A Game of Thrones

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A Game of Thrones ( dt. A Game of Thrones or a game to throne ) is the first volume of the fantasy saga A Song of Ice and Fire of the American author George RR Martin . The novel was published on August 6, 1996. The title alludes to the political power struggle, especially with regard to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms of the continent of Westeros. In Germany , the original volume appeared separately in the two volumes Die Herren von Winterfell and Das Erbe von Winterfell , reunited as Game of Thrones 1: Winter is Coming . The novel presents several personal storytellers . A Game of Thrones won several literary prizes in the fantasy genre. With the adaptation of the saga as the television series Game of Thrones by HBO , the novel and its follow-up volumes became bestsellers in 2011. Several board games (including The Iron Throne ) and a role-playing game are basedon A Game of Thrones .

Action overview

The saga is set in a fictional world and takes place on the continents of Westeros (the Seven Kingdoms and the “Wall” in the north) and Essos. In this world the length of summer and winter is unpredictable and variable; a season can last years or decades, whereas spring and autumn are comparatively short. The setting on the continent of Westeros is very similar to medieval Europe . The plot around Daenerys Targaryen is set on the continent of Essos east of Westeros.

In the Seven Kingdoms

The novel begins after the prologue to the night watch with the Stark family and their head Eddard "Ned" Stark in Winterfell. Winterfell in the north of Westeros is the seat of the Starks, one of the great houses of the Seven Kingdoms. Eddard executes a deserter from the night watch (in the original "Night's Watch"), which protects the border in the north of the empire, in the presence of his three eldest sons Jon , Robb and Brandon . On their return to Winterfell, they discover six young direwolves, which are also the heraldic animal of House Stark. The puppies are entrusted to the five Starks children and Eddard's bastard Jon. King Robert Baratheon then visits, accompanied by Queen Cersei Lannister and her brothers, as well as the court of Eddard in Winterfell. Robert asks his old friend Eddard to become the hand of the king, since the previous hand, Lord Jon Arryn , has died and Robert trusts Eddard. Eddard reluctantly agrees. He promises his wife, Lady Catelyn Stark , to investigate the death of his predecessor, who has been like a father to Eddard. There are suspicions that this may have fallen victim to a political intrigue between Queen Cersei and her powerful family, the House of Lannister . Eddard's two daughters, Sansa and Arya , are supposed to accompany him to the capital. Eleven year old Sansa is engaged to Joffrey , King Roberts' eldest son.

Before the Starks head south, Eddard's son Brandon (called Bran) is seriously injured: he happened to be an eyewitness to the incestuous relationship between Cersei and her twin brother Jaime Lannister , a Knight of the King's Guard, while he was climbing , and Jaime fell into the depths. Bran falls into a coma and is paraplegic . Eddard sets off with Robert towards the capital, King's Landing. While Catelyn is watching at Bran's sick bed, an assassin tries to murder him with a dagger. His direwolf saves Bran's life by killing the assassin. Catelyn realizes that Eddard is in grave danger in the capital, and goes to King's Landing herself to warn him. Back in Winterfell, the eldest son Robb, who is now the master of Winterfell, as well as Bran and the youngest son of the Starks, Rickon .

In King's Landing Catelyn meets Petyr Baelish , known as Littlefinger , an admirer from his youth. The latter tells Catelyn that the dagger supposedly belongs to Tyrion Lannister , the youngest of the three siblings. Petyr arranges a secret meeting between Catelyn and Eddard. On the way back to Winterfell, Catelyn runs into Tyrion and takes him prisoner. She changes her destination and goes to Hohenehr, where her sister Lady Lysa Arryn , Jon Arryn's widow, rules the Arryn Valley. Lysa blames the Lannisters for her husband's death and wants to have Tyrion executed. However, Tyrion demands a court battle and is set free by the victory of the mercenary Bronn .

