Ask Me Anything About ASOIAF

[aresprophet]

Originally Posted by Slave [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I think even "A Song of" sounds stupid, and agree with you on the rest, as well. It may have something to do with him avoiding comparisons to Fire And Ice, Frank Frazetta's animated epic.

Martin, as with every other fantasy author of the last 50 years, owes a great debt to Tolkien. But unlike most of his contemporaries, GRRM actually gets what Tolkien was about. His series doesn't merely rip off elves and orcs, it shows a much more nuanced appreciation for the source. Tolkien borrowed heavily from Norse mythology, much of which pas passed down orally and was only written in medieval times after Christianity had had a go at it.

What Martin does is emphasize the difference between oral and written forms of language. Oral tradition plays an important role in the backstory of ASOIAF: the legend of Azor Ahai, the Horn of Winter, the Children of the Forest, even the Rains of Castamere. But you also have the primary form of communication being written, via ravens, under the control of the Maesters of Oldtown. The Maesters have their own agenda, as evinced in chapters in AFFC featuring Pate, Sam, and Marwyn. Oral histories may not be considered more reliable than rumor, but they predict the rise of the Others, the arrival of Dany (obliquely), and other things in less obvious ways (Jon's parentage is the most glaring omission).

So in a way Martin is giving a nod to oral traditions (like that of the medieval Norse peoples) while discounting early written histories. It's not a one-to-one comparison but there's enough there to make the series overarching title "A Song Of" seem like it means something. Songs were, for a very very long time, the primary means of passing down vital historical information between generations. The advent of writing in cultures accustomed to oral histories was not necessarily any more reliable, reliant as it was upon the biases of the scribes who had the training and skill to write things down.

When you think about how much of the series hinges upon unreliable narration and incomplete knowledge, it's entirely apropos.