In the world of Game of Thrones, there are two major religions – the Faith of the Seven, which is the dominant religion in most of Westeros, and the worship of the old gods, which is practiced by the Northmen and the free folk (wildlings) beyond the Wall. The old gods are nameless deities of the forest, while the Faith of the Seven worships seven distinct gods representing different aspects of life.
The wildlings live north of the Wall in the harsh lands beyond the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms. They live a primitive, tribal lifestyle compared to the more “civilized” southerners of Westeros. The wildlings follow their own customs and traditions, which includes worshipping the nameless old gods of the forest, rather than the Faith of the Seven.
But do the wildlings truly keep to the old gods, or is their faith more complex than it seems? In this article, we’ll examine what’s known about wildling religion and culture to determine if they strictly adhere to the worship of the old gods.
The Old Gods and the Faith of the Seven
The old gods are nameless, faceless deities said to reside in the trees, rocks, and rivers of the earth. The children of the forest were the first known worshippers of the old gods thousands of years ago. When the First Men migrated to Westeros, they adopted the worship of the old gods from the children of the forest.
The old gods have no priests, temples, or holy scriptures. Worshippers believe the gods can see through the faces carved into weirwood trees, which are considered sacred. Northerners and free folk tend to pray alone in godswoods before heart trees. Ritual offerings and sacrifices used to be made to heart trees too.
In contrast, the Faith of the Seven has a formal church structure, religious leaders (septons and septas), and holy texts. There are seven distinct gods – the Father, Mother, Maiden, Crone, Warrior, Smith, and Stranger. People worship the Seven in septs and follow various religious rituals and rites. The Faith of the Seven predominates in southern Westeros.
Wildling Culture and the Old Gods
The wildlings are descended from the First Men and continue to follow their ancient customs. They live beyond the Wall in a harsh, unforgiving climate. Constant survival is a struggle for the wildlings amid the biting cold, scarce resources, and threats like the White Walkers.
Most wildlings live in small camps and villages, some in larger settlements like Mance Rayder’s wildling camp and Hardhome. Wildling groups include the cave dwellers, ice-river clans, Thenn, and giants. Though they have different lifestyles, all the wildlings share a rugged existence beyond the Wall.
Religious beliefs seem to vary among the different wildling groups. In general, the wildlings believe in old magic, folklore, and superstitions more than formal religion. They certainly don’t follow the Faith of the Seven – there are no septs or septons beyond the Wall. Yet most wildlings appear to keep to some version of the old gods.
The Cave Dwellers
The cave dwellers carved out homes, tunnels, and chambers inside the Frostfangs. Gendel and Gorne are famous cave dweller kings who allegedly found passages through the Wall before being driven off by the Night’s Watch. Cave dwellers decorate their tunnels with carved runes and totems representing animals, suggesting animistic spiritual beliefs.
The Ice-River Clans
The ice-river clans live along the Frozen Shore, fishing and raiding on the Shivering Sea. They live a hard nomadic existence, migrating along the rivers and coasts depending on the season. The ice-river clans seem to follow the old gods but in a rough, superstitious way. Their shamans use magic and perform rituals, but there’s no evidence they revere heart trees or greenseers.
The Thenns
The Thenns live in the Valley of Thenn within the Frostfangs. They mine bronze, forge arms and armor, and herd goats. The Thenns are more disciplined and organized than other wildlings, with their own lords and laws. Magic and runic carvings are an integral part of Thenn culture. The Thenns appear to worship the old gods much like the First Men did, with blood sacrifices before heart trees.
Giants and Others
Giants and other wildling groups seem to observe naturalistic folk religions. They respect animals, nature spirits, and mystical forces rather than formal deities. Magic and superstition matter more to them than structured theology. There’s no evidence that giants revere heart trees or keep specifically to the old gods.
Mance Rayder and the Free Folk
As King-Beyond-the-Wall, Mance Rayder united many disparate wildling clans into an army of free folk. He won their allegiance in part by embracing their customs and belief in the old gods. Mance reflects the wildlings’ free-spirited independence and opposition to the hierarchies south of the Wall.
Yet Mance also admitted that he was once a man of the Night’s Watch who said vows to the old gods he no longer believed in. This hints that while Mance exploited wildling beliefs for his own ends, he himself was not a strict believer in the old gods.
