Post by revanstar on Apr 26, 2017 17:30:05 GMT
You know what really grinds my gears? Keeping track of the passage of time in the 'verse.
This is 2 of 2 of the shit I think about when I should be sleeping cause I've been neck deep in the wikis again.
GRRM is bad with keeping track of how much time has passed in the books. This is known. And I swear by the end of book two, he had just given up on it.
We know that it took a month for King Robert and the rest of the royals and their entourage to make it from King's Landing to Winterfell, and it took a month to go back to King's Landing. (That rather or not this is because of the size of the party, or this is simply how long the trip takes, its not stated)
And I dont think it was ever made clear how long it took for Dany to move around Essos. Or how long it took Arya to sail to Braavos, or how long it took Sam from the Wall to Old Town. Or basically any other fucking trip.
The show is just as bad at keeping track of the passage of time. Though with how quickly Little Finger and Varys gets around, you would think travling is no hardship.
On top of the unknown travel times, we arnt even sure how long Chraracters are doing things. Or how long has passed between different major events.
And THEN, we actually have no idea how people in the 'verse keep track of the passage of time. How long is a year? How many days? do they have months? I've been double checking my math for character ages and it occured to me, I didnt even know how long a year was for the ASOIAF/Got 'verse. And that bothers me.
The best I've found is a ASOIAF message board that talks about how in canon, the characters talk about the passage of time in "moons" which if true. Means that yes, they do measure time in rough months, and I guess GRRM said they keep track of the year by the stars.
So I'm just going to assume 1 year = 12 months/luner cycles. And we know that for the last 300 years they've used Aegon's conquest to measure the passage of the years. BC and AC (much like our own BC/BCE and AD/CE) And over all the calander is much the same as ours? Why, because its easier that way, though for the sake of simplicity, the "months" have no makes. just numbers. "On the 12th day, of the 7th moon/month, I was born" bah. Why? cause its easier.
Of course, to throw even more confusion into the mix, we have crazy ass seasons in this world.
So this is what I've decided. A year is 12 months, our seasons are aprox 3 months long. But this world has some really long seasons. And the characters seem pretty used to the fact their seasons go on years and years. But! If I recall correctly, Westeros had just finished a oddly "Long Summer", one that lasted over a decade. I'm assuming this is a bit like us having oddly long summers or winters, or early springs. or whatever. (or in the case of Oregon this year, a really late spring. its like 10 degrees cooler then it should be)
So heres what I've decided for the sake of my sanity as I dive back into writing for this world.
ASOIAF/Got 1 year=12 "months". And normally their seasons work on a 12 year cycle (verse the 12 month cycle of ours), which means normally each season is roughly 3 years long. But, much like the real world, the canon 'verse experiences the oddly long and/or bad season. And when the seasons last years? well, things get weird. And rather you use science, or magic as the explanation. some times, these hiccups result in WINTERS THAT LAST A GENERATION BECAUSE OF REASONS. Or you know, a summer thats over a decade long.
Of course this is all speculation on my part. But given that Robert's Rebellion was in the "Year of the False Spring" (and who hasnt experienced a week or so of really nice spring like weather after a gray winter and been tricked by it), which meant that Robert and Ned, and all the older generation must have been born, or at least experienced a winter by that point. And this is backed up by Old Nan calling the Stark kids "Sweet summer child" who have "never known winter"
In any case, feel free to chime in with your own thoughts or opinions or how you measure time and think the seasons work.
This is 2 of 2 of the shit I think about when I should be sleeping cause I've been neck deep in the wikis again.
GRRM is bad with keeping track of how much time has passed in the books. This is known. And I swear by the end of book two, he had just given up on it.
We know that it took a month for King Robert and the rest of the royals and their entourage to make it from King's Landing to Winterfell, and it took a month to go back to King's Landing. (That rather or not this is because of the size of the party, or this is simply how long the trip takes, its not stated)
And I dont think it was ever made clear how long it took for Dany to move around Essos. Or how long it took Arya to sail to Braavos, or how long it took Sam from the Wall to Old Town. Or basically any other fucking trip.
The show is just as bad at keeping track of the passage of time. Though with how quickly Little Finger and Varys gets around, you would think travling is no hardship.
On top of the unknown travel times, we arnt even sure how long Chraracters are doing things. Or how long has passed between different major events.
And THEN, we actually have no idea how people in the 'verse keep track of the passage of time. How long is a year? How many days? do they have months? I've been double checking my math for character ages and it occured to me, I didnt even know how long a year was for the ASOIAF/Got 'verse. And that bothers me.
The best I've found is a ASOIAF message board that talks about how in canon, the characters talk about the passage of time in "moons" which if true. Means that yes, they do measure time in rough months, and I guess GRRM said they keep track of the year by the stars.
So I'm just going to assume 1 year = 12 months/luner cycles. And we know that for the last 300 years they've used Aegon's conquest to measure the passage of the years. BC and AC (much like our own BC/BCE and AD/CE) And over all the calander is much the same as ours? Why, because its easier that way, though for the sake of simplicity, the "months" have no makes. just numbers. "On the 12th day, of the 7th moon/month, I was born" bah. Why? cause its easier.
Of course, to throw even more confusion into the mix, we have crazy ass seasons in this world.
So this is what I've decided. A year is 12 months, our seasons are aprox 3 months long. But this world has some really long seasons. And the characters seem pretty used to the fact their seasons go on years and years. But! If I recall correctly, Westeros had just finished a oddly "Long Summer", one that lasted over a decade. I'm assuming this is a bit like us having oddly long summers or winters, or early springs. or whatever. (or in the case of Oregon this year, a really late spring. its like 10 degrees cooler then it should be)
So heres what I've decided for the sake of my sanity as I dive back into writing for this world.
ASOIAF/Got 1 year=12 "months". And normally their seasons work on a 12 year cycle (verse the 12 month cycle of ours), which means normally each season is roughly 3 years long. But, much like the real world, the canon 'verse experiences the oddly long and/or bad season. And when the seasons last years? well, things get weird. And rather you use science, or magic as the explanation. some times, these hiccups result in WINTERS THAT LAST A GENERATION BECAUSE OF REASONS. Or you know, a summer thats over a decade long.
Of course this is all speculation on my part. But given that Robert's Rebellion was in the "Year of the False Spring" (and who hasnt experienced a week or so of really nice spring like weather after a gray winter and been tricked by it), which meant that Robert and Ned, and all the older generation must have been born, or at least experienced a winter by that point. And this is backed up by Old Nan calling the Stark kids "Sweet summer child" who have "never known winter"
In any case, feel free to chime in with your own thoughts or opinions or how you measure time and think the seasons work.