Locations/News

HBO scouting Sweden as a possible Game of Thrones location

Posted on by Sue the Fury
Visby, Sweden

Game of Thrones has visited Northern Ireland, Spain, Croatia, Iceland, Malta, and more countries during production in its long and well-traveled lifespan. And now HBO reportedly has turned its gaze toward another European country: Sweden.

According to SVT, the national Swedish television network, HBO has shown interest in filming future episodes of Game of Thrones on Gotland island in Sweden. Nothing is official yet, no contracts have been signed for shooting, but HBO has been in touch with Swedish production company The Line Gotland.

Olivia Munck, executive producer of The Line Gotland spoke with SVT about being approached by HBO. She says she “almost fainted” when she got the call. Afterward, she provided the network with materials on possible locations in the area.

Munck told SVT they’ve sent material about Gotland consisting of approximately 300 pictures taken of Visby (a major urban area), as well as photos taken of the more rural areas of the island including “old farms” and “landscape pictures.”

It’s easy to understand why Visby might be of interest to GoT. The city has well-preserved medieval structures and a long wall around the town center. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site, with “13th-century ramparts and more than 200 warehouses and wealthy merchants’ dwellings from the same period.” Even from a quick glance (photo up top of the post!), the resemblance to other GoT city shooting sites is there.

The Gotland locations are not officially part of Game of Thrones yet- HBO is clearly still in the scouting process.

What do you say, Swedes? Is Gotland a good match for Game of Thrones?

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Sue the Fury
Susan Miller, Editor in Chief of WatchersOnTheWall.com

138 Comments

  8. Luka Nieto:
    King’s Landing for a colder weather would be my guess

    Either that, or maybe Oldtown? Certainly a city in winter time – full on winter.

  12. I’m only surmising but I would think this would be for season 8? Now I have never been to Sweden but I do like my Scandinavian chillers (mystery series such as “Arne Dahl” – in the UK the Mysterioso adaptations were given the name of the writer [well his pen name] when they were broadcast). It does look like it has some spectacular scenery. This is probably wishful thinking on my part but I don’t suppose there’s any chance of any of the members of “A Team” being cast in GoT. The person playing the Mountain is doing a good enough job and he certainly looks the part; I always thought Magnus Samuelson (Swedish strong man turned actor and he does have the ‘acting chops’) might have made a good alternative Mountain. If they shot in a Swedish winter might they be covering the land of Always Winter (or will winter be everywhere if the White Walkers [Others in the books] cross the Wall as has been speculated?)

  13. My. f*cking. god. As a swede I told my friend a while back, they should come to sweden, Gotland would be a nice fit. And this happens, what! Gotland is my f*cking neighbor island. I wanted them to come to my home town and use our castle (Kalmar castle) but we debated the look doesn’t really go with the feel of GoT. But gotland- hell, I called it! 🙂

  17. Seriously though, that looks very GOT like… and I am thinking southern cities in the winter since, well, winter is coming! 🙂

    Miss you guys!!!!

  18. Apparently they’ve shown interest in old farms on the island like Kattlund and Stavgard (i live on the island and it would be so cool!!)

  19. Dee Stark,

    I know!! It’s very hard not to stay away from this site and to avoid the spoilers at the same time… But thank to this kind of posts, we can safely come back. 🙂

  22. Dee Stark,

    Hi Dee – good to see you able to post somewhere on the site again. 🙂

    Nice that Sweden might be a new location. Visby is beautiful.

  27. Jenny,

    You are so sweet <3 I miss you guys also!!!!!!!

    ghost of winterfell,

    you as well 🙂 🙂 miss our jon snow discussions!
    well, I agree with you.
    Do you know where KL are being filmed this season?!? or so far? if they have done any?

  29. Dee Stark,

    We don’t exactly know, but King’s Landing this season will probably be Cáceres, which is being filmed at the end of next month.

