Who was the first Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and why doesn't anybody care?

[Stannis Lives]

I've read the series twice now and I've also watched the show religiously. One of my favorite series of all time AND one of my favorite TV shows of all time. How rare is that? One thing I can't stop asking myself is WHO WAS THE FIRST LORD COMMANDER OF THE NW? It's even more confusing than "Where do whores go?" or "Have you seen a fair maid of 3 and 10"? Why isn't this a question pondered constantly and debated to no end? If the Battle for the Dawn and AA reborn and tPtwP and R+L=J is so important, why doesn't anyone care who the first LC was? Wasn't the NW created to defend the realm of men? The whole point of so many theories is who will and how do you stop the Others. Who founded the NW? Who came up with the idea to defend the realm? Was it Bran the Builder? Was it the Last Hero or even AA? You'd think this guy would be a Westeros rock star. Can anybody help me?

[Ser Greg of House House]

It is important. But there's so little information we can't theorize anything. I guess if we stretch a little we can say "It was probably Bran the Builder" and there is no evidence to support it.

[Kanali]

It's probably just lost to time. If I had to guess, probably a Stark from Bran the Builder's close family. A younger brother or younger son perhaps.

[Arthur Dayne's Honor]

I would guess Bran the Builder but I would probably be wrong. Probably a Stark. OR COLDHANDS! DUNDUNDUNNNNNN!

[Stannis Lives]

It is important. But there's so little information we can't theorize anything. I guess if we stretch a little we can say "It was probably Bran the Builder" and there is no evidence to support it.

So that's where it stands right now? Never a SSM that references it? Seems crazy to me that for such an important order, we really don't know how it came about. I wonder if it will be answered in tWoW. It would be extremely anti-climactic if it was Bran the Builder. If that's the case, then why not just say so off the bat?

[Stannis Lives]

I would guess Bran the Builder but I would probably be wrong. Probably a Stark. OR COLDHANDS! DUNDUNDUNNNNNN!

EXACTLY what I've always thought. Could it be Coldhands? I know the prevailing theories for Coldhands are Benjen or the Night's King.

[Ser Greg of House House]

Well, I'm a little tired of all the mysteries really. I hope there's a good reason for Coldhands hiding his face other than "he was a nobody, but his face was that of a corpse".

Let's hope the companion book will have a lot of information :)

[ckal]

It seems like the people of Westeros really don't know much at all about any of the events that happened a few thousand years ago. The best they have are extremely vague tales and stories. I'm guessing this got lost and forgotten over time.

When Sam was looking through the book of all the old LCs, the pages were un readable or destroyed past a few hundred years ago right?

I think they only way we as readers will find out anything like this would be through Bran's story line.

[TheZone]

Jon is the 998th commander, thats a long ass time to look back, its probably lost within time.

[Stannis Lives]

It seems like the people of Westeros really don't know much at all about any of the events that happened a few thousand years ago. The best they have are extremely vague tales and stories. I'm guessing this got lost and forgotten over time.

When Sam was looking through the book of all the old LCs, the pages were un readable or destroyed past a few hundred years ago right?

I think they only way we as readers will find out anything like this would be through Bran's story line.

Jon is the 998th commander, thats a long ass time to look back, its probably lost within time.

I guess it's hard to put into perspective. Our grasp of human history really only goes back a few thousand years and they are talking about double or triple that. I guess if everyone else accepts that, then i'm the odd man out. IMO, the members of an order that has lasted eight thousand years in pretty much the same form, would remember the man who founded it. I would think that christians would remember Jesus Christ in 6000 years if the religion still exists, or if the USA is around in 8000 years, people will remember George Washington. Obviously they don't have the same technological capability is westeros as in the RW, but still... seems important. Maybe it is Coldhands or maybe we will just never know. It has just bothered me. This is only a semiserious discussion but I was hoping somebody had a compelling theory.

[TheZone]

I guess it's hard to put into perspective. Our grasp of human history really only goes back a few thousand years and they are talking about double or triple that. I guess if everyone else accepts that, then i'm the odd man out. IMO, the members of an order that has lasted eight thousand years in pretty much the same form, would remember the man who founded it. I would think that christians would remember Jesus Christ in 6000 years if the religion still exists, or if the USA is around in 8000 years, people will remember George Washington. Obviously they don't have the same technological capability is westeros as in the RW, but still... seems important. Maybe it is Coldhands or maybe we will just never know. It has just bothered me. This is only a semiserious discussion but I was hoping somebody had a compelling theory.

