Its never an easy feat to compare the epic scope and high-octane value of two prominent opuses in fantasy literature, especially when the impact of their influences are more than evident in contemporary pop culture. The Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire book series have left a significant footprint in the way we think about fantasy and magical realism. Both have their categorical reputations as well as their equally arresting adaptations in film and television.
Come along through the prickly forests along a fast-paced journey in an unknown terrain where both the depraved and unexplored run rampant. J.R.R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin are two of the most cherished writers that have ever lived and their work has continued to be read by generations of off-breed nerds alike.
The One Ring To Rule Them All
J.R.R. Tolkiens LOTR series all began with the fumbling expedition of Bilbo Baggins back in 1937 with The Hobbit and continued onwards with The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The Two Towers (1954), The Return of the King (1955), and his posthumous work on The Silmarillion (1977) which was finished by his son Christopher Tolkien and provided some very welcomed background on Middle-earth history.
Just as Martin has much to owe to Tolkien; Tolkien owes much of his book series to Kalevala, a Finnish epic poem of grand scope filled with a diverse group of characters. Tolkiens Middle-earth is lavished with brilliant characters, a great adventure story, and a vast sense of mythology. To make an overly long story short Middle-earth was established by song by Eru Ilvatar who also created the Istari. Six wizards were formed in the Istari including the one and only Gandalf. Melkor, the angel who brought dragons and trolls created the world's suffering and evil.
Sauron, the villains of all villains, created 16 rings with the help of Cerebrimbor. Cerebrimbor made three more rings with much more powerful results eventually one of those gets lost. The ring in question is what has brought all of these glowingly jovial band of characters together in Tolkiens series either as a means to destroy or control; for good or for bad. Tolkiens work is more mythologically based than historical which does not make it any less compelling.
While LOTR is more mythology than history, Martins GoT series is much more ancient history founded. While Martin gets points for expanding his work into seven sprawling novels, he loses a few for taking more than 20 years to do so. A Game of Thrones (1996), A Clash of Kings (199), A Storms of Sands (2000), A Feast for Crows (2005), and A Dance with Dragons (2011) (as well the upcoming The Winds of Winter and the much more positively named A Dream for Spring) are among the list of works that bring Martins otherworldly surreal creations to life.
With the War of the Roses serving as the catalyst for the War of the Five Kings between Joffrey Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, Renley Baratheon, Robb Stark, and Balon Greyjoy (yes, he is considered a king!). And, you remember the Red Wedding? Of course you do! Well Martin used the Glencoe Massacre as its real life counterpart.
A Song of Ice and Fire is yet another overly long story that I have the pleasure to make short and begins with the Children of the Forest and their encounter with the First Men in Westeros. After years of conquests and upheaval a negotiation took place with both parties over territory only for the Children to have it taken away six thousand years later by the Andals of Essos and eventually become supposedly extinct (or worse, an urban legend).
While Tolkien achieves credit for creating multiple languages in Middle-earth, Martins world is arguably much more assorted with a whole cast of characters, cultures, and religious beliefs taking influence from much of American, European, and Middle Eastern history. The Faith of the Seven which includes the Father, the Mother, the Maiden, the Crone, the Warrior, the Smith, and the Stranger, is much more prominent.
Never Forget What You Are The Rest Of The World Will Not
Power is everything in the bleak world of A Song of Ice and Fire. This is never more evident than in season 2 of Game of Thrones during Cersei Lannisters meeting with Littlefinger. Cease him! Cut his throat! Stop! Wait! Ive changed my mind. Let him go. Step back three paces. Turn around! Close your eyes! Power is power! I would most certainly hate finding myself in the hurricane that is Cersei Lannisters rage. Power can go to a persons head. Littlefinger knows this. Which is why he has spent nearly his whole life playing his position like a chess maestro. It is something that Martin is aware of as well. A history buff at heart; Martin has used the impact of royal families and kings to the benefit of his story structure.
Cerseis father is no better when it comes to the grasp of power. If ever there was a time for Fathers Day, Tywin Lannister would make a great case against it. Jaime, Ceresi, Tyrion, all of his children do not make a difference to him if they do not make a difference to their Lannister family name.
Wildfire and Valyrian steel are just some of the many future advances that Martin welcomed in the world of Game of Thrones. Tolkien, on the other hand, is a writer who saw a bleaker world than Westeros when it came to technological advances.
Much has been written and analyzed about the allegorical presence that Saruman and Sauron maintain in the LOTR series. While technology itself has held a minimal position in Middle-earth, Saruman is an audacious representative of the fear of an unknown future commonly engrossed in the membranes of anyone inhabiting World War II era England along with Tolkien.