  31. Luka Nieto,

    Thanks 🙂
    That’s interesting because if I remember correctly, Caceres isn’t a coastal town/city. And in KL shots, you can usually see the coast. Especially if Dany heads there

  33. If they’re looking for islands in the Baltic Sea, maybe they should take a look at Rügen (Germany):

    https://www.natureflip.com/sites/default/files/photo//chalk-cliffs-on-rugen-the-chalk-cliffs-are-the-symbol-of-island-of-rugen.jpg

    http://www.reiseland-ruegen.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/fruehling-ruegen-640×335.jpg

    http://www.rügen-ferienhaus-online.de/data/imagegallery/13fba6e8-875c-68ba-854a-2f474b1a4b74/f39e6c1d-913c-f4a7-a92a-803868b71e19.jpg

    http://www.kap-arkona.de/tl_files/kap_arkona/content/bilder/01_kap-arkona/startseite/luftaufnahme-kap-arkona-raps.jpg

  35. Dee Stark,

    They might return for season eight, we don’t know. But for season seven, not that we know of. Still, we were surprised in season six; we thought they wouldn’t film in Dubrovnik at all, but they did, for a few days, to film Jaime’s arrival with Myrcella’s body. Anyway, considering winter has finally come, I’d bet they’ll look for colder European cities to depict King’s Landing.

  38. Luka Nieto,

    Ah I didn’t know that!
    Good to know!
    So who knows where they will film any scene in which a body of water is required!

    Thanks for the info!
    I agree, they do need a colder city… overcasty weather whilst still looking the same.

  42. Luka Nieto:
    King’s Landing for a colder weather would be my guess

    I agree.

    It was my immediate thought! We had a clue that Winter might arrive there with the HotU scene in season 2.

  43. The way it goes in my business(es), contracts and all kind of agreements/negotiations take too long for this to be for season 7.
    But I might be wrong, of course.

  48. Apollo,

    LOL! I cant even imagine! my head spins just seeing how many MASSIVE SPOILER titles there are

    Honestly, im a little jealous I cant participate, and I am having major withdrawals… but I am excited for the surprises that I have coming! Though, given that it is season 7, I am expecting some huge things to happen with ALL the main characters at this point in the story.

  49. Apocalyptic queen,

    The thing I don’t understand is how Cersei and co even have a chance against Dany? By my math, Dany has the unsullied, dothraki, some of the iron born, Dorne, Highgarden (the largest army in Westeros if I’m not mistaken), the North.

    Cersei has the KL soldiers which are essentially the Lannisters, Euron perhaps, and who else? I don’t see the knights of the vale siding with her, although that would be a LF type of thing to do. But as it stands, Cersei has no chance against Dany. So maybe they wrap up that battle quickly and then the last season focuses on the night’s king and co?

  50. Apollo:
    Dee Stark,

    I kind envy you Dee… we’ve had so much to digest these past couple of weeks that my heads spinning!

    It is a bit much (I can’t believe I am saying this) , I did not look at any filming posts from today.

  52. I agree, a colder version of KL. But I’m also wondering. In general, does anyone else think that D&D might keep shooting & do the entire remaining episodes and not stop with Season 7? Thirteen more episodes means only three more than they usually do. I’m just curious because they go to so much effort scouting locations and getting everyone and everything together, they may want to get as much as they can out of it.They might consider shooting all of season 7 and part of season 8 or even all of season 8 all at once.

  53. Dee Stark:
    Is this spoiler safe comments discussion? LOL

    I sincerely hope so because 1. I’ve missed you and 2. I need someone who isn’t going to bicker and argue and leak crap. I don’t mind SOME spoilers but holy crap….
    Hugs & Miss You!

  54. Roz’s Ghost,

    I was under the impression that the seasons were split 7 episodes due to time constraints on filming episodes and time required for each episode

    (as one of the reasons, besides the fact that they only have 13 hours of story left to tell)

  55. Apollo:
    Dee Stark,

    I kind envy you Dee… we’ve had so much to digest these past couple of weeks that my heads spinning! ?

