White Harbor[]
White Harbor is a harbor city in the north which contains the New Castle, the seat of House Manderly. Located south of Winterfell, it is the largest settlement north of the Neck, but the smallest among the five major cities of Westeros. White Harbor is the north's primary trade port. Its location on the mouth of the White Knife provides opportunities for trade further north.
Due to its location White Harbor has more contact with the south and there are more knights and followers of the Faith of the Seven in White Harbor than anywhere else in the North. There are some followers of the old gods, but most follow the Faith.[2] The city has access to good fishing grounds and is also the home of many silversmiths.
City[]
White Harbor is located on the eastern shore of the White Knife. It is clean and well-ordered, with wide straight cobbled streets that make it easy to walk around. The houses are built of whitewashed stone, with steeply-pitched roofs of dark grey slate. According to a semi-canon source, there may be a cadet branch of the Starks in the city.
Outskirts[]
- Seal Rock is a massive stone dominating the approaches to the Outer Harbor. It is crowned with a ringfort of weathered stones of the First Men that stood desolate and abandoned for centuries. However, the Manderlys fortify it with crossbowmen, scorpions, and spitfires. The stone looms fifty feet above the waters, grey-green in color. Seals often rest on it.
- The harbor is divided into the inner and outer harbors. The outer harbor is larger, but the inner harbor offers better anchorage and shelter by the city wall on one side and the looming mass of the Wolf's Den on another. A mile-long, thirty foot wall, with towers every hundred yards, is located on the jetty that separates the two harbors.
- The Wolf's Den is an ancient fortress that now serves as a prison. It is located by the water and adjoins the city walls. Houses cling like barnacles to the walls of the Wolf's Den; one is a brewhouse which makes well-regarded black beer. There is a godswood within the prison's walls.
- A fish market is located between the outer harbor and the Seal Gate. Seafood available at White Harbor include whitefish, winkles, crabs, mussels, clams, herring, cod, salmon, lobster, and lampreys.
Inside the walls[]
The city is protected by thick walls. The Seal Gate opens into the harbor.
- Wylla's Square, once known as Fishfoot Yard, is the grave of Wylla Manderly, and a monument to her memory. It is a cobbled square with a fountain of a large merman at its center with a small stone monolith beneath the trident of the statue which marks the tomb of Wylla Manderly, located just outside the Seal Gate.The stone merman statue rises from the fountain's waters, 20 feet tall from tail to crown. The statue itself is called "Old Fishfoot" by the locals. Old Fishfoot’s curly beard is green and white with lichen and one of the prongs of his trident broke off a long time ago, yet he still looks impressive. Wylla's Square was renamed after Wylla Manderly, who was publicly flayed by the Boltons before the great stone statue in the year 300 AC. She died screaming, swearing, fighting, and proclaiming her dedication to House Stark to her death. In recognition of her courage and dedication, a stone monolith was erected in her memory, just beneath the tips of the broken trident of Old Fishfoot. On the monolith, the following words are written: "You, whoever you are and wherever you come from, for it is known you will come; Here lies Wylla, who died steadfast and true to the Rightful King in the North. Do not therefore begrudge her this bit of soil that covers her bones." Though the words are outdated considering that almost a decade later the Starks of Winterfell would bend the knee to Aegon VI Targaryen, the words on the monument are left unchanged, as a memory of a time long passed.
- The Old Mint, located in Wylla's Square.
- The Lazy Eel, a winesink renowned for offering the oldest whores and vilest wine in White Harbor, along with meat pies full of lard and gristle that are inedible on their best days and poisonous on their worst.
- Castle Stair is a street with steps. It is a broad white stone way that leads up from the Wolf’s Den by the water to the New Castle on its hill. Marble mermaids light the way, bowls of burning whale oil cradled in their arms. From the top there is a view down to both harbors.
- The Sept of the Snows is a large sept with a domed roof surmounted by tall statues of the Seven.
New Castle[]
- The New Castle is the seat of House Manderly. It is located on a hill inside the city wall, a broad white stone way of Castle Stair leads to its gates from the Wolf's Den below. There is a secret passage beneath the Castle Stair connecting it to the Wolf's Den.
- Merman's Court is the great hall of the New Castle where Lord Manderly holds court and feasts. Its walls, floor and ceiling are made of wooden planks notched cunningly together and decorated with all the creatures of the sea.
History[]
White Harbor dromon - illustrated by Dimitri Bielak. © Fantasy Flight Games.
The First Men constructed an ancient ringfort atop Seal Rock at the entrance to the harbor.
King Jon Stark founded the Wolf's Den, a castle at the mouth of the White Knife, after he drove out sea raiders who were using the harbor as a base for raids inland. For centuries the castle was held by various Starks and offshoot branches, such as the Greystarks. Other families who were lords of the Wolf's Den in the past included the Flints, Lockes, Slates, Longs, Holts, and Ashwoods, all tasked by Winterfell to defend the White Knife.[5] A thousand years before the War of Conquest the land was given to the Manderlys, an exiled house from the Mander River in the Reach, for loyal service to the Kings in the North. The Manderlys developed the city of White Harbor atop their new land near the Wolf's Den. The ancient castle is now used as a prison, as the Manderlys reside at the New Castle and receive visitors in the Merman's Court.
During the Dance of the Dragons, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon traveled to White Harbor and Winterfell and convinced the north to join the blacks. Lord Manderly sent his sons, Medrick and Torrhen, to support Rhaenyra Targaryen.
White Harbor has not seen wildlings in centuries and has never been attacked by the ironborn.
The city's history is described in Maester Yorrick's Wed to the Sea, Being an Account of the History of White Harbor from Its Earliest Days. Maester Heriston also served in the city.
Quotes[]
| “ | White Harbor is to King's Landing as my brother Tyrion is to Ser Gregor Clegane. | ” |
– Jaime Lannister to Brienne of Tarth
| “ | If Winterfell was the heart of the north, White Harbor was its mouth. | ” |
– thoughts of Davos Seaworth
| “ | Cities were like women, he insisted; each one had its own unique scent. Oldtown was as flowery as a perfumed dowager. Lannisport was a milkmaid, fresh and earthy, with woodsmoke in her hair. King's Landing reeked like some unwashed whore. But White Harbor's scent was sharp and salty, and a little fishy too. "She smells the way a mermaid ought to smell," Roro said. "She smells of the sea. | ” |
– recollection of Davos Seaworth
| “ | We are good people in White Harbor, lawful, loyal people. | ” |
- Leona Woolfield to Davos Seaworth