Search results
- The War of the Roses. Stark? York? Lannister? Lancaster? Come on people! Surely you can see the connection? Taking place between 1455 and 1485, The War of the Roses was a series of bloody battles over the British throne by rival royal families.
- Hadrian's Wall. George R. R. Martin (GRRM) has admitted that he came up with his giant ice wall creation (imaginatively called ‘The Wall’) while visiting Hadrian's Wall near the Scottish border with England.
- The Roman Empire. But it’s not just that great big wall the Romans constructed that GRRM was inspired by. Various elements of the Roman Empire have seeped into the world of Game of Thrones.
- The Black Dinner. One of the most notorious events in GoT history is the brutal, gruesome ‘Red Wedding’ where King Robb Stark, his wife, Queen Talisa, his mother, Lady Catelyn and many many more were murdered during the marriage of Edmure Tully to Roslin Frey.
- Overview
- Feudalism
- Spymaster
- Nomads
- Incest
- Fortification
- Torture
- Execution
- Dragons
- Dire wolves
Millions of viewers have been captivated by the fictional kingdoms depicted in HBO’s fantasy series Game of Thrones, which translates the novels by George R.R. Martin to the small screen. The sometimes over-the-top violence, drama, and magic are often written off as the stuff of fiction, but there’s more truth in them than you might think. Here are some real-life people, places, things, and concepts that are surprisingly similar to Martin’s remarkably detailed fantasy world.
This list was adapted from a post that originally appeared on the Britannica Blog.
Westeros is governed via a feudal system, with the head of state ruling from King’s Landing over the seven kingdoms, equivalent to vassal states or fiefdoms. Among the vassal states are the Kingdom of the North (ruled by the Stark family), and the Westerlands, ruled by the Lannisters, who have married into the royal Baratheon family. The vassal kin...
There are definite echoes of ruthless Elizabethan spymaster Francis Walsingham in the character of Varys. Known as the “master of whispers,” he harvests information from a vast network of spies and informants and uses that capital to manipulate and coerce anyone that might be useful to him, be they commoner or royal. Like Walsingham, Varys claims t...
The tribal Dothraki society that Daenerys—"mother of dragons"—marries into lives a nomadic lifestyle centered upon the horse, which provides transportation, food, and spiritual inspiration. The Dothraki are somewhat analogous to the Mongols, an extant ethnographic group, most of whom live in the country of Mongolia and China’s Inner Mongolia Autono...
While incest is usually taboo in Westeros, that hasn’t stopped Cersei and Jaime Lannister from carrying on an affair that resulted in three children (who are passed off as her husband Robert’s). Though Cersei and her brother are forced to hide their forbidden love, not all cultures were so prudish. The Targaryen family, to which Daenerys belongs, i...
The Night’s Watch garrisons the Wall, a massive fortification separating Westeros from the savage hinterlands of the north. The wall is equivalent in significance to the Great Wall of China, which was intended by the various Chinese dynasties that built and expanded upon it to repel nomadic invaders. Martin actually based the structure on Hadrian’s...
Torture is never off the table in Westeros, so to speak. One Game of Thrones episode had the internet a-twitter over a savage scene of torture in which a rat is forced to eat through the victim’s stomach (a form of torture that humans, sadly, had dreamed up way before the invention of television), and a gruesome scene of castration had viewers gasp...
Ned Stark, who decapitated an errant Night’s Watchman in the first episode of the series, himself lost his grizzled melon at the behest of King Joffrey in the penultimate episode of that season. Capital punishment is widely seen as a just and efficient means of punishing certain transgressors in Westeros, and a trial isn’t always necessary. The "ey...
In Game of Thrones Dragons were thought to have been extinct for over a century until Daenerys Targaryen hatched a trio of them in a magical conflagration. The members of House Targaryen were once known as skilled dragonriders. In our world, dragons have been variously considered representative of good and of evil throughout history. The Chinese he...
At the beginning of the series, the Stark children find the corpse of a dire wolf and adopt her orphaned pups. Those that survive become loyal companions and defenders of the Starks. These Pleistocene creatures, though heftier than modern grey wolves, were not nearly as massive as they are shown in the series. Now extinct, they are among the most c...
- Richard Pallardy
- Iron Born - Vikings. Perhaps the clearest connection between the real world and Game of Thrones is the Ironborn. The Ironborn are Westerosi who live on the Iron Islands.
- Invasion Of The First Men. Before the invasion of Aegon the Conqueror, Westeros had been subject to two major invasions - the first was the invasion of the First Men and the second was the invasion of the Andals.
- Greek Fire/ Wild Fire. Greek fire was one of the most powerful and mysterious weapons of the ancient world. The name comes from the first use of the fire by Greeks who were being besieged in the 7th Century.
- Roman Empire. The Valyrian Empire was incredibly similar to the Roman Empire in two main ways. The first is in infrastructure. The Valyrian's built vast roads that helped connect distant lands and make travel between two points far easier.
- The Lord of Light / Zoroastrianism. What is Zoroastrianism? “For the night is dark and full of terrors.” Another great example of internal conflict when it comes to loving or despising characters is the Red Woman and her “Lord of Light.”
- Jamie Lannister’s / Götz von Berlichingen’s Prosthetic Hands. Götz of the Iron Hand – Cyborg Knight Prosthetics – Extra History. Jamie Lannister is a controversial character.
- Joffrey’s / Attila the Hun’s Deaths. Attila the hun’s death: Murder or natural causes? While we’re on the subject of Joffrey’s death, his demise definitely mirrors that of the infamous Attila the Hun.
- Ramsay Bolton / King Ashurbanipal. The Cruelest King of Assyria | Ashurbanipal | Ancient Mesopotamia Documentary. One of the more satisfying moments of the series was watching the cruel and unpredictable Joffrey Baratheon meet his well-deserved, violent end.
Apr 10, 2019 · In honor of 'Game of Thrones' Season 7, learn about the historical figures that most likely inspired George R. R. Martin's addictive saga and the characters we love today.
- Contributor
- 3 min
Oct 9, 2022 · The world of 'Game of Thrones' and 'House of the Dragon' is rich, but notably, it takes inspiration from real life and historical conflicts.
People also ask
Why is House of the Dragon based on game of Thrones?
Is game of Thrones based on a true story?
Why is game of Thrones so popular?
What is the connection between game of Thrones and the real world?
Apr 13, 2024 · Ever since it debuted in 2011, Game of Thrones has won over fans from across the globe, inspiring role-play festivals and events around the world. Of course, the world where Game of Thrones is based is entirely fictional, but are there real-life events that inspired George R. R. Marin, who wrote the original books?