    I’m so with you Apollo and I don’t mind some spoilers, but I have picked up way too much other stuff from insinuations, etc. I’m thinking of joining Dee in her Crusade if only I could hold up under the pressure to peek in….lol.

  57. Dee Stark:
    Elizabeth,

    AWW miss you also!!! ? *hug*

    What happened?? “Leak crap”?
    ANd what do people bicker about? this is all speculation no? LOL

    There’s been leaks on another site and people have been talking about them..some forgot to cover their discussion so I blundered into some stuff I didn’t want to know MIGHT happen. It’s one thing to look at pictures and guess and have fun but I don’t want to KNOW…lol…and no, I’m not a schizophrenic…lol.

  58. Elizabeth,

    Elizabeth,

    Oh man that’s terrible!!!
    You should skip the spoilers all together!!! Hahaha

    But if that’s so hard why don’t you just read the articles and look at pictures and avoid the comments!

    You know what this also worries me where articles are open to all and some will discuss things openly! It can happen in any article but mostly on certain threads

  59. Dee Stark:
    Elizabeth,

    Elizabeth,

    Oh man that’s terrible!!!
    You should skip the spoilers all together!!! Hahaha

    But if that’s so hard why don’t you just read the articles and look at pictures and avoid the comments!

    You know what this also worries me where articles are open to all and some will discuss things openly!It can happen in any article but mostly on certain threads

    I think I’ll try that. Plus over the next couple of months work is going to be really, really busy so maybe I’ll just hang back for awhile. Thanks for the tip! Anyway, I have to agree with you these pictures are beautiful and I honestly do miss you alot. Have a great rest of the day/night!

  61. I think I just died and woke up in Game of Thrones heaven. Gotland is absolutley beautiful and very mediviel! And it’s about an hour boatride from where I live! Oh I’m so gonna be there if they start shooting in Gotland

  63. I think this could be very nicely stand-in for a somewhat rebuilt King’s Landing in Season 8, after all the wars and such are over. It would look similar enough to the KL of old, but with a newer look!

  65. Hopefully this will put Elio & Linda in a greater position to rein in and assess production.

  68. Elizabeth: I think I’ll try that.Plus over the next couple of months work is going to be really, really busy so maybe I’ll just hang back for awhile.Thanks for the tip!Anyway, I have to agree with you these pictures are beautiful and I honestly do miss you alot.Have a great rest of the day/night!

    I just looked at the pics of the new posts and read the persons notes posting them. This is my second season of filming news since I joined and what a difference from last year. Sometimes I feel that this site is overrun by teenagers, no rules apply. I also think that some of the so called theories posted are heavily based on “that leak”. Ah well, if I stick to just reading the articles posted with new pics I think I can still salvage this season. Take care Elizabeth and Dee. Meet you on the next spoiler free post?

    As for the subject matter. This island would probably be easier to block off for filming, no?

  70. The Dragon Demands:
    Hopefully this will put Elio & Linda in a greater position to rein in and assess production.

    This has got to be one of the most unintentionally hilarious things I’ve read. Personally, I hope they appear as extras or something similar. Like George Bush back in Season 1.

  72. It is safe to say that there is snow at Gotland in January, February. Earlier of course it is also possible. So I would say they are searching for this season. Visby is a medieval jewel. I am sure the reason for this interest is some advice that showrunners got from Max von Sydow. Adjacent to Gotland is the little island Fårö where Bergman had his house and some of his films where filmed there.

  73. This alls look so much like the walls of kingslanding and where a battle a final battle can take place.

  74. Dee Stark,

    Yeah I’m beginning to wish I’d stayed Unsullied this season… totally my own fault though. It’ll still be an amazing season and you’ll love it.

    Newbietothegame,

    Elizabeth,

    I kinda feel as though I’ve just been told I was adopted.. Too. Much. To. Take. In ??

