Difference between revisions of "White Waste"

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The '''White Waste''' is a frozen wilderness of ice and snow located north of the [[Shivering Sea]]. According to sailors, blizzards rage eternally and the mountains themselves scream in the night. Its shorelines are ever changing, receding in summer and expanding in winter.<ref name=ShiveringSea>''[[The World of Ice and Fire]]'', The Shivering Sea</ref>
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[[File:Shivering sea map.png|200px|right|thumb|The unmapped White Waste is north of the [[Shivering Sea]] (in blue).]]
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The '''White Waste''' is a wilderness of ice and snow located north of the [[Shivering Sea]]. According to sailors, it is ravaged by blizzards and the winds from its ice mountains scream and howl. Its shorelines fluctuate, receding in summer and expanding in winter. [[w:aurora|Shimmering lights]] can be seen in the north of the world.{{ref|TWOIAF| The Shivering Sea}}
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No sailors have found passage through the ice of the White Waste, either perishing in the attempt or returning half-frozen. Maester [[Heriston]] of [[White Harbor]] suggested a warm summer sea may be hidden by the White Waste.{{ref|TWOIAF| The Shivering Sea}}
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==Behind the scenes==
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Maester Heriston's theory that a warm sea might lie beyond the White Waste mirrors commonly held theories from our own world. The Greeks and Romans believed that the temperate realm of [[w:Hyperborea|Hyperborea]] lay in the distant north, and as late as the sixteenth century the famous cartographer [[w:Gerardus Mercator|Gerardus Mercator]] depicted the North Pole as lying in "an open, ice-free sea."<ref name=polarexpressed>[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/24/literatures-arctic-obsession The New Yorker: Polar Expressed (April 24, 2017)]</ref>
  
Over the centuries many a mariner has sought to find a passage through the ice of the White Waste to discover whatever lies beyond but none has succeeded. They either perished or returned half-frozen and chastened. [[Maester]] [[Heriston]] of [[White Harbor]] once suggested a warm summer sea may lie hidden and entombed beyond the icy cliffs of the White Waste.<ref name=ShiveringSea/>
 
  
 
==References and Notes==
 
==References and Notes==
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[[Category:Regions]]
 
[[Category:Regions]]
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[[Category:Places in the Shivering Sea]]
  
 
[[es:Desierto Blanco]]
 
[[es:Desierto Blanco]]
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[[fr:Désert Blanc]]

Revision as of 14:49, 25 June 2019

The unmapped White Waste is north of the Shivering Sea (in blue).

The White Waste is a wilderness of ice and snow located north of the Shivering Sea. According to sailors, it is ravaged by blizzards and the winds from its ice mountains scream and howl. Its shorelines fluctuate, receding in summer and expanding in winter. Shimmering lights can be seen in the north of the world.[1]

No sailors have found passage through the ice of the White Waste, either perishing in the attempt or returning half-frozen. Maester Heriston of White Harbor suggested a warm summer sea may be hidden by the White Waste.[1]

Behind the scenes

Maester Heriston's theory that a warm sea might lie beyond the White Waste mirrors commonly held theories from our own world. The Greeks and Romans believed that the temperate realm of Hyperborea lay in the distant north, and as late as the sixteenth century the famous cartographer Gerardus Mercator depicted the North Pole as lying in "an open, ice-free sea."[2]


References and Notes