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References and Homages


Ran
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SPOILER: TWOW






Just reading Arianne's TWOW chapter, and noticed at the beginning she mentions a holding called "Ghost Hill" home to the Tolands. Seems like a reference to the Bog Mummies found in Scandanavia (famously, the Tollund Man), which have been the subject of a few stories of ritual sacrifices whose vengueful ghosts returned to haunt their killers :)

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SPOILER: TWOW

Just reading Arianne's TWOW chapter, and noticed at the beginning she mentions a holding called "Ghost Hill" home to the Tolands. Seems like a reference to the Bog Mummies found in Scandanavia (famously, the Tollund Man), which have been the subject of a few stories of ritual sacrifices whose vengueful ghosts returned to haunt their killers :)

Just in time for Hallowe'en!

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  • 2 weeks later...

It occurred to me that the possible explanation of the identity of the Shrouded Lord was reminiscent of the Dread Pirate Roberts in the Princess Bride. My impression that this was a reference was strengthened by the fact that Haldon happens to exclaim "inconceivable" when they see that the boat is heading for the bridge again.

and that would make Duck... :)

I just got a mental image of Andre the Giant as Duck. It was worth a little grin at least.

Edited by Jon Flowers
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I've not seen anyone mention this but it seems to me that the "children of the Forest" are a massive homage to the 70's cult hit comic book series Elfquest. The similarities between the two are to many to ignore:

Appearance:

  • Both the EQ elves and the CotF are small in stature and are about as tall as a human child.
  • Both have large slanted eyes.
  • Both have large ears.
  • But perhaps the most telling: both have only 3 fingers and a thumb. This really drives the homage home for me, since that was one of the distinguishing features of the EQ elves.

Behavior/magic/society:

Perhaps less telling, since these things are common amongst almost every incarnation of "elves", but still interesting none the less:

  • Being able to communicate with animals and sometimes change into them.
  • Being one with nature, living off the land and being able to hide easily in forests.
  • Having a form of magic that gives them power over trees. (greensight in GoT, Plant-shaping in EQ)
  • Having a very long lifespan.
  • Being at war with a early form of humans. (The First Men in asoiaf, Cavemen in EQ).
  • I can't find any reference to it, but doesn't Bran mention that he never sees the CotF talking to each other? Because the EQ elves had a form of telepathy called 'sending'. It made their eyes light up when they were communicating mentally.
  • On top of that, the names Bran gives to the CofF (Leaf, Snowylocks, Black Knife, etc) are very similar to the way the EQ elves are named (Rain, Clearbrook, Red Lance, etc).

Despite having faded into obscurity in recent years Elfquest was HUGE in the late 70's to early 80's. It ran until well into the 2000s. An older comic book lover like GRRM would definitely know about it. To me the Children of the Forest are a wonderful homage to Elfquest.

Edited by Grave Rob
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This might seem out of the blue.....


I believe Varys is heavily based off of Shakuni(A character from the Mahabharata) or at least bears an uncanny resemblance to in terms of motives and characterizations especially if the Blackfyre conspiracy turns out to be true.


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This might seem out of the blue.....

I believe Varys is heavily based off of Shakuni(A character from the Mahabharata) or at least bears an uncanny resemblance to in terms of motives and characterizations especially if the Blackfyre conspiracy turns out to be true.

I agree to some extent, the image kind of fits. Shakuni vowed to destroy Bhishma, who had made his sister marry a blind man. He also wounded his leg, making himself lame and vowed not to let it heal till Bhishma is destroyed. While Varys' motives are for now unclear, I can envision him sacrificing his privates for some greater goal, as he doesn't sound like a man who'd just plainly tell about his past to Tyrion, or anyone.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Targaryans could be a throwback to when GRRM was younger and spent time browsing Playboy magazine (for the articles of course). In his fantasy world "peroxide blondes" aren't just created in a salon, they are born that way.



And on a similar note, Fat Pink Mast could be a tribute to Ron Jeremy.