  85. Luka Nieto:
    The Dragon Demands,

    I do sometimes wonder in what parallel world you are living in, seriously…

    Haaa… Nice one 🙂

    I think until the WoW is finally published, the dynamic duo over on westeros.org are keeping a low profile. However, I’m sure after it is, the verbal vitriol and bile (certainly from Linda) against HBO’s GoT will be monumental! Should be a good laugh 😀

    Although I’m not a book reader, I hope GRRM gets it finished soon just to hear the abuse against B&W etal which is sure to happen after Elio and Linda and their loyal minions have read the book!

  87. Place just made u to be GOT location. Looks gorgeous. Could very well be King’s Landing or Highgarden.

  89. The Dragon Demands,

    After your constant harassment of Sean T Collins and others on Twitter, which aside from harassment was nothing short of delusional? No. On your current state, I don’t think anyone can tell when you’re joking. You might want to look into that behavior.

  90. Dee Stark:
    Is this spoiler safe comments discussion? LOL

    LOL, this is the first time I opened a post since the Awards, and I was as happy and wary (for spoilers) about this one as you 🙂

  91. Jaqn et quart:
    White Harbor

    Good call. In my opinion, any area as far north as Gotland will always *look* northern. Even in full-on Westerosi Winter, the walls of the southern cities like King’s Landing and Oldtown will never look as weather-beaten (with moss and lichen and all) as those of a northern seaside town. So, unless the GoT production team goes about sand-blasting the walls of Visby, a location like White Harbor would be much more fitting. That, or lots and lots of VFX. Which is also a possibility of course 😉

  92. Mr Fixit: I hope they appear as extras or something similar. Like George Bush back in Season 1.

    Damned be you, Ser! I’m suffering from a cold at the moment, and you just caused a major laughter-induced couching fit.

  93. Ah, Gotland is lovely and Visby is very picturesque and medieval. Some ruins, churches and merchant’s halls but also lovely little winding alleys with neat little cottages with their gardens. I’ve been there in summer and there are roses just everywhere! It’s more “cute” than “grand”.

    The countryside is mostly gently rolling hills, fields, some forests, littered with countless medieval stone churches. To my northern eyes it’s quite a gentle landscape but I think they get snow at least in January and February.

    Newbietothegame,

    I don’t think the island can be “blocked off”, it’s a fair size, about 180 km (bit more than 100 miles) long and 55 km (35 miles) wide. It took us about a week to cycle around it. However, the people would perhaps be more likely than Spaniards to respect restrictions around specific filming locations.

    Tar Kidho,

    The Visby town walls are made of limestone, so very light coloured, and in many places covered in creepers and roses, not moss, so they don’t look very “northern” (=granite, grim, mossy) to me. They’re lovely, though, and in many places not immediately surrounded by other buildings, which would be good for filming.

  94. Dee Stark,

    I see others have answered you question.
    And yeah, there will be a loottt of Jon Snow discussions once the next season airs, you can be assured of it. We can continue it then 🙂 .

    As for the spoilers, there has been a literal deluge of them, ever since the Spain filming started. Throw in some “leaks”, we may be left with very few surprises once the season airs. You guys might just be the smart ones to have stayed out of it all, lol.

  95. Pity it’s probably for a cold climate. The first thing I though of was:

    what a perfect spot for a house with a red door and lemon trees growing in the garden!

  96. Glad I’m going to be in Iceland for the season 7 filming… before they betray us with Sweden in season 8!

  97. Like Spain in Season 5 and 6, Sweden will be a set only for a few scenes in Season 7 (that castle for Water Gardens) and will be back as a set for many more scenes in Season 8.

  99. talvikorppi: The Visby town walls are made of limestone, so very light coloured, and in many places covered in creepers and roses, not moss, so they don’t look very “northern” (=granite, grim, mossy) to me. They’re lovely, though, and in many places not immediately surrounded by other buildings, which would be good for filming.

    I can follow your point about the limestone up to a certain degree – the Visby city walls indeed don’t look quite as dreary as your typical Scottish granite castle – but they still don’t look like a sun-bleached Mediterranean structure either…

  100. Dee Stark:
    Tar Kidho,

    Ha!! welcome back

    ghost of winterfell,

    Ahhh I cant wait!!!!!!