Tolkien did, however, drench his book series with enough Christian allegory to overflow the rim of a cup. The One Ring being the example of when the devil tempted Christ for the third time. God and Christ figures are also embodied in the characters of Gandalf the Grey and Frodo Baggins. The One Ring is the poetic essence of corruption and oversimplified evil. No matter if you are in possession of it or seek it the One Ring has an overwhelming temptation on you to risk life and death for it just to slide on your finger.
One Ring To Bring Them All And In The Darkness Bind Them
The reason why I said oversimplified evil is because, come on, is anything ever that simple. Sure its fantasy, but how many people you have met where you thought they were either pure evil or saintly? From the very beginning we know who to trust: Gandalf. Or who to hate: Sauron and Saruman. Of course, however, there is a pretty good case for Gollum. Once a hobbit until he came across the precious ring, now he iswhatever that is; devoting whatever that life is to pursuing it. Beyond that, each and every character provides the proper illustration of what is good and what is evil.
This is palpable in The Two Towers when Saruman is providing Sauron with his detailed blueprints of what kind of grim climate Middle-earth can expect under his power of the ring. While Gandalf, the only one of the six wizards who has not been corrupted and uses his wisdom for the fate of the good.
To say the least, Game of Thrones is not that simple. For Cersei, sure she has her peccadilloes like anybody else, but she has her goodish qualities too. In the words of the great Tyrion You love your children. Its your one redeeming qualify; that your cheekbones.
Jaime Lannister is no better of a character until his third season arc changed everything. We gotta love how even though he is no longer the Jaimie Lannister he once was in the first two seasons, he still has his adverses. House Bolton on the other hand may require some more searching in the good quality department.
However, let us focus on Daenerys Targaryen, Stormborn, and Mother of Dragons herself. Strictly in the television show, which, to be honest, is a far more interesting character than in the books. Dany starts off a silent Dothraki wife who takes control of Khal Drogos fleet after his death and becomes the queen we know her as today. Dany does what she thinks is right freeing the Unsullied Army and slaves of Meereen. However, she is not without her ruthless faults which includes the execution a former slave who killed a member of the Sons of the Harpy before his trial or burning to death former slave owners. Even our favorite characters (save for Tyrion) are not especially people we would want to go out for drinks with, but they are all far more interesting characters with depths that scope from good and bad.
A Lion Doesnt Concern Himself With The Opinions Of Sheep
House Lannister has Hear Me Roar, House Baratheon has Ours Is the Fury, House Targaryen has Fire and Blood, and House Stark has Winter is Coming. Each House has their specific own sigil and words symbolizing the royal houses and class structure that Martin has laid out along with the peasants and black magic users around them.
Tolkien gets a few more points on this one though with hobbits like Bilbo, Frodo, and Merry to Elvens like Arwen. These are just some of the few inhabitants of Middle-earth that include tree-people, wizards, dwarves, and regular men and women. Even numenoreans like Aragorn who looks pretty good for 87 years-old.
Location! Location!
Mordor
Mordor. The only place in Middle-earth we dont want to see any closer and the one place were trying to get to.
Valyria
At its apex Valyria was the greatest city in the known world, the center of civilization, within its shining walls, twoscore rival houses for power. A glory in court and council, rising and falling in an endless, subtle off savage struggle for dominance.
There Is Good And Evil On Both Sides In Every War Ever Fought
GoT and LOTR have not only some of the greatest battle sequences ever put in the written word, but also to ever grace the big and small screen. However, Martin and Tolkiens view of war efforts are two vastly different perspectives. While Martin has written his fair share of warfare, each side loses. Tolkien on the other hand writes LOTR with plummeting battle sequences between good and evil.
The Battle of Bywater with Saruman was expertly written, but if youre looking for the visual medium, look no further than Peter Jacksons rendition of the Battle of Black Gate, which was the final major battle of the War of the Ring between the Mouth of Sauron and Gandalf. Highly understaffed in contrast to Saurons 60,000 trolls, orcs, and Nagls it was grueling but epic in every which way. Filled with moments of tense and doomed efforts surrounded till the very end. Surrounded you say? That sounds a bit familiar.
Does It Look Familiar?
All of these points go to the HBOs series entirely since the Battle of the Bastards was the greatest television battle scene ever created, ever! Equally tense to its final moments, similarly to LOTR with its end result, I, just like everyone else, is anxiously anticipating Martins version in text.
However, well have to go with the Battle of Blackwater on this one which saw Stannis Baratheons attempted coup dtat of Kings Landing. This is the brilliance of George R.R. Martin, while we can all agree that Stannis is not the most cordial leader, he was the rightful heir to the throne. On the other hand, however, we love us some Tyrion and Sandor Clegane. It was a straining hour or so, but kept every ounce of our attention until the very end with pulsating green wildfire galore to finish it off.