Editing Children of the forest (section)

==History==	
===Dawn Age===
[[File:Children of the Forest.jpg|thumb|350px|Child of the forest, in its natural habitat. © HBO]]
It is unknown where the children of the forest came from, nor for how long they were in their land before [[humans]] arrived. For thousands of years during the [[Dawn Age]] the children and the [[giants]] shared the landmass that later became known as [[Westeros]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Dawn Age}} The two races are believed to have sometimes fought, since Maester [[Kennet (maester)|Kennet]] found a giant's barrow near [[Long Lake]] with [[obsidian]] arrowheads in the ribs.{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Dawn Age}} The children lived throughout Westeros, from the [[Summer Sea]] to the [[Land of Always Winter]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Dawn Age}} They called [[Dorne]] the "Empty Land",{{Ref|TWOIAF|Dorne}} however, and maesters doubt that the children lived on the [[Iron Islands]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands}}

===First Men===
Eventually between eight thousand and twelve thousand years ago,{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Coming of the First Men}} the children came in contact with the [[First Men]], the first outsiders. Legends of the [[Reach]] claim they were led by [[Garth Greenhand]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Reach: Garth Greenhand}} Crossing the [[Arm of Dorne]], the land-bridge connecting Westeros and [[Essos]], these invaders built permanent settlements and brought with them bronze weapons, great leathern shields, the first [[horse]]s, and their own gods.{{Ref|AGOT|66}}

The children initially welcomed the newcomers, but they disliked the First Men's harvesting of trees from forests, such as the [[rainwood]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Stormlands: The Coming of the First Men}} Fearing that the children used [[heart tree]]s for spying, the First Men burned and cut down the great [[weirwood]]s as they came, leading to [[War of the First Men and the children of the forest|war]] between the two races.{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Dawn Age}}

For thousands of years the two races fought a desperate war for dominance.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Stormlands: The Coming of the First Men}} The legendary [[Brandon of the Bloody Blade]] slew numerous children at [[Red Lake]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Reach: Garth Greenhand}} In a futile attempt to end the invasion, the children used the [[hammer of the waters]] to shatter the Arm of Dorne with the [[Breaking]], creating the [[Broken Arm]] and the [[Stepstones]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|Dorne: The Breaking}} The histories say that some of the First Men, the [[crannogmen]], grew close to the children of the forest in the days when the [[greenseer]]s at the [[Children's Tower]] of [[Moat Cailin]]{{Ref|AGOT|55}}{{Ref|ADWD|20}} tried to bring the hammer of the waters down upon the [[Neck]].{{Ref|ACOK|50}}  

Eventually the First Men and the children fought to a standstill. The two races agreed to peaceful coexistence and signed the [[Pact]] on the [[Isle of Faces]], granting the open lands to humanity and the forests to the children, who had been greatly diminished. The children taught worship of the [[old gods]] to the First Men.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Stormlands: The Coming of the First Men}}

===Age of Heroes===
[[File:Children of the Forest greenseers.jpg|thumb|350px|A [[greenseer]] singing the song of earth. © HBO]]
The [[Age of Heroes]] followed the Pact between the children and the First Men, four thousand years of relative peace between the races.{{Ref|AGOT|66}} Eventually the enigmatic [[Others]] invaded from the uttermost north, bringing death and destruction to children and First Men, during an extended period of winter known as the [[Long Night]]. The children joined with the First Men, led by the [[last hero]], to fight against the Others in the [[Battle for the Dawn]]. Eventually the Others were driven back into the [[Lands of Always Winter]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Long Night}} [[Brandon the Builder|Bran the Builder]], the legendary founder of [[House Stark]], is said to have enlisted the [[magic]]al aid of the children during the construction of the [[Wall]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Dawn Age}}{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Wall and Beyond: The Night's Watch}}

The children began their slow withdrawal from the lands of men, retreating deeper into their forests and [[beyond the Wall]]. It was recorded by the [[Night's Watch]] that the children of the forest gave the black brothers a hundred [[obsidian]] daggers every year during the Age of Heroes.{{Ref|AFFC|5}} The [[free folk]] believe that [[Gendel]] and [[Gorne]] once mediated between rival children and giants.{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Dawn Age}}

Children and their [[greenseer]]s supported the [[Warg King]] at [[Sea Dragon Point]], but they were defeated by the Starks of [[Winterfell]], the [[Kings of Winter]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The North: The Kings of Winter}} The [[Winged Knight]] in the [[Vale of Arryn|Vale]] is said to have wed one of the children, but she died during childbirth.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Vale: House Arryn}} Some legends claim that children helped [[Durran]] build the seventh castle of [[Storm's End]].{{Ref|ACOK|31}} Some [[maesters]] of the [[Citadel]], such as [[Jellicoe]], lived among the children.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Reach: Oldtown}}

===Andals===
[[File:HBO Andals kill the children.png|thumb|350px|Children slain and [[weirwood]]s burned by [[Andals]]. © HBO]]
The children again warred with humans when the [[Andals]] began migrating from [[Andalos]] across the [[narrow sea]] to Westeros. Zealous in the [[Faith of the Seven]] and armed with steel, having learned of ironworking from the [[Rhoynar]],{{Ref|ADWD|5}} the Andals resumed the cutting down and burning of [[weirwood]]s.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Riverlands}}

Children are said to have sent wolves against Andals at the [[White Wood]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Riverlands}} The [[Storm King]] [[Durran XXI Durrandon]] formed the [[Weirwood Alliance]] with the remaining children in the [[stormlands]] against the new invaders.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Stormlands: Andals in the Stormlands}} Having seen the Andals overwhelm other kingdoms, [[Gwayne IV Gardener]], [[King of the Reach]], sent men to seek aid from the children, although it is unknown if any were found.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Reach: Andals in the Reach}}

A hill, now known to the Westerosi as [[High Heart]], was sacred to the children of the forest. There the Andal king [[Erreg the Kinslayer]] cut down the children's grove of thirty-one weirwoods. High Heart is said to be haunted by the [[ghosts]] of the children who died there, where the children's magic is said to still linger.{{Ref|ASOS|22}} ''[[True History]]'' states that the children had already abandoned the [[riverlands]] before the arrival of the Andals, however.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Riverlands}}

Because of the [[Andal invasion|Andals' invasion]] and conquest of the First Men, the old gods were largely supplanted south of the [[Neck]] by the Faith of the Seven. [[Moat Cailin]] held back the Andals from the north,{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Arrival of the Andals}} however, so some children fled north.{{Ref|AGOT|66}} During the reign of [[Dorren Stark]], [[King in the North]], the ranger [[Redwyn]] traded with children during a journey to [[Lorn Point]] and the [[Frozen Shore]].{{Ref|ACOK|6}}

Relations between the children and humans grew distant over the years, until they ceased altogether. Maesters largely believe the children have been gone for hundreds{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Long Night}} or thousands{{Ref|AGOT|24}} of years, but the [[free folk]] believe they still live [[beyond the Wall]].{{Ref|AGOT|66}} Some scholars have suggested that children may have survived at the [[Isle of Faces]] or in the bogs of the Neck.{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Arrival of the Andals}} Some also theorize that the [[crannogmen]] of the Neck intermarried with the children.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The North: The Crannogmen of the Neck}}

[[Jenny of Oldstones]] always claimed that her [[ghost of High Heart|woods witch friend]] was one of the children.{{Ref|ADWD|23}} Lord [[Eddard Stark]] taught his offspring in their youth about the Age of Heroes and the children of the forest.{{Ref|AGOT|1}}