I always had the continent of Westeros down as western Europe in Microcosm. In all probablity too much time has been put into this post and the thinking behind it. Beyond the Wall could be seen as Scotland, with the wildlings analogous to the Picts or Scots. That a giant, coast to coast wall divides it from the Seven Kingdoms is similar to Hadrian's Wall. It's not a perfect theory, as the wildlings seem linked to the First Men in some way. The North & Iron islands are a bit more muddled, if only because Northern England is a bit more muddled. Historic Northumbria had quite a mix of cultures from about the 9th century AD onward: Celts, Angles, Saxons, Jutes & Danes/Vikings. I'm not sure I've got a coherent First Men candidate here but the general toughness, hostility to the values of the Seven and predeliction for axes & furs seem to show a bit of Danish/Norse/Viking influence. Whenever I read about the North I think a bit of Northumbria in Bernard Cornwell's Saxon stories. As for the Vale - Switzerland? Lots of mountains and isolationist policies. We shall see. The Westerlands, Riverlands, Kingslands, Stormlands and the Reach haven't been given quite as much to differentiate them culturally. Southern England, France, Germany & the Netherlands shared a lot of culture in the medieval period, which is how I think of it. They're distinctive and proud, but still share quite a lot of background and the ruling Houses regularly intermarry. They also go to war regularly, and let's face it, that's most of European medieval history. Dorne is fairly unquestionably the iberian peninsula. They favour spears in battle (at least the Spanish did in Medieval: TW). There are distinct ethnic groups within the kingdom, the "Salty", "Sandy" and "Stony" Dornishmen according to Daeron I. Medieval Spain was a cultural meltingpot, with groups of Muslims, Jews, Basques and others. It's also fairly southern, deserty and fits my Western Europe comparison too well to throw away. The Free cities seem like the Italian city-states, with by logical extension Valyria being the Roman empire. If you have bothered to read this all the way to the end, you have wasted almost as much time as I have. I salute you. *edited for typos*
