First Men

The Bronze Age settlers who made the Pact and raised the Wall.

The First Men were Bronze Age settlers who crossed from Essos into Westeros over a land bridge at the continent's southeastern end and spread across it.

Quick Facts

Origin

Essos, via a land bridge

Religion

The Old Gods (from the Children of the Forest)

Descendants

House Stark
the North
the Free Folk

Lore & Background

Their attempts to clear the forests for farming set off a war with the Children of the Forest that lasted thousands of years, until the Pact ended it. That began the Age of Heroes, in which the First Men took up the Children's religion, whose gods became the Old Gods of Westeros.

Reader's Guide

When the Andals invaded, the First Men kingdoms south of the Neck fell one by one and only the North stayed unconquered; House Stark remains the chief First Men dynasty. The Fist of the First Men scenes in the series were filmed at a glacier in Iceland.

The First Men and the Children then allied to drive back the Others and built the Wall; legend credits Brandon the Builder, perhaps with the help of the Children and giants, some eight thousand years before the series. The wildlings beyond the Wall are their tribal descendants, and Oldtown was built by them before the Andals came.