Mammoths

[Anthony Appleyard]

Since mammoths lived in The North, it is to be wondered why the old Kings of the North, or GRRM, did not see the potentials of riding mammoths, for travel, or in ceremonial parades, as with elephants in India in the real world.

 

[Loose Bolt]

I suspect that any mammoth found in the North during long winters would have been eaten by hungry people. So there would not have been any of them available for parades or other use.  

[Anthony Appleyard]

The books say that there were still a few hundred living mammoths.

[hiemal]

On 1/23/2020 at 7:55 AM, Anthony Appleyard said:

Since mammoths lived in The North, it is to be wondered why the old Kings of the North, or GRRM, did not see the potentials of riding mammoths, for travel, or in ceremonial parades, as with elephants in India in the real world.

 

I imagine feeding them, particularly during the long winters, would make this impractical.

[Anthony Appleyard]

20 hours ago, hiemal said:

I imagine feeding them, particularly during the long winters, would make this impractical.

They can feed themselves on tree twigs and tundra vegetation and such like. Mammoth tusks are like they are for brushing snow aside to reach vegetation.

 

[hiemal]

9 hours ago, Anthony Appleyard said:

They can feed themselves on tree twigs and tundra vegetation and such like. Mammoth tusks are like they are for brushing snow aside to reach vegetation.

 

If they were wild, sure. If you wanted to keep them on hand you have to lay in massive amounts of fodder.

[Anthony Appleyard]

4 hours ago, hiemal said:

If they were wild, sure. If you wanted to keep them on hand you have to lay in massive amounts of fodder.

In India, domesticated elephants were often let wander into the jungle overnight to feed and each morning were tracked and found and brought back to work.

[Loose Bolt]

Were direwolves large enough to hunt mammoths? 

[White Ravens]

In the timeframe of the books, mammoths had long ago retreated far north of the wall.  People had come to believe that mammoths, direwolves and other creatures were legends from the past. 

[hiemal]

On 1/26/2020 at 2:12 AM, Anthony Appleyard said:

In India, domesticated elephants were often let wander into the jungle overnight to feed and each morning were tracked and found and brought back to work.

Lots more food in the jungle. Mammoths would be wandering very far afield.

[rotting sea cow]

On 1/23/2020 at 1:55 PM, Anthony Appleyard said:

Since mammoths lived in The North, it is to be wondered why the old Kings of the North, or GRRM, did not see the potentials of riding mammoths, for travel, or in ceremonial parades, as with elephants in India in the real world.

 

Are they domesticable? They may be not. We don't see wildings riding mammoths. Only giants and they might have a different (and maybe magical) connection with them. 

If they are not domesticable, it may sense they were hunted to the extinction in the North.

[TheBlackDragonWillReturn]

Yes they should of and I think possibly could of because I think the mammoth population was quite large in the First Century After Conquest because when King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne visited Castle Black they were said to of eaten Mammoth meat with the Night's Watch which is odd because that means that mammoths and other rare things must of ventured quite close to wall or the rangers of the nights watch must of ventured very far from the wall because around Jon Snow's time mammoths weren't even thought to be real and there was no way that rangers were going to go out that far.   

I also wonder if people in Ibben use mammoths in any way whether it be for food and resources or even for transport because somewhere it said.

Quote

Hairy mammoths are said to roam the cold wastes beyond the Port of Ibben on Ib, and the island's plains and hills.

 

[TheLastWolf]

On 1/23/2020 at 6:25 PM, Anthony Appleyard said:

as with elephants in India in the real world.

Indians worship anything and everything. No offence, but they have literally millions of gods.

Oops, sry. Hindus, not Indians. But as India becomes even less secular, I associate Hinduism (80+% majority) with India. 

But since Westeros is based on Europe, wildlife is more likely to be hunted and eaten than revered and worshipped and tamed for work. No offense, but what real wildlife is left in England? All snobby nobles hunted even poor foxes out.