Why is the North talked about as if its impossible to invade ?

[Ran]

5 minutes ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

More interesting to me, is the flip side of this discussion. While Moat Cailin is pretty much unassailable by land from the south, the Riverlands are open for assault from the North. While the World of Ice and Fire tells us that the Riverlands have suffered more invasions and wars than any other region, it is silent on whether any of those invasions came from the North.

F&B v. 1 will mention in passing the the "winter armies" of the North that customarily marched south to pillage and plunder and find a worthy end.

[Free Northman Reborn]

2 minutes ago, Ran said:

F&B v. 1 will mention in passing the the "winter armies" of the North that customarily marched south to pillage and plunder and find a worthy end.

Wow. That sounds absolutely fascinating. Is this only during the Targaryen era, or in earlier times too?

[Ran]

6 minutes ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

Wow. That sounds absolutely fascinating. Is this only during the Targaryen era, or in earlier times too?

I think this is primarily referencing the pre-Targaryen situation, but it's referencing Cregan Stark's host as being the latest incarnation of this sort of thing.

[Free Northman Reborn]

Just now, Ran said:

I think this is primarily referencing the pre-Targaryen situation, but it's referencing Cregan Stark's host as being the latest incarnation of this sort of thing.

Ah yes, that would make sense. The practice would have reduced once the Realm was unified. Very interesting. Makes one wonder if this has some sort of bearing on the current story. After all, we are approaching Winter now, and there are wars to be fought.

[Adam Yozza]

34 minutes ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

Ah yes, that would make sense. The practice would have reduced once the Realm was unified. Very interesting. Makes one wonder if this has some sort of bearing on the current story. After all, we are approaching Winter now, and there are wars to be fought.

I can see what you mean with that, but I think the Northmen will be primarily focussed on the threat beyond the wall.

[Damon_Tor]

On 12/12/2017 at 3:28 AM, Stormking902 said:

Yes MC is impregnable from land cool, as long as an army has a strong fleet the North could never repel an invading force from at least LANDING there army in Northern territory. The Norths shores are only defended at White Harbour on the East coast, the West coast isnt defended AT ALL so a beef with say the Lannisters or the Reach and you could see them sail and land a fleet rather easily.

Now feed that army. Now feed that army while it's 500 miles inland laying siege to a castle. Good luck.

[Free Northman Reborn]

6 minutes ago, Adam Yozza said:

I can see what you mean with that, but I think the Northmen will be primarily focussed on the threat beyond the wall.

Oh sure. I didn't necessarily mean to imply that they would be marching South. But if there are a host of men that become available every Winter, well, they are going to be available again, and there are wars to be fought in the North itself, whoever it may be against.

[Dorian Martell's son]

4 hours ago, Ran said:

F&B v. 1 will mention in passing the the "winter armies" of the North that customarily marched south to pillage and plunder and find a worthy end.

So, does this mean that fire and blood will  get published before winds? 

[Ran]

6 hours ago, Dorian Martell's son said:

So, does this mean that fire and blood will  get published before winds? 

 It just means I’ve seen the relevant material since it was written for TWoIaF.

[AlaskanSandman]

10 hours ago, Ran said:

I think this is primarily referencing the pre-Targaryen situation, but it's referencing Cregan Stark's host as being the latest incarnation of this sort of thing.

I imagine it probably wasn't as easy to invade the south after House Frey was installed 600 years ago around the same time Hard home was burned and the Valyrians took Dragonstone. I suspect the Valyrians of being responsible for much of these actions.

[AlaskanSandman]

10 hours ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

Ah yes, that would make sense. The practice would have reduced once the Realm was unified. Very interesting. Makes one wonder if this has some sort of bearing on the current story. After all, we are approaching Winter now, and there are wars to be fought.

Consider what Robb had to pay to cross the Neck for instance once House Frey was installed at the Neck, or took the Neck.

