Reality in George R. R. Martin's a Song of Ice and Fire
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MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature Reality in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire Bachelor Thesis Brno 2015 Supervisor: Author: Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph. D. Lucia Sladiková Abstract: This bachelor’s thesis deals with the comparison of a series of books A Song of Ice and Fire written by George R. R. Martin and the chosen aspects from the history of the British Isles. It attempts to prove that the author was inspired by the real history and used it in his books. The studied aspects are namely the territory, the walls, people, knights, heraldry, heritability, customs and events. The thesis also attempts to classify the books in terms of genre and suggests a possible use in education. Anotácia: Táto bakalárska práca sa zaoberá porovnaním série kníh s názvom Pieseň ohňa a ľadu od George R. R. Martin a vybraných aspektov z histórie Britských ostrovov. Práca sa usiluje dokázať, že autor bol inšpirovaný reálnou históriou a použil ju vo svojich knihách. Skúmanými aspektmi sú teritórium, steny, ľudia, rytieri, heraldika, dedičstvo, zvyky a udalosti. Ďalším zámerom tejto práce je klasifikovať knihy v zmysle žánra a navrhnúť ich možné využitie v edukačnom procese. Key words: George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire, A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons, postmodernism, historiographic metafiction, high fantasy, taboo, British Isles, territory, highland zone, lowland zone, The Wall, Hadrian’s Wall, Antonine Wall, Offa’s Dyke, barbarians, wildlings, southerners, northerners, knights, heraldry, heritability, feudalism Kľúčové slová: George R. R. Martin, Pieseň ohňa a ľadu, Hra o tróny, Súboj kráľov, Búrka mečov, Hostina pre vrany, Tanec s drakmi, postmodernizmus, historiografická metafikcia, vysoká fantasy, tabu, Britské ostrovy, teritórium, zóna vysočiny, zóna nížiny, stena, Hadriánov val, Antoninov val, Offov val, barbari, divosi, južania, severania, rytieri, dedičstvo, heraldika, feudalizmus Declaration Hereby I declare that I worked on this thesis on my own and used only the sources listed in the bibliography. I agree that the thesis be placed in the library of the Faculty of Education of Masaryk University in Brno and made accessible for study purposes. Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů“. Souhlasím, aby práce byla uložena na Masarykově univerzitě v Brně v knihovně Pedagogické fakulty a zpřístupněna ke studijním účelům. Brno, March 30, 2015 ........................................................ Lucia Sladiková Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, PhD. for her help, patience and guidance. I would also like to thank my consultant Mgr. Jan Plocek for his help and invaluable advice. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 6 1. ABOUT THE BOOKS ........................................................................................................... 8 1.1 Assigning the genre .......................................................................................................... 8 1.2 The plot and the main conflicts ...................................................................................... 11 1.3 Reception of the books ................................................................................................... 12 1.4 Challenging the taboos ................................................................................................... 13 2 TERRITORY ........................................................................................................................ 15 3 THE FICTIONAL WALL VERSUS MONUMENTS OF THE BRITISH ISLES .............. 20 4 PEOPLE ................................................................................................................................ 24 4.1 Barbarians ....................................................................................................................... 27 5 KNIGHTS ............................................................................................................................. 32 6 HERALDRY AND HERITABILITY ................................................................................... 35 6.1 Succession ...................................................................................................................... 35 6.2 Heraldic symbols ............................................................................................................ 35 7 CUSTOMS AND EVENTS .................................................................................................. 37 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 50 WORKS CITED ....................................................................................................................... 55 INTRODUCTION This thesis is based on a description of the most prominent aspects from the series of books A Song of Ice and Fire written by George R. R. Martin. These are then compared with very similar aspects from the history of the British Isles. Since the series of books is set in a world resembling medieval times with kings, knights and constant wars, the sources about history for the comparison were chosen mostly from the medieval times. The aim of the thesis is to prove that George R. R. Martin was inspired by real history of the British Isles using geography, people, customs, names or even conflicts from the history to make the story more believable and more real. The thesis also attempts to categorize the books as a possible additional reading to enrich the studies of history in ways of drawing parallels between well known stories and the real history. The books from the series A Song of Ice and Fire are used as means of comparison and analysis. Since these include stories with only occasional additional description of customs or history, individual ways of solving conflicts or behaviour are used as representative. Only the most prominent aspects are used since in many instances, there is no description as to why something is done in that specific way. The thesis begins with some theoretical information about the books. The first chapter includes descriptions of genres that the books could belong to. Since the series is a contemporary work, it is not so clear which genre it is related to and similarities with different types can be found. These are described in detail because the chosen genres themselves are those that are inspired by the history, using it in the works of fiction. The opening chapter also includes a brief summary of the plot with the most important conflicts of the story. Then the critical reception of the books follows together with description of the impact the books have had on readers. The last part of the chapter analyzes the challenge of taboos that is portrayed in the series and makes the books very unique, since it creates the view of a grey world – not just black and white – and gives great value to the reading by presenting the things as they happened. The second chapter compares the territories both of Martin’s fictional land and the British Isles. The comparison includes geography, political organization and settlements. 6 Cities and countryside are described together, including their mutual relationships. The chapter concludes in the portrayal of roads and their use. The third chapter describes and compares the fictional Wall from Martin’s books with three constructions in the British Isles, namely: Offa’s Dyke, Hadrian’s Wall and Antonine Wall. The explored aspects are the use and the construction. The chapter also includes author’s confession about his inspiration for the Wall. The following chapter deals with the dividing of people in the British Isles, as well as in A Song of Ice ad Fire. It begins with the explanation of the religions in the novels, drawing parallels with the religions in reality. Connections between the geography and the religion are made using consensus from the British Isles made in 2011, including also distribution of religion on the Isles from the Roman period. Then a table comparing nicknames given to characters in the books and those given to historical figures follows. The last part of the chapter describes barbarians in terms of how they are perceived by people who have never seen them, by those who spent some time with them, the rumours spread about them and their own self-apprehension. The attempts to define the barbarians were made on multiple occasions in the books and the historical sources connected with the British Isles also include these. The fifth chapter compares the knights in Martin’s books with those from the history. Their status, duties and armour are briefly described and compared. The sixth chapter deals with the heraldry in terms of rules and laws of succession. As a way of comparison the fictional royal family is used. This chapter also includes a brief description of displaying of heraldic symbols with the comparison of those used in Martin’s books and those appearing in the British