Editing Customs (section)

==Pastimes==
Nobles and [[smallfolk]] alike can participate in a variety of pastimes for their entertainment.

Children play with toys (e.g., puppets,{{Ref|AGOT|29}} barrel hoops, blocks, carved wooden statues,{{Ref|ADWD|18}} and dolls){{Ref|ASOS|29}} or play a variety of games. Noble born children, especially when they grow older, are expected to train in several skills for their entertainment as well as general education. Both boys and girls learn to ride horses.{{Ref|AGOT|7}}{{Ref|AFFC|28}}{{Ref|ADWD|68}} Girls are taught womanly arts, which include sewing,{{Ref|AFFC|24}} embroidering, dancing, singing, writing poetry, or playing musical instruments (e.g., the [[harp|high harp]] or the bells).{{Ref|AGOT|7}} From a certain age and onwards, boys begin to train in martial skills. Usually starting at a young age, boys are trained with spear, sword, and shield.{{Ref|ADWD|25}} Younger boys train with wooden swords.{{Ref|ACOK|4}}{{Ref|AFFC|31}} By the time boys are twelve, they have often been training at arms for years.{{Ref|ADWD|21}}

Places adults might like to visit for their entertainment include [[:Category:Inns|taverns]] and [[prostitution|brothels]]. Most nobles are literate, and therefore might prefer to spend their times reading books.{{Ref|AFFC|24}} Nobles might prefer to sail for their pleasure,{{Ref|FAB|Heirs of the Dragon - A Question of Succession}}{{Ref|ASOS|6}}{{Ref|AFFC|28}} or simply take a horse ride, sometimes to pick flowers or feast outdoors.{{Ref|AFFC|28}} Both adults and children, noble and smallfolk, enjoy swimming in lakes, rivers, pools, and moats.{{Ref|AGOT|4}}{{Ref|ACOK|14}}{{Ref|ACOK|16}}{{Ref|ACOK|35}}{{Ref|ASOS|2}}{{Ref|ASOS|41}}{{Ref|AFFC|2}}{{Ref|TMK}}

===Games===
:''See also: [[:Category:Games|List of known games]]''
[[Westeros]]i children's games include [[come-into-my-castle]], [[monsters-and-maidens]], [[hide-the-treasure]], [[hopfrog]], [[spin-the-sword]], and [[rats and cats]].{{Ref|AGOT|22}}{{Ref|ACOK|4}}{{Ref|ASOS|22}}{{Ref|ASOS|68}} Popular among children from [[House Frey]] at the [[Twins]] is the game [[lord of the crossing]],{{Ref|ACOK|4}} named for the title held by the head of House Frey.

Children in [[Meereen]] play a game involving sitting in a circle and taking turns to spin a dagger. When it stops, they cut off a lock of hair from whoever the dagger is pointing at. [[Barristan Selmy]] recalls a similar game he played with his cousins at [[Harvest Hall]] in Westeros when he was a boy, except it involved [[w:spin the bottle|kissing]].{{Ref|ADWD|70}}

The [[finger dance]] is a game played by the [[ironborn]] of the [[Iron Islands]], and involves throwing a [[Armament|hand axe]] which must be caught or leaped over without missing a step. The game is named for the fact that it usually ends with a dancer losing one or more of his fingers.{{Ref|ACOK|24}}

[[Cyvasse]] is a board game of military strategy originating from [[Volantis]].{{Ref|AFFC|13}}{{Ref|ADWD|47}} It is also played in [[Lys]],{{Ref|ADWD|6}} and since roughly {{Date|299}} has been present in [[Westeros]], after a trading galley from Volantis introduced the game in [[Dorne]], from where it was spread.{{Ref|AFFC|13}} The game came to [[King's Landing]] in {{Date|300}}.{{Ref|AFFC|36}}

===Hunting===
Both male and female nobles might hunt for sport. Men might like to hunt a large variety of animals, like [[boar]],{{Ref|AGOT|47}}{{Ref|ACOK|8}} [[aurochs]],{{Ref|AGOT|15}} or [[deer]].{{Ref|AGOT|45}} Hunting hounds might be used.{{Ref|AGOT|27}}{{Ref|ACOK|23}} When hunting [[boar]], a boarspear is needed, as well as [[horse]]s and [[dog]]s, and men to flush the boar from its lair.{{Ref|ACOK|19}} Women do not generally join such hunting parties.{{Ref|AGOT|8}}{{Ref|ASOS|19}}

Both men{{Ref|AGOT|47}}{{Ref|ACOK|11}} and women{{Ref|ASOS|6}}{{Ref|ASOS|16}}{{Ref|AFFC|24}} can practice a more specific form of hunting: [[w:falconry|falconry]] (frequently called "hawking"), "the sport of hunting with [[falcon]]s, [[hawk]]s, [[eagle]]s, or other birds of prey".<ref>Definition of "falconry" from [http://www.dictionary.com/browse/falconry Dictionary.com]</ref> Nobles might own a falcon (e.g., [[Jon Arryn]],{{Ref|ASOS|80}}{{Ref|AFFC|10}} [[Ardrian Celtigar]],{{Ref|ASOS|54}} [[Robert I Baratheon]],{{Ref|ACOK|10}} and [[Margaery Tyrell]]),{{Ref|ASOS|16}} an eagle ([[Willas Tyrell]]),{{Ref|ASOS|18}} or a hawk ([[Stannis Baratheon]]){{Ref|ACOK|10}} of their own.

