High Heart
High Heart is a tall hill sacred to the children of the forest in the riverlands. Around its crown stands a ring of thirty-one weirwood stumps. The hill is considered a safe place due to its relative height compared to the flat surrounding land, making it nearly impossible to be approached unseen.
Contents
History
According to song, the Andal king Erreg slaughtered children of the forest, their animals, and their First Men allies at High Heart, after which his men cut down the weirwood grove. According to True History, however, the children had left the region long before the coming of the Andals.[1]
The nearby smallfolk avoid the area as it is said to be haunted by ghosts of the children of the forest slaughtered by Erreg.[2]
Recent Events
A Storm of Swords
Arya Stark and the brotherhood without banners rest here one night while travelling south, in order to meet with the ghost of High Heart and to gather information on the whereabouts of Lord Beric Dondarrion.[2] After having found Beric and heading back north, the brotherhood returns to High Heart and again meets with the ghost of High Heart. This time the dwarf woman meets Arya but becomes distressed, believing the girl to be associated with death.[3]
A Feast for Crows
Queen Regent Cersei Lannister receives a report that her brother Tyrion has become a hermit in the riverlands, living on some haunted hill.[4]
A Dance with Dragons
While aboard the Selaesori Qhoran, Tyrion recalls what he considers to be a less reliable tale that had reached his ears, that of a dwarf witch who haunts a hill in the riverlands.[5]
Quotes
No harm can ever come to those as sleep here.[2]
This place belongs to the old gods still ... they linger here as I do, shrunken and feeble but not yet dead.[3]
—the ghost of High Heart to Thoros of Myr
Chapters that take place at High Heart
Behind the Scenes
In an early draft of A Storm of Swords, the hill is called "Whitecrown."[6]
References
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Riverlands.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 22, Arya IV.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 43, Arya VIII.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 36, Cersei VIII.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 33, Tyrion VIII.
- ↑ Secrets of the Cushing Library: the ACOK and ASOS drafts - gsteff on Reddit