The Northmen take the idea of community very seriously as survival is a group effort. The death of one can lead to the death of all in the worst cases.

We can see the evolution of these concepts when comparing the Mountain Clans to the other houses of the North. Of all the peoples of the North the Mountain clans of the Northern Mountains are perhaps the least affected by the march of time. Though called lords, the leaders of these clans are more realistically chieftains. They have no castles, only longhouses and fasts, though some do rival small castles in size. They hold guest right more sacred even than other Northmen and are well known for being the most competitive about being seen as the most gracious. They’re also known for their feuds which the Starks have had to settle countless times through out the years. They do not call their lords “lord” or even “chief/chieftain” or anything similar, instead calling them things like “the Wull”. This applies even outside of the clans as they call the current lord Stark “the Stark”.

Northerners have great skills in basically any craft that can be done inside. Again, thanks to their summer snows and horrific winters which effectively trap them inside for years on end they’ve got to find something to do with their time. Storytelling and music is generally saved for the night or particularly slow days, the rest of the time is taken up with normal life activities and various handcrafts. Generally textile/fibre related, carpentry, whittling, art and a small amount of pottery and metalwork but on a noticeably smaller scale outside of any needed repairs. A good chunk of these crafts are then later sold in the spring and are eagerly sought after, making them one of the more lucrative exports outside of limber and sheep/wool. While they’re happy for the extra money they’re mainly just selling them to get rid of all this extra stuff.

Crafts the North produces when they’re all stuck inside for like, 5 years straight:

Using textiles or leather

Print/pattern making on cloth/paper, Banner-making, Cross-stitch, Crochet, Cord-making, Darning, Embossing leather, Embroidery, Felting, Knitting, Lace-making, Macrame, Millinery (hat making), Needlepoint, Patchwork, Quilting, Ribbon embroidery, Rug making, Saddle making, Sewing generally, Shoe making, Spinning, Tapestry, Weaving

Using wood, metal, clay, bone, horn, glass, or stone

Bead work, Bone carving, Carpentry, Ceramic art, Chip carving, Dollhouse construction and furnishing/scale modeling, Doll making, Enameling and Grisaille, Fretwork, Glass etching, Glassblowing, Jewelry design, Lapidary, Marquetry, Metalwork, Mosaics, Pottery, Repoussé and chasing (embossing metal), Sculpture, Silversmithing, Stained glass, Toy making, Wood burning, Woodworking generally

Using paper or similar

Assemblage, Bookmaking, Calligraphy, Paper craft, Paper making, Papier-mâche

Most major settlements in the North have an undercity/tunnel system like we see at Castle of Black and Mole’s town and for the same practical reasons there — to get around the place in the middle of winter without losing fingers to frostbite. Winterfell is the exception. Because of its place seated over a hot spring digging under it is a bit of a complex feat. Instead Winterfell and Winter Town have a mix of above ground and below ground connector tunnels/passages.

All major castles that are used as winter settlements have greenhouses like the one at Winterfell with that one being the biggest, most advanced and most impressive ones. Greenhouses and related technology like heating systems are one of the areas where the North is more advanced than the South for obvious reasons. Not only do they use the heat of the sun to help warm the greenhouses they also use a radiant floor heating system like ondol from Korea which was also used in greenhouses as we’ve seen in 14th century manuscripts. The idea is that a small fire is made near the building and then the chimney is a long series of tunnels/pipes in the ground under it and the heat of it radiates up. The amount of wood and fire need is extremely small and in the context of the North they’ve absolutely gotten it down to the smallest amount and with the maximum interval between them. They also add to this a cauldron of water to increase the heat and humidity.

Castles and such all over the North use variations of this kind of fire/smoke based radiant heating system save for Winterfell which uses the heat and steam of the hot springs to do the same job. The North also has some of the best understanding of things like insulation and layering of materials and the way they build is unique to them and not seen in other kingdoms. Roofs in the North are intensely steeped to keep the snow from piling too much and collapsing the building. The walls have multiple layers both for strength and heat retention. All entry points from the outside have two sets of doors, like an airlock, to try and keep as much cold out.

Northerners have also developed some of the best outdoor and winter gear in Westeros which becomes a big export for them in the autumn.

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