The gods of Westeros & Essos
Religions of the Known World
From the silent weirwoods of the North to the nightfires of the red priests, the peoples of the world keep very different gods. Here are the great faiths set side by side — who follows them, who serves them, and what each holds to be true — with the lesser gods that rule beyond the sunset lands.
The great faiths, side by side
| Faith | Followers | Clergy | Holy places |
|---|
| The Old Gods of the ForestThe nameless gods of wood, stream, and stone | The children of the forest and the First Men; kept today chiefly in the North and beyond the Wall | None — no priests, no septs, no scripture; the greenseers of the children are its nearest thing to holy men | Godswoods and the carved weirwood heart trees at their heart |
| The Faith of the SevenOne god with seven faces | The dominant faith of the Seven Kingdoms, brought by the Andals; strongest in the south | Septons and septas, the Most Devout, and the High Septon who leads them; once the militant Warrior's Sons and Poor Fellows | Septs great and small — the Starry Sept of Oldtown, and the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing |
| R'hllor, the Lord of LightThe heart of fire, against the cold and the dark | Widespread across Essos — Asshai, Volantis, and the Free Cities; rare in Westeros until recent years | Red priests and priestesses, robed in scarlet, who read the future in their nightfires | Fire temples and nightfires; the great Temple of the Lord of Light in Volantis |
| The Drowned GodWhat is dead may never die | The ironborn of the Iron Islands alone | Drowned men — priests who anoint with seawater and are themselves half-drowned and revived | No temples; the sea itself, and the salt shores where drowned men preach |
| The Many-Faced GodAll men must die — valar morghulis | The Faceless Men of Braavos and those who seek the gift of death | The Faceless Men, servants of the House of Black and White | The House of Black and White in Braavos |
The faiths in full
The Old Gods of the Forest
The nameless gods of wood, stream, and stoneA worship without doctrine or names: countless spirits of the old wood, remembered in the red-leaved weirwoods whose carved faces are said to watch and, some hold, to remember. The First Men took up the faith after the Pact, and it endured in the North when the Andals drowned it in the south.
- Followers
- The children of the forest and the First Men; kept today chiefly in the North and beyond the Wall
- Clergy
- None — no priests, no septs, no scripture; the greenseers of the children are its nearest thing to holy men
- Holy places
- Godswoods and the carved weirwood heart trees at their heart
The maester's caveatWhether the weirwoods truly see through their carved eyes is a matter of song and greensight, not of proof — though the tales of Bran the Broken's masters would say otherwise.
SourcesA Game of Thrones — (Bran; the godswood of Winterfell)A Dance with Dragons — (Bran; the last greenseer)
The Faith of the Seven
One god with seven facesA single god worshipped in seven aspects — the Father, the Mother, the Warrior, the Smith, the Maiden, the Crone, and the Stranger (who is death). The Andals carried it across the narrow sea with fire and sword, and it remade the religion of most of Westeros.
- Followers
- The dominant faith of the Seven Kingdoms, brought by the Andals; strongest in the south
- Clergy
- Septons and septas, the Most Devout, and the High Septon who leads them; once the militant Warrior's Sons and Poor Fellows
- Holy places
- Septs great and small — the Starry Sept of Oldtown, and the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing
The maester's caveatThe seven-pointed star and the New Gods long warred with the old; the militant orders were put down by the crown, then, some accounts say, stirred again in later years.
SourcesA Game of Thrones — (the sept of Winterfell)A Feast for Crows — (the High Septon; the Faith Militant)
R'hllor, the Lord of Light
The heart of fire, against the cold and the darkA dualist faith of two gods locked in war — R'hllor, the Lord of Light, Heat, and Life, against the Great Other, the god of ice and death. Its priests preach that a champion, Azor Ahai, will be reborn to wake dragons from stone and drive back the darkness.
- Followers
- Widespread across Essos — Asshai, Volantis, and the Free Cities; rare in Westeros until recent years
- Clergy
- Red priests and priestesses, robed in scarlet, who read the future in their nightfires
- Holy places
- Fire temples and nightfires; the great Temple of the Lord of Light in Volantis
The maester's caveatThe Azor Ahai prophecy — and the 'prince that was promised' spoken of in Westeros — is a matter of translation and interpretation among the red priests themselves; the chronicle records the prophecy, not its fulfilment. See the prophecies of Westeros.
