41
votes
Accepted
Has George R. R. Martin ever officially stated that the shape of Westeros was based on the United Kingdom?
In this 2014 San Diego Comic Con panel discussion at 15m30s he says that his map of Westeros began as Ireland upside down, where the southwest of Ireland corresponds with the Fingers. The North ...
- 436
25
votes
Has George R. R. Martin ever officially stated that the shape of Westeros was based on the United Kingdom?
George R. R. Martin has commented on this but surprisingly has stated that Westeros' shape is not based on the England and in fact can't even see the similarities himself. Although interestingly he ...
- 144k
13
votes
Accepted
George Martin story about a war in which he mentions airplanes called Alfies (meaning Alphas, I think)
And lo! it was not so hard to find. "Night of the Vampyres" (1975).
Reynolds looked at the radarmap again. The Alfies were now flat out at about 100,000 feet. Figured. The LB-4s could go ...
- 135k
13
votes
Accepted
Had Christopher Tolkien ever publicly spoken about George R. R. Martin or his work?
Christopher Tolkien never commented on anything George R R Martin had said or written
While it is always difficult to prove a negative, Christopher Tolkien was a relatively quiet figure, especially in ...
- 95.3k
11
votes
Accepted
Is Martin subtly insulting the showrunners of Game of Thrones in Fire and Blood?
Unlikely
Whilst it is incredibly unlikely that George would ever admit to doing this, especially whilst the show is still running, it is unlikely it is even a reference to that in the first place. The ...
- 144k
10
votes
Accepted
Use of "shadows" as servants of light/good
According to George R. R. Martin, this religion's dualistic aspects of a good and an evil god are inspired by Zoroastrianism, along with the Cathars of Medieval Europe.
In this interview (at about ...
- 60.8k
5
votes
Has George R. R. Martin ever mentioned plot elements from The Silmarillion in an interview?
Certainly Martin is aware of Tolkien's Silmarillion (in terms of both content and concept) and references it multiple times in interviews, along with other of Tolkien's works, including his essays. I ...
- 702k
3
votes
Why did GRRM choose 'Pyke' as the bastard surname for Iron Islands?
Unknown, but probably because of how it sounds.
I have not found any evidence for why GRRM chose 'Pyke' as the bastard name on the Iron Isles.
When you say "One might have expected", you are ...
- 45.6k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible