Hadrian’s Wall — The Inspiration Behind The Wall in Game of Thrones
Hadrian’s Wall was used to “assuage the fears of those it supposedly guarded.”
“For nearly three centuries, until the end of Roman rule in Britain in 410, Hadrian’s Wall was the clearest statement possible of the might, resourcefulness, and determination of an individual emperor and of his empire,” — Jarrett Lobell, Archaeology
It’s no secret I’ve been re-watching Game of Thrones, the HBO show my friends just couldn’t shut up about for several years. If I’m being honest, I didn’t even watch all of the show the first time: I was the guy who read the books, so this is my first serious watch-through. In the show, there’s a wall at the north end of the Seven Kingdoms, designed to keep heathens and perceived “savages” away from the realm. The Wall is 700 feet tall and made of ice, made of magic, and defended by just a handful of soldiers at three major castles.
In real life, I thought the wall’s original inspiration was the Great Wall of China. However, scouring through the Internet, I realized George R.R. Martin himself credited Hadrian’s Wall as the real inspiration behind the famous wall. Hadrian’s Wall was named after the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who built the wall in 122 A.D.
