GRRM's New NotABlog Post on Casterly Rock

Recently (December 23, 2022), GRRM posted about Casterly Rock on his NotABlog. He really set the record straight on some inconsistencies on the castle. With that in mind I wanted to post about some of the more interesting comments and link a few posts.

Note: Throughout the post, the quotes about the rock in the SSM are about this image

Background

While most of the info in the NotABlog post is known to repeat readers, its always nice to have some clarification as well as an excuse to post about something.

The seat of House Lannister has been mentioned hundreds of times (~215 according to my asearchoficeandfire check) in the five published novels of A SONG OF ICE & FIRE, but the story has never actually gone there… yet. Oh, from time to time Tyrion or Jaime or Cersei have thought back to something or other that happened at the Rock in years past, but aside from those memories and quasi-flashbacks we have never actually seen the Rock… or Lannisport, the city that has grown up near its feet..

If interested: The Anger of Lord Tywin: Gerion/Tyrion and

The Castle Itself

Casterly Rock is immense. It has never been taken by siege or storm:

Ted got all the little details right. The great stone stairway on the south face, in the shadow, leading up the Rock’s main entrance. The sea gates at the base, large enough for galleys and cogs to sail into the caverns under the stone, where the Lannisters have their own (protected) docks. The two rocky protrusions jutting out into the sea on either side of the caves; looked at from the south, they evoke a lion’s paws, and the Rock itself resembles a crouching lion, one of the inspirations for the heraldic imagery of the Lannisters and the Casterlys before them. There’s also the watchtower on top of the Rock… and if you look very closely, here and there scattered up and down the face of the mount, you can see windows and arrow slits. They seem small, but that is part illusion. The Rock itself is very large. Massive.

and:

The Lannister castle is not ON TOP of the Rock. It is INSIDE the Rock. All of it. Barracks, armories, bedchambers, grand halls, servant’s quarters, dungeons, sept, everything. That’s what makes the Rock the strongest and most impregnable seat in all of Westeros. The Eyrie, Winterfell, Storm’s End, they all have formidable defenses… but none of them can match Casterly Rock. When Harren the Black built Harrenhal, he thought his immense new castle could defy even dragons. Stone does not burn, he reasoned. But stone does melt, and dragons fly, and… well, you know the rest. And Balerion’s flames proved hot enough to turn Harren’s massive towers molten.

If interested: The Bowels of Casterly Rock

Rock of Gibraltar

GRRM mentioned (again) that he was inspired by his visit to the Rock of Gibraltar:

As I have mentioned in half a hundred interviews over the years, when I am doing my worldbuilding, I often start with some real world event or location, and “turn it up to 11.” That’s a SPINAL TAP reference, of course, and maybe not precise. In some cases I turn it up to 111, or 11,000. The Wall, for instance. Inspired by my visit to Hadrian’s Wall, but three times as long and way way taller, made of ice and magic.

The origins of Casterly Rock are somewhat similar. This time my inspiration was the Rock of Gibraltar.

The Rock of Gibraltar is three miles long, seven-tenths of a mile wide, and almost 1400 feet high at its highest point. (That’s twice as tall as the Wall, for those who want a Westerosi reference).

Casterly Rock is larger. Two leagues long from west to east… that’s approximately six miles, compared to three for Gibraltar. Its peak is about 2100 feet high, or about 700 feet higher than Gibraltar. I am not certain I have ever given the width of Casterly Rock, but I’d venture to say that number is greater too, say around two miles north to south. And inside? Yes, the Lannister stronghold has all the passages, halls, stairs, caves, mines, galleries, tunnels, chutes, and wells that Gibraltar has… and more, and more, and more. It is thousands of years older, after all.

Turned up to 11. Or 11,000.

If interested: Favorite Castle Defense Features & Dungeons & Prisons of Ice and Fire

The Winds of Winter + Beyond

• GRRM confirmed what was on top of the Rock and what it was used for:

Here’s the most important part. See that little watchtower on the Nasmith painting, up on top of the Rock? That’s the only thing on top of the Rock. And that’s as it should be. (The maesters keep their rookery up there).

If interested: White Wings, Dark Words

• Meaning?

But Casterly Rock is a mountain, and its chambers and halls are buried deep inside, under tons of solid stone. No curtain wall in Westeros, however thick, can even come close.

What does this all mean?

Maybe nothing. I just wanted to set the record straight. Give you all something to think about.

(And maybe put an end to all these pictures of a little rock with a castle on top).

If interested: Tyrion & The Casterly Rock Drains

• How could we see it?

Casterly Rock will not remain forever offstage, I hope. I have two more novels to go, and my plan is to have one or more of my viewpoint characters visit the Rock in THE WINDS OF WINTER or A DREAM OF SPRING, so I can show you all the wonders and terrors and treasures of House Lannister first hand.

If interested: Places We Have Yet to See and How We Could See Them & Whitesmile Wat: TWOW, Prologue & Cersei's Wedding

• Cue the Tinfoil

Meanwhile, feel free to ponder… could Casterly Rock stand against dragons?

We know it can be taken by apes.

and:

The dwarf, the evil counselor, the twisted little monkey demon. I'm all that stands between them and chaos." -ACOK, Tyrion X

TLDR: Some thoughts and links to posts on GRRM's recent NotABlog comments. He confirmed that not only is Casterly Rock the most impregnable castle in Westeros, but also the minor detail that only a small watch tower is on top (used for ravenry).