The Wall
Three hundred miles of ice, seven hundred feet high, raised at the end of the Long Night to hold back what waits in the cold. This is how the Wall was made, how vast it truly is, the nineteen castles set along it, and the old magic said to be woven through the ice.
Who built the Wall
长城是人类有史以来最伟大的工程，至今无人能确知究竟是谁建起了它。北境流传的说法是，它筑于长夜将尽之时，约在八千年前，彼时异鬼已被逐回世界的边际，人类下定决心，绝不容它们再度归来。
歌谣所言的建造者名为「筑城者」布兰登——正是那位传说中同一位史塔克，据传亦建起了临冬城与北境半数的古老奇迹。吟游诗人还补充道，他并非孤身筑城：巨人们借出了自己的力量，抬起那一块块巨大的冰石；森林之子则将咒语织入这道冰封的壁垒，用以镇制亡者。巨人、森林之子，以及一个一生之内竟建起三大奇迹的人——学士们如实记下这一切，信其几分，也仅止于此，且信之甚少。可以确知的是，长城巍然屹立，而寻常的营造之法，绝无可能筑起这样一道壁垒。
How big is the Wall
一百里格的坚冰，自西方的冰湾延伸至东方的海豹湾，扼守着整个王国的北境边界。
最高处足有七百英尺的坚冰，其顶宽阔到足以容十数名骑士并肩而行。
这些数字乃守夜人自家的估算，随积雪与年岁而有所出入；长城据传在讲述中不断「长高」，而据一些黑衣兄弟发誓，事实也确是如此，因为黑衣兄弟们世世代代都在为它添砖加冰。其顶部是一条蜿蜒崎岖的冰道，巡守以防野人与更为可怖之物。
The nineteen castles of the Night's Watch
在守夜人军团鼎盛之时，长城沿线共筑有十九座城堡，彼时万名守卫据守于此。及至小说所述之世，黑衣兄弟已不足千人，仅余三座城堡尚有人驻守。其余尽数荒废，或已倾颓成废墟，城门封闭，隧道被冰雪堵塞——一道无人看守的长城，守望者却少之又少。
| Castle | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 东海望 | Manned | 最东端的城堡，一座位于海豹湾畔的港口，守夜人的船只停泊于此。 |
| 林卫哨 | Abandoned | 早已废弃。 |
| 黑檀厅 | Abandoned | 空置无人。 |
| 霜门 | Abandoned | 空置无人。 |
| 长冢 | Abandoned | 已被废弃，驻军撤离。 |
| 火炬堡 | Abandoned | 空置无人。 |
| 绿卫城 | Abandoned | 已倾颓成废墟。 |
| 深湖城 | Abandoned | 为取代夜殿而建，如今亦已废弃。 |
| 王后门 | Abandoned | 空置无人，紧邻黑城堡。 |
| 黑城堡 | Manned | 总司令的驻地，守夜人军团之心脏，紧邻国王大道之终点。 |
| 橡盾堡 | Abandoned | 空置无人。 |
| 夜殿 | Abandoned | 十九座城堡中最古老、最庞大的一座，已废弃两百年，充斥着阴森的传说。 |
| 冰痕堡 | Abandoned | 空置无人。 |
| 暗影塔 | Manned | 最西端有驻军的城堡，扼守长城与群山交汇的峡谷。 |
| 哨兵岭 | Abandoned | 空置无人。 |
| 灰卫城 | Abandoned | 半已成废墟，楼梯坍塌。 |
| 石门 | Abandoned | 空置无人。 |
| 霜雪岭 | Abandoned | 空置无人。 |
| 西桥哨 | Abandoned | 最西端的城堡，早已荒废。 |
此排序自东向西，自海豹湾直至冰湾之滨。学士们的名录在偏西一带的名称上并不总能一致，其中有些城堡不过徒具其名、余下一堆残石而已；唯有东海望、黑城堡与暗影塔，仍有活着的守军驻守。
The magic in the ice
长城不止是冰，至少最年长的黑衣兄弟们如是认为。相传长城之中织入了法术——森林之子在其建成之时布下的护咒——使亡者与异鬼在长城矗立之时无法通过。冷魔之造物在长城前踌躇不前；尸鬼不肯跨越，而比南境任何人都更惧怕此类事物的野人们，数千年来一直在冲撞长城，却始终未能将它真正推倒。
在已废弃的夜殿，矗立着一道黑门，是一扇苍白鱼梁木雕成脸孔形状的门户，深埋于城堡之下。它只为说出誓言之言的守夜人军团宣誓兄弟开启，让旅人得以穿越长城的根基。学士们向来不信一切魔法，只是照录这些传说，不作背书——然而守卫坚冰的黑衣兄弟们，却从不曾对此付之一笑，而这份沉默本身，便是一种证词。
The Gift and the New Gift
守夜人军团不能单靠冰雪度日。「布兰登的赠礼」由「筑城者」布兰登在军团肇建之初所赐，给了黑衣兄弟们长城以南二十五里格的土地，供他们耕作劳营，使这些守卫王国的人不至同时饿死。
数千年之后，贤后阿莉珊·坦格利安驾着她的巨龙银翼飞抵长城，为日渐凋零的守夜人军团的困境所动，说服其夫杰赫里斯一世国王又赐下了第二片土地——「新赠礼」，另外二十五里格。及至小说所述之世，两片赠礼几乎皆已荒芜，村庄在野人袭掠与严酷寒冬中被弃置一空，那片本为供守夜人自给自足而赐予的田野，早已重新长满野草。
The Watch at the chronicle's edge
What the black brothers found beyond the Wall in the novels' latter days is veiled here for those who have not yet ranged so far north.
这些分道之处，道出诸般死亡、结局，及诸书尚未行至之路。唯有两路皆已知晓，或不惧知晓者，方可揭开。
Common questions
How tall and how long is the Wall in Game of Thrones?
The Wall is said to stand roughly 700 feet high and run about 300 miles — a hundred leagues — from the Bay of Ice in the west to the Bay of Seals in the east. Its top is broad enough for a dozen mounted knights to ride abreast.
Who built the Wall?
Legend credits Brandon the Builder with raising the Wall some eight thousand years ago, at the end of the Long Night. The songs say he was helped by giants, who lifted the great blocks of ice, and by the children of the forest, who wove spells into it — though the maesters treat all of this as unverifiable legend.
How many castles are on the Wall, and how many are manned?
Nineteen castles were built along the Wall in the height of the Night's Watch. By the time of the novels, with the order reduced to fewer than a thousand men, only three are still garrisoned: Castle Black, Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, and the Shadow Tower.
What is the magic of the Wall?
The Wall is said to be more than ice — warded by spells laid at its making so that the Others and the dead cannot pass while it stands. At the abandoned Nightfort lies the Black Gate, a weirwood door that opens only for a sworn brother of the Night's Watch who speaks the words of the oath.