Garth Greenhand Starts Many Houses By Many Wives

**Garth Greenhand**, also called **Garth Greenhair** and **Garth**
the Green**, was a mythical High**
King of the First
Men and said to have been the common ancestor of numerous houses
from the
Reach. His firstborn son, Garth
the Gardener, founded House
Gardener, the Kings
of the Reach.[1]

Garth
supposedly wore a crown of vines and flowers and made the land
bloom.[2]

According to some legends, Garth Greenhand was the High
King who led the First
Men across the Arm
of Dorne. Other tales claim he predated the arrival of the First
Men, making not only the first human in Westeros
but also the only human, and that he interacted with the children
of the forest and giants.
In some tales he is a god, and in a few of these, the oldest ones, he
demands blood sacrifice from his worshippers to ensure a bountiful
harvest; in some stories the green god dies every autumn, only to be
reborn with the coming of spring. Some tales claim he had green
hands, green hair or green skin overall, or antlers like a stag.

It is said Garth first taught men to farm, giving them the gift of
seed and showing them how to plant and sow, how to raise crops and
reap the harvest. Some tales indicate he tried to do the same with
giants and children of the forest, but the giants pelted him with
boulders and the children laughed, stating the woods provided them
with all their needs. Where he walked, farms and villages and
orchards sprouted. He carried a canvas bag, heavy with seed, which he
scattered as he went along.
Befitting a god, the bag was filled with seeds for all of the world's
trees, grains, fruits and flowers, and its content was endless.

Garth Greenhand not only brought fertility to the land but also to
women, making barren ones fruitful with a touch, even crones who no
longer got their moon blood. Maidens ripened in his presence, mothers
brought forth twins or even triplets when he blessed them and young
girls flowered at his smile. Lords and common men alike offered up
their virgin daughters to him wherever he went so their crops may
ripen and trees grow heavy with fruit. Any maiden he deflowered
delivered strong sons or fair daughters.

In some myths Garth is a contemporary of Bran
the Builder or Durran
Godsgrief, while in others he is the ancestor of them all. To the
maesters,
however, he was no more than a warchief or petty king who led the
first wave of First Men across the Arm of Dorne.[1]
Legends in the north
state that the First
King led the First Men to Westeros, not Garth.[3][4]

Garth also planted an oak from which sprung the Oakenseat,
the throne of the Gardener
kings.[5]

Descendants:

Garth had
many descendents; supposedly half the noble houses in the
Reach, including the Tyrells
and the Florents,
can trace their lineage back to him.[6]

His
numerous children are said to have included:[1]

* Garth

 the Gardener, ancestor of House
 Gardener
 \* John
 the Oak, ancestor of House
 Oakheart
 \* Gilbert
 of the Vines, ancestor of House
 Redwyne
 \* Florys
 the Fox, ancestor of Houses Florent,
 Ball,
 and Peake
 \* Maris
 the Maid, an ancestor of House
 Hightower
 \* Foss
 the Archer, ancestor of House
 Fossoway
 \* Brandon
 of the Bloody Blade, ancestor of Brandon
 the Builder and House
 Stark (according to some tales)
 \* Owen
 Oakenshield
 \* Harlon
 the Hunter and Herndon
 of the Horn, ancestors of House
 Tarly
 \* Bors
 the Breaker, ancestor of House
 Bulwer
 \* Rose
 of Red Lake, ancestor of House
 Crane
 \* Ellyn
 Ever Sweet, ancestor of House
 Beesbury
 \* Rowan
 Gold-Tree, ancestor of House
 Rowan