Feologild Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 This has probably been up before. But are the 7 Kingdoms of Westeros based or inspired by the 7 Ango-Saxon Kingdoms ? 7 Kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England. East Anglia Essex Kent Mercia Northumbria Sussex Wessex So are the 7 Kingdoms of Westeros based or inspired bu the 7 Kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Northman Reborn Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 1 hour ago, Feologild said: This has probably been up before. But are the 7 Kingdoms of Westeros based or inspired by the 7 Ango-Saxon Kingdoms ? 7 Kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England. East Anglia Essex Kent Mercia Northumbria Sussex Wessex So are the 7 Kingdoms of Westeros based or inspired bu the 7 Kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England ? Truthfully, yes, I think that despite other influences that may have been added later, Martin's original concept was to broadly base the 7 Kingdoms on the former kingdoms that occupied current day England (and maybe a bit of Wales). With the Wall representing Hadrian's wall, and the Wildlings the Scottish tribes beyond it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julia H. Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 17 minutes ago, Free Northman Reborn said: Truthfully, yes, I think that despite other influences that may have been added later, Martin's original concept was to broadly base the 7 Kingdoms on the former kingdoms that occupied current day England (and maybe a bit of Wales). With the Wall representing Hadrian's wall, and the Wildlings the Scottish tribes beyond it. Yes, that was my first impression, too, when I read AGoT for the first time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Northman Reborn Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Look at this map of ancient Northumbria, for example. (But zoom in until Northumbria fills most of your screen. Then the resemblance becomes really apparent). https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Anglo-Saxon_Heptarchy.jpg From East to West, if you consider a map of the North, you can effectively see the blueprint for the Widow's Watch peninsula, the Bite next to it, the mouth of the White Knife and the fork in the river that is situated around Winterfell (represented by York on this map). Moving West, you can easily see the Barrowlands (with Manchester representing Barrowton), the Rills, and the Stony Shore and Sea Dragon point further North. In fact, you can even see Bear Island (represented by the Isle of Man), and the outline of the Frozen Shore to its North. The North was clearly based on ancient Northumbria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrhex Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Yes, the history of Westeros is heavily inspired by British history. Among the major inspirations, the 7 kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England, Aegon is William the Conqueror, the Dance of the Dragons is The Anarchy, and RR and the WOT5K are based on the Wars of the Roses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Equilibrium Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Loosely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Weirwoods Eyes Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 On 29/12/2016 at 1:36 PM, Free Northman Reborn said: Look at this map of ancient Northumbria, for example. (But zoom in until Northumbria fills most of your screen. Then the resemblance becomes really apparent). https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Anglo-Saxon_Heptarchy.jpg From East to West, if you consider a map of the North, you can effectively see the blueprint for the Widow's Watch peninsula, the Bite next to it, the mouth of the White Knife and the fork in the river that is situated around Winterfell (represented by York on this map). Moving West, you can easily see the Barrowlands (with Manchester representing Barrowton), the Rills, and the Stony Shore and Sea Dragon point further North. In fact, you can even see Bear Island (represented by the Isle of Man), and the outline of the Frozen Shore to its North. The North was clearly based on ancient Northumbria. I can really see it, and I agree, all except for the fact that as my home is the only place marked on the east coast of the Anglo-Saxon map and your description would I think, have me living in either the Dreadfort or Karhold. I simply have to spit my dummy out and disagree. Cos I ain't being a Karstark or a Bolton. OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Melnibonean Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 On 12/29/2016 at 8:36 AM, Free Northman Reborn said: Look at this map of ancient Northumbria, for example. (But zoom in until Northumbria fills most of your screen. Then the resemblance becomes really apparent). https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Anglo-Saxon_Heptarchy.jpg From East to West, if you consider a map of the North, you can effectively see the blueprint for the Widow's Watch peninsula, the Bite next to it, the mouth of the White Knife and the fork in the river that is situated around Winterfell (represented by York on this map). Moving West, you can easily see the Barrowlands (with Manchester representing Barrowton), the Rills, and the Stony Shore and Sea Dragon point further North. In fact, you can even see Bear Island (represented by the Isle of Man), and the outline of the Frozen Shore to its North. The North was clearly based on ancient Northumbria. Man, that's not the resemblance I saw... I should go wash my eyes out with soap and get my mind out of the gutter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dofs Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I vaguely remember an interview where GRRM lamented the fact that he chose there to be 7 Kingdoms, musing the 5 might have been sufficient. So considering that, it might be that it wasn't based on that and that GRRM just chose a pretty number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackfyre Bastard Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I think the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros are inspired on the Heptarchy, but I don't think there's a correlation between the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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