Difference between revisions of "Measurement"

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(Units of weight measurement: "Mark" has been the name of many currencies in real-life)
(Units of time measurement: touch up)
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===Units of time measurement===
 
===Units of time measurement===
====Scientific definitions====
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The following units of time measurement have been described:
The base units of time measurement generally match those used in real life: seconds, minutes, hours, days, and years. A "fortnight" is a commonly used term, somewhat outdated in real life, to refer to any given two week long period.
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* Seconds{{ref|agot|9}}<ref group="N">E.g., "''The glance that passed between Jaime and Cersei lasted no more than a second, but he did not miss it.''" (''[[A Game of Thrones]]'', [[A Game of Thrones-Chapter 9|Tyrion I]])</ref>
 +
* Minutes{{Ref|agot|26}}<ref group="N">E.g., "''The fight lasted less than a minute [...]''" (''[[A Game of Thrones]]'', [[A Game of Thrones-Chapter 26|Jon IV]])</ref>
 +
* Hours{{Ref|agot|prologue}}<ref group="N">E.g., "''Everything was just as it had been a few hours ago.''" (''[[A Game of Thrones]]'', [[A Game of Thrones-Prologue|Prologue]])</ref>
 +
* Days{{Ref|agot|prologue}}<ref group="N">E.g., "''Nine days they had been riding''" (''[[A Game of Thrones]]'', [[A Game of Thrones-Prologue|Prologue]])</ref>
 +
* Weeks{{Ref|agot|prologue}}<ref group="N">E.g., "''Have you drawn any watches this past week, Will?''" (''[[A Game of Thrones]]'', [[A Game of Thrones-Prologue|Prologue]])</ref>
 +
* Fortnight{{Ref|agot|prologue}}<ref group="N">E.g., "''If it snows, we could be a fortnight getting back, and snow's the best we can hope for.''" (''[[A Game of Thrones]]'', [[A Game of Thrones-Prologue|Prologue]])</ref>
 +
* Years{{Ref|agot|prologue}}<ref group="N">E.g., "''Gared had spent forty years in the Night's Watch, [...]''" (''[[A Game of Thrones]]'', [[A Game of Thrones-Prologue|Prologue]])</ref>
  
These units seem to broadly match their real-life equivalents:  it's tacitly implied that one minute contains 60 seconds (otherwise Martin would only confuse the reader if one of their "seconds" is really equal to 30 real life seconds). One "day" apparently contains 24 hours, each one equivalent to a real life "hour" (in contrast to some sort of Jack Vance style alternate Earth with more hours in a day).
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Regarding the passage of time in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', [[George R. R. Martin]] has specified "''Twelve moon [turns] to a year, as on earth. Even on our earth, years have nothing to do with the seasons, or with the cycles of the moon. A year is a measure of a solar cycle, of how long it takes the earth to make one complete revolution around the sun. The same is true for the world of Westeros.''",<ref>[[So Spake Martin]], [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Asshai.com_Forum_Chat Asshai.com Forum Chat (July 27, 2008)]</ref> thereby confirming that a year in ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is as long as a year in real-life.
  
One "year" roughly matches one real-life "year", and is composed of 12 months. Their moon goes through its astronomical cycle once every month or so, as in real life, so months are alternatively called "moon-turns" - though whether it is exactly the same as the moon's rotational period in real life is unknown.
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====Calendar system====
 +
The calendar system currently used in the [[Seven Kingdoms]] uses the start of the reign of King [[Aegon I Targaryen]] as the first year on their calendar, dating events using either AC (After the Conquest) or BC (Before the Conquest).{{Ref|twoiaf| The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest}} Individual months do not appear to have specific names. When referring to a specific day in a specific month, [[maester]]s use the format "''the twenty-second day of the fifth moon of the year 130 AC [...]''"{{Ref|TPATQ}}{{Ref|twoiaf| The Targaryen Kings: Aegon II}} No name for week-days (e.g., "Sunday" or "Wednesday") have been mentioned, and Martin has confirmed that no such mention will ever occur.<ref>[[So Spake Martin]]: [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/1411 Dromen & Demonen Chat (April 23, 2002)]</ref>
  
