Historical Inspirations Behind George RR Martin’s Series
As you watch House of the Dragon, learn about the historical influences behind George RR Martin’s series
Like many people, I started reading George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire after the show premiered. It was 2015 and I was commuting from New Hampshire to Boston by train and had a lot of time to sit and read.
I was trying to rush through the books as the rumor online back then was that the sixth book, Winds of Winter, was just around the corner…
Having seen the show, I thought I knew what I was getting into. I’d read some other fantasy series. How different could it be?
I didn’t expect to be so engrossed in this made-up world and so invested in these characters. All these years later, I still consider it one of the most profound reading experiences of my life (and I had to read Proust in college, so that’s saying something).
But what makes this series so remarkable? Why has it gone on to sell over 90 million copies worldwide?
The oft-repeated answers tend to be “It’s brutal,” “He kills off all the characters,” “The world is epic,” or simply “DRAGONS.”
Those things can be awesome, yes, but if you walk into a bookstore, you’ll find a hundred series that check those boxes. Why does Martin’s series stand out after all this time while so many others are forgotten? Why do we hold it up as one of the best series every despite that the fact that it isn’t even finished?
To answer that, we have to examine the work that went into it and the inspirations behind some of the most memorable characters to ever appear on the page or the screen.
George RR Martin
I’m not going to try and summarize all of Martin’s career and life up to and including writing A Song of Ice and Fire but I think it is important to point out his tenured career. A writer doesn’t sit down and create an epic series like this on their first attempt and if you read some of Martin’s earlier works, you can see prototype examples of the characters that appear in this series.
Even names for some of his most beloved characters appear in his earlier works, such as the short story A Song for Lya, his second short story which earned him his first Hugo award. The two main characters are Robb and Lyanna — names used again for the Stark family.
Even fantastical settings like the world beyond the Wall in Westeros appear in rough versions, such as his story Under Siege which begins:
“On the high ramparts of Vargön, Colonel Bengt Anttonen stood alone and watched phantasms race across the ice. The world was snow and wind and bitter, burning cold.”
If you’re interested in reading some of these earlier stories, which have been out of print for quite a while, scans can be found via the New York Public Library: https://catalog.nypl.org/
All this is to say that unforgettable characters aren’t often created out of thin air. They’re crafted through multiple iterations over a long writing career. By the time A Game of Thrones was published in 1996, Martin had published over 30 short stories, a dozen novels, worked in television, and more.
Crafting characters is just one aspect of building a fantasy world. How did Martin connect these characters, create political tension, invent histories, and more?
Sometimes, the best fictions come from fact. Many of the conflicts, nations, and families you see in A Song of Ice and Fire come from our history. Most famously, Martin was inspired by the War of the Roses.
Before you keep reading: There are major spoilers ahead for the shows and books.
War of the Roses
“ I love historical fiction; but there is a problem. I know a fair bit of history so I know how the historical fiction is going to end! A story on the War of the Roses can only end one way! I like not knowing. The suspense, the tension. I wanted something with the scope of historical fiction without the restrictions of knowing the end.”
— George RR Martin, interview with Wayne MacLaurin
The War of the Roses was a series of civil wars between the Lancasters and Yorks as they vied for the English throne. It lasted from 1455 to 1487 (or 85, depending on your history book) and was named after the emblems of the two houses. The white rose of York and the red of Lancaster. However, the tension that led to this war came about decades before one of the bloodiest, most consequential European wars of all time took place.
The War of the Roses came about because both families believed they had a rightful claim to the throne.
First things first, I am not much of a historian, so I’m going to paint with some broad strokes here and only touch upon things that relate to A Song of Ice Fire.
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of Edward III (a king who will prove to be rather important in this whole debate) was one of the wealthiest men in England. He was a celebrated military leader in the Hundred Years’ War.
John rose to power when Edward the Black Prince, John’s eldest brother and the heir-apparent to Edward III fell ill and John assumed control of many government functions. The Black Prince would die in 1376 leaving behind a son, Richard.
Edward III (the king) died in 1377 and without the eldest son to pass the throne to, the claim was given to Richard (who became Richard II). Sufficed to say, John’s son, Henry Bolingbroke (yes, that’s a real name…) wasn’t happy and although John tried to remediate the issue with Richard, Henry was sent to exile in Ireland.
As old men over the age of 50 in 14th century England often did, John died in 1399. Richard II claimed control of all of John’s holdings and finances, locking Henry out.
