Also his knowledge of sailors is impeccable. The sail down river that Tyrion took, where GRRM goes into incredible detail about each town and it's connection with the water which would have been the artery of trade, commerce and travel even with the roads. His descriptions of the ports and voyages though are absolutely spot on. I like this as it is a constant reminder for me that the world is a 'real' place with people going about their lives as the story unfolds. So called for their top hatches which open to large cargo spaces below. As far as I am aware this is just a contraction of Cargo (now usually called Bulk Carriers). The Merchant Vessels for instance are all referred to generally as Cogs. Also it must be remembered that this is only a reflection of our world and the ships are as modified as the armour, creatures and inhabitants. It seems to me that the architecture of the ships in Westeros is so broad in terms of tradition that it would be nearly impossible for GRRM to cite his references. Nymeria's 10,000, the ships that are supposed to save the Wildlings, the Battle of Blackwater etc. There are so many ship references within the books and many of them quite important. This really is part of the books that gets overlooked by a lot of people, bit hard for me reading them at sea :bawl: I don't know these are all mental images I've had, and I admit there's not much proof to back them up. The rowers seem to have been exposed to the elements, though. The Night's Watch's ships seem to be similar, though they definitely have a belowdeck section. Lyseni and Bravvosi galleys I picture as a small bireme or even a simple open deck with a single cabin. As it is, though, King Robert's Hammer was a damn big ship. If it didn't have a trireme design, it would be unrealistically long. If I recall correctly, King Robert's Hammer had three hundred oarsmen and a few catapult on board. Maybe a sort of trireme-esque ship, or a bireme with two levels of oars and a single square sail?ĭromonds I picture as triremes. Ironborn ships i've pictured similar to something like a Viking Longship, but I know there's contradictory evidence to that, such as Victarion Greyjoy having a cabin in which he keeps the dusky woman, or the fact that Euron's Silence was able to travel so far. Instead, they have contingents of bowmen. I always pictured Swan Ships as being very advanced, similar to a smaller version of a British Ship of the Line, though the Swan Ships would lack cannon, of course. I think the Swan Ships would have pretty expansive sails, but I can't say there's much description in the books. Are all Westerosi boats square rigged, or do they have more advanced riggings? Dromonds in particular are mystery for me.afaict, the term refers to roman or byzantine ships in real life, but the IaF Dromonds sound like something much more advanced.Īnyway, I'm sure that this is not a new suggestion, but I wanted to voice some enthusiasm for whatever is in store on the topic. I'm slightly perplexed by the tech level there are some ships with at least three masts, which sounds more baroque-era than medieval (I reiterate that I'm nautically challenged, so I may be way off base). Low-draft Greenblood houseboats, clinker-built Ironborn longships (with rams!), Summer Island swan-ships, Ibbenese whalers, cogs, carracks, and whalers, it would be neat to see what all of these vessels look like to those of us who are nautically challenged. I realise this is pretty late to be making suggestions, and it's probably been considered, but it would be nice to see some illustrations and discussion comparing the many different types of ships that GRRM has sprinkled throughout the series.

Summer islands asiof