I wanted to start this thread because the Others are one of my favorite parts of the Song of Ice and Fire series. I just think they're real interesting. My plan is to turn this OP into a continuing entry of facts and references from the series regarding the Others. That way we can have a running list of every time they're mentioned and what the books say about them. I'm currently on A Feast for Crows and will start the running entries now. At some point I'll try to go back and find the references from the first 3 books. I guess I'll put everything in spoilers. If the mods have better ideas, then I'll change accordingly. Spoiler -children of the forest used to give the nights watch 100 dragonglass daggers every year. -the others either come when it's cold, or when they come it becomes cold -sometimes they come during snowstorms and melt away when the sun appears -they usually come at night -they often ride dead animals -their swords are so cold they shatter steel swords -fire dismays them -they don't leave foot prints on snow. "The white walkers go lightly on the snow, " the ranger said. "You'll find no prints to mark their passage." -Cold Hands (p.170 ADWD)
yah I was going to add that as well. I'm at a point in the series where that has been hinted at but not confirmed so I left it off for now. Spoiler I'm also guessing that some of valyerian steels ability to kill others comes from the fact that valyerian steel is spell forged.
The Others appear in the prologue to AGoT as tall and gaunt with flesh pale as milk and blue eyes, deeper and bluer than human eyes, burning like ice. The White Walker who married the Night's King is similarly described as having skin as pale as the moon and eyes like blue stars. Old Nan declares them to be cold dead things, hating all life, but in an email to the comic-book artist Tommy Patterson GRRM recently wrote: 'The Others are not dead. They are strange, beautiful… think, oh… the Sidhe made of ice, something like that… a different sort of life… inhuman, elegant, dangerous.'
I'll spoiler both of these as I don't remember which book they're from. regarding their animals Spoiler There are tales of their riding the corpses of dead animals such as bears, direwolves, mammoths, and horses, The Other that Samwell Tarly slays is riding Mawney’s dead horse. Hoarfrost covers it like a sheen of frozen sweat, and a nest of stiff black entrails drag from its open belly. On its back is a rider as pale as ice. The Others can be accompanied by "ice spiders" as big as hounds.[4] what Melisandre believes about them Spoiler Melisandre thinks that Others are servants of the Great Other, allegedly an evil god of darkness, cold, and death who wages eternal war against R'hllor.