17 of our favorite words from Game of Thrones
Valyrian, pyromancer, warg, and more
Have you recovered from Sunday's episode of Game of Thrones? We have, just barely, but not before losing our collective minds. We've recouped enough now to bring you our favorite words from this latest season of the show, just in time for this weekend's season finale.
Special thanks to the excellent Game of Thrones wiki.
1. crow
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Crow is a derogatory nickname given to the Night's Watch by the Free Folk, those who live beyond the Wall, thought to be the northernmost edge of civilization on Westeros, the continent where the most action of Game of Thrones takes place. The Night's Watch is "a military order which holds and guards the Wall." Night's Watch members "swear an oath of duty that is binding for life and prohibits marriage, family, and land ownership," and dress entirely in black, giving rise to the nicknames crow and black brothers. Other military nicknames that have to do with uniform color include greyback, redcoat, lobsterback, and blackcoat.
Example: Ygritte: "In your hearts all you crows want to fly free."
— "Valar Dohaeris," March 31, 2013
2. khaleesi
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Khaleesi is a Dothraki word referring to the wife of the khal, or warlord of a khalasar, a Dothraki clan or tribe. The Dothraki are a nomadic horse-riding people, similar to Eurasian nomads or the Native Americans of the Great Plains. We learned recently that we've been pronouncing khaleesi wrong this whole time. While the word is popularly pronounced ka-LEE-see, it should be KHAH-lay-see, according to the show's language creator, David J. Peterson.
Example: "She was Daenerys Stormborn, the Unburnt, khaleesi and queen, Mother of Dragons, slayer of warlocks, breaker of chains, and there was no one in the world that she could trust."
— George R. R. Martin, A Storm of Swords
3. maester
A maester is one of "an order of scholars, healers, and learned men" who focus on scientific knowledge and have only a "disdaining belief in magic." They wear a chain around their necks of varying substances to indicate their expertise in various fields of study, such as medicine and healing, money and accounting, warcraft, and "the higher mysteries," or magic. The Middle English word for master is mæstere.
Example: Jaime Lannister: "You're no maester. Where's your chain?"
— "Kissed By Fire," April 28, 2013
4. Meereenese knot
The Meereenese knot is "a difficult-to-perform act of contortion or sexual gymnastics, named after the city of Meereen in Slaver's Bay." It also refers to "a complex series of plot problems author George R.R. Martin encountered" while writing the fifth novel in the series, A Dance with Dragons. Martin often blogged about this Meereenese knot, a play on Gordian knot, "an exceedingly complicated problem or deadlock."
Example: Tyrion Lannister: "Kayla is famous from here to Volantis, one of the four women in the world who can perform a proper Meereenese knot."
— "Walk of Punishment," April 14, 2013
5. milk of the poppy
Milk of the poppy is an anesthetic or painkiller with addictive properties. It's probably a play on opium, which is "prepared from the dried juice or unripe pods of the opium poppy," and is also known as poppy tears.
Qyburn: "You'll need milk of the poppy."
Jaime: "No milk of the poppy."
Qyburn: "There will be pain."
Jaime: "I'll scream."
— "Kissed By Fire," April 28, 2013
6. pyromancer
A pyromancer is one who practices divination by fire or has "a magical ability to conjure or control fire." This word comes from the Greek pyr, "fire, funeral fire," and manteia, "oracle, divination." See more pyr- words and -mancy words.
Example: Jaime: "He had his pyromancer place caches of wildfire all over the city."
— "Kissed By Fire," April 28, 2013
7. raven
Ravens are used to send messages across far distances, much like carrier pigeons in real life and owls in the Harry Potter universe. The three-eyed raven is a supernatural messenger that appears in the dreams of Bran Stark.
Example: Jeor Mormont [to Samwell]: "Did you send the ravens?"
— "Valar Dohaeris," March 31, 2013
8. Red Wedding
The Red Wedding is a massacre that takes place at the wedding that was intended to make peace between the Starks and the Freys. Game of Thrones fans (at least those who hadn't read the books) were shocked, upset, and horrified. The Red Wedding was inspired by two real-life events.
Example: "The Red Wedding, the smallfolk are calling it. They swear Lord Frey had the boy's head hacked off, sewed the head of his direwolf in its place, and nailed a crown about the ears."
