Age of Heroes and Long Night: Closer to 5,000 years ago than 10,000? [EW Interview with GRRM]

[Megorova]

5 hours ago, Corvo the Crow said:

Bran visions would disagree. So would the statues in the crypts

The older statues in the crypts, and ancient Starks from Bran's last part of that vision, looked different than modern Starks.

"And now the lords Bran glimpsed were tall and hard, stern men in fur and chain mail. Some wore faces he remembered from the statues in the crypts, but they were gone before he could put a name to them."

Modern Starks are more "mellow", compared to their ancestors, because now they have less of First Men blood. Since Aegon's Conquest they have intermarried with people from outside of The North, people, that were carriers of Andal genes, such as Melantha Blackwood and Lorra Royce (Royces originally were First Men Kings, but later they mixed their blood with Andals, specifically Arryns). Melantha Blackwood was Rickard Starks' paternal grandmother, and Lorra Royce was his paternal great grandmother. Both Blackwoods and Royces have a LOT of Andal genes.

Let's say, that Beron Stark is 100% First Men, and his wife Lorra Royce is 50% First Men 50% Andal. Then their son, Willam Stark, is 75% First Men and 25% Andal. He has married with Melantha Blackwood, that was 50% First Men and 50% Andal. So their son, Edwyle Stark was 62,5% First Men and 37,5% Andal. He married with Marna Locke, that was 100% First Men, so their son, Rickard Stark, was 81,25% First Men and 18,75% Andal. His wife, Lyarra Stark, was at least 25% Andal, because her mother was Arya Flint, and Flints, probably, often intermarried with Arryns or Royces or other Andals from The Vale. Lyarra Stark 75%FM&25%Andal + Rickard Stark 81,25%FM&18,75%Andal = Eddard 78%FM&22%Andal + Catelyn Tully 50%FM&50%Andal = Robb, Sansa, etc. - 64%FM&36%Andal. <- That's all approximately.

Ancient Starks were pureblooded First Men, but modern Starks are at least 1/3 Andals. So they are different.