The Cultural Influences of The World of Ice and Fire.

[Jon Snoww]

So I thought a cool topic would be to talk about the different cultural influences in the world of Ice and Fire. I know this thread has probably been done but I would really like to put my view out there.

Westeros

The North: Many people on the Internet believe the north to be based off of medieval Russian or Scandinavia. I however believe that it has many similarities to Celtic culture. For example many of the prominent mythological elements in north culture (such as the Children of the Forest) are based of the Fae. He takes a lot of the events that happened in the medieval Celtic nations [scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, Wales, the Isle of Man and Brittany (region of France)] and translated it into Northern History. It may in some ways resemble medieval Scandinavia yet I feel as if GRRM took most of his inspiration from the medieval celtic nations.

The Iron Islands: This one is easy, I believe GRRM actually said in one of his interviews that he based the Iron Islanders off of the Norse (or Scandinavians, or Vikings if you prefer). They have many obvious similarities: they are not an agrarian society, they have a very maritime based society and they terrorized an entire continent for the better part of a century. Even the Kraken, the sigil of house Greyjoy, is based off of the Kraken of Norse Mythology.

The Riverlands: Now this is harder, when getting into the southern areas of Westeros I find GRRM liked to mix up a lot of the medieval european countries. In the Riverlands however I believe that medieval England is most prominent. I base this mainly of the fact that it still has many culturally northern/celtic aspects it is much different, and England much like the Riverlands were attacked by the Iron islanders/Norsemen. That isn't to say that there aren't any english aspects in any of the other regions

The Vale, Westerlands, Reach, Crownlands, and Stormlands: This is where GRRM really decided just to mix medieval Europe all up. Germany, France, Italy, and England all together. One could argue that the Reach is more French than Italian but personally I don't really want to.

Dorne: Dorne, in my mind at least, resembles Spain. Located in the southern part of each of the continents both Spain and Dorne were "conquered by foreign invaders, taking many of their customs and integrating them into their own culture. Both Dorne and Spain have had many feuds with northern kingdoms like France/Reach.

Essos

The Free Cities: I think the Free cities (except for Braavos) most represent the warring city-states of ancient Greece. It doesn't matter which is which only that they have similar tactics, advanced technology, and no central government. However I think Valyria was really the one that seemed the most greek, now I would say they are really the most indistinct mixture of Greece, Rome, Byzantium, Ottoman empire, and Persia.

Slavers Bay: Slavers bay, much like the Free cities are very hard to identify. I would say that it would be much like the Free Cities (Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Persian, and Ottoman) but a little different, much like Egypt, medieval India, or evenChina. However overall the difference between them and the Free Cities is slight.

Dothraki: Many say that the Dothraki are said to be solely based upon the Mongol empire, however the mongols were well armored and the dothraki are described as wearing little to no armor. No doubt that they do have many similarities but I would also factor in cultures such as early Egyptian, or even some native american tribes such as the Lakota, Sioux, Comanche, and Apache.

Braavos: Nearly every description I've done has talked about a mixture of cultures, in Braavos it is the most indistinct of all. Many compare Braavos to Venice, I would agree that it resemble venice but also it has hints of Mongolia, Greek, Ottoman and Roman. With Braavos I just have no f****in clue.

Feel free to include parts of the world I didn't touch on and feel free to post about your disagreement with me.

[Ser Cold Fingers]

May want to see if you can move this to the TWoIaF sub forum in the General section...there are still people who have not read TWoIaF.

or edit and put TWOIAF Spoiler in the title.

or are you simply calling the planet...The World of Ice and Fire? Because the fan given Nickname is Planetos. I wanted Texas but it was taken.

[Monctonvike]

Lys they were funny wigs and have amazing places to party- kind of like a mix of old Europe and Vegas

[Jon Snoww]

May want to see if you can move this to the TWoIaF sub forum in the General section...there are still people who have not read TWoIaF.

or edit and put TWOIAF Spoiler in the title.

or are you simply calling the planet...The World of Ice and Fire? Because the fan given Nickname is Planetos. I wanted Texas but it was taken.

Hi, sorry this is my first post so I didn't know. Thanks for the help. I didn't base this off the World of Ice and Fire (because I haven't read it yet) so I think that it will be fine for other people who haven't read it. This is just speculation on a lot of the theories on where GRRM based his cultures.

