Although a pretty congenial man, George R.R. Martin is notable for penning some of the most gruesome battles in fantasy, which doesn’t shy away from delving into the grotesque nature of wars. Opposed to other fantasy works, the bloodshed in Martin’s Game of Thrones is exponentially high, which makes sense, as he initially set out to pen the novel series in response to High Fantasy.
Explaining his reasoning behind incorporating such bloody battles, the author explained he wanted to depict both sides of a war, and its ugly nature, which many fantasy works stray away from.
George R.R. Martin Wanted to Capture the Ugliness With Game of Thrones
While a big admirer of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, George R.R. Martin stressed that the template he set for wars in fantasy led his imitators to create endless sludge “of dark lords and their evil minions“. However, in reality, things aren’t completely black and white, and in response to these bloodless wars “where the heroes are killing unending Orcs”, Martin wrote A Song of Ice and Fire.
Instead of rehashing the same trope that Tolkien imitators were using, the author opted to lean into the ugliness of war, combining the wonder of Tolkien’s fantasy with the gloom of historical fiction. He further chose to showcase both sides of the war, instead of opting for another good vs evil narration.
He explained:
“War is so central to fantasy… and yet it’s these bloodless wars where the heroes are killing unending Orcs, and the heroes are not being killed… I think that if you’re going to write about war and violence then show the cost – show how ugly it is, show both sides of it… Those of us who are opposed to war tend to try to pretend it doesn’t exist, but if you read the ancient historical sources… people are always talking about the banners that ‘stirred the heart’… I think that if you’re going to write about that period then you should reflect honestly what it’s about and capture both sides of it…”
While not a total pacifist, as he believes certain wars were necessary, Martin’s works have served as a critique of the ugliness of war, which was absent in the works of Tolkien imitators.
George R.R. Martin wasn’t a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s treatment of war
Although J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Lord of the Rings has served as a huge inspiration for Martin as a kid, he has been critical of Tolkien for the oversimplification of certain themes.
The Fire & Blood author criticized Tolkien’s treatment of war, which revolved around “the fate of civilization and the future of humanity”, which wasn’t the case for most wars throughout history.
He said:
“The war that Tolkien wrote about was a war for the fate of civilization and the future of humanity, and that’s become the template. I’m not sure that it’s a good template, though. The Tolkien model led generations of fantasy writers to produce these endless series of dark lords and their evil minions who are all very ugly and wear black clothes. But the vast majority of wars throughout history are not like that.”
But despite his criticism, Martin reveres Tolkien and his Lord of the Rings series, which he admitted to rereading every few years.
