North of the Wall lies the largest and least-known part of the continent. No king rules here. The free folk, who call themselves the wildlings only when southerners insist, live in scattered villages and clans across a land that is roughly as large as the Seven Kingdoms combined.
On the map it appears as the broad northern cap of Westeros, cut off by the 300-mile line of the Wall. The mapped portion covers the Haunted Forest, the Frostfangs and the coast of the Bay of Seals; beyond them the Lands of Always Winter fade into the unknown.
Explore: Beyond the Wall
The Haunted Forest is a vast, dark woodland that begins almost at the foot of the Wall and stretches north for hundreds of miles. The Milkwater river flows south out of the Frostfangs, the jagged mountain range in the west where the free folk gathered under Mance Rayder. The Fist of the First Men, a ring-fort on a bald hill above the Milkwater, is the traditional forward camp of the Night's Watch.
On the eastern coast, Hardhome sits on Storrold's Point above the Bay of Seals, the only settlement north of the Wall that ever grew close to a town. The islands of Skagos and Skane lie offshore, nominally sworn to Winterfell but rarely visited.
Winters here are longer and harsher than anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms, and even summers bring snow. The free folk hunt, raid and trade across the Wall when they can. Giants, mammoths and shadowcats survive in the far north, and the ancient Children of the Forest are said to linger in hidden caves.
Key places in Beyond the Wall
- Castle Black Fortress
Headquarters of the Night's Watch on the Wall, guarding the kingsroad gate into the North.
- Hardhome Ruin
Ruined free folk harbour on the Shivering Sea, once the only true town beyond the Wall.
- Fist of the First Men Landmark
Ancient ringfort on a lone hill beyond the Wall, raised by the First Men as a refuge.
- Craster's Keep Landmark
Fortified longhall beyond the Wall, ruled by the wildling Craster and used by ranging brothers.
- Frostfangs Landmark
Bitter mountain range beyond the Wall, dividing the Haunted Forest from the lands further west.
- Haunted Forest Landmark
Vast old-growth wood beyond the Wall, dense with weirwoods and home to scattered free folk.
All places in Beyond the Wall
- Hardhome Ruin
- Lands of Always Winter Landmark
- Craster's Keep Landmark
- Fist of the First Men Landmark
- Frostfangs Landmark
- Haunted Forest Landmark
- The Frozen Shore Landmark