Where in the world?

[TK-421]

Stop me if this has been done before, but I thought it might be fun to draw paralells for different places in the world where GRRM may have drawn inspiration for his world he created in ASoIF.

I'll go first:

The North beyond the Neck: Scotland or Northern Canada
The Riverlands: the Netherlands
The Arbor: France (Loire Valley or Provence)
Beyond the Wall: Siberia or the Arctic
Oldtown: Oxford
Dorne: Spain
The Reach: New England
Highgarden: drawing a blank, maybe Boston
Iron Islands: Scandinavia or Shetland Islands
Bear Island: Vancouver Island or Queen Charlotte Islands (Pacific Northwest)
Coast north of King's Landing: Cornwall or Newfoundland
Quiet Isle: Mont St. Michel or Urqhart Castle on Loch Ness
Braavos: Venice
Slaver's Bay: North Africa
Summer Islands: East Africa
Dothraki Sea: Mongolia
Pentos: Alexandria (Egypt)
Myr: Athens
Lys: Istanbul
Storm's End: Wales
King's Landing: struggling with this one

Let the fun begin...

 

[Werthead]

The North: England/Scotland
The Iron Islands: Scandanavia
The Riverlands, Westerlands & Stormlands: Germany/Holy Roman Empire
The Vale: Austria, Switzerland, Hungary (mountainous, militarily strong)
The Reach (inc. the Arbor and Oldtown): France
Dorne: Spain
King's Landing: London
Braavos: Venice
The Free Cities: Amsterdam, Verona, Mediterranean city-states
Ibben: Iceland
Valyria: Rome
Ghis: Greece
Qarth: Constantinople/Byzantium
Asshai: China
Dothraki Sea: Mongolia
The Summer Islands: Caribbean islands

 

[Koopa]

You people think to much in modern day life, the netherlands in medieval time where for the most part worthless. It is only later after America had been discovered when medieval times where over that they became a (naval and banking)force and only because the english, the french and Austria-Hungary where to busy warring the years before.

Canada and America and all that was not yet discovered by what was then known as the known world (well perhaps a small part by the Vikings).

The netherlands at the very least should be replaced by Flanders.(Part of the Habsburgers) Who at the time where together with Italy the main trading force of the World, and where all the riches where to be found(Brugge or Bruges was named for example the venice of the north). Because of these many wars where fought over it(Flanders). and many different rulers thus ruled it. Flanders also is not the way it is today. It encompassed part of modern day time southern Netherlands though most of it still situated in modern day belgium.

Europe was inferior compared to the South (Arabians and the like who at the time held a great realm, bigger then any other in Europe) and greatly inferior to the Chinese and japan who where for most part closed off from the rest of the World wich in later times would prove its downfall.

If i where to make a civilisation comparison, i'd say the one i am most sure of is that the Vikings resemble the Ironborn. Their ships where better and more advanced than any other, they where great explorers and traders as well(it is said that they bought weapons from us wich they then later used in their raidings. And like the Ironborn there great times came at a rather abrupt end when the Europeans gave them land and gold to appease them.

(That is if i remember my history lessons correct)

 

[the smiling weirwood]

Pssst. I think it's foolish to compare part of the fictional world which GRRM has created to the real world. Sure, parts of it are influenced by parts of the real world, but no region is a good match for any corresponding real region.

 

[Werthead]

Pssst. I think it's foolish to compare part of the fictional world which GRRM has created to the real world. Sure, parts of it are influenced by parts of the real world, but no region is a good match for any corresponding real region.

Apart from GRRM saying that Dorne was partly modelled on Spain, and Braavos on Venice?

 

[the smiling weirwood]

partly modelled

Yes, partly modelled. Not, "based on", or "derived from", but "partly modelled".

Besides, how would trying to match up bits of fictional geography help us understand the story better?

 

[Werthead]

Not at all. However, it does help in visualising the locations. The vast rolling hills and fields of southern France are what I imagine the Reach to be like and Spain is a good match for Dorne, with its temperate coasts, roasting, dry interiors and rocky mountains.

 

[TK-421]

Oh thanks SW for spoiling my fun. When I read the books, I try to visualize the places described with somewhere in the real world. Keeps my somewhat grounded. A pox on you!!!

Modern times or not, it's what I visualize. If you want to rely on history textbooks for yours, go nuts.

 

[red_temple]

It is also a fun exercise, no?

Here's one:

King's Landing = Dayton, Ohio.

 

[Funky Cthulu]

The extremes of the 'red lands' of the Dothraki could match with some of the extreme desert parts of Australia. And the people in the Shadow Lands with tattoos all over and masks sounds faintly reminiscent of tribal Maori people. I don't recall an exact description, so its only a loose fit.
The bubbling seas of Valyria reminded me a little of the hot mud springs of New Zealand, although obviously much more extreme.