Lomas Longstrider
Lomas Longstrider | |
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Born | Westeros[1] |
Books |
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Lomas Longstrider was a famous scribe[2] and traveler of Westerosi origin.[1] He is famously quoted as saying, "The gods made seven wonders and mortal man made nine".[2]
Contents
History
Lomas traveled the known world and wrote two famous books, Wonders and Wonders Made by Man, in which he cataloged sixteen sights he considered wonders.[2]
One of the wonders Lomas recorded are the Valyrian roads.[2] He also saw and described the triple walls of Qarth.[3] Lomas visited the colossal ruins of the Great Pyramid of Ghis.[4][5]
Lomas interviewed descendants of the Rhoynar living in the ruins of Chroyane.[6][7] He visited Norvos and named its three bells a wonder made by man. He also visited the large cavern system a hundred leagues northwest of Norvos, and listed it as one of the seven natural wonders.[8]
Lomas marveled at the Titan of Braavos[9] and named the Long Bridge of Volantis as one of the wonders made by man.[10] He also named the Palace With a Thousand Rooms in Sarnath among the man-made wonders.[5]
Lomas visited the Summer Isles, where he interviewed sages of the isles.[11]
Lomas passed east of the massive Bone Mountains but he did not do so by taking a ship in the Shivering Sea. Like many others, he either went through the mountain passes or by way of the Jade Gates.[1] It is said that at the sight of the Bones, Lomas lost heart, believing he had reached the ends of the earth.[12]
Lomas visited Yi Ti, where he was awestruck by its wealth and rich culture.[13] Lomas also apparently visited the successor cities of the Patrimony of Hyrkoon—Bayasabhad, Samyriana, and Kayakayanaya—as he said that there are no fiercer fighters in the world than their warrior women.[12][N 1]
Lomas claimed that Leng is an island of "ten thousand tigers and ten million monkeys".[14]
In his The World of Ice & Fire, Maester Yandel is contradictory as to whether or not Lomas visited Asshai. In his chapter on the westerlands, Yandel writes that merchants in Asshai asked Lomas about the famous gold of Casterly Rock.[15] In the book's section on Asshai and the Shadow Lands, however, Yandel writes that Lomas never reached the eastern city.[16]
Timeline
It is unknown when Lomas lived precisely. Given the information from the books, we can reduce the range of possibilities from ~700 BC to ~100 BC.[N 2]
Legacy
Lomas Longstrider's writings are known to some educated Westerosi.[2][4] When Tyrion Lannister was a young boy, his uncle Gerion gifted him copies of Wonders and Wonders Made by Man. Gerion had his nephew recite all of the wonders during feasts to impress family and guests, and Tyrion kept rereading his copies until they fell apart.[2]
Recent Events
A Dance with Dragons
When Tyrion Lannister, Ser Rolly Duckfield, and Haldon Halfmaester speak of Lomas, Haldon reports the scribe to be long dead.[2]
Ser Barristan Selmy recalls that the Great Pyramid of Meereen was built to emulate the Great Pyramid of Ghis.[4]
Game of Thrones - A Telltale Games Series
In the continuity of Game of Thrones - A Telltale Games Series, Rodrik Forrester gives his sister Mira a copy of Wonders Made by Man as a gift.[17]
Quotes
Tyrion: Lomas Longstrider told it true. The road's a wonder.
Rolly: Lomas Longstrider?
Haldon: A scribe, long dead. He spent his life traveling the world and writing about the lands he visited in two books he called Wonders and Wonders Made by Man.[2]
For years afterward, he had cherished a dream that one day he would travel the world and see Longstrider's wonders for himself.[2]
—thoughts of Tyrion Lannister
Lomas Longstrider saw the walls of Qarth. His books suffice for me. I have gone as far east as I intend to go.[3]
Notes
- ↑ It is not clear if Lomas reached Yi Ti via the sea route through the Jade Gates, and later visited these cities without having to make the dangerous journey through the Bone Mountains (because the cities are on the eastern side), or if Lomas initially "lost heart" at seeing the Bones, but subsequently steeled his nerves and pressed ahead through the mountain passes.
- ↑ Lomas visited the Palace With a Thousand Rooms prior to its destruction by Khal Loso the Lame during the Century of Blood,[5] and he also spoke with descendants of the Rhoynar after the destruction of Chroyane.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The World of Ice & Fire, Beyond the Free Cities: East of Ib.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 8, Tyrion III.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 57, Tyrion XI.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 67, The Kingbreaker.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The World of Ice & Fire, Beyond the Free Cities: The Grasslands.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, Ancient History: The Long Night.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, Ancient History: Ten Thousand Ships.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Free Cities: Norvos.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Free Cities: Braavos.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Free Cities: Volantis.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, Beyond the Free Cities: The Summer Isles.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Bones and Beyond.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Bones and Beyond: Yi Ti.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Bones and Beyond: Leng.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Westerlands.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Bones and Beyond: Asshai-by-the-Shadow.
- ↑ Game of Thrones - A Telltale Games Series, "Iron From Ice".