[Free Northman Reborn]

22 minutes ago, AlaskanSandman said:

Consider what Robb had to pay to cross the Neck for instance once House Frey was installed at the Neck, or took the Neck.

Robb didn't have to pay to cross the Neck. He had to pay to cross the Trident into the western Riverlands. The Kingsroad lay open before him, with the Twins nowhere near that main route to the South.

As I have said before, the Twins are actually in a rather out of the way part of Westeros. It doesn't block access to the South.

EDIT

In fact, the Twins would have had no impact, as they didn't put up a new barrier to crossing the Trident. They actualy provided the first reliable way to cross it. Before they arrived there would not even have been a bridge, so passage would have been by raft or boat.

[AlaskanSandman]

15 minutes ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

Robb didn't have to pay to cross the Neck. He had to pay to cross the Trident into the western Riverlands. The Kingsroad lay open before him, with the Twins nowhere near that main route to the South.

As I have said before, the Twins are actually in a rather out of the way part of Westeros. It doesn't block access to the South.

EDIT

In fact, the Twins would have had no impact, as they didn't put up a new barrier to crossing the Trident. They actualy provided the first reliable way to cross it. Before they arrived there would not even have been a bridge, so passage would have been by raft or boat.

Well, if you wanna go that route, why not just come down the western side of the neck and avoid having to cross at all if that's really the side you wanted to go down and be on. 

[Lion of the West]

11 hours ago, Ran said:

F&B v. 1 will mention in passing the the "winter armies" of the North that customarily marched south to pillage and plunder and find a worthy end.

Poor Riverlands. Is there no end to their suffering?

[Adam Yozza]

1 hour ago, AlaskanSandman said:

Well, if you wanna go that route, why not just come down the western side of the neck and avoid having to cross at all if that's really the side you wanted to go down and be on. 

Because the swamps prevent it. You can't go around the head of the Trident because of the marsh's and bogs.

[Free Northman Reborn]

13 minutes ago, Adam Yozza said:

Because the swamps prevent it. You can't go around the head of the Trident because of the marsh's and bogs.

Talking about the geography of the Trident and the swamps, do I understand correctly that a fork of the Trident originates  in the Neck? Does this mean that the swamps of the Neck are located on higher ground? This seems a bit weird to me. Would rivers not normally empty INTO swamps and wetlands, rather than originating there?

And how about the beaches and coastline on either side of the Neck? Do the swamps extend right down to the seashore? And if so, surely it cannot be high ground in that case, seeing as it joins with the sea?

I must say Martin's geography usually confuses me a tad.

[Adam Yozza]

3 minutes ago, Free Northman Reborn said:

Talking about the geography of the Trident and the swamps, do I understand correctly that a fork of the Trident originates  in the Neck? Does this mean that the swamps of the Neck are located on higher ground? This seems a bit weird to me. Would rivers not normally empty INTO swamps and wetlands, rather than originating there?

And how about the beaches and coastline on either side of the Neck? Do the swamps extend right down to the seashore? And if so, surely it cannot be high ground in that case, seeing as it joins with the sea?

I must say Martin's geography usually confuses me a tad.

I personally got the impression that the Trident originates from the very edge of the swamp, but who knows really.

[Tygett Lannister]

5 hours ago, LionoftheWest said:

Poor Riverlands. Is there no end to their suffering?

Why are they still there? Just to suffer?

[Lion of the West]

2 hours ago, Tygett Lannister said:

Why are they still there? Just to suffer?

Maybe. Maybe it some kind of curse from the Seven that the Riverlands shall always suffer.

And on a different note I hope we get to hear some of these winter armies breaking themselves on the Bloody Gate.

[Adam Yozza]

1 hour ago, LionoftheWest said:

Maybe. Maybe it some kind of curse from the Seven that the Riverlands shall always suffer.

And on a different note I hope we get to hear some of these winter armies breaking themselves on the Bloody Gate.

Would be interesting to see how the Northerner's deal with Moat Cailin 2.0. Unfortunately I doubt they ever even tried to push that far.