Palacký University in Olomouc Philosophical

Planetos

The first events in A Game of Thrones are happening in 297 AC (after Aegon’s Conquest).⁶⁶ The days and years in Westeros are counted with respect to Aegon the Conqueror’s landing in the Seven Kingdoms. “The maesters of the Citadel who keep the histories of Westeros have used Aegon’s Conquest as their touchstone for the past three hundred years. Births, deaths, battles, and other events are dated either AC (After the Conquest) or BC (Before the Conquest).” ⁶⁷

It is not known when exactly the world began, but it had to be thousands years ago, in the age when men were not lettered. The age before the arrival of the First Men is called the Dawn Age. Those were the times when the lands of Westeros were inhabited by the Children of Forest and giants. ⁶⁸
Somewhere from 12 000 – 8000 years ago the First Men crossed the Arm of Dorne and came from Essos to Westeros. They were fighting the Children of Forest for the lands for many years and then they eventually formed a Pact. This meant the end of the Dawn Age.⁶⁹
The next age in the history of Westeros is called the Age of Heroes, starting after the Pact of the First Men and the Children. It was the Age that lasted for thousands of years and is full of heroic stories and acts of the First Men. After some thousands of years of peace the Long Night came and it was the worst winter in the history of mankind. According to the records it lasted a generation – “a generation in which children were born, grew into adulthood, and in many cases died without ever seeing the spring”. ⁷⁰ Legends also say that from the Lands of Always Winter there came Others, creatures bringing the cold and darkness with them and southing





⁶⁵ John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, The Letters, No. 211, 287.
⁶⁶ “Most Precise ASOIAF Timeline in Existence.“
⁶⁷ Martin, García and Antonsson, The World of Ice and Fire, 31. ⁶⁸ Martin, García and Antonsson, The World of Ice and Fire, 5. ⁶⁹ Martin, García and Antonsson, The World of Ice and Fire, 8. ⁷⁰ Martin, García and Antonsson, The World of Ice and Fire, 11.
to extinguish all the light and warmth. The Long Night is said to be ended by the “lash hero” with help of the Children of Forest – he and many other men formed the Night’s Watch and won the Battle for the Dawn.
After the Long Night the Andals came to Westeros and brought the Faith of the Seven with them, fighting both the Children and the First Men and their faith in the Tree Gods (later called Old Gods). Their conquest was quite successful and they eventually merged with the First Men. ⁷¹
Lastly, Aegon Targaryen, his sisters and their dragons landed on the shores of Westeros, to conquer the Seven Kingdoms and unite them under one ruler. Since that day we count the years as the years after the Conquest.

2.