Henry didn’t take kindly to losing all of his inheritance to a man who, arguably, had as much of a claim to the throne as himself. So, he did what self-respecting noblemen of that time did: he gathered an army.
Richard II was on a campaign in Ireland when Henry invaded England, claiming the throne in Richard’s absence. Richard II was a man of mettle as well and when he returned to England to find his throne had been claimed, he did the courageous courageous thing possible. He surrendered.
He was sent to prison where he soon died.
Henry Bolingbroke became King Henry the IV and the Lancaster Rose endured on the English throne for quite some time. Henry IV was succeeded by his son Henry V who passed away in 1422, leaving the throne to his infant son, Henry VI.
Before I dive further into the War of the Roses, I think it’s important to call out important parallels here. One of the central conflicts through both A Song of Ice and Fire and House of the Dragon is the legitimacy of the person who sits on the throne.
Multiple descendants of Edward III will try to claim the throne through this century. A child will be put on the throne after the death of their father, much like Joffrey Baratheon (and Robin Arryn in the Vale), to be controlled by those adjacent to power.
There are direct parallels between the Lancasters and Lannisters and the Yorks and Starks, both in names and actions. However, there are a lot more families at play in A Song of Ice and Fire and at times you will the Baratheons inspired by both families, as well as the Boltons.
Let’s jump forward a bit.
Cersei Lannister
A marriage would be arranged between Henry VI (the boy king) and Margaret of Anjou, a daughter of a French Duke. She has the most direct correlation to a character in A Song of Ice and Fire — Cersei Lannister.
She isn’t a Lancaster but marries into that family for the sole purpose of putting her son on the throne. Henry VI, the kid made a king, struggles with bouts of madness and Margaret essentially rules in his absence. She pushed the Lancaster-held throne further from the Yorks (who had been mentoring Henry VI) to promote people who would help her retain power.
The ties to Cersei are obvious. She’s an unpopular figure married to a king before his claim is complete to help gain support. She sews distrust between Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark. When Robert is dying, she rules in his stead.
Edward Hall, a 16th-century historian, described Margaret of Anjou in these terms:
“This woman excelled all other, as well in beauty and favour, as in wit and policy, and was of stomach and courage, more like to a man, than a woman.”
Cersei Lannister’s struggles with her adjacency to power and her ability to only wield it through the men in her life reflect the legacy of Margaret of Anjou. Both women were queens of powerful nations, given almost free reign over the most powerful seat in the world but held back by being women.
Ned Stark
Another close comparison you can make is between Ned Stark and Richard of York, who offered counsel to Henry VI before being pushed aside by Margaret of Anjou.
Ned Stark helped Robert Baratheon ascend to the throne before being ushered back to Winterfell as Cersei undermined Robert.
They meet a similar end. Richard of York is defeated in battle (Ned isn’t captured in battle, but instead captured while trying to prove the legitimacy of Joffrey’s claim to the throne). Richard is beheaded and his head is placed upon a pike.
Joffrey forces a similar fate onto Ned. Both men are sent to their ancestral homes to be buried without a head.
“I’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from history, and the Wars of the Roses are a rich source. The idea of warring families, the shifting allegiances, the betrayals, and the sheer complexity of the conflict is endlessly fascinating to me.”
— George RR Martin
Robb Stark and Roose Bolton
As the War of the Roses went on and Henry VI battled with more bouts of madness (much like Aery II Targaryen) the Yorkists tried to seize the opportunity.
Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick was originally a Lancaster ally until a dispute with Edmund, Duke of Somerset who was a Margaret of Anjou stan. Neville would switch sides and support Richard, Duke of York until he was killed (see above).
Neville then works with Richard’s eldest son, Edward.
Yes… there are a lot of Edwards, Richards, Henries… There were only like 4 names back then.
This Edward has a direct parallel to Robb Stark who becomes the lord of Winterfell when Ned is killed. Much like Robb, Edward has amazing success in his campaign, beating back Margaret of Anjou’s forces, just as Robb defeated Jaime Lannister (Cersei’s brother).
With Henry deposed in the north and cut off from London, Edward seized the throne becoming King Edward IV. Tragically, this is where his story parallels Robb’s as well.
After defeating Margaret’s forces in the Battle of Towton, Edward essentially secures the throne for good and the whole war should be over.
