Children born out of wedlock are a common occurrence in Westeros. The term “bastard” is used to refer to anyone whose parents are not married at the time of their birth. While the term is used in a technical sense, it is also used as a pejorative as these children lack the social status of their legitimate siblings. Jon Snow, for example, knows that he will never inherit anything, unlike his half-brothers and half-sisters. Each of the Seven Kingdoms has a unique surname for illegitimate children to signify their social status. For example, illegitimate children in the North have the surname Snow while those in the Vale of Arryn are named Stone.

The children of the forest are the non-human peoples that occupied Westeros before the First Men came. Though commonly believed to be long extinct, some claim they moved north beyond the Wall and still live there with giants and other creatures believed to be long gone. The faces in the weirwood trees are their handiwork, and some still worship their gods in the godswoods. The children of the forest work magic and have a strong connection to nature. The demonstrated existence of the Others in the novel opens the possibility that the children of the forest are also extant and can be found in the extreme north.