Game of Thrones fan tabulates distances between places in Westeros

Have you ever been watching Game of Thrones and stopped to wonder just how far Winterfell is to King’s Landing? Did Littlefinger’s seemingly magical ability to teleport from Winterfell to King’s Landing in the space of an episode baffle you? Well, be baffled no more, as an enterprising Redditor going by the name Imperial_Affectation has calculated the distances between some of Westeros’ most notable landmarks.

"Armed with the Pythagorean theorem, an acute bout [of] insomnia, a map in a language I can’t speak, and a staggering indifference to the fact that Martin (intentionally or otherwise) hasn’t produced a to-scale map of Westeros, I sat down and figured out how far apart stuff is."

It’s not often one comes across a fantasy fan who also intimately knows the ins and outs of the Pythagorean theorem. Here’s the map of Westeros that Imperial_Affectation used for reference, although others were cross-referenced.

Click to enlarge

According to Imperial_Affection, the distances on most Westerosi maps are often disputed, so they decided to compile a list of how long it takes to travel from place to place. They started with the map above, which just so happens to be in French. The reasoning behind the use of the French map was because the Wall on this map worked out to be around 149 pixels long. By Imperial Affection’s estimations, the Wall is a hundred leagues (three hundred miles) long, so by doubling the number of pixels between locations, it became a relatively simple task to estimate distances.

Here’re some of the results:

Casterly Rock

THE WESTERLANDS – Ruled by House Lannister

• Casterly Rock to the Golden Tooth: 240 miles
• Casterly Rock to Lannisport: <40 miles
• Casterly Rock to Kayce: 12 miles by sea and 100 miles by land
• Casterly Rock to Deep Den (Goldroad): 240 miles (Deep Den is due north of Silver Hill)
• Deep Den to King’s Landing (Goldroad): 590 miles
• Kayce to Faircastle (by raven): 480 miles
• Faircastle to the Crag (by water): 115 miles
• The Crag to Ashemark: 85 miles
• Ashemark to Casterly Rock: 170 miles
• Ashemark to the Golden Tooth: 100 miles
• Lannisport to Crakehall: 260 miles
• Crakehall to Old Oak: 130 miles

Highgarden

THE REACH – Ruled by House Tyrell 

• Old Oak to Highgarden: 275 miles
• Highgarden to Oldtown: 330 miles
• Oldtown to Blackcrown: 110 miles
• Oldtown to Three Towers: 120 miles
• Blackcrown to Three Towers (by water): 60 miles
• Three Towers to the Arbor (by water): 140 miles
• Blackcrown to the Arbor (by water): 180 miles
• Mouth of the Mander River to the Shield Islands: 70 miles
• Highgarden to Golden Grove (either): 150 miles
• Golden Grove to Silverhill (either): 220 miles
• Highgarden to King’s Landing (Roseroad): 760 miles
• Highgarden to the Crownlands (Roseroad): 600 miles
• Highgarden to Cider Hall (by river): 140 miles
• Cider Hall to Longtable (by river): 100 miles
• Cider Hall to Ashford (by river): 110 miles
• Longtable to Bitterbridge (by river): 70 miles
• Longtable to Grassy Vale (by river): 200 miles

The Eyrie

THE VALE

(Note: there’s a lot of geography in the way here. These figures are especially rough.)

• Border to the Bloody Gate: 170 miles
• The Bloody Gate to the Eyrie: 70 miles
• Saltpans to Wickenden (by water): 180 miles
• Wickenden to Gulltown (by water): 310 miles
• Gulltown to Runestone: 40 miles
• Runestone to Iron Oaks (by water): 135 miles
• Runestone to Old Anchor (by water): 95 miles
• Old Anchor to Longbow Hall (by raven): 115 miles
• Old Anchor to Longbow Hall (by water): 240 miles
• Longbow Hall to Snakewoods (by water): 350 miles
• Longbow Hall to Baelish Keep: 90 miles
• Snakewoods to Heart’s Home (by water): 125 miles
• Heart’s Home to Strong Song (by water): 180 miles
• Snakewoods to Coldwater (by raven): 70 miles
• Snakewoods to Coldwater (by water): 450 miles
• The Sisters (equidistant) to Pebble Island (by water): 190 miles
• Pebble Island to The Paps (by water): 120 miles
• The Paps to Coldwater (by water): 160 miles
• The Sisters (equidistant) to White Harbor (by water): 275 miles

Winterfell

THE NORTH

• Harroway to Moat Cailin (Kingsroad): 700 miles
• Moat Cailin to Cerwyn (Kingsroad): 260 miles
• Cerwyn to Winterfell (Kingsroad): 100 miles
• Greywater Watch to Kingsroad: ~75 miles
• Flint’s Finger to Kingsroad: 500 miles
• Moat Cailin to Whiteharbor: 160 miles
• Whiteharbor to Winterfell: 340 miles
• Whiteharbor to Ramsgate: 260 miles
• Ramsgate to Hornwood: 220 miles
• Ramsgate to Widow’s Watch: 230 miles
• Widow’s Watch to Karhold (by water): 480 miles
• Karhold to Last Hearth: 260 miles
• Karhold to Dreadfort: 260 miles
• Dreadfort to Last Hearth: 210 miles
• Dreadfort to Winterfell: 350 miles
• Winterfell to Torrhen’s Square: 230 miles
• Winterfell to Deepwood Motte: 350 miles
• Deepwood Motte to Torrhen’s Square: 320 miles
• Deepwood Motte to Bear Island (by water): 140 miles
• Winterfell to Castle Black (by raven): 600 miles
• Winterfell to Castle Black (Kingsroad): 650 miles
• Winterfell to Hornwood: 280 miles
• Barrowton to Kingsroad: 260 miles
• Barrowton to Torrhen’s Square: 125 miles by land, 60 miles by water
• Barrowton to the Saltspear (by water): 115 miles
• Barrowton to Flint’s Finger (by water): 280 miles

Imperial_Affection has tabulated many more distances, and you can see them on this nice and tidy PDF. For example, by their calculations,Vaes Dothrak is about as far from Volantis as Moscow is from Barcelona. There are measurements for Dorne, as well as Essos, so I suggest giving it a good perusing. It’s pretty neat, and makes Littlefinger’s appearance in King’s Landing right after chilling with the Boltons in Winterfell even more of a head-scratcher.

Next: David Peterson (the guy who built the Dothraki language) on his early conlanging struggles