First Men and the First Night

[Charerg]

When reading the World of Ice and Fire, it eventually becomes clear that the practice of 'First Night' is apparently a First Men custom. Garth the Gardener, the first King of the First Men according to legend is said to have deflowered numerous maidens and he also had a great many offspring. While this does not directly describe practice of the First Night, there's definitely an echo of the custom there.

Further evidence that the practice originates from the First Men comes from the fact that the places where the custom is still said to be practiced are all found in the North. The Umbers, Boltons and possibly the Skagosi are all said to practice First Night, all of these Houses/peoples beingof First Men origin.

So, the question that comes to mind then, is that why wasn't the 'First Night' abolished along with many other First Men practices when the Andal culture became dominant in Westeros? You would think that the Septons and the Faith in general would see this as a barbaric and ungodly practice, as the Faith clearly views marriage as sacred and Andal culture in general is strictly monogamous.

[Starkfaithful85]

Because the opportunuty for lords to screw virgin brides was too good topass up...honestly if you had just conquered an area and the locals tell you that there is a tradition of lords "honoring" new brides, would you really work to have the law changed?

[aryagonnakill#2]

If we look at Pentos, where the Prince deflowers 2 maidens every spring, we can see that it was likely an Andal tradition as well. + what the guy above said, what king is going to undue that rule? Its the best rule any guy could ever imagine from the kings pov.

[Petyr's Little Finger]

It might have been a First Men practice, its prevalence in the North seem to indicate this. Why would an Andal lord get rid of this customs, he gets to have sex with any maiden he wants. A powerful lord/king isn't going to be keen in repealing that custom

[Aemond's Eye]

Ignoring the sex aspect, the Andals integrated into some First Men partly by marriage and alliances - they didn't just conquer in one military campaign ala Aegon. Thus they couldn't necessarily change every rule, and in some regions changing certain rules could provoke revolt. Not necessarily from the smallfolk - though there may have been some pockets of Westeros that considered it an honour or good omen etc - but more from lower ranking lords.

And then there's the sex element.

[The Mountain That Flies]

The dragonseeds show that it may have been a Valyrian custom or idea as well, though I suppose they could have just incorporated it from having been settled on Dragonstone for so long.