One "year" is defined by astronomy, not the passage of their irregular and years-long seasons.  The same is actually true of real life:  seasonal weather is always variable, so since ancient times (i.e. Stonehenge), civilizations have defined a new "year" by the point when the stars in the night sky reset to where they were around 12 months before. Scholars in Westeros and other lands, through study of astronomy, are aware that their world is in fact a round globe (though it hasn't been definitively stated if they know that their planet moves around their sun, and not the other way around).<ref>[[So Spake Martin]], [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/1034 Measuring Time (June 12, 1999)]</ref><ref>[[So Spake Martin]], [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Asshai.com_Forum_Chat Asshai.com Forum Chat (July 27, 2008)]</ref>
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Although hours are used in ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' as a measurement of time, individual hours have never been referred to by names such as "eleven o'clock". Instead, functional definitions such as dawn, noon, and dusk are used (e.g., "the hours before the dawn"{{Ref|agot|12}}).
  
====Culture-specific definitions====
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Further, at least some individual hours have their own name. According to Martin, these names are used to "''refer to times of day and night, but with rather less specificity than our own numerical system of hours and minutes.''"<ref>[[Not a Blog]]: [http://grrm.livejournal.com/365152.html?thread=18970464#t18970464 Comedy at the Cocteau (Apr. 6th, 2014) &ndash; Comment on Apr. 9th, 2014]</ref> Named hours include:
While a Westeros "year" is functionally equivalent to a real-life "year", their exact rotational period is unknown:  in real life one "year" isn't actually 365 days, but a small remainder beyond that, because the rotational period of the Earth around the Sun doesn't neatly divide into Earth's rotation time on its own axis (days).  This necessitated the development of the Julian, and later Gregorian, calendars which include leap-years to make up the difference. 
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*The hour of the bat, apparently some time during deep night to early morning{{Ref|TPATQ}}
 
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*The hour of the eel, coming just after the hour of the bat {{Ref|ADWD|68}}
Specifics about such time-keeping in Westeros cross over into cultural, not scientific definitions.  The calendar system currently used in Westeros uses the date of the Targaryen Conquest as Year 1. Little is known about their calendar system, such as the exact number of days in it (364 or 365) or whether it includes leap-years (or even, like ancient pre-Julian societies, if they ''should'' have leap years but haven't reformed their calendar yet to reflect this).  What points are known about the culturally-based calendar in Westeros:
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*The hour of ghosts, coming just after the hour of the eel {{Ref|ADWD|68}}
 
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*The hour of the owl, coming a few hours after the hour of the bat,{{Ref|TPATQ}} still before dawn{{Ref|AFFC|32}}{{Ref|ADWD|26}}  
*Individual months apparently don't have specific names. They simply refer to dates in the format, "In the twenty-second day of the fifth month of the year 130 AC".{{Ref|TPATQ}} 
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*The hour of the wolf,{{Ref|AFFC|8}}{{Ref|ADWD|7}}{{Ref|ADWD|46}}{{Ref|ADWD|58}} "the blackest part of night"{{Ref|ADWD|67}}, coming after the hour of the owl{{Ref|ADWD|54}}
**This seems to be a literal translation of how the original Roman calendar simply referred to months by ordinal numbers in Latin, i.e. "Sept-tember" referring to the "seventh month" (September later became the ninth month, as the addition of other non-ordinal months named after emperors such as "August" pushed it back later in the year).  
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*The hour of the nightingale, coming after the hour of the wolf{{Ref|ADWD|54}}
*No week-day names have ever been mentioned, such as "Sunday" or "Wednesday".  Given that "Wednesday" is a culture-specific name originating from real life ("Odin's Day"), they might use different weekday names, or none at all, like their months.
 
*Because they don't have mechanical clocks, individual hours have never been referred to by names such as "eleven o'clock".  They use functional definitions such as dawn, noon, dusk, etc., or "three hours past dawn". 
 
