English Game of Thrones Fans Petition to Change Name of County from Cumbria to Winterfell

Sizergh Castle in Cumbria

Game of Thrones fans are a special lot. Whether it’s dressing in full cosplay for events or petitioning their local governments to change the name of a historical piece of land, there’re a passionate bunch. Case in point: one fan has set up a petition to change the name of Cumbria, a non-metropolitan county in Northeast England, to Winterfell. Here are their reasons:

Winterfell from the World of Ice and Fire

"I believe that Winterfell should be the official name of the county of Cumbria. And here are some of my reasons why;North of the Wall is ScotlandThe Wall is Hadrian’s wallWinterfell is always cold, windy, rainy and snowy as is CumbriaWinterfell is the north and on the border with north of the wall, as is Cumbria with ScotlandThe Fells in Cumbria – winterFELLI think I make my case quite clearly. And George R. R. Martin DID base his map of Westeros on the map of the UK, and the books on our history. Sort of."

That’s some sound reasoning. The petition was opened on January 12 of this year, and has garnered some 30 signatures. It’s aiming for 100,000, so it’s a just a little shy of the mark at the moment.

A brief bit of history of Cumbria:

At the end of the Roman Britain period, the inhabitants of Cumberland were a mixture of Romans and Britons called Romano-Britons. Soon after, the official language of the area was changed to Old Welsh. In 1974, the county of Cumbria was created from Cumberland, Lancashire, Westmorland, and West Riding of Yorkshire. It is an old and historically proud area, and I somehow doubt the people of Cumbria would take kindly to having the name changed…but you never know.

You can sign the petition, if you so choose, by visiting this link: Rename Cumbria to Winterfell.