Shipwreck on Skagos

[Kingmonkey]

6 hours ago, Illyrio Mo'Parties said:

Those two Lysene ships that got blown north and picked up a load of slaves at Hardhome... could it be one of them at Skagos? I recall one of them made it back to Braavos, but I forget what happened to the other one. (And I presume they were both Sallador Saan's.)

They got separated on their way south from Hardhome during another storm, so that has to be a real possibility. 

On 11/12/2016 at 6:24 AM, KingMance said:

From what we know of Skagos, it's an island best shunned by strangers for fear of cannibals riding unicorns. It makes since for the nights watch to have to pass by, but why would another ship be so close? I don't doubt they do some trading or what not, but it seems odd. 

As @Lost Melnibonean mentioned in the thread linked above, Skagos is on regular trade routes. I suspect people are over-estimating the mystery of Skagos. Distant places always seem more mysterious, and the rumours of Skagos we've heard don't necessarily reflect the way the place is seen by people who are actually sailing in the area. I see no reason to assume that Skagos doesn't have a very regular sea-trade.

One of the earliest historical references to Hadrian's Wall, GRRM's inspiration for the Westeros wall was written by the Byzantine historian Procopius in the 6th century. He describes how the weather is completely different on either side of the wall, with the north side a wild land filled with beasts and snakes, where people cannot survive for more than half an hour, and the ghosts of the dead are ferried there. Even after hundreds of years of Roman occupation and regular trade, the idea of Britain as a land of myth and wonder continued in Byzantium. Claudius' invasion of Britain almost failed before it started due to a mutiny in the army, the soldiers objecting to being asked to go beyond the limits of the known world, in the great encircling Ocean where only the Isles of the Dead were supposed to be found. Julius Caesar, who failed in an attempt to invade Britain 90 years earlier, claimed the Britons were fur-wearing cannibals who didn't know how to plant crops.  Apparently myths like that die hard.

What we are told of Skagos is obviously mythologised. When we read between the lines, it's a land with lordly houses along similar lines to those in the mainland, which trades with the rest of the world. I suspect that we will come to find out that the relationship between Skagos and the mainland parallels that historical relationship between Britain and the mainland. Many strange tales may be told about the place, but if you actually go there you find it may have a few unique cultural elements, but it's really not very different from the places you've just sailed from. 

[kissdbyfire]

21 hours ago, Illyrio Mo'Parties said:

Those two Lysene ships that got blown north and picked up a load of slaves at Hardhome... could it be one of them at Skagos? I recall one of them made it back to Braavos, but I forget what happened to the other one. (And I presume they were both Sallador Saan's.)

There are two Lysene ships on Skane. But I imagine Saan's fleet has several. 

[Illyrio Mo'Parties]

18 hours ago, Kingmonkey said:

Julius Caesar, who failed in an attempt to invade Britain 90 years earlier, claimed the Britons were fur-wearing cannibals who didn't know how to plant crops.

I see he made it to Newcastle then

[Kingmonkey]

26 minutes ago, Illyrio Mo'Parties said:

I see he made it to Newcastle then

No, he says they all spoke a similar enough language to be mutually comprehensible, so he can't have got that far north.