Hunts can be dangerous, and accidents during a hunt are common enough that they might be faked in order to assassinate someone.{{Ref|AGOT|34}}{{Ref|AFFC|24}}{{Ref|AFFC|32}} Although hawking is much safer, deathly accidents still occur. Lord [[Luthor Tyrell]] rode off a cliff whilst hawking,{{Ref|ASOS|6}} while Lady [[Rhea Royce]] suffered a lethal wound when she was thrown off her horse whilst hawking.{{Ref|FAB|Heirs of the Dragon - A Question of Succession}}

===Combat===
{{Main|Tourneys|Martial games|Fighting pits}}

Popular in [[Westeros]] are [[tourneys]], chivalrous competitions where men compete against one another either in a [[w:jousting|joust]], a [[w:melee|melee]], an archery competition. The format and rules used during a tourney can vary between different regions in Westeros, demonstrating the desires of the hosting [[lord]].<ref name=TR>[[So Spake Martin]]: [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Tourney_Rules Tourney Rules], April 29, 1999</ref> Westerosi additionally participate in [[w:bear-baiting|bear-baiting]]{{Ref|ACOK|50}}{{Ref|ASOS|44}} and [[boar]]-[[w:Boar-baiting|baiting]].{{Ref|AFFC|33}} [[Rat pits]] are also popular in the slum districts of major cities such as King's Landing and Oldtown, though bulls and dogs also often fight in the pits.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown}}

The [[Ghiscari]] cities in [[Slaver's Bay]] prefer to watch gladiatorial combats in the [[fighting pits]]. These pits can be found in at least [[Astapor]]{{Ref|ASOS|23}} and [[Meereen]].{{Ref|ADWD|70}} Within these pits, the both male and female [[pit fighters]] battle either one another, or an animal, until one dies. Additionally, children might be made to fights against wild animals.{{Ref|ASOS|23}}

===Gambling===
Other pastimes include gambling,{{Ref|ACOK|8}} like playing at [[dice]]{{Ref|AGOT|19}}{{Ref|AGOT|26}}{{Ref|AGOT|34}}{{Ref|ADWD|37}} or [[tiles]].{{Ref|ACOK|8}}{{Ref|ACOK|15}} The latter can be three-sided.{{Ref|ACOK|34}} However, bets can be placed upon anything, including the outcome of a tournament.{{Ref|AGOT|28}}{{Ref|TMK}}

===Mummers and music===
{{See also|Mummers|Songs}}

Mummers,{{Ref|AGOT|26}}{{Ref|AGOT|58}}{{Ref|ACOK|44}}{{Ref|ADWD|33}} singers,{{Ref|ACOK|12}}{{Ref|AFFC|10}} and puppeteers{{Ref|THK}} often travel from place to place in [[Westeros]] and [[Essos]]. While singers often travel alone,{{Ref|AFFC|10}} mummers and puppeteers travel in troupes, performing their acts wherever they go.{{Ref|THK}}{{Ref|ACOK|44}}{{Ref|ADWD|33}} Places located more remotely, like Winterfell{{Ref|AFFC|10}} or [[Bear Island]],{{Ref|ACOK|12}} might not be visited by traveling entertainment for years or seasons on end. Traveling singers, called "wandering singers", rarely travel far north.{{Ref|AGOT|28}} Tourneys{{Ref|AGOT|32}}{{Ref|ASOS|42}} and weddings{{Ref|ASOS|59}} can attract mummer troupes and singers. Additionally, mummers, singers, and puppeteers can find service with a lord or lady.{{Ref|ASOS|6}}{{Ref|ASOS|68}}{{Ref|ASOS|80}}{{Ref|AFFC|28}}

Some mummer groups prefer to perform from a fixed location, such as the [[Blue Lantern]] and the [[Dome]], two playhouses in [[Braavos]],{{Ref|AFFC|32}} or the mummers' hall in [[White Harbor]].{{Ref|ADWD|15}} At least in the mummers' playhouses in Braavos, the mummers play out written stories, instead of making up farces.{{Ref|AFFC|15}}

In [[Essos]], mummer troupes might contain enslaved mummers.{{Ref|ADWD|33}}{{Ref|ACOK|44}} These slaves can buy themselves free once they have gained enough wealth.{{Ref|ADWD|33}}