50 Fun Facts About A Song of Ice and Fire

Which dynastic struggle for England's crown inspired the feuding houses of A Song of Ice and Fire?

The Wars of the Roses gave Martin his model of great houses fighting over a single throne. He has also named the French novels The Accursed Kings and Walter Scott's Ivanhoe as inspirations.

Which Roman frontier gave George R. R. Martin the idea for the Night's Watch's ice barrier?

Hadrian's Wall, in the north of England near the Scottish border, gave Martin the idea when he visited it. He believes a barrier like the one in his novels is unique in fantasy.

What do the Ice and Fire novels usually call the icy beings that television renamed White Walkers?

The Others is their usual name in the books. Martin writes that their voices sound like the cracking of ice on a winter lake.

Which event in A Storm of Swords is based on Scotland's Black Dinner and the Glencoe Massacre?

The Red Wedding draws on the Black Dinner of 1440 and the Glencoe killings of 1692. In the novel it ends the life and the rebellion of Robb Stark, the young King in the North.

Which character, the author's own favorite, narrates the most chapters in the first five Ice and Fire novels?

Tyrion Lannister narrates 47 chapters across four of the five novels. Asked why he likes him best, Martin said he finds his wit appealing.

Which red-haired wildling spearwife keeps telling Jon Snow "You know nothing" in A Storm of Swords?

Ygritte repeats the line "You know nothing, Jon Snow" throughout the book. Jon first meets her as his prisoner, and spares her when he is ordered to execute her.

What name does Jon Snow give the direwolf pup he adopts in A Game of Thrones?

Ghost is named for his white fur and his silence, since he never makes a sound. The other five pups in the litter go to the trueborn Stark children.

Which sword does Jon Snow have the smith Mikken forge as a parting gift for Arya Stark?

Needle is named after the needlework lessons Arya hates. It is a light, thin blade made for quick thrusting attacks, which suits her slender build.

Which animal mortally wounds King Robert Baratheon on a hunt, putting Joffrey on the Iron Throne?

A wild boar gores the king in what looks like a hunting accident but was arranged by his queen. On his deathbed he names Ned Stark regent for the boy Joffrey.

Which character tells Ned Stark, "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die"?

Cersei Lannister says it after Ned privately confronts her and offers her the chance to flee into exile with her children. She stays, and adds, "There is no middle ground."

Which adviser to Stannis Baratheon says, "The night is dark and full of terrors"?

Melisandre is a priestess of R'hllor, the Lord of Light, and the words are a common saying among his worshippers. Sold to the Red Temple as a child slave, she was trained there for the priesthood.

Which character asks the imprisoned Ned Stark, "Why is it always the innocents who suffer most"?

Lord Varys asks it in Ned's cell after remarking on what honesty and honor have won him. The spymaster was born a slave in the Free City of Lys.

Which companion of Bran Stark says, "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies"?

Jojen Reed says it in A Dance with Dragons, adding that the man who never reads lives only one. He is thirteen when he first appears, but his seriousness makes him seem older.

Which captive knight tells Catelyn Stark, "There are no men like me. There's only me"?

Jaime Lannister says it as a prisoner at Riverrun, where Catelyn questions him. She goes on to free him, out of grief and fear for her two hostage daughters.

What are the official words of House Lannister, as opposed to the saying about paying debts?

Hear Me Roar goes with the golden lion on the Lannister banner. "A Lannister always pays his debts" is a common saying about the family, not its motto.

In the Ice and Fire novels, what is the real first name of Winterfell's stableboy Hodor?

Walder is his given name, but he is called Hodor because it is the only word he can say. He is Old Nan's great-grandson and carries Bran Stark on his back after the boy is crippled.

Which name does the resurrected Catelyn Stark take as the vengeful leader of an outlaw brotherhood?

Lady Stoneheart earns the name through her uncompromising brutality. Lord Beric Dondarrion gives up his own life force to revive her after her body has lain in the river for days.

