I was thinking about Westeros and laws of the Forest. IIRC, in The Sworn Sword Egg reads part of a document while visiting Coldmoat that grants House Webber some rights to fell timber and hunt in an Osgrey forest. Besides this I can’t remember any specific mentioning of agreements or, more broadly, laws regarding the forest. Are there laws of the forest in Westeros? If so, has there been any rebelling against it and subsequent reform like the Charter of the Forest in 13th century England.

There’s actually quite a bit about forestry rights scattered throughout ASOIAF. From the Prologue of AGOT, we learn that Will was sent to the Night’s Watch for poaching, which suggests restricted hunting rights, from Bran V we learn that Winterfell employs foresters (as well as Forresters), and from Bran VI we learn that Lord Hornwood is petitioning Robb for “hunting rights north of a certain ridge.” 

In terms of rebellions against it, there is something of a history of Westerosi forest outlaws: the Kingswood Brotherhood, the Brotherhood Without Banners, and so on.  

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.