Ever seeking for their people to escape the harsh lands of the far north, the kings gathered
their Free Folk and began a great journey through Gorne’s Way, named for the brother
who devoted himself to studying the cave system.
Although they successfully bypassed the wall and night’s watch, once they reached the
Northern Kingdom, the Stark King emerged from Winterfell to cut them down.
Hearing about the great battle in the south, the Night’s Watch marched to help crush
the Free Folk invasion.
Most stories agree Gorne slayed the King of Winter, only to then be struck down by the
King’s son and heir, but the fate of Gendel was disputed, as the Northmen say he died
in battle, while the Free Folk claimed he survived and led their people into retreat
through Gorne’s Way.
Unfortunately, he did not know the tunnel system like his brother, and so they were
lost underground, where their descendants still live, killing and eating any who wandered
near.
Many years later the Horned Lord reigned as King, said to have used sorcery to pass the
wall and attack the north.
Then there was Bael the Bard, who according to Free Folk legend was once called a coward
by Lord Brandon Stark of Winterfell, and so to prove his courage climbed the wall and
infiltrated their home pretending to be the Bard Sygerrik of Skagos.
Delighting the court, the king offered him a reward, and so he asked for a rare blue
rose from the garden.
The next morning the Lord’s daughter was gone, with only a blue rose found in her bed.
Despite a wide spread search she was never found, but several months later reappeared
in her bed with a baby in her arms.
As the Lord had no other heirs, this child later inherited Winterfell and eventually
came face to face with his father in the battle of the frozen fords, during King Bael’s
invasion of the North.
Unable to raise his weapon against his own son, Bael allowed himself to be slain by Lord
Stark, who cut off his head and brought it back home, where his mother saw it and killed
herself in grief.
Bael’s son was later slain by the Boltons and his skin used for a cloak.
Though this tale was well known among the Free Folk, the North had no knowledge of any
such events and certain details within the story tend to suggest it was false or changed
over time.
During the Targaryen era, there was King Raymund Redbeard, who rose to power over 2 centuries
of Aegon ‘s conquest.
Seeing that the Night’s watch was a shell of it’s former self, he led an invasion
of the North in 226AC, sending his people to climb up the wall and find a quiet place
to set ropes and ladders for the rest of them.
Making their way into the North, they fought in the Battle of Long Lake, where Lord Willam
Stark of Winterfell and Lord Harmond Umbar of Last Hearth defeated their forces.
Though Raymund slew Lord Willam, the King then died at the hand of his brother Artos
Stark.
Under the leadership of a Lord Commander afterward nicknamed Sleepy Jack, the Night’s Watch
not only allowed the Free Folk to pass over the wall, but arrived late to the Battle when
the fighting was over.
Furious over their failure, Artos assigned the Night’s Watch to bury the bodies.
A few decades later, the Free Folk warrior Gerrick Kingsblood claimed to be a descendant
of Raymund Redbeard, though others believed he descended from the King’s brother the
Red Raven, who fled from the battle of the long lake.
Queen Selyse, wife of Stannis Baratheon whose people were taking refuge in the far north,
was impressed by the lineage of House Redbeard, and so arranged for his daughters to marry
Knights of her house.
Almost 300 years after the Targaryen conquest of Westeros, yet another King Beyond the Wall
came to power, and once again planned an invasion of the North.
Yet whereas the Kings of the past often fought to improve their living conditions, Mance
Rayder brought his people south in order to survive the coming invasion the Others, who
at long last were returned and once again raising an army of undead.
Though most south of the wall, believed the stories of the Others were merely legend,
the Free Folk were already under assault from these dangerous creatures, and so Mance Rayder,
former brother of the Night’s Watch who deserted and fled north, used his cunning
and martial prowess to bring peace and unite the Free Folk under his rule.
Raising tens of thousands of warriors and even bringing some giants to his cause, he
attacked the under defended wall and might have achieved victory, if not for the intervention
of King Stannis Baratheon and his southern army, who arrived and tore through the Free
Folk, capturing their leader.
While most believed Mance was then burned alive, the red priestess melisandre secretly
sent him on a mission to rescue Arya Stark, sister of Lord Commander Jon Snow, who was
being held by House Bolton in winterfell, though it was actually the girl Jane Pool,
posing as Arya.
Unfortunately, Jon Snow then received a letter, supposedly from Ramsay Bolton, claiming Mance
failed in his mission and was captured.