First Men

The **First Men** are the original human inhabitants of Westeros. They ruled the continent for thousands of years before the Andals invaded from the eastern continent of Essos. The Andals overran most of southern Westeros, but failed to take the North. While the blood of the First Men and the Andals has heavily intermingled over the centuries (through marriage or otherwise), the inhabitants of the North have the greatest amount of First Men blood in their veins and still maintain many of their traditions. Even in the Stark-held North, the usage of the language of the First Men - the Old Tongue - was eventually discontinued in favor of adopting the language of their Andal neighbors to the south. However, the language of the First Men is still actively used North of the Wall (notably by the Thenns), though a large number of wildlings are also fluent in the Common Tongue of the Andals.

## Known First Men

* The {Night King}, the oldest of the White Walkers. When the First Men first came to Westeros, the Children of the Forest felt threatened and fought against them. After they caught one of them, Leaf shoved a dragonglass dagger into his heart, thus creating the Night King and the White Walkers. The Night King survived losing the War for the Dawn and retreated to the Lands of Always Winter with what remained of his forces, where they would hide and fade into obscurity and legend.
* King {Garth Greenhand}, the first King of the Reach and founder of House Gardener.
* {Corlos}, the builder of Casterly Rock and founder of House Casterly. Possibly an ancestor of House Lannister, as it is thought by some that Lann the Clever fathered children with a Casterly woman.
* King {Durran}, called *Durran Godsgrief*. First Storm King, builder of Storm's End and its predecessors, founder of House Durrandon, and ancestor to House Baratheon through the female line. Took to wife the daughter of a sea god and wind goddess, whom were incensed by the marriage brought down a divine storm, destroying his castle and killing his family and guests. In defiance, Durran built new castles, each stronger than the last, until the seventh (Storm's end) finally withstood the storms.
* The {First King}, a legendary hero who unified the First Men under his rule and waged war against the Children of the Forest. Died in battle after being shot in the neck with arrows by the Children.
* {Lann the Clever}, an ancestor of House Lannister through the female line. Swindled Casterly Rock from the Casterlys.
* The {Griffin King}, the last of the Mountain Kings. Slain by the Winged Knight in the Battle of the Seven Stars.
* {Harlon the Hunter}, a son of Garth Greenhand and ancestor of House Tarly. Raised Horn Hill and shared a wife with his twin brother, Herndon.
* {Herndon of the Horn}, a son of Garth Greenhand and ancestor of House Tarly. Raised Horn Hill and shared a wife with his twin brother, Harlon.
* Florys the Fox, a daughter of Garth Greenhand who was able to keep three husbands at once, with none knowing of the others' existence. One of the husbands is an ancestor of House Florent of Brightwater Keep.
* The {Night's King}, the 13th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Declared himself *Night's King* and ruled the Gift from his seat of power, the Nightfort. Married a cold woman with bright blue eyes. Slain in battle at the Nightfort by the joint forces of House Stark and the Free Folk.
* King {Brandon Stark}, called *Bran the Builder*. First King of Winter and founder of House Stark. Fought in the War for the Dawn and raised many structures across Westeros, including the Wall, Winterfell, and possibly Storm's End.
* The {Grey King}, a king of the Ironborn said to have been blessed by the Drowned God, waged war against the Storm God, and slew the first sea dragon, Nagga, whose bones he took to build his hall. He was said to have taken a mermaid as his wife and constructed his first ship from Ygg, a flesh-eating demonic tree. He was an ancestor of House Greyjoy
* King {Robar II Royce}, the last Bronze King of Runestone. Unified the Vale against the Andal invaders led by Ser Artys Arryn. During the Battle of the Seven Stars, Robar was fooled into chasing and killing a decoy dressed in Arryn's armor, and was then charged and slain by a force of Andal mounted knights.
* Ellyn Ever-Sweet, an ancestor to House Beesbury of Honeyholt. The first beekeeper. According to legend, out of her love for honey, she made a pact with the King of the Bees to care for all of his children.
* Gilbert of the Vines, an ancestor of House Redwyne of the Arbor. According to legend, Gilbert was the first to teach the men of the Arbor to make wine from the grapes that grew on the island.

## History

The First Men living in the North were able to resist the Andal invasion due to the geographical choke point of the Neck which separates the North from the rest of the continent. The powerful fortress of Moat Cailin commands the approach to the North through the swamps of the Neck. The only major road that large armies can use to travel North through the Neck is so well defended by Moat Cailin that the Kings of Winter were able to consistently repulse Andal attempts to invade their lands.

To be clear: the "First Men" are not the first humans who lived in the entire world. Humans were already living on the eastern continent of Essos for untold millennia (and probably also on Sothoryos, the Africa-like continent south of Essos). The exact origins of the human race are not known, because just as in real life, written history does not extend that far back. Even oral history eventually fades into varying fables, legends, and religious explanations for the origins of humans. The "First Men" are simply the first humans that migrated to the western continent of Westeros.