Memento Mori Valar Morghulis & Memento Mori 18

Home , Symbols of death, Valar Dohaeris, Valar Morghulis

History Rhymes THE REAL HISTORY BEHIND GAME OF THRONES

WARNING

This course may unintentionally spoil the show. If you have not watched until the end of Season 6 and/or do not want to be spoiled in any way, please do NOT choose this course. 3

And then they all died. The end. 4

Intro

While it is still disputed, it is said that Mark Twains once said, “History does not repeat itself. It rhymes.” And it does indeed, in Game of Thrones. George R. R. Martin has in fact confessed that his writing journey was inspired by the Wars of the Roses which was called the Cousins’ War during its own time: 1455 to 1485. It was one of the bloodiest wars in the English history which was sparked by the feuds within blood relations, struggling to obtain the power. House of Lancaster and House of York each used the red rose and white rose as their heraldic badges. Hence, the Wars of the Roses.

How did George R. R. Martin utilize this epic war as a source of inspiration? How does it differ from the Wars of the Roses? Will learning about the Wars of the Roses change your point of view about the show? How did the medieval England inspire George R. R. Martin? Talk to your Ringle tutor about the show. Who knows, perhaps after the class, you’ll be able to analyze the show like a historian! 5

Before Class

WATCH READ Watch a clip by clicking on the Read the interview in slide link in slide 13 and take notes 14-15 and article in slide 18-21. as you watch it. 6

Ice Breaker

Talk a little bit about The Game of Thrones with your tutor. 7

Did you just watch the show or did you also read the books? If you have experienced both, which do you prefer and why? Who is your least favorite character and why? Is there any character you can’t wait until you see s/he dies?

Who is/was your favorite character? Who are you cheering for?

Whose death did you mourn the most? What was your favorite moment in the show/book? 8

Game of Thrones or Wars of the Roses? 9 Game of Thrones or War of the Roses? Is the description related to The Game of Thrones or the War of the Roses?

A person spent the early life in exile. S/he gathers the strength, support, and army while s/he is across the sea from the native island. S/he uses dragon as a symbol.

A man refuses arranged marriage. Instead, he weds a woman he loves. The decision leads to his downfall.

There is a rumor of illegitimate birth of a young king. He is obsessed with decapitation and wars. He dies young.

A beautiful and cunning queen is forced into exile, ousted from power. She continues plotting and eventually orchestrate an invasion which restores her husband to the throne. She is merciless to the traitors and rivals. She once even chooses her son to choose the method of execution. She is called “the she-wolf.” 10 Answers

Daenerys Targaryen & Henry Tudor Robb Stark & Edward IV

Like Daenerys, Henry spent his early life in exile in While arrangements were underway for Edward IV France. He gathered his strength and a small army to marry Anne of France, he secretly married in France before defeating King Richard III in a Elizabeth Woodville. Elizabeth Woodville used her battle and ascended the throne. influence to persuade Edward to allow marriages between her family and the nobility, which left his enemies resented. 11 Answers

Joffrey Barathen & Edward of Lancaster Margaret of Anjou

Like Joffrey, Edward of Lancaster (son of Henry VI Were you tricked to believe that it was Cersei? and Margaret of Anjou) was rumored to be of Almost a century after Margaret of Anjous’s death, illegitimate birth. Also like Joffrey, he shared Shakespeare gave her the nickname, “the She-wolf Joffrey’s affinity for chopping off the heads of his of France,” in a play, Henry VI. enemies even at the age of 13. 12

Parallels in the History 13

The Wars that Inspired The Game of Thrones

Watch it on Youtube. Credit: TED

As you are watching the video, take notes.

You can either draw character relationship map or just jot down the things that you have newly learned. Interview with George R. R. Martin 14

Where does your imagination come from? Ideas are cheap. I have more ideas now than I could ever write up. To my mind, it's the execution that is all- important. I'm proud of my work, but I don't know if I'd ever claim it's enormously original. You look at Shakespeare, who borrowed all of his plots. In A Song of Ice and Fire, I take stuff from the Wars of the Roses and other fantasy things, and all these things work around in my head and somehow they jell into what I hope is uniquely my own. But I don't know where it comes from, yet it comes Ð it's always come. If I was a religious guy, I'd say it's a gift from God, but I'm not, so I can't say that.

With the exception of the fantasy elements, Game of Thrones might well have been a reimagination of the Wars of the Roses. I did consider at a very early stage Ð going all the way back to 1991 Ð whether to include overt fantasy elements, and at one point thought of writing a Wars of the Roses novel. But the problem with straight historical ﬁction is you know what's going to happen. If you know anything about the Wars of the Roses, you know that the princes in the tower aren't going to escape. I wanted to make it more unexpected, bring in some more twists and turns. The main question was the dragons: Do I include dragons? I knew I wanted to have the Targaryens have their symbol be the dragons; the Lannisters have the lions, the Starks have the wolves. Should these things be literal here? Should the Targaryens actually have dragons? I was discussing this with a friend, writer Phyllis Eisenstein Ð I dedicated the third book to her Ð and she said, "George, it's a fantasy Ð you've got to put in the dragons." She convinced me, and it was the right decision. Now that I'm deep into it, I can't imagine the book without the dragons. Interview with George R. R. Martin 15

How did you come up with the Wall? The Wall predates anything else. I can trace back the inspiration for that to 1981. I was in England visiting a friend, and as we approached the border of England and Scotland, we stopped to see Hadrian's Wall. I stood up there and I tried to imagine what it was like to be a Roman legionary, standing on this wall, looking at these distant hills. It was a very profound feeling. For the Romans at that time, this was the end of civilization; it was the end of the world. We know that there were Scots beyond the hills, but they didn't know that. It could have been any kind of monster. It was the sense of this barrier against dark forces Ð it planted something in me. But when you write fantasy, everything is bigger and more colorful, so I took the Wall and made it three times as long and 700 feet high, and made it out of ice.