→ Prophecies
SourcesA Clash of Kings — (Melisandre at Dragonstone)A Storm of Swords — (Thoros and Beric)
The Drowned God
What is dead may never dieA harsh god of sea and storm who made the ironborn to reave, rape, and carve out kingdoms — the creed the ironborn call the Old Way. He is set against the Storm God of the sky; his faithful hold that 'what is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger.'
- Followers
- The ironborn of the Iron Islands alone
- Clergy
- Drowned men — priests who anoint with seawater and are themselves half-drowned and revived
- Holy places
- No temples; the sea itself, and the salt shores where drowned men preach
The maester's caveatThe Drowned God's rites — drowning a man and calling him back — kill as often as they hallow; the faith's grip fuels Aeron Damphair's call for a kingsmoot.
SourcesA Feast for Crows — (Aeron Damphair; the Kingsmoot)
The Many-Faced God
All men must die — valar morghulisA single god of death worshipped under every name the world gives death — the Stranger of the Seven, the Lion of Night, the pale child Bakkalon, and more are held to be one god wearing many faces. His servants deal death as a gift, for a price and to no purpose of their own.
- Followers
- The Faceless Men of Braavos and those who seek the gift of death
- Clergy
- The Faceless Men, servants of the House of Black and White
- Holy places
- The House of Black and White in Braavos
The maester's caveatThe order's origins are veiled even in their own telling — a slave revolt in the mines of old Valyria, they say. See the Faceless Men of Braavos for the fuller account.
→ Faceless Men
SourcesA Feast for Crows — (Arya in Braavos)A Dance with Dragons — (the House of Black and White)
The lesser gods of the world
The Black Goat of Qohor
The blood god of the Free City of Qohor, whose priests demand daily sacrifice — beasts by custom, and condemned criminals and, it is whispered, children on holy days.
SourcesThe World of Ice and Fire — (Qohor)
The Lion of Night
A dark god of far Yi Ti, paired with the Maiden-Made-of-Light; his wrath, the eastern legends say, brought the Long Night down upon the world.
SourcesThe World of Ice and Fire — (the Bones and beyond)
The Great Shepherd
The single god of the peaceful Lamb Men of Lhazar, who hold all men to be one flock; the Dothraki hold his people in contempt.
SourcesThe World of Ice and Fire — (Lhazar)
Mother Rhoyne
The river-mother of the vanished Rhoynar, with her lesser powers — the Crab King and the Old Man of the River. Her memory survives among the Orphans of the Greenblood in Dorne.
SourcesA Feast for Crows — (the Orphans of the Greenblood)
The maesters of the Citadel record the faiths of the world without ruling on any; where a god's power is claimed, the chronicle notes the claim and leaves the judging to septon, priest, and reader alike.
What religions are in Game of Thrones?
Westeros keeps two great faiths — the old gods of the forest, worshipped through the weirwood heart trees chiefly in the North, and the Faith of the Seven, brought by the Andals and dominant in the south. The ironborn drown themselves for the Drowned God. Across the narrow sea in Essos, the red priests of R'hllor, the Lord of Light, war against darkness, and the Faceless Men of Braavos serve the Many-Faced God of death. Beyond them lie lesser gods — the Black Goat of Qohor, the Lion of Night of Yi Ti, the Great Shepherd of Lhazar, and the drowned Mother Rhoyne.
Who are the Seven?
The Faith of the Seven worships a single god in seven aspects, or faces — the Father, the Mother, the Warrior, the Smith, the Maiden, the Crone, and the Stranger, who is death. Its septons and septas serve in septs across the Seven Kingdoms, led by the Most Devout and the High Septon in Oldtown's Starry Sept. The Andals carried the faith to Westeros, where it overtook the old gods everywhere but the North.
What is R'hllor, the Lord of Light?
R'hllor is the fire god of a dualist faith widespread in Essos, set in eternal war against the Great Other, god of ice and death. His red priests read visions in flame and preach that a saviour, Azor Ahai, will be reborn to wield a flaming sword and drive back the darkness. The chronicle records that prophecy without vouching for its meaning — the priests themselves disagree on how it should be read.
What do the ironborn and the Faceless Men worship?
The ironborn worship the Drowned God, a harsh deity of sea and storm who made them to reave and rule — 'what is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger.' The Faceless Men of Braavos serve the Many-Faced God, a single god of death whom they hold to wear every name the world gives death, from the Stranger to the Lion of Night. They deal death as a gift.