To gain support and forces during their campaign, Neville arranged a marriage between Edward and a French princess. With the throne secured, it was time to make good on this bargain. Edward, however, revealed that he had fallen in love with another woman and married her in secret.
Neville takes this as a sign that Edward IV is unfit to rule and switches sides to support the Lancasters.
This pretty closely matches Robb’s story as he sees multiple victories, capturing Jaime Lannister (the biological father of the sitting king). Roose Bolton helped arrange a marriage to win support from Walder Frey who held a strategic position on the continent.
Robb agrees to the marriage but during his campaign he meets and falls in love with Talisa, marrying her in secret. Like Edward, he doesn’t reveal this until after a key victory and it ends up costing him everything.
Ser Criston Cole
Part of Ser Criston Cole’s story (from House of the Dragon) is inspired by Neville as well. Like Neville, he switches sides at key moments. First allied with Rhaenyra Targaryen, set to succeed Viserys. After a falling out, he convinces Prince Aegon, the eldest son of Viserys’s second marriage to claim the throne (this is in the books, not the show).
This earns him the title “Kingmaker” — the same title that Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick earned during the War of the Roses.
Many More Characters
I don’t want to try and recap the entirety of the War of Roses as the blog post would be too long and I’d find too many comparisons to A Song of Ice Fire.
Whether it’s Richard III (yes, another Richard) and his parallel to Stannis Baratheon — both attempting to steal the throne after the death of their brother, the king. Or how the battle of Blackwater Bay secures Joffrey’s rule much as the Battle of Bosworth Field ends the war and ushers in the Tudor dynasty.
Although much of the main series draws from these events, there is so much more to Martin’s world than the power struggle in Westeros. Most major cultures and set pieces in Martin’s series can be tied to other historical events.
Daenerys Targaryen
Daenerys is inspired by some War of the Roses figures, mainly Henry VII who spends much of his life in exile before amassing support, returning to England and claiming the throne.
He’s the one who ends the War of the Roses and kicks of the Tudor dynasty, in case you were wondering. Perhaps spoilers for the end of A Song of Ice and Fire?
Daenerys’s journey is much different, however, and better reflects the campaign of Alexander the Great. Like Alexander, she “liberates” multiple nations, amassing an eclectic following of many cultures.
Most notably, the Dothraki.
The Dothraki
Many fans recognize the similarities between the Dothraki and the Mongols during the reign of Genghis Khan. Like many names in Martin’s work, he simply replaces one letter (see: Edward -> Eddard. Peter -> Petyr. Katelyn -> Catelyn) changing “Khan” to “Khal.”
But it’s not just the Mongols that inspired the Dothraki, as Martin himself points out in a comment from his blog:
“The Dothraki were actually fashioned as an amalgam of a number of steppe and plains cultures… Mongols and Huns, certainly, but also Alans, Sioux, Cheyenne, and various other Amerindian tribes… seasoned with a dash of pure fantasy. So any resemblance to Arabs or Turks is coincidental. Well, except to the extent that the Turks were also originally horsemen of the steppes, not unlike the Alans, Huns, and the rest.”
The Night’s Watch and the Wall
“The Night’s Watch is, in some ways, inspired by monastic orders, but also by the idea of a frontier outpost, a last line of defense against an unknown wilderness.”
When visiting Scotland, long before this series took hold in his mind, Martin took in many sites that would later inspire his work. One place in particular, was Hadrian’s Wall.
Constructed by the Roman Empire in 122 AD by Emperor Hadrian, this wall stretched across the country that would later become Britain, cutting the Romans off from the native Scots.
“…certainly the Wall comes from Hadrian’s Wall, which I saw while visiting Scotland. I stood on Hadrian’s Wall and tried to imagine what it would be like to be a Roman soldier sent here from Italy or Antioch. To stand here, to gaze off into the distance, not knowing what might emerge from the forest. Of course, fantasy is the stuff of bright colors and being larger than real life, so my Wall is bigger and considerably longer and more magical. And, of course, what lies beyond it has to be more than just Scots.”
— George RR Martin, interview with Wayne MacLaurin
The Sparrows and Religion
In later books, the Sparrows play a major role as a group of religious zealots exerting power through the major church. They draw a direct parallel to the medieval Catholic Church who were essential in sitting King Edward II.
