Night's Watch

The Night's Watch is an organization that features in A Song of Ice and Fire.

History

The Night's Watch was a military order created by humans in the lands of Westeros. According to legend, the Night's Watch was founded 8,000 years ago at the end of the Long Night. They were regarded as one of the oldest orders in the Seven Kingdoms, as it survived the fall of the kingdoms of the First Men, the coming of the Andals, and Aegon's Conquest. Under cover of an endless night that lasted for a generation, the Others invaded from the Lands of Always Winter, laying waste to much of Westeros. The Others were finally defeated by the Night's Watch at the Battle for the Dawn, which was recalled in The Night That Ended. The Wall was allegedly built by Bran the Builder in order to protect the Seven Kingdoms, with the brothers of the Night's Watch choosing their own Lord Commander since that time. During the Age of Heroes it was also recorded that the children of the forest gave the Night's Watch a hundred obsidian daggers every year. Other than the corrupting of the thirteenth Lord Commander, the so-called Night's King, further attacks by the Others never came, however. Instead, the most frequent attacks came from the wildlings, sometimes led by their Kings-Beyond-the-Wall, and their constant attempts at raiding in the north. Little by little, the Night's Watch forgot that its main mission was not the fight against the wildlings, but against the Others. The Night's Watch built nineteen castles along the hundred leagues of the Wall. At the zenith of its power, the Watch had seventeen of the castles manned, with at least ten thousand men between them. Castle Black alone once quartered five thousand fighting men with all their horses, servants, and equipment. The highborn of the north have traditionally considered it an honor to serve on the Wall. Many younger sons of northern houses, low in the line of succession, gladly took the black. Shields of nobles from the Hundred Kingdoms of Westeros were proudly displayed in the Shieldhall at Castle Black. Six kings were sent to the Wall after Nymeria's War and the unification of Dorne by House Martell.

Overview

Individuals were referred to as Brothers of the Watch whilst the Wildlings referred to them as Crows.

Members rejected land and titles, practice celibacy, cut ties to their families, assume neutrality in politics, and never deserted their assignments on pain of death. Joining the Watch was considered an honor because any man could rise through the ranks regardless of illegitimacy or criminal past.

Men of the Night's Watch are divided between three different orders that included:

• Rangers :the true warriors of the Night's Watch. While all black brothers are expected to have some basic arms training and to take up a sword in defense of the Wall itself, the Rangers are the ones who are sent on dangerous scouting expeditions beyond the Wall, to track wildlings movements. When the Watch was more numerous in past centuries they formed the core fighting group sent to destroy large wildling warbands who attempted to pass south of the Wall.
• Builders : who physically maintain the structures of the Night's Watch, and repair the Wall itself.
• Stewards : who provide for the day-to-day needs of the Watch: gathering, cooking, and serving food, repairing clothes and equipment, tending to the horses and messenger-ravens, and gathering firewood. By far the largest of the three orders.

Each order was led by its own officer that were appointed by the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and held the rank of First Ranger, First Builder, and First Steward. The Lord Commander of the Night's Watch is the final authority and oversees the entire order. A lord commander serves in office until the day he dies, when a replacement is elected by the men of the Watch. Any man of the Night's Watch can be nominated to be the lord commander.

Ranks within the order included:

• Maester :
• Lord Commander :
• First Ranger :
• Master-at-arms :
• First Steward :
• First Builder :

Each castle of the Night's Watch also had a maester assigned to it. These maesters took the oath of the Night's Watch and are considered full black brothers, but are not considered part of the three orders. Given that there were never more than nineteen castles along the Wall, there were never more than nineteen maesters in the Night's Watch at any one time. Since there are only three active castles on the Wall in modern times, there are now only three maesters in the Night's Watch at a time.

Recruiters were commonly referred to as Wandering Crows as they travelled to the cities of southern Westeros to gather up new recruits to join the Night's Watch. In recent years, most of these tend to be criminals, murderers, rapists, and thieves taken from the dungeons of major cities and towns. A few also join because they are desperately poor and have no better options. Once in a great while, a younger son or bastard son of a major noble House will decide to join the Night's Watch, but they can often afford to travel to the Night's Watch on their own initiative. Sometimes, they are either forced by their families, who deem them unworthy of their noble House or even fathers using it as a means to disown their sons, who either bring shame or disappointment to their House's name. In extreme cases, a father might threaten his son with death, which forces them to join out of fear. Recruiters were few in number, and they are not considered a separate order in the Night's Watch. Instead, they are drawn from trusted members of the three orders, often those who can no longer fight well due to injuries, but who can still travel.

The oath of the Night's Watch was: "Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come."

The Watch was based at Castle Black where the Lord Commander of the Watch resided and new recruits were trained.

There were nineteen castles spread out along the southern face of the Wall as bases for the Night's Watch. Patrols from these castles would travel along the top of the Wall watching for threats from the north, or repairing damage to the Wall. Each castle also contained a tunnel cut under the Wall, through which scouting parties would travel to the north to track wildling movements.

Members

• Jeor Mormont :
• Yoren :
• Janos Slynt :
• Jon Snow :

Notes

• The Night's Watch was created by George R. R. Martin where it featured in the setting of the A Song of Ice and Fire universe.

Appearances

• A Song of Ice and Fire:

External Links

• A Game of Thrones Wiki Entry

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