A weirwood grove is located in the haunted forest near Castle Black and the Wall.
Layout
The grove is located in the southern portion of the haunted forest half a league north of Castle Black.[1] A stream and a game trail are found nearby.[2]
The clearing in the dense forest contains nine great[3] weirwoods growing in a rough circle. The trees' smooth and wide trunks are pale as bone,[1] and the faces of the heart trees, all different in expression,[2] face inward.[1]
Free folk visit the grove of weirwoods.[2] Since Castle Black has a sept but not a godswood, members of the Night's Watch who keep to the old gods also travel to the weirwood grove.[1]
History
Benjen Stark took his vows in front of a heart tree,[1] presumably at the weirwood grove.
Recent Events
A Game of Thrones
Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly, recruits of the Night's Watch, choose to recite their vows at the grove north of the Wall instead of stating them in the sept of Castle Black. Bowen Marsh escorts them to the grove, and has the youths leave their horses outside of the circle. After Jon and Sam state their vows, Ghost emerges from the haunted forest with a hand.[1] The Night's Watch eventually find the bodies of Othor and Jafer Flowers.[4]
A Storm of Swords
Jon recalls reciting vows at the grove when he sleeps with Ygritte.[3]
A Dance with Dragons
Jon, now Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, leads six new recruits—Horse, Arron, Emrick, Satin, Leathers, and Jax—to the grove so they can recite their vows. Although snowfall has been heavy, Jon estimates it will take them less than two hours to reach the grove. When the Night's Watch nears the grove, Tom Barleycorn detects a group of weakened wildlings, including a giant, in the clearing. The Night's Watch surprise the encamped wildlings, and Leathers calms the giant, Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun. After the recruits recite their vows, the black brothers return to Castle Black with the surviving wildlings.[2]
Quotes
Castle Black has no need of a godswood. Beyond the Wall the haunted forest stands as it stood in the Dawn Age, long before the Andals brought the Seven across the narrow sea. You will find a grove of weirwoods half a league from this spot, and mayhap your gods as well.[1]
—Jeor Mormont to Jon Snow
Even in the wolfswood, you never found more than two or three of the white trees growing together; a grove of nine was unheard of.[1]
—thoughts of Jon Snow
This is a sacred place, we will not defile it.[1]
The weirwoods rose in a circle around the edges of the clearing. There were nine, all roughly of the same age and size. Each one had a face carved into it, and no two faces were alike. Some were smiling, some were screaming, some were shouting at him. In the deepening glow their eyes looked black, but in daylight they would be blood-red, Jon knew.[2]
—thoughts of Jon Snow
Chapters that takes place at the weirwood grove
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 48, Jon VI.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 35, Jon VII.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 26, Jon III.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 52, Jon VII.