The Wall is too damn big....

[Somebloke]

I listed Tsunamis because apparently they are usually caused by huge amounts of land sliding into the sea, or even under the sea. So I suppose I was picturing a big hunk of IceWall sliding into the sea.

It DOES make more sense for only a small part of the wall to fall, but breaching a wall of ice at 50-100 feet thick would take something pretty incredible.

What if the horn wasn't actually a weapon but really for calling something. Something big enough to punch through? It all comes back to scale...

I mean, if it's 800 feet tall, something must have REALLY scared Bran the Builder and everyone enough to get working on it for thousands of years, because Others, while scary, are still human sized and can be killed easily if you have dragonglass.

Nan's stories make it clear that the Others are near-unstoppable without magical aid. Certainly as the temperature drops they will get stronger and stronger.

I'm fairly sure the wall is not so much of a physical than a magical barrier; certainly someone commented that there are spells built into the wall to bar entry into the world of men. If the horn sunders the spell, then the wall is just a mass of ice...and who knows? Maybe the others will kill all the others and make a zombie pyramid to climb up!

 

[Weasel Soup]

I have always envisioned the wall as a human (and magic) assisted glacier. The height in this manner didn't so much become an issue with me in this interpetation as did the width.

 

[Somebloke]

I can just imagine a foreigner being shown the wall:

"And this....(flourish) is the Wall."

"It's too big."

"What?"

"Its' too big. You're archers couldn't shoot with any accuracy. And why do you need to build a wall 700 feet high anyway?"

"Look, just shut up and appreciate the Wall, will you?"

 

[Fourth Hunter]

I am new here and wanted to comment on this issue. I'm not sure if the height of the wall was mentioned elsewhere, but in AGoT it is Samwell Tarly who says that the wall is 700 feet high. I was fairly certain when reading it that Sam was being sarcastic when he said this as it is in response to Jon asking if he had seen the wall, to which Sam replies that he is "fat, not blind, it's seven hundred feet high" (265 American Bantam Paperback).

 

[TK-421]

This is one aspect that if not done right, HBO can disappoint alot of people.

 

[Pyan]

This is one aspect that if not done right, HBO can disappoint alot of people.

At least these days they can CGI it - I'd have loved to be a fly on the wall in the days of actual sets:

Director to set builder:
"Now, for the next scene, I need a seven-hundred foot high section of wall, built of ice and boulders, and I want it by next Tuesday."

Set builder " "

 

[Kostmayer]

Too big or not, the presence of a ruddy big wall like that makes me really want to read the book

In fact I might make it next on my list.

 

[Werthead]

I did find a comment in the SSM a while back that GRRM was questioned about the huge size of the Wall and said that when it was built it was much shorter than it is now, and rose to the present size due to the accumulation of thousands of years of snow and ice. It was kind of hinted that the magical nature of the Wall may attract snow and ice to it and thus make it bigger.

 

[Dolorous Edd]

I did find a comment in the SSM a while back that GRRM was questioned about the huge size of the Wall and said that when it was built it was much shorter than it is now, and rose to the present size due to the accumulation of thousands of years of snow and ice. It was kind of hinted that the magical nature of the Wall may attract snow and ice to it and thus make it bigger.

Well when Mormont's trying to convince tyrion to get his father to send men to the wall, Mormont says something along the lines of "Once the watch spent their summers building, and each Lord Commander left the wall higher than he found it. Now it's all we can do to stay alive."

So if it's stood for what, 10,000 years(?), and it's grown up organically over time that's more than long enough for it to be accomplished, even if it's only a matter of a few inches a year. If Castle Black alone has quarters for 5,000 men then there would also have been enough bodies to accomplish such a feat.

Also, as werthead says there is a passage in the first book where Jon is laying gravel atop the wall to help people's footing, and he says how it's a constant job as people's footfalls melts the ice so that when it re-freezes the gravel becomes entombed in the rocks. Factoring in rain and snow as well and that alone would probably account for quite a significant growth over the centuries.


The only real question is why build something that huge.


If I recall correctly the wall was only built after the last war against the others was fought and won yes? It's never actually been used for it's intended purpose? Well, I’d imagine that the near obliteration of all life (or at least Human/Children life) would have scared the people of westeros shitless, so it would initially have been a panic build, "Oh god we've got to get this finished before they come back!" and later on, as the centuries and millennia dragged on and they defended the realm against an invisible threat, it gave them something to do, a tangible sign of achievement, proof that their efforts were not wasted on a fool’s mission.

 

[Commonmind]

You've obviously put some thought into your argument Duff. However, I'm more likely to accept a 700 foot high wall as being realistic when compared to Giants, Mammoths, Dragons, women birthing shadows, domesticated wolves, any form of magic beyond illusion or a world in which a winter can last a decade, among many other things. What you've done is essentially found one particular fault in a story which is made up of a plethora of unrealistic ideas. Far be it from me to demean anyone's opinion, but it seems a bit...silly to have a problem with one aspect of the world which is arguably more believable compared to the majority of others.

And hell, it's fantasy. I understand ASoIaF is more realistic than most, but that doesn't mean there are aspects of it that should be entirely feasible.

 

[Snagas Tender Blades]

Maybe the attackers climbed to the top of redwoods before firing the afore mentioned African bow which can outdistance a longbow by 1/3. Anyone else like this theory?

 

[Commonmind]

I remembered some parts of A Storm of Swords that mentioned the wall in detail, being made entirely of Ice.

Spoiler Warning:
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Page 360 actually has several bits that prove it is made of ice. First, it talks about patrols looking for cracks in the ice, or other structural damage. This says to me that it is actually made of ice being that Martin is describing cracks in the ice wall as structural blemishes. Another passage talks about a wildling warrior trying to dig a hole through the "ice" with his axe, and that he had gotten half way through before they sealed him up and left him for dead. Obviously it is pretty clear, the wall is made of ice. Since the very concept of an ice wall is purely fantastical, the idea of the wall being so tall, or so long being unrealistic is moot.