King Robert feels no affection for his wife Cersei, but rather mourns his love for Lyanna Stark , Eddard's sister, who was allegedly kidnapped and violated by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen 15 years earlier (the latter only accepts Robert). This was one of the triggers for the civil war of the time, which ended with the fall of the House of Targaryen , which had ruled Westeros for 280 years. Robert, who would also like to kill the surviving Targaryens (where he gets into an argument with Eddard, who strongly condemns a planned assassination attempt on Daenerys), now mainly has fun with other women and alcohol. He has no great interest in governing the realm and has left this task mainly to Jon Arryn and now Eddard, who is confronted with intrigues at court, which he is not up to as a lord who is always looking for his honor. Eddard eventually finds out that all of the royal heirs are in truth Jaime's children. He offers Cersei to flee before he tells the king the truth, but Robert is badly injured on a hunt and dies before Eddard can talk to him about it. Eddard is previously installed by Robert as lord protector until his legacy is able to rule (when dictating Robert's will, Eddard changes the wording to allow Robert's younger brother Stannis Baratheon to ascend to the throne ). Robert's youngest brother, Renly, suggests that Eddard arrest Cersei and their children before the Lannisters take power, but Eddard refuses as dishonorable. Instead, he instructs Petyr to get the city guard on his side. However, he betrays him and Eddard is arrested and his men are massacred. Sansa is also arrested, but Arya is able to flee. Cersei and Jaime's eldest son Joffrey is crowned king. Eddard is forced to confess his alleged betrayal, otherwise his family will suffer. Eddard agrees compulsorily and only reluctantly, but is executed on Joffrey's orders instead of being sent to the "wall" as promised.

In retaliation for the capture of his son Tyrion, Lord Tywin Lannister begins a campaign against House Tully in the Riverside Lands. The Lannisters defeat the River Lords and lay siege to Schnellwasser, the headquarters of the Tullys. A civil war that would go down in history as the War of the Five Kings flares up when the execution of Eddard becomes widespread. After learning of his father's capture, Robb intends to lead an army of Northmen against King's Landing in order to free his father and sisters. Robb first wins the support of House Frey and then marches into the riverside to seek help from his maternal grandfather, Lord Hoster Tully . Jaime leads the besiegers of Schnellwasser, while Lord Tywin camps with a large army south of the River Trident to block Robb's way to the capital. Robb leads his cavalry to Schnellwasser while the infantry under Lord Roose Bolton march against Tywin's army. Tywin, together with the released Tyrion, can repel the attackers. But he realizes too late that the attack was just a diversionary maneuver. Shortly afterwards, Robb can beat the second Lannister army and capture Jaime.

Meanwhile, Stannis Baratheon proclaims Joffrey's illegitimate origins, asserts his rights as Robert's legitimate heir and declares himself King of Westeros. His younger brother Renly also declares himself king, supported by the powerful House of Tyrell. Robb is proclaimed King of the North by the Lords of the North and the Riverside.

At the wall

The prologue of the tale introduces the northern kingdom beyond the wall. The wall is an ancient border made of stone and ice, over 200 meters high. She is guarded by the men of the night watch. In the wild areas north of the wall, a small patrol of border guards from the Night Watch meets the terrifying Others who cannot be killed by steel; All but one of the border guards are killed. Jon Schnee , the illegitimate son of Lord Eddard Stark , joins the Night's Watch , like his uncle Benjen years earlier .

Arrived at the wall, Jon teams up with the other recruits against their strict instructor Ser Allisar Thorn and protects the cowardly but good-natured Samwell Tarly . Jon hopes that because of his combat experience, he will be chosen as the Border Guard, the military arm of the Night Watch. Instead he is appointed chamberlain to Lord Commander Jeor Mormont . He helps his friend Sam to become the chamberlain of old Maester Aemon .

In the meantime, Benjen leads a small group of border guards beyond the wall and does not return. Almost six months later, the bodies of two of Benjamin's companions were found on the other side of the wall, but there is still no trace of Benjen. The next night the corpses rise again as the undead. You kill seven men and are not vulnerable to swords. When one of the undead attacks Lord Mormont, Jon and his direwolf are able to save him and destroy the revenant with fire. Out of gratitude, Lord Mormont gave Jon a family heirloom, a sword made of Valyrian steel called "Long Claw". Jon's friends give him a sword pommel in the shape of a direwolf head.

