Martin's World = The Real World

[swaimover]

I have been theorising this for a while in my head now, and have made a lot of connections between Martin's world and our own. I would be interested to see who agrees with me, and who has more to add to what connections I have made.

Westeros = The UK

King's Landing is geographically about where London is in the United Kingdom, with Winterfell acting as Manchester, the wall as the border with Scotland. The Andals that sailed ships to Westeros are the Vikings that did the same.

Pentos = Paris

Quite a grand, rich city, relatively close to Westeros, with lots of ties.(Relatively weak argument from me here)

Braavos = Venice

The obvious thing here is that they are both built on water; "the swiftest way to move about the city is over water" (WOIAF 274). Braves even encounters some of the same problems of Venice; as parts of the fantasy city are sinking, similarly to the real-world city. Braavos is considered arguably the wealthiest city in Essos, which is similar to Venice in the early 13th century; "Venice was the predominant power in the eastern Mediterranean". Furthermore, Braavos has the Iron Bank, and in 15th century Venice, a branch of the Medici Bank was established in Venice, which was the largest and most respected bank in Europe at the time.

The Grasslands = Mesopotamia

'The Cradle of Civilisation' - where civilisation started in both the real world and Martin's fantasy world due to fertile land. However in both cases, these ancient powers were wiped out and lie weakened today.

City of Scholars = Library of Alexandria

Both contained libraries with scrolls and scripts of great value that were burned down

The Dothraki = The Mongol Empire

Nomadic, dark eyed and dark skinned horse-riders led by a khan (real world, like Genghis) or a khal (Martin's world). Reliance on horses and a single leader, coming from the East etc.

Asshai by the Shadow, Leng, Yi Ti = Asia

Phonetically, the names Martin uses are what we, in the real world, would relate to Asia. These places are depicted in the series and in the WOIAF as mysterious and exotic and unknown, much like much of Asia was in the Age of Exploration and before

I would be interested to here about what you think, and if anyone has any more to add!

[TheSovereignGrave]

They're just inspirations. And the Dothraki aren't the Mongols; they're an aggregation of influences from the numerous steppe and plains nomads that there's been throughout history. There's many differences; the Mongols didn't just destroy everyone they conquered like the Dothraki (among other major differences).

[The hairy bear]

Welcome to the forums, Swaimover.

If you use the search function, you'll be able to find several threads where people try to find parallels with Westerosi locations.

The trouble is that direct relations rarely work and are usually in the eye of the beholder. George's creations take inspiration of many different things, so we can't establish one-to-one parallels.

George himself stated that Dothraki were based in mongols, yes, but also "Huns, Alans, Sioux, Cheyenne, and various other Amerindian tribes...". Braavos may have a lot of Venice, but the climate/location reminds of Amsterdam, the Titan is from Rhodes, and the theater comes from the English Elizabethan era. And King's Landing may be compared to London by the ones that see Aegon the Conqueros as a version of William the Conqueror. But one could also see aspects of Rome (a center of the Faith founded on a group of distinct hills), Contantinople (for the Walls and the chain across the Golden Horn), and the design of the city replicates Conwy Castle in Gwynedd.