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Chainmail in the human sacrifice vision? Is this a mistake by GRRM?


joluoto2

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Someone pointd out recently that the people in Bran's vision of the weirwood sacrifice wore chaimail, so I of course went to immidiately check it out. Is this a mistake by GRRM? Or is it intentional? Is it a clue that sacrifice did not happen that long ago at all?


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What problem with this?

First man have forged bronze and they could make chainmails.

Or am I misunderstanding smth?

First men armour was probably similar to what the Thenns wear, ie Bronze scales.

As for chain mail, wikipedia has the oldest known chain mail found dated a few hundred years before Christ. Westerosi armour I believe is comparable to Late middle ages. So that's over a thousand years on our scale of advancement that could easily be a few thousand on the Westerosi scale so I don't think there's an issue.

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As for chain mail, a quick google search said it was probably invented around the 5th century Westerosi armour I believe is comparable to Late middle ages. So that's almost a thousand years on our scale of advancement that could easily be a few thousand on the Westerosi scale so I don't think there's an issue.

5th century BC.

Just correcting it before somebody gets the wrong impression.

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5th century BC.

Just correcting it before somebody gets the wrong impression.

Right, thanks for the correction I'll be sure to edit. As I said quick google search so I'm by no means an expert.

Would late middle ages be an accurate descriptions of where Westerosi armour is at?

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My guess is, it wasn't that long ago, certainly not before the Andals came with their iron working.



Reason 1: the video does small, tens-to-low-hundreds years worth of jumps. Ned after the Rebellion, Lyanna as a child, Dunk (presumably), Brandon Snow (again presumably). So: fifteen years (roughly), eight years, sixty years, two hundred years. I'd expect the last one to represent a couple centuries, not a few millennia.



Reason 2: everything happened during the life of the camera tree. And as the story moves backwards, the tree shrinks visibly smaller and smaller. With that in mind, a time frame of several thousand years doesn't seem right.



With that in mind, the mail. I think it was put there specifically as a clue regarding the historical context. They already had chain mails, and the sickle was bronze because, I'm guessing, a traditional sickle used to butcher sacrifices to the old gods should be made of this material.


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Right, thanks for the correction I'll be sure to edit. As I said quick google search so I'm by no means an expert.

Would late middle ages be an accurate descriptions of where Westerosi armour is at?

Partially Renaissance. They are currently in the transition period and mix armor typical for the 13th to 16th centuries. With a couple outliers like the Wall featuring armor from the 11th century.

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The FM in the North probably kept making blood sacrifices long after the Andals and their ironworking tech arrived to Westeros. Who was going to tell them to stop? They kept their religion and customs until the Targaryen conquered them.


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Someone pointd out recently that the people in Bran's vision of the weirwood sacrifice wore chaimail, so I of course went to immidiately check it out. Is this a mistake by GRRM? Or is it intentional? Is it a clue that sacrifice did not happen that long ago at all?

There is no mistake. The dream is going backwards in time. The men in chain mail and furs are gone before Bran can put a name to them. Then comes the woman with the bronze sickle.

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There is no mistake. The dream is going backwards in time. The men in chain mail and furs are gone before Bran can put a name to them. Then comes the woman with the bronze sickle.

Oops... you are right, and I made a mistake. "Chainmail" and "sacrifice" are two different clips, and no clues as for how much time elapsed between them.

Still, the camera tree is the same through the entire montage, isn't it?

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I take it a sign that human sacrifices were not that far away in Westeros' history as some would think.

This is a likely explanation, though another (not as likely) is that as Bran is a ten year old boy he certainly would not be an authority on armor.

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This is a likely explanation, though another (not as likely) is that as Bran is a ten year old boy he certainly would not be an authority on armor.

True in regards to Bran, but I don't think that the author would have put that detail in if it was actually to show the metallurgic development in Westeros. I think that Martin works more with symbols and stuff.

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Why can't people take the time to read a handful of posts - this is end of thread stuff:





There is no mistake. The dream is going backwards in time. The men in chain mail and furs are gone before Bran can put a name to them. Then comes the woman with the bronze sickle.





This is correct. And the OP has realized this






Oops... you are right, and I made a mistake. "Chainmail" and "sacrifice" are two different clips, and no clues as for how much time elapsed between them.


Still, the camera tree is the same through the entire montage, isn't it?





This vision could in fact be from the earliest days of WF. Probably nowhere near the arrival of the Andals.

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Wasn't there something in one of Davos's chapters in ADWD about Human sacrifice having died out only 500 years ago? I dare say that such practices may have continued in the North, well after the introduction of steel.



The person may have been telling Davos that the practice of hanging entrails stopped about 500 years ago, I cant remember exactly. But I think that the too should be connected.


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