— George R. R. Martin, A Storm of Swords
9. Second Sons, the
The Second Sons are a company of mercenaries, soldiers for hire known for "their professionalism and ruthlessness in pursuit of a contract." They're so-called because the company is commonly made up of "second sons of lords and merchants" who as second-born males would inherit nothing from their fathers, everything going to the first-born sons. Primogeniture is "the right of the eldest child, especially the eldest son, to inherit the entire estate of one or both parents," as opposed to ultimogeniture, "by which the youngest son succeeds to the estate.
Example: Jorah Mormont: "They're called the Second Sons, a company led by a Braavosi named Mero, the Titan's Bastard."
— "Second Sons," May 19, 2013
10. Seven, the
The Seven, also known as God of Seven, the Seven-Faced God, or the New Gods, are the gods most dominantly worshipped by the Seven Kingdoms. The Seven have seven aspects: the Father, the Mother, the Maiden, the Crone, the Warrior, the Smith, and the Stranger. Battlestar Galactica was another popular show with a polytheistic religion.
Example: Priest: "By the faith of the Seven, I hereby seal these two souls, binding them as one for eternity."
— "The Rains of Castamere," June 2, 2013
11. Unsullied, the
The Unsullied are eunuch slave soldiers "famed for their skills and discipline in battle." Presumably they're called the Unsullied as they've never had sexual relations.
Example: Ser Jorah Mormont: "Some say the Unsullied are the greatest soldiers in the world."
— "Valar Dohaeris," March 31, 2013
12. Valyrian
Valyrian, divided into Low and High, is the language of the Valyrian Freehold, an empire that reigned uncontested for 5,000 years until "a cataclysmic event known as 'The Doom' laid waste to the Valyrian capital, its people, and the surrounding lands." As a result, "Valyrian recorded history, spells, and knowledge were lost," as well as its dragons. Only one of the "mighty families of dragonlords" survived, House Targaryen. Valyrian steel is "a form of metal that was forged in the days of the mighty Valyrian Freehold," and is extraordinarily sharp, strong, and expensive. Maesters trained in magic wear a Valyrian steel link in their maester chains.
Example: Robb Stark [to his wife Talisa]: "Is that Valyrian?"
— "The Bear and the Maiden Fair," May 12, 2013
13. Wall, the
The Wall is a fortification that defends the Seven Kingdoms against the wildings who live beyond it. The Wall "stretches for 300 miles along the northern border," is reportedly 700 feet high and made of ice, and is defended by the Night's Watch (see crow). Real-life fortifications include the Maginot Line, the Great Wall of China, and more.
Example: Gilly: "Is the Wall as big as they say?"
Samwell Tarly: "Bigger. So big you can't even see the top sometimes."
— "The Climb," May 5, 2013
14. warg
A warg is a person with the ability to enter the minds of animals and control them. In the stories of J.R.R. Tolkien, a warg is a "particularly evil" kind of wolf, says the Oxford English Dictionary. The word comes from the Old Norse word for wolf, vargr. Bran Stark, who is a warg, first encounters his abilities in dreams in which he sees through the eyes of his pet direwolf, Summer.
Example: Mance Rayder: "He's a warg. He can enter the minds of animals and see through their eyes."
— "Dark Wings, Dark Words," April 7, 2013
15. White Walkers
The White Walkers are mythological "creatures of ice and cold who, more than eight thousand years ago, came from the uttermost north." They have the ability "to reanimate the dead as their servants, known as Wights." A wight is also any "preternatural, unearthly, or uncanny creature." The First Men were "the original human inhabitants of Westeros."
Example: Jon Snow: "Thousands of years ago, the First Men battled the White Walkers and defeated them. I want to fight on the side that's for the living."
— "Valar Dohaeris," March 31, 2013
16. wildfire
Wildfire, known by pyromancers as the Substance and derisively as pyromancer's piss, is a "highly volatile material which can explode with tremendous force and burns with a fire" immune to water and that can only be extinguished by large amounts of sand. Wildfire is similar to Greek fire or napalm.
Example: Jaime: "You heard of wildfire? The Mad King was obsessed with it."
— "Kissed By Fire," April 28, 2013
17. Wilding
Wilding is a derogatory term for the Free Folk, people who live north of the Wall. A wilding is also a plant that grows wild, a wild animal, or anything that is "wild; not cultivated or domesticated." It also refers to "the act or practice of going about in a group threatening, robbing, or attacking others."
Example: Night's Watch Member: "He's a bloody Wilding all he is."
— "And Now His Watch Is Ended," April 21, 2013
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Angela Tung's essays on language and culture have appeared at Mental Floss, Quartz, Salon, The Week, The Weeklings, and Wordnik. Her personal essays have appeared at The Frisky, The Huffington Post, and elsewhere.