Beyond the Sunset Sea: Uncharted Worlds and Cryptid Creatures

The exploration of vast seas and uncharted lands has long captivated human imagination. In the fantastical world of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, one such mysterious region is the Sunset Sea, which harbors intriguing and unexplored regions beyond the horizon.

Is There Anything Beyond the Sunset Sea?

The Lands of Ice and Fire, as detailed in the books, are built upon our own world for most of their geography. However, there is a certain allure to the idea of undiscovered lands and cryptid creatures that one might imagine existing beyond the known world of Westeros and Essos.

Some fans speculate that there could be indigenous populations similar to those discovered by Europeans, such as the Native Americans. And for every continent in Planetos, one could imagine cryptozoological beings, like vampire dogs, thunderbirds, and Yetis, which are reminiscent of American folklore and cryptozoology.

The Westernmost Point of the Known World

The known world of A Song of Ice and Fire includes an island called Lonely Light, located in the Sunset Sea. Politically, it is connected to the Iron Islands but lies quite far from them. This island serves as a reminder that the map of the known world is not complete and there are areas unexplored and uncharted.

Sailing west from Westeros, one would eventually find the uncharted east coast of Essos, provided no other continents intervene. However, the extent of the known world is not clearly defined in the Lands of Ice and Fire map collection. The fan community has named the world Planetos, but this name is not as appealing as one might hope.

The Reality of the Sunset Sea

While the Sunset Sea is a fantastical region in the world of Westeros, the real world offers a different perspective. Earth, the planet we inhabit, is not flat; it is an oblate spheroid, meaning it is slightly flattened at the poles and bulging at the equator. This shape is a result of the Earth's rotation.

When we observe the sun setting and rising, we are, in fact, witnessing the rotation of the Earth and its orbit around the Sun. This natural phenomenon explains why the times of sunset and sunrise vary across different latitudes and altitudes. For example, in Japan, the time of sunset and sunrise is different from that in other regions due to the Earth's position in its orbit.

Even more intriguing, if one were to climb to a very tall mountain, one might witness the sunset again because the Earth's curvature would allow the sun to appear as if it is setting again from a higher vantage point.

These concepts not only add to the intrigue of the Sunset Sea but also reflect the real-world explanation of our planet's shape and the natural processes that govern our daily lives.