    Awww well, I hope you can still enjoy season 7
    Whats the difference between a filming spoiler and a leak?

    Filming spoilers has pictures of the cast, the location, there were some short videos as well. BUT you still don’t know all of the story line, how it all relates.
    The “leak” supposedly gave details of what will happen in the whole season.

  102. Dee Stark:
    Newbietothegame,

    How does anyone get their hands on a leak??

    I don’t know. I want to believe it is not real.
    Someone posted it on Reddit and claimed he/she knows it all. I have not seen it because I just come here. But a lot of folks who post here read the thing.

  103. Dee Stark,

    To add to what Newbietothegame said, the filming spoilers only give us details of the scene being filmed, that is the location and the characters involved. We don’t know what exactly is the story involved in that scene or the context or what that scene leads to, that part is supposed to be speculated. But the leaks have given away all of this.

    Dee Stark:
    Newbietothegame,

    How does anyone get their hands on a leak??

    That is the million dollar question lol. He is definitely right about some things, but we cannot yet be sure that he is right about everything.
    If I had to guess, I would say his source is somebody from the crew involved in the outdoor filmings, because his descriptions of the outdoor scenes have been very detailed. The other scenes, no idea how much is true and how much is made up.

  104. Newbietothegame: I don’t know. I want to believe it is not real.
    Someone posted it on Reddit and claimed he/she knows it all. I have not seen it because I just come here. But a lot of folks who post here read the thing.

    It is sad to think that fans would want to know what is happening in the whole season. Wouldn’t you want to have some surprises? ?

  105. Newbietothegame,

    Dee Stark,

    I’m one of them. I only read it because I was totally convinced they’d be bullshit., now I’m not so sure given the date it came out. ??

    Seriously Dee, watch where you tread on here because people are dropping alleged leaks into their comments without even thinking.

  106. Dee Stark:
    Tar Kidho,

    Ha!! welcome back

    You too, and let’s enjoy being back while we can!

    Personally, I cringe a little every time I see *Spoilers* in the headline, and almost find it a spoiler in itself to know that there was maybe a leak… I know, I’m extreme 🙂

  107. Apollo: watch where you tread on here because people are dropping alleged leaks into their comments without even thinking

    Good to know, I’ll be going back in exile then… It was nice being back while it lasted – see y’all in Summer 2017!

  108. Apollo:
    Newbietothegame,

    Dee Stark,

    I’m one of them. I only read it because I was totally convinced they’d be bullshit., now I’m not so sure given the date it came out.

    Seriously Dee, watch where you tread on here because people are dropping alleged leaks into their comments without even thinking.

    Oh no, you must feel bummed about that.
    I found it funny and annoying that folks came over here after reading it asking for confirmation or denial.
    Pleading “please someone tell this is not true”.

  109. Newbietothegame,

    The internet is dark and full of spoilers. I run into some of them on YouTube (mostly pics, I haven’t checked the videos) and I wasn’t even looking for them…

    I wonder if these massive leaks will hinder Spain as a filming location for season 8. It will be a bummer, but totally understandable.

  110. Newbietothegame: Oh no, you must feel bummed about that.
    I found it funny and annoying that folks came over here after reading it asking for confirmation or denial.
    Pleading “please someone tell this is not true”.

    Yeah totally my own fault, hard lesson learned ?

  111. A Dornish Tyrell,

    Let’s face it, as much as we enjoy those pics and stuff, D&D must be upset about it all. I would not be surprised if they would choose a different filming location for next season in an attempt to “curb the enthusiasm “.

  113. Apollo,

    Oh man. That sucks. That is my fear about partaking in the comments of even NON-spoiler articles. People are going to discuss things and mention leaks and things they know. I mean even later on when we have a trailer and people are discussing it. Who knows who says what?

    I guess you are right, I should probably stay away COMPLETELY. Kind of hard to… but I will try. Thanks for the tip, Apollo.

