Religion

A godswood in the north, by Kim Pope ©

Religion is an important of A Song of Ice and Fire, with numerous faiths existing throughout the known world. Belief in higher powers and supernatural threats runs deep in many cultures and influence multiple aspects of life.

Westeros

The Seven, by Isabel ©

Relatively few religions have a significant following in Westeros. They include:

• The old gods are nameless deities of stream, forest, and stone. They were worshiped across Westeros by the children of the forest, and eventually by the First Men, some time after signing the Pact. Since the arrival of the Andals who brought with them their own religion, the old gods are no longer dominantly worshiped in the south of Westeros. Only in the north does a majority of houses still worship the old gods. North of the Wall, the free folk continue to worship the old gods. Although some accounts state that there are clans who worship different gods (dark gods beneath the ground in the Frostfangs, gods of snow and ice on the Frozen Shore, or crab gods at Storrold's Point), there is no reliable confirmation off this.
• The Faith of the Seven is the dominant religion in the southern part of the Seven Kingdoms. The Faith worships the Seven Who Are One, a single deity with seven aspects or faces. For the less educated, this concept is often difficult to grasp, leading to the common belief that there are indeed seven different gods. The number seven is considered holy.
• The Drowned God, also called He Who Dwells Beneath the Waves, is a sea deity worshiped by the ironborn of the Iron Islands. The religion of the Drowned God is old, predating the coming of the Andals. All attempts of the Andal invaders to supplant it with the Seven have failed. The Drowned God's nemesis is the Storm God.

Worshippers asking R'hllor to bring back the dawn, by Magali Villeneuve © Fantasy Flight Games

• R'hllor, also known as the Lord of Light, the Heart of Fire, and the God of Flame and Shadow, is a prominent god in Essos with a small but growing following in the Seven Kingdoms, where he is more commonly known as the red god. Based on a dualistic, Manichean view of the world, R'hllor, the god of light, heat, and life, is eternally at war against the Great Other, also known as the Lord of Darkness, the Soul of Ice, and the God of Night and Terror, he is the god of darkness, cold, and death.
• Mother Rhoyne, the chief goddess of the Rhoynar, is still worshiped by the orphans of the Greenblood, descendants of the Rhoynar. She has lesser gods under her like the Crab King and the Old Man of the River, both of whom are said to be among her many children whilst the Old man of the River is also said to be her consort. The side rivers that flow into the river Rhoyne are called her daughters, but it is unknown at this time if they are also considered gods.

Additionally, the Lady of the Waves and the Lord of the Skies were once worshiped on the Three Sisters before the Andals introduced the Seven. There are also the sea god and the goddess of the wind from the legend of Durran Godsgrief and their child Elenei who as the child of two gods should technically also be a god. As a child, Renly Baratheon once pretended to be the "rain god" during a game. It is possible the rain god was a deity from the stormlands alongside Elenei's parents. In some tales the legendary figure Garth Greenhand is called a god. The Merling King, a deity worshiped by sailors in Essos was also worshiped in Westeros at least until the coming of the Andals.

The First Men worshiped different gods before the Pact with the children of the forest.

Essos

The Many-Faced God, as depicted in Game of Thrones: Histories & Lore. Gods depicted include the Weeping Lady of Lys, the old gods, the Drowned God, the Stranger, the Black Goat of Qohor, the Lion of Night, and R'hllor.

In Essos across the narrow sea, there are numerous different religions. In Braavos, one can find temples and shrines to almost every god one can imagine. Named religions in Essos include:

• Aquan the Red Bull, whose priests sacrifice calves.
• Bakkalon of the Sword, the Pale Child favored of soldiers
• the Black Goat, a deity worshiped in Qohor.
• the Great Shepherd, the deity of the Lhazareen.
• the Hooded Wayfarer, a patron of the poor.
• the horse god, the deity worshiped by the Dothraki.
• the Lady of Spears, the deity of the Unsullied.
• the Lion of Night, a god preferred by rich men.
• the Many-Faced God of Braavos, whose followers believe him to be the true face of all gods.
• the Merling King, a deity worshiped by sailors.
• the Moon-Pale Maiden, another deity worshiped by sailors.
• the Pattern, a labyrinth leading to wisdom.
• R'hllor and the Great Other, a dualistic religion spreading throughout the known world.
• Semosh and Selloso, brother gods with twin temples.
• the Silent God, who is worshiped at the Stones of the Silent God.
• the Stone Cow of Faros, a deity worshiped on Faros.
• Trios, a three-headed deity.
• the Weeping Lady of Lys, a favorite of old women.
• Father of Waters, His temple on the Isle of the Gods is rebuilt anew whenever the Father takes a new bride each year on his feast days.
• Pantera, a six-breasted cat goddess of Lys.
• Yndros of the Twilight, who is male by day and female by night.
• Saagael, the giver of pain, known as faceless Saagael.
• Maiden-Made-of-Light, a goddess in Yi Ti.
• The Church of Starry Wisdom, also known as the Cult of Starry Wisdom, is a sinister religion that persists in many port cities throughout the known world.
• The Moon Mother a deity mentioned to Arya Stark by the Kindly man.
• Mother Rhoyne She and here associated lesser gods are still worshiped in Essos by orphans of the Greenblood who have returned to the river Rhoyne, and there also seem to be descendants of the Rhoynar still living around the river, who still tell the stories associated with the religion.

