Many a houses and their belief systems. One can shrug off presence of different faiths as insignificant to the overall storyline of the show. It is a well-known fact that the Song of Ice & Fire Books written by George R.R Martin have explained various religions & their teachings in great detail, but the HBO version of the story also sometimes touch upon aspects of it, which are easy to comprehend if you have a better understanding of different Houses of Westeros and their worldviews. Here are 4 major religions present in Westeros corresponding to 4 different houses – the Lannisters, the Starks, the Baratheons and the Greyjoys:
The Old Gods:
Westeros was originally inhabited by a race called “Children of the Forest” who worshipped Old Gods with no names, no temples or priests. They were symbolized by white weirwood trees, if you cut them, they appear to bleed. The Starks worship them, they accepted them as their gods when they first came to Westeros from Essos.
The New Gods/The Faith of the Seven:
When Andals invaded Westeros, they ended the reign of Kingdoms of the First Men and introduced their own religion, the Faith of the Seven or New Gods or the Faith. The Lannisters worship this religion where everything is built around seven facets of god – three male aspects, three female aspects and a seventh aspect which represents death. It has strong parallels with the medieval Christianity.
The Lord of Light (R’hllor):
The Lord of Light is originated from Essos, and his worshippers hold the view that the other gods are demons and must be destroyed. The priestess Melisandre worships the Lord of Light and helped Stannis Baratheon defeat his brother Renly Baratheon using the power of fire magic. It is an absolutist religion which views world as a battlefield.
The Drowned God:
The Greyjoys believe their god lives under the sea, that’s where their heaven is, so they don’t fear the sea or drowning.
This is not a comprehensive list as there other religions such as The Great Stallion of Dothraki faith, Many face God worshiped by creed of faceless men or The Great Other worshiped by White Walkers.