    Tar Kidho,

    Good idea. I mean you can come back and look at spoiler free articles posted just not participate in comments type thing. Ill probably do that

  114. Newbietothegame,

    Totally… theyre probably SO pissed off. I heard that even Nathalie (missandei) commented her frustrations..

    A Dornish Tyrell,

    OMG I was on youtube the other day watching the “filmbuff” reaction videos (which are awesome) and “recommended videos for you” one of them was GOT season 7 spoilers and managed to avoid the picture attached to the video and im like comeeeeeee on!!!!!!

  115. Newbietothegame,

    Even though I don’t mind spoilers because they only make my enjoyment of the show greater,this time it was totally on accident.I read them because I thought no way these are true this far in advance.People always bullshit on reddit and the real leaks only come after filming and close to the start of the season.I read them,thought they were crazy and dismissed them out of hand but then the pictures started coming out confirming everything and now I can’t unread it anymore lol.

  117. Dee Stark: OMG I was on youtube the other day watching the “filmbuff” reaction videos (which are awesome) and “recommended videos for you” one of them was GOT season 7 spoilers and managed to avoid the picture attached to the video and im like comeeeeeee on!!!!!!

    I know what you mean! I try hard not to run into those pics… As I commented before, I’ve already spoiled myself with some of the pics and the news here but decided to avoid the recent ones… It’s very hard because they are everywhere and I refuse to not visit this site until summer 2017. So, I’ve decided to try to avoid them as much as I can but not hide under a rock until next season. 😛

    By the way, I love that FILMBuFF guy. 🙂

  119. Newbietothegame:
    I found it funny and annoying that folks came over here after reading it asking for confirmation or denial.
    Pleading “please someone tell this is not true”.

    I might be wrong, but I am assuming that you are talking about me, based on your words and the fact that you made a similar comment the first time round a couple of weeks back.
    If so, that’s not what happened though. I wasn’t asking the mods to confirm or deny the leaks.
    What had happened was that someone had made a post on Reddit saying that they knew that these spoilers were fake. I had only provided a link to that post, (while adding the words “please let this be true” ) to discuss with those commenters who were following this stuff. (The forum pages were not working till yesterday because of which people were discussing this in the main site, they could not take it to the forums). Sue deleted that link because she did not want any links to Reddit stuff on this site.
    Anyways, I wasn’t pleading with anyone to confirm or deny the leaks. I was only trying to keep others updated.

  120. Newbietothegame,

    I’m sure they are… that’s why my first thought when I heard they were scouting for locations in Sweden was that they were fed up with the “Spanish leaks and spoilers”… But then I realised that they are probably scouting for more “wintry” locations.

  121. Dee Stark,

    Yes but that was much closer to the season.Actually when the season had already started.Never this far in advance when things haven’t even been filmed yet.HBO sucks at security.

  122. Dee Stark:
    Jenny,

    I mean, wasn’t there a similar leak last year??Someone on reddit posting things…

    I don’t think that there’s been anything like this. We’ve had those “slips” of episodes getting out early like last year when so many watched the premiere early and we had to hide out in a separate thread all day Sunday. Then of course things tended to leak when they used to give out the first four episodes to media/critic people. Those were all generally close to airing and directly from seeing the episodes or told what’s in the episodes so it’s a bit easier to avoid spoiling oneself. These ‘leaks’ everyone is talking about now are major plot points that would cover the entire season, almost like someone got their hands on the full script. The guy said he made it all up later but a bunch of what he wrote appears to be spot on so far by simple pictures being gathered.

  123. A Dornish Tyrell:
    Newbietothegame,

    I’m sure they are… that’s why my first thought when I heard they were scouting for locations in Sweden was that they were fed up with the “Spanish leaks and spoilers”… But then I realised that they are probably scouting for more “wintry” locations.

    From the pics it looks like a beautiful place.
    I don’t know too much about Iceland, but I assume structures like in GoTland may not be found there?
    So it would make sense for KL in Winter.

  124. Jenny,

    I agree.
    yeah well its hard to control what an extra or crew member actually tells people on their own time… these people just don’t respect their jobs and their bosses..

