Difference between revisions of "Godswood"
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Revision as of 06:00, 29 December 2014
A godswood is usually a small wooded area within the walls of castles throughout the Seven Kingdoms. It is primarily used as a place of worship by those who carry on the traditions of the First Men and pray to the old gods. To followers of the Faith of the Seven they are treated as a private wooded area of solitude.[1]
Contents
History
When the First Men took up the Old Faith, they created godswoods, groves within their castles and villages where a single weirwood, known as a "heart tree" and carved with a face, was planted so the gods could be worshipped. In the North every castle has a weirwood heart tree with a face. South of the Neck, however, most weirwoods were cut down or burnt years ago, with the only significant number being on the Isle of Faces.[1]
Locations
Casterly Rock
Casterly Rock in the Westerlands contains the Stone Garden with a weirwood.[2]
Darry
Shortly before winter is declared, the godswood at Darry in the Riverlands contains bare trees with black branches reaching the sky.[3]
The Eyrie
The Eyrie in the Vale of Arryn contains a godswood but no heart tree.[4] It is more garden than godswood, as the ground is too thin and stony for a weirwood to grow. Instead, there is a statue of a weeping woman at its center.[5]
Harrenhal
The godswood at Harrenhal in the Riverlands covers twenty acres.[6] Besides a weirwood heart tree with a terrible face, it contains pines, sentinels, and a little stream. Bats hunt at night.[7]
Raventree Hall
The godswood of Raventree Hall in the Riverlands contains trees said to be as old as the castle's towers. Its weirwood heart tree, although dead, is colossal and can be seen from leagues away. Hundreds of ravens have roosted on the tree at night for thousands of years. The godswood also contains a statue of Mylessa Blackwood.[2]
Red Keep
The godswood at the Red Keep, the castle of King's Landing in the Crownlands, overlooks the Blackwater Rush. It is an acre of elm, alder, and black cottonwood. Unlike the weirwoods of northern godswoods, the Red Keep's heart tree is a great oak covered in smokeberry vines. Red dragon's breath grows below the oak.[8]
Riverrun
The godswood at Riverrun in the Riverlands is a bright and airy garden. Full of birds and flowers, it consists of tall redwoods and old elms overlooking streams.[1] Its heart tree is a weirwood with a sad face.[9]
Storm's End
The godswood at Storm's End in the Stormlands, including its solemn-faced weirwood heart tree, is burned by Stannis Baratheon as an offering to the Lord of Light.[10]
White Harbor
The city of White Harbor in the North contains a godswood within the Wolf's Den. The godswood is a brooding tangle of root, branch, and stone,[11] made up of oaks, elms, and birch. Its weirwood heart tree is massive, with branches breaching walls and windows and an angry carved face.[12]
Whispers
The ruins of the Whispers in the Crownlands are overgrown with soldier pines, amidst which is a slender young weirwood.[13]
Winterfell
The godswood at Winterfell in the North is a dark, primal place of three acres of old forest untouched for ten thousand years. It primarily consists of sentinels, oaks, and ironwoods,[1] but also has hawthorn, ash, and soldier pines.[14] In the center is a small, dark, and cold pool with an ancient weirwood heart tree. The weirwood has bark white as bone, dark red leaves, and a long and melancholy face carved in the bark, its deep-cut eyes red with dried sap. A thousand years of humus covers the earth.[1] Across the godswood, below the windows of Winterfell's Guest House, three small ponds are fed by an underground hot spring.[15]
Quotes about godswoods
There is a power in living wood ... a power strong as fire.[17]
References and Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 2, Catelyn I.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 48, Jaime I.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 30, Jaime IV.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 41, Alayne II.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 80, Sansa VII.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 30, Arya VII.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 47, Arya IX.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 25, Eddard V.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 71, Catelyn XI.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 5, Davos I.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 15, Davos II.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 29, Davos IV.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 20, Brienne IV.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 49, Tyrion XI.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 53, Bran VI.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 18, Sansa II.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 69, Bran VII.