On a slightly more serious note, I have always felt a similarity between Robert Strong and Master Blaster from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. They are both towering mindless powerhouses, and both have a massive bucket helmet bolted to their breastplate so it cannot be removed. In both cases the helmet is permenantly attached to conceal the true identity of the wearer. They are also both being controlled by someone else who is very intelligent but relatively frail and uses their towering golem as their muscle.


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Targaryans could be a throwback to when GRRM was younger and spent time browsing Playboy magazine (for the articles of course). In his fantasy world "peroxide blondes" aren't just created in a salon, they are born that way.

And on a similar note, Fat Pink Mast could be a tribute to Ron Jeremy.

On a slightly more serious note, I have always felt a similarity between Robert Strong and Master Blaster from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. They are both towering mindless powerhouses, and both have a massive bucket helmet bolted to their breastplate so it cannot be removed. In both cases the helmet is permenantly attached to conceal the true identity of the wearer. They are also both being controlled by someone else who is very intelligent but relatively frail and uses their towering golem as their muscle.

Could Robert Strong be a wink at Arnold Strong, an early pseudonym of Arnold Schwarzenegger?

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It might have come up beofre in the 53 pages of this thread I didn't bother to read.

Immediately when I started reading a novel called Planet of Exile by Ursula K. Le Guin came to mind. The set is a distant planet inhabited by a humanoid race closely related to us, where there is a colony of regular earth humans as a diplomatic/research mission. The native race is primitve and the humans have abandoned most technology in order not to interfere with their development.

The planet's revolution around its sun lasts sixty years and the story begins on the onset of the fifteen year old winter, as one of the sedentary native tribes and the human colony are about to face the incursion of the northern nomadic and migratory tribes, which for the first time in their history have unified under a charismatic leader. To make matters worse the daughter of the native clan's chieftain falls in love and runs off with the leader of the humans bringing the colony and the tribe to the brink of war.

Any of it sound familiar?

By the way read it, it's awesome. Le Guin and Martin are the only two writers that I have come across, that can make you believe that they have actually met the characters they write about.

I know this post is from ages and ages ago, but I totally agree. The first time I read the books, I had just come of a huge Ursula K. LeGuin binge. (Basically I hold up her, Tolken and GRRM as the shining standards of what fantasy can and should be.) I was looking for some substantial and good fantasy that I hadn't read a million times already (a hard combo to find!) to read, and a friend recommended ASoIaF. I remember being TOTALLY struck by the similarity to the world in Planet of Exile.

I also completely agree about LeGuin and Martin's talents with creating real characters.

The tiny shout-out that strikes me every time I see his name is Hosteen Frey. There is a very minor character in Dan Simmons' Hyperion series called Ket Hosteen.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Has anyone listed all of the Lovecraft references on the maps? There are a lot. Leng, Kadath, etc.

Even the "Old Gods" are Lovecraftian in origin and I don't just mean the names.

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/35549-cthulhu-reference-in-asoiaf/

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/91069-lovecraft-and-the-old-gods/?hl=lovecraft

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"Steelshanks" Walton's name seems to be a play on "Longshanks", a nickname of King Edward I of England, because he was tall for his era. There isn't much in the description of Steelshanks to link him to Edward I other than this line:



"Steelshanks Walton stood above them, tall and dour." (A Storm of Swords, p. 612)


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I recently went on a city trip to Istanbul and while reading up about the history of the city, I noticed several similarities to Kings's Landing that were lost on me previously:



  • The great chain across the Golden Horn inlet. A huge chain pulled across the inlet, albeit to prevent ships from entering, not to trap them.
  • The use of Greek Fire, the secret recipe for this primitive form of napalm supposedly having been revealed to the Byzanthine emperors by an angel. The material was lobbed or launched in pots or spewed onto other ships using a ship-mounted syphon.
  • Roxelana, the concubine of Suleyman the Magnificent, who later became his wife and a palace power broker active behind the curtains, working towards and achieving the death of other sons of the sultan to ensure the succession of one of her sons to the throne.

Interesting stuff.


Edited by Carl Drogo
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