I infer that this is before the Andals came to westeros. So the Northerners were our worlds version of pagan , the probably did not write. Just like Slavic pagans did not write down their beliefs they were told from person to person.So they reason why there is no record of the first commander is one either it was lost, or two it was before recorded history.

[BaseBornBastard]

Well I'm pretty sure Bran the Builder went on to be TKITN, so not him. AA seems likely so it's only a matter of he actually was....I'm thinking whoever the first LC was, he'll eventually be revealed to us.

[binga]

Bran actually had to build it right? So I would assume he spent a lot of his time there.

[Stannis Lives]

Well I'm pretty sure Bran the Builder went on to be TKITN, so not him. AA seems likely so it's only a matter of he actually was....I'm thinking whoever the first LC was, he'll eventually be revealed to us.

I think it would be awesome if it turned out that AA was the first LC

[ejhawman]

Lost in the mists of prehistory. Known once by a pre-literate people, passed down as legend from parent to child, but, well, it's a game of telephone. The chain of transmission gets lost at points.

If Martin thinks it important enough to mention, he will probably have Bran see it, or Sam learn of some legends in the library at Oldtown.

[Luna Plath]

This is a great question. If the Night's Watch is going to continue as an organization, then I think they will have to find out more about their origins. It's telling that we only have minimal details about why the NW was formed and why it has the rules we see today.

[Stannis Lives]

This is a great question. If the Night's Watch is going to continue as an organization, then I think they will have to find out more about their origins. It's telling that we only have minimal details about why the NW was formed and why it has the rules we see today.

EXACTLY. They have forgotten who they were and why they were formed. They have spent thousands of years hiding behind a wall to defend it from a bunch of savages. Nonsense. The NW will have its own awakening when it learns of its origins. Maybe Sam will discover the secrets at the Citadel.

[PorcelainToSteel]

EXACTLY. They have forgotten who they were and why they were formed. They have spent thousands of years hiding behind a wall to defend it from a bunch of savages. Nonsense. The NW will have its own awakening when it learns of its origins. Maybe Sam will discover the secrets at the Citadel.

That's assuming they'll learn of their origins. One of the themes throughout AFFC is that history is mutable. When Brienne travels to The Whispers and hears the local legends of that area, it's supposed to high light the fact that history isn't the same wherever you travel.

Also, as previously mentioned in the thread, Sam specifically discusses the fact that the early history of the Watch wasn't recorded at the time and the earliest records they have are actually accounts written by Maesters who only recorded the stories they heard thousands of years after the fact.

Frankly, the only information GRRM is likely to release about the early history of the Watch is that they were formed to battle the Others, which is basically already known.

[Stannis Lives]

That's assuming they'll learn of their origins. One of the themes throughout AFFC is that history is mutable. When Brienne travels to The Whispers and hears the local legends of that area, it's supposed to high light the fact that history isn't the same wherever you travel.

Also, as previously mentioned in the thread, Sam specifically discusses the fact that the early history of the Watch wasn't recorded at the time and the earliest records they have are actually accounts written by Maesters who only recorded the stories they heard thousands of years after the fact.

Frankly, the only information GRRM is likely to release about the early history of the Watch is that they were formed to battle the Others, which is basically already known.

I think there is a difference in the origins of the NW vs some of the stories floating around westeros. The NW has clearly forgotten their purpose, they have forgotten their weapons, they have forgotten their true enemy. IMO the origins will be important in terms of them discovering how to fight the others. It might be the wildlings who become the NW, but they need to be reborn. If you subscribe to the NW as AA theory, its possible this is their metaphorical rebirth. I'm not sold on that but I do think there is a history to the NW that needs to be uncovered in order to fight the battle for the dawn.

[shearstone]

I would really like to hear more about the early history of Westeros, The North and the NW in particular. I believe in a theory I believe shared by some that alot of the stuff in the NW vows have been added much later.