Portrayed by Rose Leslie

Status: Deceased

Origin: Beyond the Wall

Episode Appearances: 17

First Seen: ‘The Old Gods And The New’

Last Seen: ‘The Children’

BACKGROUND

Ygritte is a quick-witted and courageous young spearwife, the name for warrior women among her tribe known as the Free Folk, the self-given name for the people who live in the lands beyond the Wall, still on the continent of Westeros but beyond the northern border of the unified Seven Kingdoms. The people of the Seven Kingdoms refer to the Free Folk derogatorily as "wildlings", given their more primitive culture.

Ygritte displays great skill as an archer and living north of the Wall, she also is well skilled in survival. Her most distinctive feature is her hair, fiery red and "a tangle of curls". The Free Folk consider redheads to be "kissed by fire", a sign of special significance and luck.

She is staunchly loyal to the cause of the King-Beyond-the-Wall, Mance Rayder. Ygritte values her status as a free woman, and disparages those living south of the Wall as “kneelers”. A major difference between the Free Folk and the feudal society of the Seven Kingdoms is that the Free Folk do not recognize a class of hereditary nobility in their society and take great pride in electing their leaders. The Free Folk will follow no man simply because of who his father was.

Ygritte believes that because wildlings and Northerners both claim descent from the First Men, there is no need for them to be fighting, and that only the geographical divide of the Wall separates them. As with other wildlings, Ygritte understands that the real threat lies with the impending invasion of the White Walkers, an ancient race of formerly-human ice creatures from the frozen wastelands Far North of Westeros.