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Influences on “A Song of Ice and Fire”

How George R. R. Martin’s ideas developed

George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is both a fantasy classic and the inspiration behind one of the top TV shows of all time.

Here, I’ll share nine influences on the story, including history, geography, as well as fellow authors. All went some way towards shaping Martin’s creations.

1. The British Isles

Let’s start with perhaps the most obvious comparison — Westeros is clearly based on medieval Britain in terms of climate, history and culture, although it is meant to be much bigger — equivalent to the whole of western Europe in scale. In Westeros, as in Britain, multiple kingdoms were eventually united under one crown. Even the shape has some apparent similarities:

2. An Unruly North

The north in Westeros could be seen as roughly equivalent to northern England or southern Scotland (the region covered by the historical kingdom Northumbria). Like Scotland, we see in the events of A Song of Ice and Fire that the north has a strong sense of independence, its people prone to rising up against southern rule. Meanwhile, the area and population “beyond the wall” mirror the Pictish tribes who resisted Roman conquest, leading to the construction of Hadrian’s wall.

3. An Agrarian South

In Westeros, like Britain, the capital lies further south, in a more agricultural and densely populated areas. However, here we see other influences, too. For example, the hot southern province of Dorne, with its deserts and wine-growing regions, has a geography with more in common with Spain than any area of Britain (although in being mountainous and hard to subdue, it was also influenced by Wales, according to Martin).

4. Viking Raiders

It’s not hard to see connections between the Iron Islands and the Norse cultures of the real world. Like the Iron Islanders, Vikings were skilled sailors, whose mastery of the oceans caused them to be a significant threat despite their modest population. Historically, Norse people sailed out from the homelands and conquered many other regions in Europe, including large parts of Britain. Ultimately, they were able to hold onto the islands more successfully than to the mainland, just as the Ironborn invasion of the North was pushed back.

5. Cavalry warriors from the east.

In the real world, Genghis Khan united the tribes of the Mongolian Steppes, and used the combined power of their riders to found an enormous empire that quickly fell apart after his death. Mirroring this, we see, also to the east in George R. R. Martin’s world, powerful tribes of horse riders, the Dothraki, who are briefly united under Khal Drogo.

6. Strife between noble families

Just as in the real world, A Song of Ice and Fire features significant conflict between noble houses, at times spilling over into civil war. Perhaps most notably, the War of the Roses — in which the houses of York and Lancaster contested the English throne during the 15th Century — was a great influence on Martin’s work.

7. Slavery

In the books and TV show, we follow Daenerys Targaryen to Mereen, a city that sits in Slaver’s Bay on the continent of Essos. Slavery was widespread in medieval Europe, and Slaver’s Bay seems to have parallels with the selling of slaves in Italy, the Black Sea, and North Africa.

8. Tolkien’s writing

Of course, other works of fiction also influenced George R. R. Martin’s work! First, let’s consider J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings. LOTR wasn’t the first fantasy epic, but it set an example for many writers who followed. Furthermore, Tolkien’s Middle Earth laid down a template for “high fantasy” worlds that are loosely based on the real world in medieval times, with a modified version of England often being the focus.

9. Dragonriders of Pern

Anne McCaffrey’s classic Dragonriders of Pern series also seems to have had a major influence. The most obvious one is the titular dragon-riders, who parallel those of House Targaryen. There are multiple other interesting connections explored in this article on Reddit (if you don’t mind a few spoilers!).

Those are the influences on A Song of Ice and Fire that struck me most strongly. Are there any others that you noticed when reading the books or watching the TV shows? If so, let me know in the comments!

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