Template talk:Regions

From A Wiki of Ice and Fire
Jump to: navigation, search

Need to address a few large island groups that defy easy categorization into one continent or another, as clarified by the World book.

The Summer Islands, Naath, and the Basilisk Isles are not really considered "part" of Sothoryos, the way that the Arbor is considered part of Westeros. They're far enough away from the coast of the mainland, quite large, and culturally distinct. The analogy that Elyo used was that New Zealand isn't really part of "Australia" or any continent. Hawaii isn't part of any continent. Is Madagascar "part of" Africa? Well no, it's a big island.

To a lesser extent this affects the Shivering Sea as well: Ib and its satellite islands like Ib Sar, and the Thousand Islands. Also: the World book clarified that the name of the island is "Ib", and the capital city is named "Ibben". The phrasing "Port of Ibben" is just confusing: it's not "the port of the island of Ibben". Similarly, one might say "the largest city in Westeros is the port of King's Landing"...the "of" thing isn't possessive, it's referring to the name it bears. Ib is the island, Ibben is the city.

Not sure if the Stepstones count as Westeros or Essos...I lean towards Essos simply from the perspective that they are "not Westeros".

Ulthos would remain in an "other" category, we'll never know if its an actual continent, according to GRRM.

I am unsure of how to deal with larger islands east of Qarth such as Great Moraq - not even clear what continent it is considered part of, and the World book revealed nothing about it. I would put Leng in with Essos because it is near the coast despite its large size and its ties to Yi Ti (Japan is generally thought to be "part of Asia"). Not sure about other islands of the Jade Sea.

Anyway, my suggestion for how to divide them on this navigation plate is this:

Currently, there are four rows: one for each of the three continents, and then "Other".

I suggest adding a row/category tentatively named "Islands of the Summer Sea", which would include the Summer Islands, Naath, and the Basilisk Isles. I'm not sure if it would include the Stepstones or if it would be better to put them with Essos for historical reasons.

Second...I kind of think that Ib and the Thousand Islands would fit better in "Essos", due to the fact that the Ibbense still have far-flung colonies along the northern coast of Essos. They're not in complete isolation, you see. And the maesters debate whether the Ibbense colonized the mainland from Ib, but then were driven out (from Andalos, etc.) or, if they actually originated from the ancient "Hairy Men" around the central plains, then moved to Andalos, then colonized Ib, but ultimately got pushed out of the mainland entirely.

Well, either lump them in with Essos, or perhaps make a another row called "Islands of the Shivering Sea" (though I suppose a third option remains to just keep them in "Other").

I don't think Great Moraq fits well with "Islands of the Summer Sea" given that it's at the eastern border of it. Might be better to make another row called "Islands of the Jade Sea" for all of the tiny islands in there (Leng might still be better to put in "Essos" and not this) -- and we'd put Great Moraq in that category because it does border the Jade Sea on its eastern side, and seems socio-economically more tied to that region.

"Ulthos" would remain in an "other" category, but a category titled "Ulthos", because we don't know if it is a continent.

Thoughts?--The Dragon Demands 21:00, 7 December 2014 (UTC)