Dragonglass

Obsidian, the weapon that kills White Walkers.

Dragonglass is obsidian. In A Song of Ice and Fire the White Walkers, or Others, are vulnerable to weapons made of it: in A Storm of Swords (2000) Samwell Tarly kills one with a dragonglass dagger and earns the nickname Sam the Slayer.

Quick Facts

Also known as: Obsidian
Kills: White Walkers (and wights in the TV series)

Lore & Background

Sam and Jon's direwolf Ghost find a cache of dragonglass weapons buried in the snow at the Fist of the First Men. In the books dragonglass has no effect on wights; the television series has it kill them too.

Reader's Guide

Bran's visions show that the Children of the Forest made the first White Walker, the Night King, by stabbing a captured man with dragonglass.

In the series, Sam finds in his reading a large dragonglass deposit on Dragonstone and sends word to Jon, by then King in the North. A cave on Dragonstone's beach holds huge deposits, and Asshai exports it.