The Old Gods
The old gods have no names. They have no priests either, and no holy books. They belong to the forest and the stone and the running water. The children of the forest worshipped them first, carving faces into the weirwoods so that the gods could watch, and when the First Men made their peace with the children they took up the same gods.
The Andals brought the Seven across the narrow sea and cut down the weirwoods of the south. They never conquered the North, and the old gods are kept there still. Northern lords pray in their godswoods, swear before the heart trees and marry under them. The crannogmen keep them in the Neck, and so do the wildlings beyond the Wall.
A few northern houses keep the Seven; the Manderlys of White Harbor brought them from the Reach. Lady Catelyn Stark was raised in the faith of the Seven at Riverrun, and Lord Eddard built her a small sept inside Winterfell’s walls so that she would not have to give them up.
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The Heart Tree
The pale weirwood at the centre of the godswood, with a long, grave face cut into the trunk above a dark pool.
Weirwood
The pale tree with red leaves and red sap that never rots, holy to the old gods and carved with their faces.
The Godswood
Three acres of the old forest, never cut, kept inside the walls because the castle was raised around them.
The First Men
The first men in Westeros, who crossed the land bridge with bronze and horses; the North is still theirs by blood.
In the journey: The Godswood