Warg

Orell, a warg of the Free Folk, while communing with his eagle

"He can enter the minds of animals and see through their eyes."

―Mance Rayder on Orell

Wargs are people with the ability to enter the minds of animals and perceive the world through their senses and even control their actions. The act of doing this is called "warging".

The ability starts out as vivid dreams in which the warg sees and perceives the world through the senses of an animal. Over time and with practice a warg can enter the mind of an animal at will, as demonstrated by Orell.

Warging is a separate ability from Greensight, the psychic ability to perceive future and past events in dreams. However, some people who are wargs can also possess greensight.

Wargs cannot easily enter the minds of other humans to control their actions, though few even attempt it.

Known Wargs

• Orell, a wildling
• Bran Stark, also possesses the power of greensight

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, a "skinchanger" is a person with the ability to enter the mind of an animal and control its actions and perceive the world through their eyes. A "warg" is a skinchanger that does so with wolves.  The TV series somewhat inaccurately describes Orell as a "warg" even when he is controlling an eagle. 

Skinchanging seems to be limited to people who are blood of the First Men, i.e. the Free Folk and the Northmen. This may have some connection with the fact that the First Men lived in Westeros for centuries alongside the magical Children of the Forest, and even adopted their religion of the Old Gods of the Forest, but the later Andals killed or drove away the last of the Children of the Forest during their invasion of the continent six thousand years ago.

The members of House Farwynd of the Lonely Light - the smallest and remotest of the Iron Islands - are also said to be skinchangers.

Wargs among the wildlings cannot easily enter the minds of other humans, which are much more strong-willed than animals. Contributing to the difficulty is that few wargs even attempt entering the minds of other humans, as this is considered an abomination. The wargs among the wildlings have loosely developed three rules to govern their power: never enter the mind of an animal while it is having sex, never enter the mind of an animal while it is eating human flesh, and never attempt to enter the mind of another human. These rules are more custom than law, of course, as it is difficult to enforce in the wide wildernesses beyond the Wall. Still, any warg who becomes known for breaking these taboos will subsequently be shunned by all others.

See also

• Skinchanger at A Wiki of Ice and Fire (MAJOR spoilers from the books)