[Boar Island]

Apart from obvious parallels (North-> Scandinavian-celtic mixture; Iron Islands-> Viking Pirates; Dorne-> Spain) I personally never tried to compare the Seven Kingdoms to actual European countries, and always regarded them as pretty homogenous, with some regional differences.

Thoughts on Essos however:

- Free Cities: Greek cities

- Bravoos: Venice in perpetual autumn with the colossus of Rhodos in front of it

- Valyria before the Doom: Ancient Greece/Babylon

- Qarth: Arab influences

- Meereen: ancient Rome (dominating families, seven pyramids/hills, slavery, pit fights/gladiator fights for entertainment)

- Astapor & Yunkai: Cartharge

- Dothraki Sea: Mongolia/middle east

- Yi Ti: Chinese

[Knight Of Winter]

Reading about Yi Ti felt like reading about ancient Chinese history. I'll make a thread one day if I find the time.

ETA; and welcome to the forum, Jon Snoww :cheers: :cheers:

[Jon Snoww]

Reading about Yi Ti felt like reading about ancient Chinese history. I'll make a thread one day if I find the time.

ETA; and welcome to the forum, Jon Snoww :cheers: :cheers:

Thanks!

[Petyr's Little Finger]

Culturally the North seems close to the Celts of Britain. As the OP points out a lot of the North's religious rituals are not dissimilar to Celtic practices. Since Westerosi history tends to be based on British history, it seems like the First Men correspond to Celts while the Andal invasion is based on the invasion of Britain by Germanic peoples after the Romans left Britain.

The Iron Islanders are based upon Vikings.

Dorne is based on Spain. The Climate of Dorne is hotter and drier than the rest of Westeros, similar to how Spain is warmer and drier than the rest of Western Europe. Culturally Spain was under the influence of Arabs/Berbers, the Dornish have Rhoyne influences unlike the rest of Westeros.

The rest of Westeros is harder to compare to Europe. I don't the Riverlands, Vale, Reach and Stormlands correspond specifically to any European countries.

I think the Free Cities, are based of the city states in the Mediterranean like Venice, Genoa or Ragusa (now Dubrovnik). The heavy emphasis on trade, and the lack of monarchies in the Free Cities indicate this.

Valyria is Ancient Rome. Valyrian roads are similar to Roman roads. The fact that the Free Cities (daughters of Valyria) speak bastard Valyrian is similar to how people in many areas of the former Roman empire, spoke Vulgar Latin, which would evolve into French, Spanish, Italian to name a few. Valyrian is also taught to highborn children in Westeros, similar to how Latin was taught to European nobility. The Doom of Valyria is similar to Atlantis.

Ghiscari could be Carthaginians, they were ruling before the Valyrians like how the Carthaginians were dominant before the Romans. Like how Carthage's fields were salted by the Romans, the Ghiscari lands were also made barren by the Valyrians.

Qarth could be Constantinople or an Arab city, this one is hard to match with a real life location.

Dothraki are supposed to be based on various peoples in Asia and North America, the Dothraki sea could be the steppes of Central Asia.

[The Balrog of Valyria]

:agree:

The First Men are very celtic in culture. Many of their practices seem to be influenced by the druides of pre-Roman conquered Gaul and Britain.

The Andel invasion seems to be like a mixture of the Saxon and Norman invasions.The southern Kingdoms are mostly similar to one another with small differences based off of location.

The Ghiscari are really kind of unique in taking many aspects of slavery from around the world and at different times in the world and balling them all into one. They seem to have a eastern cultural background but other than that they are unique.

Qarth is in a similar position as Constantinople but has more in common with a Persian city on the silk road.

[John Doe]

Qarth isn't similar to Constantinople at all.

[Knight Of Winter]

Qarth isn't similar to Constantinople at all.

Why? Both are:

• situated on excellent strategic position on straits connecting "East" and "West"

grew very rich in trade exploiting their position

are last remnants of once mighty people / empire (which is what Constantinopole has become in 15th century)

take great pride in their history

consider themselves to be greatest/most important city in the known world

Now, their cultures are quite different but similarities are nonetheless undeniable.

[Trickrs]

Valyria was based in the Roman Republic, a mighty and expansionist state lead a by a group of families.