Discover the medieval myths and legends which inspired hit book and TV series, Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is a phenomenon. It is the subject of intense debate in the national media; by cultural commentators contesting the series’ startling portrayals of power, sex and gender, and among its millions of fans across the world who devise all sorts of theories as to the story’s progression. However no book has yet divulged how George R.R. Martin constructed his remarkable universe.

Discussing the novels and TV series alike, Larrington explores the medieval world of rivalry and warfare, love and betrayal, greed and power, epitomised in the Wars of the Roses. She also delves into sigils, giants, dragons and direwolves in medieval texts; ravens, old gods and the Weirwood in Norse myth; and a gothic, exotic orient in the eastern continent, Essos. From the White Walkers to the Red Woman, from Casterley Rock to the Shivering Sea, this is an indispensable guide to the twenty-first century’s most important fantasy creation.