Children of the forest

The Children of the Forest are a race of small, non-human beings who were the original inhabitants of Westeros, long before the arrival of the First Men. They are also called "those who sing the song of earth" in their own True Tongue, a language no human can speak. Their name in the Common Tongue, "children of the forest," is a misnomer given by the First Men, as they are neither children nor squirrels, but a people with their own ancient history and culture. They are described as having nut-brown skin dappled like a deer's, large ears, and great golden cat's eyes that can see in the dark. Their hands have only three fingers and a thumb, with sharp black claws instead of nails. They are small compared to men, but this does not make them childlike; they are wise and powerful, with lifespans that can stretch for two centuries or more.

Origins and History

The Children of the Forest were the first to inhabit Westeros, living in harmony with the land for thousands of years before the First Men crossed the land bridge from Essos. They were few in number, as the gods gave them long lives but not great numbers, lest they overrun the world. They did not have books or a written language; instead, they had the weirwood trees, which remembered all their songs, spells, histories, and prayers. When they died, they went into the wood, into leaf and limb and root, becoming part of the godhood that the First Men would later call the old gods. The Children carved faces into the weirwoods to awaken them, and these were the first eyes a new greenseer learned to use. They fought a long war against the First Men, using their magic to shatter the land, but eventually made peace and taught the First Men to worship the old gods. Their numbers dwindled further with the coming of the Andals, who cut down the weirwoods and persecuted them. By the time of the main narrative, they are all but extinct, with only a few score remaining in hidden caves beneath a hollow hill far beyond the Wall.

Physical and Magical Characteristics

The Children are physically distinct from humans. They are small, with nut-brown skin dappled like a deer's with paler spots, and large ears that can hear things no man can hear. Their eyes are great, golden, and cat-like, able to see in passages where a boy's eyes see only blackness. Their hands have only three fingers and a thumb, with sharp black claws instead of nails. They are long-lived; one of them, Leaf, claims to have seen two hundred years. They possess powerful magic, including greensight and skinchanging. The greenseers among them are marked by having eyes as red as blood or green as moss, and they are not robust, living few quick years upon the earth, but once inside the wood they linger long indeed. The Children are also known for their singing, which they do in the True Tongue, a language that no human can speak, though the ravens can speak it. Their voices are described as pure as winter air.

Role in the Narrative

In the main narrative, the Children of the Forest are encountered by Bran Stark and his companions after they have journeyed beyond the Wall. They are led by a female Child named Leaf, who speaks the Common Tongue and acts as their guide. The Children live in a vast network of caves beneath a hollow hill, where they have made their home for thousands of years. They are the guardians of the last greenseer, Brynden Rivers, also known as the Three-Eyed Crow, who is more tree than man. The Children help Bran to awaken his own greenseer abilities, teaching him to see through the eyes of the weirwood trees and to slip his skin into the bodies of animals and ravens. They provide him with a paste of weirwood seeds to help awaken his gifts and wed him to the trees. The Children are a dying race, and they know it. Leaf tells Bran that they are "gone down into the earth, into the stones, into the trees," and that in the world that men have made, there is no room for them. They are sad, but not angry; they sing sad songs, where men would fight and kill. Their role is to pass on their knowledge to the last greenseer before they fade away entirely.

Thematic Significance

The Children of the Forest represent a lost, pre-human world of magic and harmony with nature. They are a tragic, dying race, aware of their own extinction. Their decline mirrors the broader theme of the old ways and the old gods being supplanted by the new, and the cost of human expansion and conflict. They are not monsters or enemies, but a people with their own history, culture, and wisdom, who are being forgotten. Their connection to the weirwoods and the old gods underscores the deep, ancient magic that still exists in the world, a magic that is being lost as the long summer ends and winter approaches. Their presence in the story serves as a reminder of what has been lost and what is at stake, and their teachings to Bran are crucial for the coming battle against the darkness.