For my project I will be examining religions and gods found in the A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R. R. Martin. This work takes place mostly on a fictional continent known as Westeros. For such a small place it is absolutely rife with different religions. As this work is wholly fictional it is thought that the author drew inspiration for the religions at work in the series from real religions. The purpose of this website is to examine the connections between the main religions of the series and the real religions that they are said to be inspired by, in order to determine whether or not the claim for inspiration is true. On top of this analysis I will be taking a brief look at the Christian response to the series, with a larger focus on the HBO program Game of Thrones in mind. This mixed approach will hopefully give a more complete look at how the series influenced and was in turn influenced by society.

 

The website would be broken down into five main sections:

 

1. The Lord of Light vs. Zoroastrianism. It is said by many that the religion of R’hllor, The Lord of Light, is based off of the real world religion of Zoroastrianism. This claim is built off a number of things, including the importance of fire in both. This connection, along with others, will be examined more in depth to see whether or not the claim that one inspired the other is true.

 

1. The Old Gods vs. Paganism. The religion of the Old Gods is primarily practiced in the north of Westeros. In this religion the main sacred site is not some sort of manmade structure but the weirwood tree which is held in the godswoods of every well to do settlement. It is believed that the inspiration for this religion lies in paganism. The sort of worship of the earth is supposedly a shared feature between these two religions. This will be examined more in depth.

 

1. The Seven vs. Catholicism. In the series the religion of The Seven is the main religion practiced by the people in the south of Westeros. It is a somewhat new religion brought to the continent by the conquest. It is based on the seven faces of potentially the same god. This is very reminiscent of the holy trinity in Christianity. This coupled with the organization of the Church of the Seven is an indication to some that it is modeled after the modern Catholic Church. That relationship will be explored.

 

1. The Drowned God and baptism. One of the main practices in the religion of The Drowned God is baptism. In their case they actually drown the person being baptised and bring them back to life. This relates heavily to their saying, “What is dead may never die”. This will be related back to the Christian practice of the baptism.

 

1. Religious response: This section will deal with some of the criticisms levelled against the series by the religious, mostly Christian, community. It will examine some of the arguments made such as idealism vs. realism and draw some comparison to the work of Tolkien.