Which warrior searches for Sansa Stark with Oathkeeper, a sword reforged from Ned Stark's Ice?

Brienne of Tarth is given the blade for her mission to find Sansa and take her to safety. Knights mock her with a cruel nickname, yet she believes that they should always honor their vows.

Which former smuggler is called the Onion Knight for running food into besieged Storm's End?

Davos Seaworth brought onions and salted fish through the blockade, and Stannis knighted him for it. Stannis also cut off the fingertips of his left hand to punish his years of smuggling.

Which Night's Watch steward is nicknamed "the Slayer" after killing a White Walker with dragonglass?

Samwell Tarly stabs the creature in desperation and it dies at once. A self-professed coward, he was forced into the Watch by his father so that a younger brother could become heir.

Which vast landmass lies east of Westeros across the Narrow Sea and holds the nine Free Cities?

Essos stretches far to the east, with the Free Cities strung along its western edge. To its south lie two more continents that the story leaves largely unexplored.

Which Free City, guarded by a giant statue called the Titan, is home to the Iron Bank?

Braavos was founded by escaped slaves and refugees from an empire of dragonlords, unlike its eight sister cities. Its Iron Bank has lent millions to the crown of the Seven Kingdoms.

Which seat of House Arryn is based on Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle?

The Eyrie is the smallest of the great castles, seven slim towers bunched tightly together. It is considered unassailable, and all its food has to be brought up from the valley below.

Which region of Westeros defied Aegon the Conqueror and joined the realm only later, by marriage?

Dorne stayed independent for almost two hundred more years through guerrilla resistance. Ruled by House Martell, it is the hottest and least populated part of the continent.

Which enormous castle, burned by Aegon the Conqueror's dragon, is widely believed to be cursed?

Harrenhal was meant to be the largest fortress ever built in Westeros. House after house that held its ruins has since died out, which is why people call it cursed.

Which ancient homeland of House Targaryen was destroyed in a cataclysm known as the Doom?

Valyria fell after the Targaryens had already moved west to an island outpost, so they survived with the last of its dragons. What caused the cataclysm is never specified.

Which city of pyramids on Slaver's Bay does Daenerys Targaryen rule in A Dance with Dragons?

Meereen is the largest of the three slaver cities she conquers, as populous as the two smaller ones combined. Its ruling slavers are known as the Great Masters.

Which island fortress was the Targaryens' first home in Westeros and later Stannis Baratheon's seat?

Dragonstone has towers carved by sorcery into the shapes of dragons, and Daenerys was born there as her family's rule collapsed. King Robert gave it to Stannis, who had wanted Storm's End.

Which port city of the Reach is home to the Citadel, headquarters of the order of maesters?

Oldtown is dominated by the Hightower, which recalls the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria. Aegon the Conqueror dated his reign from the day he entered the city and was acknowledged as king there.

Which castle of Westeros, carved from a mountain above a harbor city, is the ancestral seat of House Lannister?

Casterly Rock was inspired by the Rock of Gibraltar, and the family's wealth comes from the gold of the surrounding hills. No chapter of the first five novels is actually set inside it.

Which fourth Ice and Fire novel focuses on southern Westeros while the fifth runs alongside it?

A Feast for Crows grew so long that Martin split the story by location instead of cutting it in half by time. He described the result as two novels taking place simultaneously.

What title has George R. R. Martin given the planned seventh and last Ice and Fire novel?

A Dream of Spring is meant to end the saga on a bittersweet note, where not everyone lives happily ever after. Martin has said he will not cut the story short to fit a set number of volumes.

Which George R. R. Martin history of the Targaryen kings is the basis of HBO's House of the Dragon?

Fire & Blood covers the civil war called the Dance of the Dragons, which the show dramatizes. More than 200,000 words of it began as material cut from the companion book The World of Ice & Fire.

Which hedge knight, hero of the prequel novellas, roams Westeros with a squire called Egg?

