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GRRM's lazy writing


Falcon2909

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>westeros
>its in the west
>easteros
>its in the east
>southeros
>its in the south

I wouldn't be surprised if the ice wastes north of the shivering sea are called northeros or nyorthos.

>the wall
>theres a long wall

>oldtown
>its an old town

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I mean our own names for continents isn't that much more clever. its just the names have existed so long that they sound foreign to English speakers. Africa's name is contested in origin but it is believed to just mean dusty or sunny by some etymological explanations. Australia is just new latin for southern land. the terms Asia and Europe both decent from greek usage with Asia just being the name of the easter shore of the aegean sea in Greece. Asia just means silty lands, because of the silty beaches there. Europe is just old Phoenician yurub or "where the sun sets." And these names are only commonly used because of all the world encompassing empiric hegemonies that haven't quite yet emerged in the world of Asoiaf.

And westeros and essos just seems to be what Westerosi call the continent's for the most part, not what everyone calls the continents. those is essos call westeros, the sunset kingdoms.

Your complaint is essentially, why don't people from westeros have fancy gibberish names for things? the answer being, they have sensible names for things based on their language which in their own language they call speaking the common tongue. In that way george's writing is actually very sensible.

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46 minutes ago, Targaryeninkingslanding said:

Your complaint is essentially, why don't people from westeros have fancy gibberish names for things? the answer being, they have sensible names for things based on their language which in their own language they call speaking the common tongue. In that way george's writing is actually very sensible.

 

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2 hours ago, Seams said:

I know, right? Such a slug. How did he ever get an agent or publisher to give him the time of day? I only buy the books for the cover art. 

I'm disappointed that there aren't any unicorns farting glitter and fairy dust. 

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I know right? United Kingdom? because it is a bunch of united kingdoms? Bolivia? because of Bolivar? Colombia? because of Colombus? so lazy

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Those names are natural and make sense, as in our world: Newcastle, New England, New York, New Zealand, Southampton, Northampton, West Ham... our names, names of our cities and countries... everything has meaning to it, and most of them come down to something basic. 

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It's also an easy way to cut out a lot of confusion or potentially boring exposition. A first time reader doesn't need to go back and check the map to remember where the North or the Westerlands are. They don't need a paragraph of clunky exposition to tell them that there are lots of rivers in the Riverlands or that the Neck is the narrowest point of the continent. 

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He does seem to ignore the year long seasons in all of his history books. Like he could have an entire war be prevented by winter starting and both sides too exhausted from dealing with winter, they no longer want to fight each other once it's over. In fact, I hardly remember the seasons coming up at all, outside of the main series.

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17 minutes ago, sifth said:

He does seem to ignore the year long seasons in all of his history books. Like he could have an entire war be prevented by winter starting and both sides too exhausted from dealing with winter, they no longer want to fight each other once it's over. In fact, I hardly remember the seasons coming up at all, outside of the main series.

The seasons play a factor in when it comes to the aftermath of the Dance of the Dragons. Cregan’s army is so big because it’s full of men who are leaving their families to help them survive winter, and many of them either go abroad or stay south of the Neck. The North’s struggles with winter are so extreme later on that a goddamn Bolton girl is trying to beg the king for help. If that’s not the seasons playing a role, I don’t know what is.

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55 minutes ago, Canon Claude said:

The seasons play a factor in when it comes to the aftermath of the Dance of the Dragons. Cregan’s army is so big because it’s full of men who are leaving their families to help them survive winter, and many of them either go abroad or stay south of the Neck. The North’s struggles with winter are so extreme later on that a goddamn Bolton girl is trying to beg the king for help. If that’s not the seasons playing a role, I don’t know what is.

Yea, but given the nature of the seasons in that world, there really should have been a lot more of the stuff you mentioned. Do these long winter have no effect on any other places, aside from The North, because these history books make it seem that way.

I honestly wanted to know what winter was like for Dorne and Bravos, but I guess it just skips those places, lol

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10 minutes ago, sifth said:

Yea, but given the nature of the seasons in that world, there really should have been a lot more of the stuff you mentioned. Do these long winter have no effect on any other places, aside from The North, because these history books make it seem that way.

I honestly wanted to know what winter was like for Dorne and Bravos, but I guess it just skips those places, lol

My question would be what happens to the Neck during winter. In order for crocodiles to survive there (and let’s be honest, lizard lions are basically crocodiles), then there can’t possibly be any snow and ice in the Neck, especially not for years on end. So that means Westeros has a subtropical temperature in the middle of the continent, with mild temperate climates to the north and south until we eventually get tundra in the northern regions and desert in the southern regions.

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The cardinal directions are integral to a prophecy that drives a number of character arcs:

Quote

To go north, you must journey south, to reach the west you must go east. To go forward you must go back and to touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow. —Quaithe to Daenerys Targaryen (ACoK, Chap. 40)

GRRM wasn't too lazy to think of fantasy names for each region; he used directions as part of the geography because his heroic characters evolve by experiencing quests in unexpected directions. It is known.

Edit to add: That prophecy from Quaithe as well as the place name "King's Landing" are parts of a wordplay hint that GRRM gives to readers. "Quaithe = The Quai," aka "the key." Sorting out that character and her prophecies as well as other "quays" in the books will help us to decode some cryptic symbolism. 

 

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