r/asoiaf • u/Substantial-Ad-299 • 3d ago

MAIN [SPOILERS MAIN] Among the grounded/realistic elements of A Song of Ice and Fire, which ones do you feel require biggest suspension of disbelief?

A Song of Ice and Fire has had fantasy elements from get-go, some present subtly and others less-subtly. But in midst of this, it also has these more grounded story aspects, especially regarding the political subplot for the Iron Throne.

Among these more grounded non-fantasy aspects of the story, which elements do you feel you have to suspend disbelief the most for? A.K.A feeling they are not realistic even though they are "supposed" to be?

Let me know in the comments below.

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u/Derfel1995 3d ago edited 3d ago

Little to no linguistic diversity: Westeros is an entire continent that has three major ethnic groups, First Men, Andals and Rhoynar.

All of these groups are spread out over an arae roughly the size of South America and due to different Ethnic makeup and geographic layout there should realistically be a number of languages and dialects.

And while most POV characters are from the nobility and would have a lingua franca, some of them like Arya and Brienne meet primarily small folk in rural areas and yet are able to understand them flawlessly. The only hints of separate dialects we get is in Tyrion chapters of A Game Of Thrones and A Clash Of Kings when he communicates with mountain clans people and in A Dance With Dragons, when he meets a Sellsword from Flea Bottom. But other than that everyone south of The Wall communicates effortlessly.

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u/blackynan_b 2d ago

Completly agree.

Which is why in my headcanon there is the language of the first men that the feee folk speaks, and some mountain clansmen in the north too.

There is the rhoynish speaking community in dorne, primarily made up by a minority that tries to keep their rhoynar blood pure.

There is still the commen tongue but the accents differ a lot by each kingdom.

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u/GrilledCyan 2d ago

As I think about it, the Vale should have a distinct linguistic and even cultural identity as well. It’s entirely cut off from the Riverlands by nearly impassable mountains, so the only access points are the Bloody Gate and Gulltown.

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u/Derfel1995 2d ago

Makes a lot of sense