从《权力的游戏》在HBO电视台播出的五季来看，“凛冬将至”的威胁一直是很明显的。

　　乔治·R·R·马丁在《冰与火之歌》系列小说的第一部引入了“绝境长城”这个诡异的概念。现在，广大粉丝对于这些奇妙想法的来历有了更好的了解。

　　据芝加哥论坛报报导，在马丁最近一次访问母校西北大学期间，他表示很怀念那段在芝加哥的日子。由于芝加哥素有“风城”之称，马丁解释了寒冷的冬季气温如何深深地影响了他所创作的人物和环境。

　　“最寒冷的冬天在芝加哥，”马丁回忆说。“那个冬天雪太多了，什么都看不见，全都是雪啊，冰啊，真的是太冷了。”

　　他把芝加哥冰冻的街道比作一战时期的战壕，说道，“只不过它们是由冰雪堆砌的战壕……我还记得走过那些战壕和冰冻的隧道时，风一直刮甚至都不能睁开眼睛。我永远不会忘记这段经历。”

　　在关于这个话题的前几次访谈中，马丁声称，“绝境长城”的灵感还来源于“哈德良长城”——一个要追溯到罗马帝国时期的地标，为了保护自己免受野蛮人的侵害，罗马人建立了这个长城。

　　During its five season run on HBO, the threat of the coming winter on “Game of Thrones” has been palpable.

　　George R. R. Martin introduced the ominous concept of the treacherous season along with The Wall during his first novel in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. And now, fans have a better idea of where these concepts came from.

　　The Chicago Tribune report that during a recent visit to his alma mater, Northwestern University, Martin waxed nostalgic about his time as a Chicago resident. Known as the Windy City for a reason, the author explained how the frigid winter temperatures were a big influence on the characters and environments he created.

　　“The coldest winter was in Chicago,” Martin recalls. “There was so much snow that winter, you couldn’t see, all snow, all ice, and it was so very cold.”

　　He went on to compare the icy streets of Chicago to the trenches of World War I, in saying, “but they were trenches of ice…I remember walking through the trenches and the tunnels of ice, the wind blowing so you couldn’t even see. It’s an experience that never left me.”

　　In previous conversations on the topic, Martin has claimed that The Wall was also inspired by Hadrian’s Wall — a historical landmark dating back to the Roman Empire — which was constructed by the Romans to keep them safe from the threat of barbarians.

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（编辑：何莹莹）