*Leah

I think this is a very interesting topic! I don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet, but I think there are many similarities between Ramsay's macabre huntings in the woods and the novel of “Nastagio degli Onesti”, contained in Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron. George Martin is a great admirer of Italian literature, both Medieval and Renaissance (in an interview he mentioned Machiavelli's Prince as a main source of inspiration for his A Song of Ice and Fire), and Boccaccio is one of the greatest medieval writers along with Dante and Petrarca. In A Song of Ice and Fire Ramsay is renowned for his savage cruelty, in particular he's known for chasing girls in the woods with his dogs, killing them, raping them and feeding their bodies to his dogs. In Boccaccio's novel Nastagio is walking through a pine forest when he sees a girl running naked in tears, being chased by two dogs trying to bite her and a knight with a black sword who kills her and gives her heart to the dogs. This novel was renowned during Middle Ages and Renaissance: the famous Italian painter Sandro Botticelli was commissioned by Lorenzo the Magnificent to paint it on the occasion of Giannozzo Pucci's wedding to Lucrezia Bini (1483). To see the paintings click the links below. Nastagio degli Onesti, primo episodio Nastagio degli Onesti, secondo episodio What do you think about it?