  126. Clob,

    yeah, that makes sense. this year is special!!!
    that’s crazy… honestly..i hope NO MORE STUFF gets leaked out!!! come on people!!!

  128. A Dornish Tyrell:
    Newbietothegame,

    I’m sure they are… that’s why my first thought when I heard they were scouting for locations in Sweden was that they were fed up with the “Spanish leaks and spoilers”… But then I realised that they are probably scouting for more “wintry” locations.

    That crossed my mind. I’m a Finn but our culture and mindsets are quite similar to the Swedes. If something is cordoned off for filming, the Swedes won’t swarm the hills . Good old-fashioned Nordic law-abiding citizens. If a security guy (not even a polis) tells you to stay away, you will stay away. It’s our way of life. The locals and tourists in other GoT locations have other conceptions of their ways of life.

    I’d love Visby to be White Harbour (it’s almost a perfect fit, especially if winter filming with real snow) but I have trouble placing White Harbour in the storyline. But what do I know, end of S7, becomes important in S8?

    I’d love Visby to become a GoT location. The expence might be too much for HBO. Every casual worker, even the “beach sweeper” would have to be paid Swedish minimum wage and pension contributions, and be allowed a say in his/her work. So you can see why HBO go for places like Croatia or Spain where these stringent labour laws might be waived.

  129. I hope they will film something there, I’ve been intending to visit Visby and then I’d have more reason to go there.

  130. talvikorppi,

    I agree. The few Nordic folks I have met have been very polite. I would not forsee pictures like we get this season if filming would take place there.
    White Harbor is a good guess. I have not looked at the Westeros map lately but that would be located at or close to The Neck. That would be a good place to try and hold/push back the WW army.

  131. Newbietothegame,

    It’s not even about “politeness”. The Nordics aren’t especially “polite” in the more central European or British sense of small talk. We’re blunt but friendly to outsiders and respect the guest right. Friendship doesn’t come easy but once it does, it’s deep and true. We say what we mean and keep our word… Wait, what? That’s how GRRM described the North, lol!

    OK, these are a lot of stereotypes, but they describe a deep cultural consciousness running through even the most metropolitan hipsters in our Nordic countries.

    People say GRRM’s North is supposed to be medieval Scotland but I see more medieval (post-Viking age) Nordics. It doesn’t matter, Scotland and the Nordic countries share a lot even today, including the right to roam (and angle fish and pick mushrooms and berries) and a sense of the common weal. So, in that sense the Westerosi North is analoguos to Scotland/Nordics, different to the “chivalric” south (England and Central Europe).

  132. Well I fervently disagreed with Collins and posted too much on twitter about it, then later said I was sorry for the deluge of posts and that I still “respect” him as a person while disagreeing with his position. If he construed that as “harassment” I’m sorry I didn’t intend that and either way I’m not going to do that again. I don’t have much twitter experience and tend to try to make long conversations.

  133. The Dragon Demands,

    If someone (be it Collins, Sue, or anyone else) doesn’t respond to your endless tweets in any way, yes, it’s considered harassment, just as it would be in real life. If you approached someone in the street and spammed them with your thoughts and they didn’t react to them at all and tried their best to ignore you but you kept going anyway… That’s harassment. There are social boundaries, even on the Internet. Simple as that. Collins seemed to take it in good fun and just laughed at your insistence. Others may not be so chill about it.

  137. Luka Nieto:
    The Dragon Demands,

    If someone (be it Collins, Sue, or anyone else) doesn’t respond to your endless tweets in any way, yes, it’s considered harassment, just as it would be in real life. If you approached someone in the street and spammed them with your thoughts and they didn’t react to them at all and tried their best to ignore you but you kept going anyway… That’s harassment. There are social boundaries, even on the Internet. Simple as that. Collins seemed to take it in good fun and just laughed at your insistence. Others may not be so chill about it.

    Yes, this was my fault; I’m just plain clumsy with Twitter-etiquette because I don’t really use it regularly. Will not repeat, sorry.

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