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References and Homages


Ran
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Tyrion commenting on the sky signaling a bastard.

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… I have never seen a sky that color. A thick band of clouds ran along the horizon. “A bar sinister,” he said to Penny, pointing.
“What does that mean?” she asked.

“It means some big bastard is creeping up behind us.”

So does this mean Tyrion is a bastard ?

or is he really just referring to a bend sinister ?

until now i had no clue why the bastards had the line in there shileds or even that it had a name lol

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I wonder if this one has been found before.

This is from Theon I from TWoW, so I'm going to try to put this in spoilers (though it doesn't spoil anything)...

Stannis, frustrated with typical noble treachery says:

"Would that all the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms had a single neck..."

Caligula, frustrated with typical Roman treachery said:

Utinam populus Romanus unam cervicem haberet!

Which means:
"Would that the Roman people had but one neck"

A variation of this was among the the last words of famous serial killer Carl Panzram. As the hangman was putting the noose around his neck, he spat in his face and said:


"I wish the entire human race had one neck and I had my hands around it!"
Caligula, Carl Panzram - Stannis is in pretty bad company here, I think GRRM is making his feelings about his character clear.

Edited by Social Justice Warrior
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That Biblical reference Weirdo spotted I spotted as well. I knew it was from the New Testament, because I remembered it. i just forgot from where it was quoted. It is most certainly deliberate on the part of GRR Martin. It partly requires knowing Ned's fate beforehand to really pick up on it.


Edited by The Killer Snark
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This isn't to literature, but Dorne may have been inspired by the region of Dorn (now known mostly as Macedonia, which I'm 50%), its situated on the coast of a similar sea (the Mediterranean), it has a diverse population, being situated between the Baltic and Asia Minor, accounting for salty, sandy, and stony Dornish on both sides. The Muslim population as sandy, the coastal people as salty, the inland majority stony.

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This isn't to literature, but Dorne may have been inspired by the region of Dorn (now known mostly as Macedonia, which I'm 50%), its situated on the coast of a similar sea (the Mediterranean), it has a diverse population, being situated between the Baltic and Asia Minor, accounting for salty, sandy, and stony Dornish on both sides. The Muslim population as sandy, the coastal people as salty, the inland majority stony.

Hasn't the George said Spain inspired Dorne?
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Wales was definitely an influence, for all the reasons you cite. But there's also some distinctly unWelsh elements down there. South of the wall of mountains you have a hot, dry country more like Spain or Palestine than the cool green valleys of Wales, with most of the settlements along the seacoast and in few great river basins. And you also have the flavor given the culture by the great Rhoynar influx led by Nymeria. I suppose the closest real life equivilent to that would be the Moorish influence in parts of Spain. So you could say Dorne is Wales mixed with Spain and Palestine with some entirely imaginary influences mixed in. Or you could just say it's Dorne....

So Spake Martin

I it was named Dorne so that it sounds similar to Dawn and rhymes with morne. I still like your find of the macedonian Dorn though, the story of Alexander the Great was certainly on Martin's mind, so who knows.

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I think I might have found what the Red Wedding was a reference to. In the 16th Century France was split as protestant rebels (Huguenots) challenged the Catholic rulers. There was an attempt to make peace in 1572 as the King's Sister married a high ranking Huguenot (who went on to be Henry IV - unimportant). All seemed to be going well until a few days later, when a large amount of the protestants guests were murdered in the celebrations that were still going on. It was the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre

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I assume somebody noted this upthread, so this is probably a repeat...

Their masks gleamed in the sun: boars and bulls, hawks and herons, lions and tigers and bears, fork-tongued serpents and hideous basilisks.

Daenerys IX, Dance

Oh my...

Edited by Lost Melnibonean
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Someone probably pointed that out before, but... Joy Hill, bastard daughter of Gerion Lannister, named after Tolkien's secretary Joy Hill. Bilbo's last song, fits Gerrion:

Bilbo's Last Song (At the Grey Havens) By J.R.R.TolkienDay is ended, dim my eyes,
but journey long before me lies.
Farewell, friends! I hear the call.
The ship's beside the stony wall.
Foam is white and waves are grey;
beyond the sunset leads my way.
Foam is salt, the wind is free;
I hear the rising of the Sea.

Farewell, friends! The sails are set,
the wind is east, the moorings fret.
Shadows long before me lie,
beneath the ever-bending sky,
but islands lie behind the Sun
that I shall raise ere all is done;
lands there are to west of West,
where night is quiet and sleep is rest.

Guided by the Lonely Star,
beyond the utmost harbour-bar,
I'll find the heavens fair and free,
and beaches of the Starlit Sea.
Ship, my ship! I seek the West,
and fields and mountains ever blest.
Farewell to Middle-earth at last.
I see the Star above my mast!

The song was original set to music by Donald Swann. Donnel Swann is brother to Balon Swann of the KG.

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Not reading all 78 pages, really 78 fucking pages of references and homages lol. However after looking over the stupidest names page I was gonna post benjen stark when I realized that might be a reference to Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez which makes grrm the next incarnation of Nostradamus as the first book was out like 7 years before bennifer got together.

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So Spake Martin

I it was named Dorne so that it sounds similar to Dawn and rhymes with morne. I still like your find of the macedonian Dorn though, the story of Alexander the Great was certainly on Martin's mind, so who knows.

That's what I mean, he simply had inspiration by the name. You can link back most of his regional names to actual places, the culture could be inspired by something else but the name itself might of been inspired by Dorn. The similarities between Mediterranean cultures are pretty plentiful, it seems his regions mostly model on a general culture then a very specific one. Dothraki = Mongol hordes, yi ti = far east/orient etc
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