Hey, I wanted to discuss something different today. Yesterday, I was having a discussion about Game of Thrones (GoT).
It reminded of an aspect of GoT I've always found fascinating. The author George R R Martin bases the people in his books on individuals and communities that existed in real life.
For instance, the plot is roughly based on The War Of Roses as this Ted Ex video demonstrates.
Thread. 👇🏼
However, I wanted to discuss something else the GoT universe has in common with the actual middle ages.
A great many individuals, communities and religions are inspired by those of the medieval era.
For instance, Martin admits that he based the faith of the seven, the religion of the Andals roughly on Catholicism, a faith he was raised on.
Others have tried to find parallels between the Dothraki and the Mongols, The Iron born and the Norse men, The Wall and Hadran's wall etc.
There is also a parallel to be drawn between The Grey Scale pandemic and Black Death.
Black Death (a bubonic plague pandemic) wiped out a huge chunk of the population in Europe.
Precisely the same thing happens to the Rhoynar (the name of the community is based on a river which they worship) in the books.
They are devastated by the disease which eventually turns you into stone and makes you lose your mind. They have to migrate en masse.
Here's where things get interesting. The Rhoynar migration is led by their queen Nymeria and her ten thousand ships.
The only land where she can settle her people is Dorne, the southern most part of mainland Westeros. The Rhoynar are required to fight for House Martell and defeat his rivals.
She accomplishes this task with remarkable effectiveness. She defeats the rival kings and sends them to the wall in golden manacles.
(Going to the wall or taking the black meant that one takes a vow of
celibacy and to give up all worldly possessions, much like becoming a monk. At the wall, you help maintain castles and fight wildlings (northern tribes that live beyond the Wall).
Nymeria marries Mors Martell of Dorne and joins their houses.
She famously burns her ten thousand ships and declared that the Rhoynar shall now live in Dorne.
Nymeria and her ten thousand ships are immortalised as bards sing of her for a thousand years and more.
Pictures of maps of Westeros disclosed below.
This is an interesting story because it has a parallel in real life. The Rhoynar migration to Dorne is similar to the Umayyad conquest of the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal), a region that Dorne was modelled after.
The character of Nymeria is similar to Tariq ibne Ziyad, the conquerer of Spain. Tariq was a Berber (north African tribe) freed man (former slave) turned general.
The story goes that count Julian of Ceuta had sent his daughter to the court of the king of Spain, Roderic as
was the custom. It is said that Roderic sexually assaulted count Julian's daughter. This enraged Julian so much that he sought an alliance with the north African Muslim remnants of the Ummayad empire.
This paved the way for the Muslim conquest of Spain. Tariq, who was the governor of Tangiers at the time got the green light from higher ups to come to the aid of Julian.
Tariq landed with his army near a mountain he named Jabal Tariq (mount of Tariq). We call it Gibraltor today.
Tariq famously ordered that his ships be burnt (notice something?) and said to his troops: "Behind you is the see and in front of you is either martyrdom or victory".
The battle of Guadalete was fought in July, 711 and Tariq convincingly defeated the Visigothic king, Roderic and his army which was numerically far superior to Tariq's own.
Parts of this story like the burning of the ships may have been exaggerations. However, Martin saw it fit to incorporate it into Nymeria's story.
Muslim kingdoms went on to rule Spain for 700 years. This gave birth to a rich and distinct culture where Espanol was written in Arabic script and what have you.
Tariq ibne Ziyad remains a Muslim folk hero to this day. It was interesting to see his story inspire that of Nymeria.
Ends.
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