Is there a Northern continent?

[Ramsay Gimp]

"Northyros" is likely the realm of the Others (do they have their own kingdoms, cities, etc? I really want to know!)

[Snowmelter]

In a wet climate moss grows all over trees.

I agree with Free Northman's assesment with the size of Martin's world, but am troubled by the fact that there are "lizard lions" living at 45 degrees north. Assuming these creatures are comparable to alligators isn't that quite a bit farther north than they can tolerate?

On topic, I thought Ibben and the Land of Always Winter were the only northeren lands.

[Ser Lepus]

I agree with Free Northman's assesment with the size of Martin's world, but am troubled by the fact that there are "lizard lions" living at 45 degrees north. Assuming these creatures are comparable to alligators isn't that quite a bit farther north than they can tolerate?

I don't think those can be cocodriles or alligators; they must be some kind of fantastic lizard.

[EnragedFilia]

Perhaps an oversized Frilled Lizard or Komodo Dragon-looking thing?

And given that axial tilt isn't responsible for seasons, is it even necessary to assume that equatorial regions will have generally higher insolation? What if the same magic responsible for the seasons simply makes North = cold and South = warm?

[Khal GoGo]

I always thought the moss thing was a myth... Is it actually a legit way of finding a direction?

[Nathan the Calm]

That are some really nice stats Free Northman. Seems legit. Thank you for your work. I am really interested in geographics and the world of ASoIaF impresses me every time so it is nice to know more about its geographics.

Now what about the east - west spread? I know there is not that much information about Essos but when you take the speculative map as a norm I do not think that this would be the whole coverage of the east - west spread of the planet (sorry do not know how to call it, english is not my native tounge). Although I do not think that there is a nothern continent. I think that the outer north of Westeros is kind of similar to the north of North America therefore a lot of isles and peninsulas with lots of ice between them leading into an arctic ocean.

Moreover I think that there could be a continent on the southern hemisphere (maybe southwest of Westeros) as well as east of Essos. What do you folks think about that? I am especially interested in the fact what lies west of Westeros.

[Rhaegar II Targaryen]

Im curious about the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai. They are mentioned numerous times in the books, and the Jade sea as well, but as far as Geography goes, I believe it is more east and South from Qarth. Would that land be considered as part of the continent of Essos?

[SpaceChampion]

I think the known world we know from the maps is about half a hemisphere, so there are 3 other half-hemispheres we don't know about. The Shivering Sea might be larger than our Pacific.

[The Marquis de Leech]

Well there is also the possibility that we know nothing about the southern hemisphere because there is simply no continents down there, just a enormous body of water

I think this is likely: otherwise you'd be dealing with a Southern Hemisphere winter that has just lasted a decade (Southern Others!).

[SpaceChampion]

I think this is likely: otherwise you'd be dealing with a Southern Hemisphere winter that has just lasted a decade (Southern Others!).

The Southern Others are coming with their army of undead penguins, elephant seals, and whales.

[ckal]

I think the one thing some of you may not be taking into account is that GRRM's world is clearly not like our world. So comparing latitudes and longitudes of his world to ours doesn't seem to be very reasonable. I say this because of the seasons. Winters and summers lasting years makes no sense. Does their world spin on a lopsided or fluctuating axis? Maybe their orbit is different around their sun. Maybe it is several things, but I'm not quite sure that comparing his world to earth like they would be built/operate that same way is accurate.

One thing I always wonder though about Lord of the Rings and ASOIAF is precisely this: if we only know about a portion of the world, is the rest of the world really not involved or affected in these massive events? Do they even know about it? Is their fate even hinged to this at all? Maybe they have their own battles going on just as big, maybe they have no idea.

[Ser Lepus]

I think the one thing some of you may not be taking into account is that GRRM's world is clearly not like our world. So comparing latitudes and longitudes of his world to ours doesn't seem to be very reasonable. I say this because of the seasons. Winters and summers lasting years makes no sense. Does their world spin on a lopsided or fluctuating axis? Maybe their orbit is different around their sun. Maybe it is several things, but I'm not quite sure that comparing his world to earth like they would be built/operate that same way is accurate.

One thing I always wonder though about Lord of the Rings and ASOIAF is precisely this: if we only know about a portion of the world, is the rest of the world really not involved or affected in these massive events? Do they even know about it? Is their fate even hinged to this at all? Maybe they have their own battles going on just as big, maybe they have no idea.

Sauron controlled a large part of the southern and eastern lands (that's where all those troops came from, and that's the reason Mordor could field so many more soldiers than Gondor and Rohan combined; he was drafting people from several countries greater than Gondor and Rohan). Two wizards, "the blue wizards" went there to try to bring down Sauron's rule, but they were killed or corrupted.

[Caja62]

Im curious about the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai. They are mentioned numerous times in the books, and the Jade sea as well, but as far as Geography goes, I believe it is more east and South from Qarth. Would that land be considered as part of the continent of Essos?

I cant remember the exact passage but im going to look it up after this.... someone was talking about a character (a red priest?) that went beyond the shadowlands and brought back items and maybe even wrote some of his experiences down? Think they were talking to Dany. If im wrong i appologize.

Well maybe this is dumb but i had always imagined farthest north as pure ice and farthest south as pure darkness. Aka the lands of always winter are some type of ice world, and south is a dark volcanic wasteland.

Hard to explain but, in a nutshell i personally dont imagine this realm to be anything like earth. There are similarities but in the end the laws of nature/physics/etc. arent the same. I guess i need to read what George has let us know about the planet since i seem to be far behind all of you on this one.

[IAmNobody]

I always thought the moss thing was a myth... Is it actually a legit way of finding a direction?

I don't know which side of a tree the moss grows on. And maybe Martin doesn't either.

I could be wrong, but it makes more sense if the side of the tree the moss grows on depends on the directions of the wind in that region. Read the easterlies-westerlies wiki page for more information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_wind_patterns

But in parts of the world like the Amazon where local wind patters can govern the rain more strongly than the band wind patterns, you can assume that moss will grow on all sides.

This is of course, speculation on my part, but it makes sense to me.

That being said, the only time I have seen the moss thing in action is on Scooby Doo. And even then, the villain managed to move the moss from the south side of the tree to the north side, to confuse velma. :-P