Heart tree

The heart tree is the most sacred object in the godswood of any northern castle, a weirwood tree with a face carved into its pale white trunk and sap that runs like blood. For the Starks of Winterfell and the other houses that keep the old gods, the heart tree is not merely a symbol but a living witness, a conduit to the past, and a silent judge before whom the most solemn oaths are sworn and the deepest fears confessed.

Appearance and Sacred Nature

The heart tree is always a weirwood, distinguished by its bone-white bark and five-fingered leaves of a deep, blood-red. A face is carved into the trunk, its eyes often described as red and weeping, its mouth open as if in mid-word or a silent scream. At Winterfell, the heart tree stands beside a dark, cold pool, its pale roots twisting around the rocks. The tree is ancient and colossal; at Raventree Hall, the seat of House Blackwood, the weirwood is so large that its upper branches can be seen from leagues away, though it has been dead for a thousand years, its bark turned to stone. The heart tree is the physical heart of the godswood, a place set apart from the bustle of the castle, where the air is still and the old gods are said to watch.

Rituals and Oaths

The heart tree is the site of the most binding vows. When a man of the Night's Watch speaks his oath, he does so before a weirwood, as Jon Snow insists for the new recruits, saying, "The old gods live in the wood, and those who honor them say their words amongst the weirwoods." Marriages in the north are also solemnized before the heart tree, as when Ramsay Bolton forces the false Arya Stark to kneel before the weirwood in Winterfell's godswood, the tree's carved red eyes staring down as the bride is given away. The tree is also a place of prayer and supplication. Theon Greyjoy, broken and desperate, crawls to the heart tree in Winterfell, begging for a death with honor, and hears the leaves whisper his name. Eddard Stark is seen in a vision cleaning his greatsword Ice beside the pool, praying for his sons to grow up close as brothers.

A Witness to Violence and History

The heart tree is a silent witness to the North's bloodiest moments. In a vision granted by the weirwood paste, Bran Stark sees a woman in a bronze sickle cut a captive's throat before the tree, the man's life blood flowing into the roots. The tree's roots are said to remember all that has happened before them. At Winterfell, the heart tree watches as Ramsay Bolton marries his false bride, and later, as the castle fills with the ghosts of those murdered there. The tree is also a place of refuge; the mute boy Wex escapes the massacre at Winterfell by climbing the heart tree and hiding in its branches, listening to the voices of the dead below.

Connection to the Old Gods and Greenseers

The heart tree is the primary interface between the living and the old gods, who are believed to be the spirits of the dead First Men and children of the forest, living on in the trees. For greenseers like Bran Stark, the heart tree is a gateway to the past. After eating a paste of weirwood seeds, Bran is able to slip into the skin of the tree and see through its carved red eyes, witnessing events from centuries ago, including his father's prayers and a ritual sacrifice. The three-eyed crow, the last greenseer, is physically fused with the roots of a weirwood throne, drawing his life from the tree. The heart tree is thus not just a symbol but a living, magical entity that connects the present to the deep past.

The Heart Tree Beyond the Wall

North of the Wall, the weirwoods are even more ancient and powerful. The cave of the three-eyed crow is a vast network of tunnels filled with weirwood roots, and the greenseer himself is half-consumed by the tree. The children of the forest, who carved the first faces into the weirwoods, believe the trees are the old gods themselves. When the wildlings pass through the Wall, they carve new faces into trees south of it, a silent act of defiance against the new god of the queen's men. The heart tree thus represents a continuity of belief and magic that predates the coming of the Andals and the Faith of the Seven, a power that endures even as winter descends.