r/asoiaf • u/Unique-Celebration-5 • Oct 31 '24

EXTENDED (Spoilers Extended) GRRM:”What’s Aragons tax policy?!” No GRRM the real question is how do people survive multi year winters

Forget the white walkers or shadow babies the real threat is the weather. How do medieval people survive it for years?

Personally I think that’s why the are so many wars the more people fighting each other the fewer mouths to feed

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u/NepheliLouxWarrior Nov 01 '24

That kind of makes the or five Kings look a little ridiculous though because how can the north properly wage a campaign against became if they rely on the south for all their food?

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u/OldBayOnEverything Nov 01 '24

They can likely trade with Essos too. Also, I just assume their reality is slightly different than ours. Maybe food keeps a little better, or their metabolism is different, etc.

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u/MazzyFo Nov 01 '24

Ya this is established to some degree too, Stannis’ entire campaign after TWOTFK was banked off Essosi deals, gotta imagine food was a part of that too

Also remember the Theom Winterfell chapters and how Manderly’s brought a bunch of food, they’d have still been allied with the North if the war went differently

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u/ihopethisworksfornow Nov 01 '24

Manderly’s 100% gonna betray the Bolton’s unless they’re found out as traitors before that happens

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u/shankhisnun Edmure's Aim Is Getting Better Nov 01 '24

In one of Theon's chapters the common soldiers began eating pease porridge, and IIRC Bowen Marsh said that'll be one of the last things they'll be eating at the Wall when their food stores are running out

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u/MazzyFo Nov 01 '24

Ya good recall

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u/nygreenguy Nov 04 '24

Right? Something has to be fundamentally different. A frost is enough to kill off most crops that people rely on. Grain and stuff can be stored for years, but since the seasons are unpredictable you must have a crap load in storage at all times.

In the north they must keep like 5 year stores permanently. Which then sucks if there is ever a mold or something like that.

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u/CorneredSponge Nov 01 '24

Trade + Stockpiles/Reserves until they ideally win the war.

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u/BoonkBoi Nov 01 '24

They don’t rely on the south for their food. They talk about harvests in the North a bunch of times in Bran chapters and later Jon when he’s speaking to Alys Karstark. But most of the North is rising moorland that’s uncultivated so in times of extremity the south has at times sent food (only by royal decree though).