Ser Duncan the Tall is the Dunk of the Tales of Dunk and Egg, set some 90 years before the novels. His squire is secretly a Targaryen prince who will grow up to be King Aegon V.

On which 1980s fantasy drama was George R. R. Martin a writer-producer, scripting 14 episodes?

Beauty and the Beast made Martin its co-supervising producer in 1989. Decades later he named his bookstore Beastly Books after the show.

Which Harry Potter novel beat A Storm of Swords to the Hugo Award for Best Novel?

Goblet of Fire took the 2001 prize in the first year a novel of the saga was nominated. Martin joked afterwards that Rowling might have his Hugo but did not have readers like his.

Which science fiction novel did George R. R. Martin abandon to begin A Game of Thrones?

Avalon was three chapters along when Martin pictured a boy watching a beheading and finding direwolves in the snow. He put it aside and finished that new chapter within a few days.

Which wielder of the sword Lightbringer does a red priestess believe Stannis Baratheon to be?

Azor Ahai is the messiah of the faith of R'hllor, prophesied to return and fight an invasion from the far north. Asked for a vision of him at the Wall, the priestess's flames show only snow.

Which temple of the warlocks of Qarth shows Daenerys Targaryen her prophetic visions?

The House of the Undying tells her of three fires she must light, three mounts she must ride and three treasons she will know. When the warlocks try to keep her there, her dragon burns it down.

Which word for "little brother" names the killer that Maggy the Frog foretells for a queen?

The valonqar comes last among the witch's answers to three questions from a girl who will be queen. Grown up, she assumes it means the younger brother she hates and offers a lordship for his head.

Which princess, hailed as the Realm's Delight, fights her half-brother Aegon II for the Iron Throne?

Rhaenyra was named heir by her father, King Viserys I, but on his death the crown went to her half-brother. The civil war that followed is known as the Dance of the Dragons.

At which river did Robert Baratheon kill Prince Rhaegar Targaryen to decide his rebellion?

The Trident saw the two meet at a ford, where Robert's victory in single combat scattered the royal army. Soon afterwards Tywin Lannister, feigning help for the Mad King, sacked the capital instead.

Which settlers of Westeros warred with the children of the forest before agreeing the Pact?

The First Men crossed a land bridge from the east and began felling the forests, which started the war. After the Pact they adopted the gods of their old enemies, later known as the Old Gods.

Which sellsword army backs the invasion of Young Griff, who claims to be Aegon Targaryen?

The Golden Company lands in the Stormlands and takes several castles there. Its claimant had meant to seek out Daenerys until an exiled dwarf, goading him over a game of cyvasse, urged him to attack at once.

Which dragon of Aegon the Conqueror helped an alliance of Free Cities defeat Volantis?

Balerion, also called the Black Dread, long outlived the Conqueror. His last rider was Viserys I, the king whose death opens the war in House of the Dragon.

Which nomadic people does the horselord Khal Drogo lead when Daenerys Targaryen marries him?

The Dothraki speak a language that linguist David J. Peterson built for television out of the words and phrases in Martin's novels. One critic has compared the riders to the Mongols.

Which dragon does Daenerys Targaryen ride out of a fighting pit in A Dance with Dragons?

Drogon is drawn to the noise of the pit, and she tames him with a whip before he carries her off to the grasslands. She had chained up his two siblings, but he escaped.

Which office, vacant since Jon Arryn's death, does Robert Baratheon ride north to offer Ned Stark?

Hand of the King is the senior adviser to the reign. Jon Arryn, the last to hold the post, had been guardian to both Robert and Ned when they were young.

Which warrior called the Hound was burned as a boy when his brother forced his face into a brazier?

Sandor Clegane has feared fire and hated his brother ever since. Huge as he is, even he is not as large as that brother.

Which ancient religion, along with Catharism, inspired the fire-worshipping faith of R'hllor?

Zoroastrianism and Catharism both fed into a faith that sets great store by prophecy and ecstatic visions. Its fire god is opposed by a nameless god of ice, darkness and death.