THE RINGSTETTEN SAGA: BACKSTORY

My intention was originally, to write a magical realism story as a family saga, reminiscent of 100 Years of Solitude, Game of Thrones, and Topelius's Surgeon's Stories. All three of which were inspireb by the first family saga I ever read, the great grandmother of all family sagas: the second half of the biblical Book of Genesis.
The original story was that of Katia and her Carolean. I had a story about a Carolean lieutenant made a POW at Poltava. And, on the other hand, a Rapunzel story of a homeschooled and curious outpost girl yearning for freedom. Why not have them meet? Then came the inspiration to use their story as starting point for a family saga with a magical realism streak.
The history of the Early Modern period, from the military revolution to the French Revolution, would serve as the backdrop.
If the Ringstettens were a Westerosi noble house, they would have been the Tullys or the Tyrells rather than the Starks. Some non-historical characters were actually based upon precedents in other works of fiction: both Etienne van der Heide and Fritz le Beau (Ulrika's husband, the Prussian diplomat) draw upon Bentley Drummle, for instance.
Shakespeare shall also be mentioned as a muse. The first arc draws from themes found in Othello (loss of innocence, otherness, the impact of war on military personnel), while the second arc has overtones of King Lear (the theme of prodigal children in conflict with their parents, and that of returning home to reconcile). The final arc is part of a diptych, with the previous one, inspired by The Tempest (tying up loose ends, nature spirits freed, catharsis, happy ever after for everyone, even for the most unfortunate).
In the 30YW arc, there are references to the Metamorphoses by Ovid and biblical wisdom literature (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, and Sirach).
There is in this same arc a motif of diaspora, of being "scattered around the earth" due to armed conflict and persecution (not only the Ringstettens and most of the military personnel,  but also the Walloons at the steelworks). "The thunder of the captains" is interchangeable with the accounts of the Titanomachy (war of gods and titans) and Centauromachy (war of humans and centaurs) mentioned by officers on both sides.