Jon Lynch
Jon Lynch
Jul 28, 2017 · 1 min read

It’s somewhat important to remember that just about everything in A Song of Ice and Fire is loosley based on real history, i.e. The War of The Roses, Hadrian’s Wall, the Mongols, and yes, slavery around the world and in the west. It’s mostly commentary on many periods in history with some magic and dragons thrown in for good fantasy measure.

I imagine the Dothraki were heavily influenced by the Mongols. Westeros is obviously an amalgamation of several medieval eras in Europe. The wall is influenced by Hadrian’s Wall and the fall of the Roman Empire. The others/free-folk are mostly an illustration of the northern barbarian tribes beyond the wall during the same period. The slavery aspect of the books likely stems from many different regions and periods. Much of the slavery seems to be influenced by older periods in history that predate western slavery, such as the Arab slave trade.

Reflecting on the books, I think George R.R. Martin does the history justice by condemning slavery entirely. The slave traders in the books are the most vile and disgusting people, and rightly so. For the record, they get what’s coming to them and then some.

On the topic of Confederate, we will have to wait and see. I’m willing to bet that Beinoff and Weiss will surprise us all.

    Jon Lynch

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    Jon Lynch