“The Sparrows are my version of the medieval Catholic Church, with its own fantasy twist. If you look at the history of the church in the Middle Ages, you had periods where you had very worldly and corrupt popes and bishops. People who were not spiritual, but were politicians. They were playing their own version of the game of thrones, and they were in bed with the kings and the lords. But you also had periods of religious revival or reform — the greatest of them being the Protestant Reformation, which led to the splitting of the church — where there were two or three rival popes each denouncing the other as legitimate. That’s what you’re seeing here in Westeros. The two previous High Septons we’ve seen, the first was very corrupt in his own way, and he was torn apart by the mob during the food riots [in season 2]. The one Tyrion appoints in his stead is less corrupt but is ineffectual and doesn’t make any waves. Cersei distrusts him because Tyrion appointed him. So now she has to deal with a militant and aggressive Protestant Reformation, if you will, that’s determined to resurrect a faith that was destroyed centuries ago by the Targaryens.”
— George RR Martin, interview with EW
The major religion itself draws directly from Christianity.
“Instead of the Trinity of the Catholic Church, you have the Seven, where there is one god with seven aspects. In Catholicism, you have three aspects — the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. I remember as a kid, I was always confused by that. ‘So there are three gods?’ No, one god, but with three aspects.”
House of the Dragon
The HBO prequel series House of the Dragon takes place 200 years before the events in A Game of Thrones. It covers a period known in Westeros as The Dance of the Dragons, which you see not only referenced throughout the series but as the title of the fifth book.
The inspiration for this event is known as “The Anarchy” in English history and similarly, takes place a couple of centuries before the War of the Roses.
“History is a rich source of inspiration for fantasy. The Dance of the Dragons, like The Anarchy, shows how a civil war can tear a realm apart.”
— George R.R. Martin
King Henry I (see? another Henry) lost his son and only heir in a boating accident. He then names his eldest daughter Matilda as his heir.
The same events happen in House of the Dragon where King Viserys has no male heir and names his only daughter Rhaenyra as his successor. Much like Matilda, Rhaenyra struggles to win support from the misogynistic noble houses that believe a woman can’t rule.
Despite being named heir, when King Henry I dies, Matilda’s cousin Stephen claims he is the rightful heir as he’s the most direct male descendant.
In House of the Dragon, Rhaenyra’s half-brother Aegon claims the throne as the eldest son of Viserys, despite never being explicitly named heir.
Both of these events set off major civil wars that ultimately leave both dynasties weaker.
Other Book Series
A Song of Ice and Fire draws inspiration from a ton of different books in both large and small ways. Martin himself has said that Tad Williams’s series Memory, Sorry and Thorn was a big inspiration given it was published around the same time (The Dragonbone Chair was published in 1988).
However, it’s actually the French series Les Rois maudits (The Accursed Kings) that was the biggest inspiration. First published in 1955, it is a seven-book series recounting (with some creative liberty) the last five kings of France.
Philip the Fair brings a curse upon his family when he persecutes the Knights Templar, inviting political upheaval and treachery to his family. The fall of these kings is what leads France and England into the Hundred Years’ War (the event that ended with the kickoff of the War of the Roses).
“The Accursed Kings has it all: iron kings and strangled queens, battles and betrayals, lies and lust, deception, family rivalries, the curse of the Templars, babies switched at birth, she-wolves, sin
and swords, the doom of a great dynasty and all of it (or most of it) straight from the pages of history. And believe me, the Starks and the Lannisters have nothing on the Capets and Plantagenets”— George RR Martin, interview with The Guardian
Closing Thoughts
There’s a lot I missed and a lot I’m not even aware of. But when you start to understand the historical inspirations, some of what makes the series great begins to make sense. One thing people praise Martin’s series for is that the main characters aren’t protected by the plot (most of the time). They have to face the consequences of their actions, even if it means death. The reason for that is that they were inspired by real people with real, life-threatening consequences.
“I take [history] and I file off the serial numbers and I turn it up to eleven. I make it bigger and more colorful. But it’s still fundamentally derived from medieval history.”
— George R.R. Martin
But it’s important to remember that it isn’t a carbon copy of events. The drama is scaled up, the set pieces are bigger, and he isn’t afraid to veer away from the inspirations when it leads to good story telling.
If you’re an aspiring reader interested in writing something similar, see how you could take historical events and crank up the drama. Maybe throw in some zombies and dragons and see what happens.
Thank you for reading! I’d love to know if you’ve read A Song of Ice and Fire and what you thought!
I’m currently reading and annotating the prologue and first chapter to A Game of Thrones on Threadable if you’d like to join and leave comments in the book itself!
