That Dothraki Horde, Part I: Barbarian Couture
Conan was always railing against the softening effects of effete civilization in a way that I always envied, but found impractical: if I were to backhand an annoying, scheming cleric, for instance, I would not be able to shrug off the consequences as Conan could.<p>There seems to me a bit of <i>motte and bailey</i> going on with this essay.<p>The <i>motte</i>, unobjectionable part is that such representations are historically inaccurate, people may develop an inaccurate understanding of history and since &quot;it is a collection of unmitigated pedantry, after all&quot; let&#x27;s dig deep and nit-pick all the details. Great!<p>The <i>bailey</i>, less demonstrated part is that the Dothraki is a problematic, demeaning, poorly researched, badly written stereotype that deserves nothing but scorn. <i>&quot;We’re not here to ‘cancel’ ASOIF...&quot;</i> but let&#x27;s write a 3 part series wherein it <i>&quot;is going to become increasingly apparent that at least effective research was not done&quot;</i> where he will <i>&quot;... treat Martin’s words much more charitably than they probably deserve&quot;</i><p>The essay author makes a big deal out of this off-hand comment on GRRM&#x27;s blog: <i>&quot;The Dothraki were actually fashioned as an amalgam of a number of steppe and plains cultures... Mongols and Huns, certainly, but also Alans, Sioux, Cheyenne, and various other Amerindian tribes... seasoned with a dash of pure fantasy.&quot;</i><p>But the actual quote on his blog goes on, which contradicts the central thesis of the article:<p><i>&quot;... So any resemblance to Arabs or Turks is coincidental. Well, except to the extent that the Turks were also originally horsemen of the steppes, not unlike the Alans, Huns, and the rest.</i><p><i>In general, though, while I do draw inspiration from history, I try to avoid direct one-for-one transplants, whether of individuals or of entire cultures. Just as it not correct to say that Robert was Henry VIII or Edward IV, it would not be correct to say that the Dothraki are Mongols.&quot;</i>[1]<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;grrm.livejournal.com&#x2F;263800.html?thread=15364984#t15364984" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;grrm.livejournal.com&#x2F;263800.html?thread=15364984#t15...</a><p>Edit: switched <i>motte</i> and <i>bailey</i>