Maester Yandel's Kingdom of the True North (Chapter 1)

The beginnings.

"Men of Hengledd march to glory!

Victory is Hov'ring o'er ye!

Bright-eyed freedom stands before ye!

Hear ye not her call?

Hark I hear the foe advancing!

Spears and Mails are proudly glancing!

Let them hear these words before ye!

True Northmen will not yield!

From the hills rebounding!

Let this War cry sounding!

Summon all at Hengledd's call a haughty foes surrounding!

Oh men of Hengledd onto glory see their banners quake before ye!

Hear these burning words before ye!

Hengledd gu ambragh!" - The Song of the Siege of the First Men also known as Men of Hengledd, it was sang during Aegon V's Northern Campaign and also at the Battle of Rhodri's pass.

The Kingdom of Hengledd or the True North as it was called by its people is recent in its ascent, particularly it arose during the time of the Seven Kingdoms Blackfyre Rebellion, during the reign of King Aerys I of House Targaryen. It was no surprising that this kingdom arose in the Valley of the Thenns the only fertile part of Beyond the Wall, and it seems one particular tribe of Thenns was lucky in that they were the tribe who managed to tame a species of cattle that can live in the harshest of winters, the Heilan Coo, or the Highland cattle while also discover iron.

The House of Canmore traces its roots to the Thenn tribe of Ailpin which resides at the edge of the Vale of Thenns, close to the Fist of the First Men and also at the only Free Folk settlement, Hardhome, which was called the Cooleys, Merfyn Map Merfyn, father of the famous Rhodri the first Canmore discovered a rich iron and dragon glass deposit in the hills of their small settlement, along with the fact that Merfyn also owned the largest herd of Heilan Coo, so it was no surprising that the tribe was destined to rise above the other Wildling tribes.

At a young age it was said the would be King of the True North had advised his father on how to make iron tools and weapons, on how the Dragonglass could be made into spear points of their pikes with which they could use to fight the White Walkers that haunt the infamous Haunted Forest. Merfyn Map Merfyn would lay the groundwork of his son's expansion by conquering the nearby tribes of the Fist of the First Men, using pikes which they created from the trees of the Haunted Forest and the dragonglass they mined on their hills, and crossbows which were looted and studied from Night's Watch patrols, the tribe of Ailpin expanded itself from the warm Vale of the Thenns towards the direction of Hardhome, it was during a fight with the tribe that owns Hardhome where Merfyn was killed in battle leaving the fifteen year old Rhodri to take up the mantle of chieftain of the Ailpin.

Inheritance of rulership in the Wildling tribes varied from tribe to tribe, but since the subject of this record concerns that of the tribe of Ailpin from which the House of Canmore originated, it must be said that inheritance in the tribe of Ailpin is not like those of their southern neighbors, inheritance is governed by a system called tanistry to which chieftainship is elected amongst the interrelated families of the Ailpin, so it was surprising and unprecedented that the young Rhodri Map Merfyn was chosen as the leader of the tribe of Ailpin by the tribal council, some of the more elderly kinsmen of the tribe resented this but it seems the Old Gods of the North favored Rhodri as he followed through with his father's expansion, marrying the daughter of the ruler of Hardhome, finally incorporating the settlement under the Ailpin banner.

With Hardhome finally under him, Rhodri wasted no time in the construction of the Hardhome Drydocks and construct ships known as birlinn junks using the wood found in the haunted forest to which he would send to Braavos to secure first a trading agreement with the Essosi city and then an alliance which exists in the writing of this record.

Fate it seems is in Rhodri's favor as the attention of the Iron throne was focused to the Blackfyres, his tribe continued to expand, defeating and incorporating the tribes of the Haunted Forest while at the same time creating an army structure which would still be used in the writing of this record, as well as being copied by the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms.