Dire Wolves really existed

R

ras'matroi

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I don't know if anyone of you has ever heared of it before ...

I just came across this interesting little fact while reading a book about wolves and since they are named the same ...

It seems that the Dire Wolf (Canis dirus) became distinct about 10 000 years ago, alsong wit a lot of other large animals of that time like eg. mammoths. The oldest bones that were found untill today are about 800 000 years old.

The Dire Wolf was larger than the 'normal' wolf, had shorter legs, a smaller brain and was according to several sources not that fast a runner.
But he had larger theeth.

Well, it is probably just a coincidence that GRRM named his wolves dire wolves.

Here is the wikipedia article on them.
 
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Not likely. He probably read about them or saw them in a museum and said to himself: "That's way cooler for the Starks than just regular old wolves!"
 
Dire Wolves are a staple of fantasy literature. JRR Tolkein has his wargs, D&D and its offshoots had Dire Wolves, and Im sure theres dozens of examples out there so I dont think its a far stretch for George to place them in his world. And as TK said, they are far cooler than normal wolves, plus they fit the primitive, cold, northern environs of Westeros quite well.
 
ras, good find. Near the bottom, the article references ASOIAF.

In AGOT, GRRM describes his Direwolves as having longer legs and bigger heads than normal wolves. I don't think it's a stretch to say that GRRM wants his direwolves to be smarter than normal wolves.
 
Of course, in the end names in fantasy don't correspond to our definitions. Same goes for example for orcs/elves. Get a cool name, then give it even cooler features.:D
 
The Giants who went to battle for Mance Rayder rode Whoolly Mammoths.

The Shadowcats may also be based on Sabre-Toothed Tigers.

All, we need are Giant Sloths...oh wait we have a few of those around here on the forum :D
 
TK-421 said:
The Giants who went to battle for Mance Rayder rode Whoolly Mammoths.

The Shadowcats may also be based on Sabre-Toothed Tigers.

All, we need are Giant Sloths...oh wait we have a few of those around here on the forum :D
Click to expand...

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