Magnes fiction: Westeros and Essos

The word geography, as you know, comes from the Greek word translated as land description. The ancients (living on the planet that we call the land today) studied and documented the world around us, laid the foundation of the current science. In recent centuries, our ideas about the world have expanded and deepened, and it became possible to study not only our planet, but also its neighbors – this is how the geography of Venus, Mercury and Mars appeared (also called Areraography). But these are all objects that can be studied in reality – to feel, touch, remove to the camera, or, at worst, to see in the telescope.

What to do with fiction?

In fact, in this fictional worlds are no different from ours with you – the author himself only describes them. After all, characters should live in some world, and not just hang out in an nameless void, and this world should have their own laws. Fans of the Lord of the Rings know well that Professor Tolkien himself painted cards to his work (and did this with the same care as he developed the languages of Middle -earth).

The main fantasy-epos of the last decade could not do without its own card. It in it is an active tool of the narrative – in addition to the fact that also a masterpiece of computer animation. Initially, the authors wanted to use a map for moving in space when transferring action from one location to another, but then they abandoned this idea, considering that this method would distract attention and violate the logic of the development of events. Therefore, the card was transferred to the beginning of the episode and served as a background for the credits. So,

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I think everyone remembers the screensaver of the Game of Thrones well. And yes, this is a map! A map of the “song of ice and flame” known at the time of the series of space in the world. And she suspiciously resembles medieval European cards … Yes, however, there is nothing suspicious here. It is known that the entire cycle is inspired by the history of medieval Europe. The details are interesting.

For example, the sun, past which the camera sometimes sweeps, getting down to another mainland is nothing more than astrolabia, a tool without which it would be difficult to imagine the whole era of great geographical discoveries. The same astrolabia hangs in the Citadel Hall, in which one of the heroes studies the history of Westeros. One of the fanatical theories says that everything, then shown in the series, is recorded in one of the books of the Citadel (and the final of the series indirectly confirms this theory) – the argument is also the fact that the lenses are being changed in the screensaver, quickly changing The scale of the card.

Even more interesting is that we do not see the boundaries of the world into which we are immersed.This involuntarily creates the similarity of the viewer’s observation point with the Middle Ages, who did not know (and did not always want to know) that lies there, beyond the horizon. The map of Westeros and Essos is created on the surface of the sphere, but unlike the usual globes – on its inner surface. This world has no clear boundaries, and no one knows what is there, outside this sphere. The storyline of one of the heroes ends with a trip there, outside the map, and again we will not avoid comparison with the “Lord of the Rings”, where it is comparable (or equate) with physical care of the world. The man of the Middle -Ingle, sailing over the horizon, did not know whether he would find the way home, and whether he would return the same as he was.

The sphere is clearly visible, inside which the viewer is placed (that is, the camera) Compare the map in the “Game of Thrones” with Portolan of the British Islands and the northwestern part of France (XV century).

By the way, for example, it is no coincidence that Portolan was chosen, which shows the British islands. For English-language fans, one of the most obvious analogies of the world of ice and flame with the real world is the wall-in our world of Adriana Val, designed to protect the civilized Roman province of Britain from ignorant barbarians living on uncomfortable and cold lands of present-day Scotland. Something reminds. Thus, the northern part of Westeros is correlated with the island of Great Britain, but for other territories it is more difficult to choose such a clear prototype. It is good that others have already done this – fans have already found a potential “donor” of the outlines of the rest of Westeros on the map – and this is an inverted Ireland. George R.R. Martin confirmed this at one of the conferences. Compare:

Another fan theory is even more fascinating. She says that the planet on which Westeros and Essos are located, like our Earth, most likely has a spherical shape – and, accordingly, conditional north and south poles. It should be noted that the pole is not always where it is cold, but where the imaginary axis of rotation of the heavenly body passes.

On the maps of the world of ice and flame there are two large white spots that go beyond the limits of visibility – the wasteland behind the wall and they are in the east of the Essos. But what if they really are the same wasteland? If the North Pole of the world is somewhere in the region of a thousand islands off the northern coast of Essos (or somewhere around)-it is quite possible! Attention to the card:

In general, it seems that after a certain moment the Universe of the book, created by the imagination of the author, began to live its life (not without the participation of the army of fans, of course). And as in the real world, there were people who occupied geography and the history of the development of the world of ice and flame.

For example, a geological map of Westeros was compiled on the book:

And where is the geology, there is not far from the theory of lithospheric slabs.Because mountains in this world are present (and hence the collision of plates), and the presence of volcanic activity in the past is evident (the fall of Valiria and Obsidian of the dragon stone).

When the first people appeared in Westeros, it is unknown. But the history of the two continents is well shown in a series of cards describing the main milestones before the start of the series. Several of them are presented below:

Historical geography in all its glory. Another example from the field of humanities – after the fifth series of the eighth season, the urbanists became completely clear that the layout of streets and care for citizens in the royal harbor was never the priority of the authorities – as in the medieval cities of Europe, suffering from excessive crowding of the population and poor sanitation.

The world of ice and flame was created by one talented person and now they are unlikely to forget about him – new theories, comments, work and, of course, maps will appear. Because it doesn’t matter whether it exists what you want to see on the map in reality – it is important that it is in your head.