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game of thrones - What is the shape of the world of Westeros and do the Westerosi know?


For quite some time now I have been asking myself how the world of Game of Thrones is shaped and if the people living in that world know the shape.


In questions here on SciFi.Stackexchange concerning the unnatural seasons or the definition of a year in Westeros, it is often argued that the Westerosi can measure the duration of a revolution of their planet around the sun. But that only works if they know that they actually live on a planet.


In this answer it was said that people have been travelling in ships around the world. However, I cannot remember any passage in the books supporting this. Actually I only remember evidence for the opposite:



  1. During the Kingsmoot on the Iron Islands, there is a man called Gylbert Farwynd who promises the Ironborn treasures from lands far to the west, if they elect him as king. However, the POV character of that chapter (I think it was Victarion Greyjoy) does not believe him and sees the madness in Gylbert's eyes - as if speaking of travelling west is crazy.

  2. Later when he leads the attack against the Shield Islands, the Iron Fleet travels out of sight of the coast line. This manoeuvre is considered very dangerous and risky. If this is already dangerous, traveling even further west appears close to suicide.


In addition, there was a Brandon Stark who sailed to the far west and never returned.


A prior thread on this site establishes that the world is not a hollow world, but is not conclusive as to whether it is a planet.



Is there any evidence in the books that the World of Ice and Fire is a planet? Was it established that the Westerosi know the nature of their world?



Answer



George RR Martin confirmed in a recent interview that the world of Westeros is round, etc albeit slightly larger than our own.



"Interviewer : Is your world round? I mean if Dany traveled far enough east couldnt she come to the other side of westeros?


GRRM : Yes, the world is round. Might be a little larger than ours, though. I was thinking more like Vance's Big Planet.... but don't hold me to that."



For the record, the planet in Vance's "Big Planet" stories is described as being approximately 25,000 miles in diameter in comparison with Earth's 8000(ish) miles.


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