Martin influenced by Jordan?

As I am re-reading the Jordan books I am realizing similarities between the two. Very much in the way that Jordan took elements from Tolkien, I think Martin has borrowed from Jordan. I am just about done with The Great Hunt. and for those who haven't read TGH yet I will use white text as spoiler prevention. If you want to read further please highlight. ****SPOILER***** When Rand kills Turak in Falme, members of the blood that were bound to Turak take their own lives. They are bound to him in life and death. ****SPOILER***** After reading this it reminded me of what I had just read in Martins books. There is a race of people on the other side of the world from where a majority of the action takes place. They are known as the Dothraki and their leaders have followers known as the "Blood Riders" and are bound to their king in life and death. In very much the same manner they take their own lives after their King has been killed. These people in many aspects remind me of the Seanchen, reading the end of TGH made me think of that and I wanted to post about it. Now that I'm thinking about it Martin has a Massive wall that separates the Seven Kingoms from the "Wildlings". Sounds to me like the spine of the world as a border to the Aiel Waste. Possibly more to come if I notice more similarities.

I have not read Martin yet but that is on my list to read. Is it a good series?

Martin's series, "A Song of Ice and Fire" is very good. It is like WoT in that there are MANY MANY characters. It is much more political, everyone is scheming for the Iron throne from the very beginning. It is more based in "reality" than other fantasy novels as well. The supernatural elements as well as the magical ones aren't taken seriously by all of the characters. They definitely have a place in the books but its not like Jordan where the One Power is the driving force in the world. It is a very interesting series and I found myself tearing through it just to see who was going to get screwed over next. The first 3 books in the series are very interesting and action packed. I didn't really care for the fourth book, its only redeeming quality is that it is able to make a character who you grow to hate over the first three books and give you some perspective on them. I hope the upcoming book brings the series back on track...if it ever comes out. You see Mr. Martin likes to try his hand at all sorts of different things and in doing so has delayed the fifth installment for three years now I think. It doesn't help that he is a 60 year old fat gentleman that could go at any time from a heart attack at any moment. His hardcore fans are pretty angry with him writing on his blog that he is going to "Pull a Jordan" and they will never know the end of this epic tale. Overall it is definitely worth reading, and I wish Eric would read it too. I am anxious to hear his opinion on the books. It is probably the closest to RJ in scale and in the depth of the universe he created. I have still yet to read anything better than Jordan and this is no exception...Rand would mop the floor with everyone in Martins world of Westros.

That's really wild. Fantasy and sci-fi have always borrowed from one another--so have most genres now that I think about it (e.g. not much of Shakespeare's plots are original). It makes one wonder if these elements are archetypical of the genre or simply details lifted off of a work.