Unnamed religions include:

• A small household idol which looked like a pregnant woman with swollen breasts and a bat's head that was worshiped by Rego Draz.
• The Gardens of Gelenei is a temple on the Isle of the Gods in Braavos, Gelenei may possibly be the name of the god or goddess worshiped there but this not confirmed.
• The love goddess of Lys, whose naked figure is on Lysene coinage; it is at present unknown if she is the same as the Weeping Lady of Lys.
• The Moonsingers are the priestesses of the Jogos Nhai, but they are also an important presence in Braavos. The Temple of the Moonsingers is the largest temple in Braavos. The Jogos Nhai worship more then one god but it is not known how many or what there names are.
• The Fountain of the Drunken God may or may not be dedicated to a god.
• The many gods honored in the Holy Refuge also called The Warren, it is a temple in Braavos, within it the forgotten gods are honored.
• The Dothraki believe that the Sun and the Moon are a god and goddess and that they are husband and wife.
• The Temple of Memory is a temple in Qarth where petitioners seeking audience with the Pureborn must perform a traditional sacrifice. It is unknown which god or gods are worshiped there.
• The god of the bearded priests of Norvos whose name is unknown, because the sect is so secretive the name of their god is revealed only to initiates.
• The hundred gods of the Sarnori, who since the Century of Blood are only worshiped in the city of Saath.
• In the ancient (now lost) city of Lyber on the grasslands of Central Essos they worshipped a spider goddess, as well as a serpent god; the acolytes of the two gods waged a bloody and endless war between one another.

Gods that are no longer worshiped include:

• Boash
• The Gods in the Braavosi temple known as the Holy Refuge which is also called the Warren.

Valyria

At least four dragons of House Targaryen were named after old gods of Valyria:

• Balerion, a god and the namesake for a dragon.
• Meraxes, a god and the namesake for a dragon.
• Vhagar, a god and the namesake for a dragon.
• Syrax, a goddess and the namesake for a dragon.
• The followers of Boash settled on the main isle of Lorath after leaving Valyria 1,322 years before the Doom of Valyria.
• Worshipers of the Black Goat abandoned Valyria in rejection of the Freehold's tenet of religious tolerance and founded the city of Qohor.
• The bearded priests were a sect which abandoned Valyria, finding the religious tolerance of the Freehold intolerable. The sect is so secretive that even the name of their god is revealed only to initiates. They founded the city of Norvos.

Yi Ti

• The god-emperor is worshiped in Yi Ti.
• The Lion of Night.
• The Maiden-Made-of-Light.
• The first god-emperor of the mythic Great Empire of the Dawn, the God-on-Earth son of the Lion of Night and the Maiden-made-of-Light.
• Many more gods, as Yi Ti is called the land of a thousand gods.

Other regions

• On the isle of Naath off the northwestern coast of Sothoryos, they worship the Lord of Harmony. There is also a wooden hall dedicated to the god in Braavos.
• In Leng there are they Old Ones, gods who live deep below the ruined subterranean cities on the island and who instructed the God-Empress on at least four occasions to massacre all foreigners.
• The God-Empress is worshiped in Leng.
• In the Summer Isles they worship a score of gods whose many laws are written upon the Talking Trees, the god and goddess of love, beauty, and fertility being the most favored.
• On the Isle of Toads in the Basilisk Isles there is an ancient idol, a greasy black stone crudely carved into the semblance of a gigantic toad of malignant aspect, some forty feet high.
• The corsairs of the Basilisk Isles offer the skulls of their victims to a dark god on Skull Island.
• In Sothoryos the Sothoryi, often called the Brindled Men, worship dark gods with obscene rites.
• The Jogos Nhai worship several gods.
• The dark and hungry gods of the Patrimony of Hyrkoon are still worshiped in the cities of the Bone Mountains.
• The gods of Ibben.
• The gods of the Thousand Islands, squamous, fishheaded gods, whose likenesses rise from their stony shores, visible only when the tide recedes.
• In Slaver's Bay the Ghiscari still worship the gods of Ghis, with Graces as their priestesses.

Influences and Theology

See also: Themes in A Song of Ice and Fire

Unlike J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire addresses religion in some detail and portrays several competing religions. More than any other novel in the series, A Dance with Dragons explores the different religions of Westeros and Essos. Each of the religions reflects its culture's temperament. George R. R. Martin based the series' faiths on real religions, tweaking or expanding them a little. However, no religion is presented as the true faith, although there are displays of power on many sides, nor do any have a monopoly on virtue.

Known influences include:

• The old gods are "based on animism and traditional Pagan beliefs of Wicca and various other Celtic systems and Norse systems", melted into one construct. They are nameless and numerous.
• The Faith of the Seven is based on the medieval Catholic Church, although it borrows other elements as well. The Faith's central doctrine of one God with seven aspects is partly based on the Christian Trinity: one God in the divine persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. In the Faith of the Seven, God has seven aspects: three males, the Father, the Smith, and the Warrior, three females, the Mother, the Maiden, and the Crone, and the Stranger who represents Death. The Faith Militant, the Faith's military order, is loosely based on crusading orders such as the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller.
• Similarities between the religion of the Drowned God and the Norse mythology can be found. For example, the ironborn believe they will feast eternally in the Drowned God's watery halls after they die, similar to Norse warriors, who hoped to feast in Valhalla.
• The Mother Rhoyne religion is a polytheistic worshiping of the Rhoyne and many lesser river-dwelling deities such as the Old Man of the River and the Crab King. The Rhoynar may be inspired by the Roma.

Martin tries to slowly reveal how the many different kinds of magic in the Ice and Fire world may be manifestations of the same mysterious supernatural forces. This leaves readers free to wonder about the validity, teachings and supernatural power of the competing religions, allowing for a sense of wonder, for things that escape the net of explanation in terms of the physical sciences. Martin regards any religion's claim to truth with suspicion, as he does the claims of real religions. The series' gods, he said, are unlikely to appear deus-ex-machina in Westeros.

Prophecy

• See list of prophecies.