*Individual hours actually have their own names, after animals.  It is unknown if there is a name for all 24 hours, or just the night hours.  Named hours include:
 
**The hour of the bat, apparently some time during deep night to early morning{{Ref|TPATQ}}
 
**The hour of the eel, coming just after the hour of the bat {{Ref|ADWD|68}}
 
**The hour of ghosts, coming just after the hour of the eel {{Ref|ADWD|68}}
 
**The hour of the owl, coming a few hours after the hour of the bat,{{Ref|TPATQ}} still before dawn{{Ref|AFFC|32}}{{Ref|ADWD|26}}  
 
**The hour of the wolf,{{Ref|AFFC|8}}{{Ref|ADWD|7}}{{Ref|ADWD|46}}{{Ref|ADWD|58}} "the blackest part of night"{{Ref|ADWD|67}}, coming after the hour of the owl{{Ref|ADWD|54}}; not to be confused with the period of a few days, called [[Hour of the Wolf]], immediately after the civil war called the [[Dance of the Dragons]]
 
**The hour of the nightingale, coming after the hour of the wolf{{Ref|ADWD|54}}
 
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==

Revision as of 12:58, 26 January 2018

A measurement is the assignment of a number to a characteristic of an object or event, which can be compared with other objects or events.[1] Numerous units of measurement are described in A Song of Ice and Fire, primarily their usage in Westeros.

Overview

Measurement units in Westeros are non-metric, growing out of customary use and not abstract principles. Westeros appears to have a uniform system of weights and measures, mentioned interchangeably by characters from Oldtown to King's Landing or Winterfell.

There are several basic units of measurement[N 1] that have been described in usage in Westeros: length, weight, and time. Most other units of measure thus far mentioned in text are units which have been derived from these basic ones, such as area and volume. Additionally, some units of measurements commonly used in the novels are more archaic in their usage, e.g. the term "stone" to indicate weight[2] and the term "league"to indicate distance.[3]

Units of measurement

Units of length

The following units of length have been described:

Units of area measurement

The following units of area measurement have been described:

Although an acre is a unit indicating an objective land area, a hide is an administrative unit for measuring monetary production. One "hide" is enough to support one household, e.g. if five fertile acres of farmland produce the same amount of money needed to provide for one household as ten acres of poor swampland do, both groupings are considered to be worth one "hide".

Units of volume

The following units of volume have been described:

"Barrels", filled with foods, wine, or other substances, are also frequently mentioned.[11][N 8] It is unclear if this term reflects a standardized size and unit of measurement (though possibly differing between type of content, e.g., foods, wine, oil, sand, stone, etc.).

Very powerful medicines administered by maesters are usually just functionally measured in number of drops diluted into water or wine - any intervening units between a drop and a full pint, for larger amounts of medicine, haven't been mentioned, and might just be functionally measured as "a cup" of milk of the poppy.

Units of weight measurement

The following units of weight measurement have been described:

Units of time measurement

The following units of time measurement have been described:

Regarding the passage of time in A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin has specified "Twelve moon [turns] to a year, as on earth. Even on our earth, years have nothing to do with the seasons, or with the cycles of the moon. A year is a measure of a solar cycle, of how long it takes the earth to make one complete revolution around the sun. The same is true for the world of Westeros.",[17] thereby confirming that a year in A Song of Ice and Fire is as long as a year in real-life.

Calendar system

The calendar system currently used in the Seven Kingdoms uses the start of the reign of King Aegon I Targaryen as the first year on their calendar, dating events using either AC (After the Conquest) or BC (Before the Conquest).[18] Individual months do not appear to have specific names. When referring to a specific day in a specific month, maesters use the format "the twenty-second day of the fifth moon of the year 130 AC [...]"[19][20] No name for week-days (e.g., "Sunday" or "Wednesday") have been mentioned, and Martin has confirmed that no such mention will ever occur.[21]

Although hours are used in A Song of Ice and Fire as a measurement of time, individual hours have never been referred to by names such as "eleven o'clock". Instead, functional definitions such as dawn, noon, and dusk are used (e.g., "the hours before the dawn"[22]).