Mance permitted the wildlings to worship however they wished, drawing them together under himself instead of any shared theology. His wife Dalla gave birth in a woodland grove, suggesting some token observance of the old gods. But unity against the threat of the White Walkers mattered more to Mance than uniform religion.
Cannibalism and Human Sacrifice
Some wildlings are cannibals and perform human sacrifice, which is forbidden under the old gods. During a brutal winter, the ice-river clans and cave dwellers were said to eat human flesh to survive. Some wildlings still practice cannibalism as a magic ritual or to absorb an enemy’s strength.
While the First Men were known to make blood sacrifices before weirwoods, cannibalism and human sacrifice specifically are taboos in the North. Yet some wildlings continue these practices, which suggests looser interpretations of the old gods beyond the Wall. Survival and mysticism trump religious doctrine for the wildlings.
Skinchangers, Wargs and Greenseers
Skinchangers and wargs have the magic ability to enter the minds of animals and control them. Greenseers are powerful wargs who can look through the eyes of weirwoods across time and space. The gifts of skinchanging and greensight are assumed to be blessings of the old gods. Yet the wildlings don’t seem to specially revere skinchangers and greenseers as holy figures.
Varamyr Sixskins was a notorious wildling skinchanger, but no one treated him as some prophet of the old gods. The wildlings value survival skills over abstract religious authority. Gifts like warging help them survive, so they accept skinchangers as part of life rather than religious figures.
Knowledge and Worship of the Old Gods
Jon Snow remarked that wildlings know little of the old gods besides their names. Ygritte herself knew almost nothing about the histories and legends of the First Men and the children of the forest. She had never even heard of Brandon the Builder, a legendary ancestor of House Stark.
Most wildlings follow rituals more out of convenience than real theology. They marry before heart trees because it’s tradition, not due to any deep knowledge of the old gods. Their folk beliefs derive more from superstition and magic than studied religion. Mance Rayder even admitted that the free folk know little of the old gods and keep few pious ways.
Limited Role of Weirwood Trees
The main way followers of the old gods worship in the North is by praying before heart trees. Yet weirwoods cannot grow beyond the Wall, limiting this practice among wildlings. Some wildling settlements like Hardhome and Whitetree do have weirwood stumps present. But the wildlings have no equivalent holy site to Winterfell’s godswood with its carved heart tree.
Most wildlings thus pray to nameless gods of the sky, sun, earth, and such. They have no heart trees as focal sites to commune with the old gods. This may contribute to the wildlings’ less structured faith compared to the Northmen. Their worship remains largely informal and decentralized without weirwoods.
The Old Gods and the Others
The White Walkers are known as the Others in myths and legends. According to some tales, the Others were in Westeros before the First Men. They were defeated and driven north in the War for the Dawn after the Long Night. The Wall allegedly keeps the Others contained in the far north.
If the Others truly predate the First Men, then the old gods themselves may have originated as a response to the threat of the Others. The old gods and worship of weirwoods may have first arisen as part of magic rituals to push back against the Others during the Long Night.
In this context, keeping to the old gods matters to the wildlings because these are the gods associated with defeating the Others in the first place. The wildlings don’t want to risk angering or abandoning the old gods since they were the original enemies of the Others. It’s about survival against a primal threat rather than theology.
Conclusion
The wildlings definitely worship the old gods in some form, as this is part of their First Men heritage. Their religion is much more decentralized, superstitious, and variable than the structured faith of Northmen south of the Wall however. Factors like the harsh climate, tribal divisions, lack of weirwoods, and pure struggle to survive contribute to the wildlings’ looser approach to the old gods.
While the old gods are always acknowledged, they are not always worshipped in coherent ways or with formal rituals, prayers, and sacrifices. The wildlings blend the old gods with varying degrees of animism, magic, and folk traditions adapted to survival beyond the Wall. Their primary motivations are pragmatic in nature rather than being strictly devout believers.
In summary, the wildlings do keep to belief in the old gods on a basic cultural level. But upon closer examination, their faith and knowledge of the old gods proves lacking compared to the Northmen. Their religious practices bend or break traditional rules of the old gods as needed to endure life beyond the Wall.
