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{Possible Spoilers} What references to other works have you found?


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Currently reading about House Tully and their history during the Dance of the Dragons and noticed a similarity in the names of the lords and heirs of House Tully and the residents of a certain street where large birds roam and hairy green people live in trash cans.



-The old, bedridden infirm Lord Grover Tully who supported Viserys over Laenor Velaryon 101 AC and alter pledged his support for King Aegon II.



-His grandson, a knight who defied his wishes to support King Aegon II by shutting the gates of Riverrun and later declaring for Rhaenyra, Ser Elmo Tully.



-Ser Elmo, later Lord Elmo after his grandfather died, did not live long as a lord. He died whilst on the march during the war. He was succeeded by his young son, Lord Kermit Tully.




So what else have you guys found that are references or nods to other works? This one was pretty obvious but knowing GRRM I'm sure we have some much more subtle ones in here.



(Also for those of you who have the strange combination of both having lived under a rock, never watching television as a child, and being too lazy to click the links those are all names of Muppets from Sesame Street)


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Lovecraft. Lovecraft everywhere, too many references to count: The Iron Islands alone are full of references to Chtulhu's and Dagon's mythology, (the Drowned God, the name Dagon, the Greyjoy sigil...etc.)

And then we have references to the Deep Ones/Fish People everywhere, from the Iron Islands to the Thousand Islands.

And then we have K'Dath and Carcossa, and it goes on and on and on...

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Reading House Targaryen - War of Dragons. Some peasant girl named Nettle adopted a wild dragon and then vanished with it.



Can't remember where girl Nettle comes from. Robin Hobb? I read it somewhere, been in my head since!


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Quite a few cultures using an island as a place of exile or confinement (as an Aussie I am reminded of Botany Bay though this could easily apply to any society that used a far off place as a prison etc).



The fall of Sallosh (City of Scholars) on the Silver Shore by the Dothraki and the destruction of its legendary library is a likely reference to what happened to the Library of Alexandria.


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In the Iron Islands section there is a Sauron Saltongue and in another section (can't remember which) there is a lady named Arwen, both of which are obvious references to LOTR.

Also, the last king of Massey's Hook, Josua, was called "Softspear". Could that be a reference to John I of England (who was known as John Lackland and John Softsword)?

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GRRM made me hate Lovecraft. Really, why do you have to make everything from the Iron Islands to Braavos, Leng to Carcosa Lovecraftian?

I have to agree. Some nods like Dagon or Carcossa were cool, but making everything Lovecraftian wasn't the best idea he ever had.

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Elric > Eldric the Shadowchaser


Yyrkoon > Hyrkoon



There are a lot of Viking references about the Ironborn.



The Grey King also taught men to weave nets and sails and carved the first longship from the hard pale wood of Ygg, a demon tree who fed on human flesh.


This tree called Ygg is a reference to Yggdrasil.

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Reading House Targaryen - War of Dragons. Some peasant girl named Nettle adopted a wild dragon and then vanished with it.

Can't remember where girl Nettle comes from. Robin Hobb? I read it somewhere, been in my head since!

Nettles is also mentioned later on in the Vale as a woods witch with a dragon who appeared after the Dance of the Dragons.

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Nettle - From Assassin and Tawny Man trilogies by Robin Hobb.

Indeed (and in the Fitz and Fool book, and presumably the other ones that are in the works).

I also caught the Ygg/Yggdrasil one mentioned by Antz.

ETA: Some of the Black Stone stuff also reminds me a little of the Numenoreans in LOTR bringing the Stone of Erech with them.

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Ambrose Bierce was the creator of Carcosa. Robert W. Chambers and H.P. Lovecraft both recycled the name for their stories.

I stand corrected. Thanks. ETA: But he does claim to be the 69th Yellow Emperor, so it seems more a nod to Chambers.
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(Also for those of you who have the strange combination of both having lived under a rock, never watching television as a child, and being too lazy to click the links those are all names of Muppets from Sesame Street)

I identify with this perfectly.

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(Also for those of you who have the strange combination of both having lived under a rock, never watching television as a child, and being too lazy to click the links those are all names of Muppets from Sesame Street)

Well, there is also those people from countries that aren't english-speaking where all the Muppets' names were translated to the local language...

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