Further, at least some individual hours have their own name. According to Martin, these names are used to "refer to times of day and night, but with rather less specificity than our own numerical system of hours and minutes."[23] Named hours include:

  • The hour of the bat, apparently some time during deep night to early morning[19]
  • The hour of the eel, coming just after the hour of the bat [24]
  • The hour of ghosts, coming just after the hour of the eel [24]
  • The hour of the owl, coming a few hours after the hour of the bat,[19] still before dawn[25][26]
  • The hour of the wolf,[27][28][29][30] "the blackest part of night"[31], coming after the hour of the owl[32]
  • The hour of the nightingale, coming after the hour of the wolf[32]

Notes

  1. Based on the defined base units as determined by the International System of Units.
  2. E.g.,"Bran looked down. There was a narrow ledge beneath the window, only a few inches wide." (A Game of Thrones, Bran II)
  3. E.g.,"Six and a half feet tall, he towered over lesser men, and when he donned his armor and the great antlered helmet of his House, he became a veritable giant." (A Game of Thrones, Eddard I)
  4. E.g., "It was a dark, primal place, three acres of old forest untouched for ten thousand years as the gloomy castle rose around it." (A Game of Thrones, Catelyn I)
  5. E.g., "[...] fifty hides of fertile land [...]" (A Dance with Dragons, Tyrion XII
  6. E.g., "And half a pint of ale." (A Dance with Dragons, Jon I
  7. E.g., "Much later, after all the sweets had been served and washed down with gallons of summerwine [...]" (A Clash of Kings, Bran III
  8. E.g., "Twenty-three barrels of pickled cod, eighteen jars of fish oil, a cask of salt..." (A Clash of Kings, Jon I)
  9. E.g., "The bed is solid stone. It weighs half a ton." (A Storm of Swords, Tyrion II)
  10. E.g., "Rast had two years and forty pounds on him." (A Game of Thrones, Jon IV)
  11. E.g., "Balon Greyjoy had always been thin, but now he looked as though the gods had put him in a cauldron and boiled every spare ounce of flesh from his bones [...]." (A Clash of Kings, Theon I)
  12. E.g., "The glance that passed between Jaime and Cersei lasted no more than a second, but he did not miss it." (A Game of Thrones, Tyrion I)
  13. E.g., "The fight lasted less than a minute [...]" (A Game of Thrones, Jon IV)
  14. E.g., "Everything was just as it had been a few hours ago." (A Game of Thrones, Prologue)
  15. E.g., "Nine days they had been riding" (A Game of Thrones, Prologue)
  16. E.g., "Have you drawn any watches this past week, Will?" (A Game of Thrones, Prologue)
  17. E.g., "If it snows, we could be a fortnight getting back, and snow's the best we can hope for." (A Game of Thrones, Prologue)
  18. E.g., "Gared had spent forty years in the Night's Watch, [...]" (A Game of Thrones, Prologue)

References

  1. Definition of "measurement" as retrieved from Wikipedia on January 26, 2018
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 4, Eddard I.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 21, Tyrion III.
  4. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 8, Bran II.
  5. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 23, Daenerys III.
  6. E.g.,"A few yards from her tent was a bed of soft grass." (A Game of Thrones, Daenerys III)
  7. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 2, Catelyn I.
  8. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 66, Tyrion XII.
  9. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 3, Jon I.
  10. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 2, Sansa I.
  11. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 6, Jon I.
  12. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 12, Tyrion II.
  13. 13.0 13.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 26, Jon IV.
  14. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 11, Theon I.
  15. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 9, Tyrion I.
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 A Game of Thrones, Prologue.
  17. So Spake Martin, Asshai.com Forum Chat (July 27, 2008)
  18. The World of Ice & Fire, The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest.
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 The Princess and the Queen.
  20. The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon II.
  21. So Spake Martin: Dromen & Demonen Chat (April 23, 2002)
  22. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 12, Eddard II.
  23. Not a Blog: Comedy at the Cocteau (Apr. 6th, 2014) – Comment on Apr. 9th, 2014
  24. 24.0 24.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 68, The Dragontamer.
  25. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 32, Cersei VII.
  26. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 26, The Wayward Bride.
  27. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 8, Jaime I.
  28. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 7, Jon II.
  29. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 46, A Ghost in Winterfell.
  30. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 58, Jon XII.
  31. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 67, The Kingbreaker.
  32. 32.0 32.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 54, Cersei I.