Sept of the Snows

The Sept of the Snows is the great sept of White Harbor, the largest city in the north of the Seven Kingdoms. Its domed roof, surmounted by tall statues of the Seven, rises behind the city's thick white walls, a prominent landmark on the hill where the New Castle also stands. The sept serves as the principal place of worship for the Faith of the Seven in the city, a faith brought north by House Manderly when they were driven from the Reach nearly a thousand years ago. While White Harbor retains its godswood, a brooding tangle of root and branch and stone locked away behind the crumbling black walls of the Wolf's Den, the septons rule here for the most part.

The Sept's Role in the City

The Sept of the Snows is more than a religious center; it is a repository for the city's dead and a site of political significance. The bones of Ser Wendel Manderly, Lord Wyman's son who was killed at the Red Wedding, are said to rest in the Snowy Sept with candles all around them. The sept is also where the city's most prominent families, including the Manderlys, would have their funerals and memorials. The sept's presence underscores the cultural and religious divide between the Manderlys, who are southron in faith and custom, and the other northern houses who largely follow the old gods.

Narrative Significance

The Sept of the Snows is mentioned in the context of the political maneuvering in White Harbor during the War of the Five Kings. When Davos Seaworth arrives in the city as an envoy for Stannis Baratheon, he observes the sept's dome from afar, noting that the Manderlys have brought the Faith north. The sept is also where the bones of Ser Wendel Manderly are kept, a constant reminder of the Freys' betrayal at the Red Wedding and a source of Lord Wyman's simmering desire for vengeance. The sept thus serves as a symbol of the Manderlys' identity and their complex position in the north, caught between their southern faith and their northern allegiances.