The interview was published by Rolling Stone. The quoted portions are excerpts, not the whole interview. 16 Food for Thought Exchange your ideas with the tutor.

SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT How did the social milieu of the Wars of the Roses resemble that of the Game of Thrones?

HISTORICAL FIGURES vs. CHARACTERS Which historical figures seem to be the source of inspiration for which character? Is there any discrepancy between the two?

THE WINNER Who eventually ended the Wars of the Roses? Do you think The Game of Thrones might have a parallel or analogous ending?

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN Why did he write a fantasy novel instead of a historical fiction, based on the War of the Roses? 17

Valar Morghulis & Memento Mori Valar Morghulis & Memento Mori 18

One of the most powerful and often quoted catch phrases from Game of Thrones has to be “valar morghulis” Ð a mantra that closely resembles a memento mori.

In the Middle Ages, art depicted reminders of our mortality Ð skulls and other symbols of death. Artists intended these symbols to remind their audience of the ﬂeeting vanities of wealth and other earthly pursuits. A Latin phrase Ð memento mori, or “remember that you have to die” Ð came to encapsulate this mortal reﬂection.

Distinct from carpe diem (“seize the day”), memento mori warns against the diversions of wealth, luxuries, and ﬂeshly pleasure. The Christian belief was that these transient pursuits distract us from our salvation.

Memento mori appear in numerous late medieval art paintings and sculpture. Two of my favorite examples of memento mori Ð yes, I do have favorites Ð are Mary, Queen of Scots’ skull watch and Hans Holbein’s painting, The Ambassadors.Mary, Queen of Scots’ skull watch Ð which according to the British Museum never actually belonged to Mary, Queen of Scots Ð is similar to the following memento mori watch at the British Museum. The images of this watch are courtesy of the British Museum: Valar Morghulis & Memento Mori 19

Hans Holbein’s The Ambassadors Valar Morghulis & Memento Mori 20

Holbein’s The Ambassadors is as cryptic as the Mona Lisa (or at least as enigmatic as The Da Vinci Code presented it to be).

The Ambassadors contains numerous inscrutable symbols. John North’s book, The Ambassadors’ Secret: Holbein and the World of the Renaissance, presents an exceptionally intricate theory about the meanings of these symbols. One of particularly intriguing symbol is the skull that transects the bottom of third of the painting.

At ﬁrst, it is hard to tell that grey object is a skull because it is so askew. In fact, some have argued that Holbein designed this massive life-sized painting to hang over a stairwell, so the skull would become less distorted as you ascended the stairs (which is perhaps symbolic in and of itself). This technique is known as anamorphosis.

The meaning of the skull, however, is more oblique Ð no pun intended. Is it meant to convey that diplomacy can be deadly? To remind us that without diplomacy there is death? To warn other ambassadors of the folly of getting involved in the King’s Great Matter (Henry VIII’s desire to marry Anne Boleyn), which some argue the symbols indicate?

While memento mori may seem morbid, we have memento mori in modern-day culture. The band Jethro Tull’s gloomy 1971 hit song “Aqualung” Ð with its disturbingly vivid reference to death rales Ð certainly reminds us of our mortality. (A hallmark sign of death, death rales (or the “death rattle”) occur when, immediately before death, the dying person’s lungs ﬁll with ﬂuid so his or her breathing takes on an I-wish-I-could-forget-it rasping sound.) Valar Morghulis & Memento Mori 21

Curiously, the Essosi traditionally reply to “valar morghulis” Ð which means “all men must die” — with “valar dohaeris.” In George RR Martin’s medieval-esque world, the memento mori phrase valar morghulis reminds us of our impending death. The response, however, may reposition that reminder into the land of the living. Valar dohaeris tells us that all men must serve. Serve whom? The gods? Their overlords and superiors? Their fellow men? Is this a reminder like the word “duty” in House Tully’s words? Is the duty to mankind?

Source: History Behind Game of Thrones 22 Food for Thought Exchange your ideas with the tutor.

MEANING What do “memento mori” and “valar morghulis” mean?

REMINDER OF MORTALITY Why was mortality reminded through art in the medieval times? What was the purpose of it? Do you think the phrase “valar morghulis” also play the same role?

TOKEN OF VALAR MORGHULIS? Do you think there was any token or object that symbolized the phrase, “valar morghulis”?

VALAR DOHAERIS? Wherein do you think the Game of Thrones characters’ duty lie? Do you think we also have some sort of duty? If that is the case, to whom? 23

Still Thirsty for More? 24

HISTORY BEHIND THE REAL VALAR GAME OF HISTORY BEHIND MORGHULIS THRONES GAME OF THRONES An illustrated guide A blog that analyzes to 704 deaths in Game of Thrones in Creators of the show Game of Thrones parallel with various including George R. from season 1 to historical events and R. Martin talks about season 5. figures (not just War how the War of the of the Roses!) Roses influenced the show.