When Jon receives news of his father's execution, he tries to desert from the Night Watch and support his half-brother Robb in the fight against the Lannisters. His friends can persuade him to return before he is noticed. Mormont tells him that the struggle for the throne is meaningless compared to the evil that winter brings from the north.

In the East

Across the sea, in the Free City of Pentos on the continent of Essos, Viserys Targaryen lives in exile with his thirteen-year-old sister Daenerys . He is the only surviving son of the "mad king" Aerys II Targaryen , who was overthrown by Robert Baratheon 14 years earlier. With the help of the influential Illyrio Mopatis, Viserys arranges his sister's wedding to Khal Drogo , a powerful leader of the nomadic and warlike Dothraki. Viserys is supposed to recapture the Iron Throne of Westeros with his cavalry army. As a wedding present, Daenerys receives three petrified dragon eggs. A knight from Westeros, Ser Jorah Mormont , joins them as an advisor.

Love and trust slowly develop between Daenerys and her husband and she conceives a child. He is prophesied to unite and rule the Dothraki one day. Drogo shows little interest in conquering Westeros, so that Viserys loses his temper and threatens his sister in public several times. Drogo kills him by "crowning" him with a pot of molten gold. With Daenerys now the last survivor of House Targaryen , it is up to her to regain the throne of Westeros.

After Daenerys barely escaped attempted murder, Drogo is determined to move to Westeros and seek revenge. To finance the invasion, the Dothraki loot several villages. Drogo is wounded in the process. The wound becomes infected and Daenerys orders a captured maegi to use blood magic to save his life. In order to give the magic power, however, the Maegi sacrifices Daenerys' unborn child. Drogo remains alive, but is in a kind of vegetative state. Since he will never wake up from this state, she feels sorry for her once so proud husband and suffocates him. With the Dothraki only following strength, Drogo's following disintegrates almost instantly, leaving Daenerys only with the weakest and most despised.

When Khal Drogo's body is cremated, she places the three dragon eggs on her husband and also hands the maegi over to the flames. While the fire burns, Daenerys is entranced by the flames and steps inside. The fire cannot harm her and she rises from the ashes with three newly hatched dragon cubs. The few remaining Dothraki and Ser Jorah swear allegiance to her. As the first female khal and mother of the only three dragons, Daenerys decides to build an army and regain the throne of Westeros.

characters

Narrative perspectives

The individual chapters are each told from the perspective of a main character. The person's name is also the chapter heading, with the exception of the prologue. Nine of these main characters are presented in the book.

Content related to the title

The title A Game of Thrones is used in different places and in different variations during the narrative. This is used as a metaphor for the conflict and struggle of large houses for power. A defeat in this game is often associated with death or associated with a fatal outcome.

  • “[The common people] don't care if the lords throw the dice for the throne, as long as you leave it in peace.” - Jorah Mormont in conversation with Daenerys Targaryen
  • “If you play the game for thrones, you win or you die.” - Cersei Lannister in conversation with Eddard Stark
  • “Why is it always the innocent who suffer most when you gentlemen play your game for thrones?” - Varys in conversation with Eddard Stark
  • "Wait, let the two kings play their game for thrones." - Stevron Frey before the council of war of Robb Stark on Joffrey and Renly Baratheon

Variations also appear in the subsequent volumes.

Awards and nominations

translation to German

The novel, translated by Jörn Ingwersen, was divided into two volumes by the Blanvalet publishing house for the German paperback edition and was published as:

As a special edition, Fantasy Productions (FanPro) published a limited edition in one volume ( Eisenthron , 2004; ISBN 3-89064-532-1 ).

Originally surnames and place names were left in their original form (Snow, Redfort, Eyrie, King's Landing), since 2010 a new edition has been published by Blanvalet ( ISBN 978-3-442-26774-3 and ISBN 978-3-442-26781- 1 ), in which several names were Germanized. So there is, for example, the capital of King's mouth and House Lannister Lannister .

  • 2016: Game of Thrones 1: Winter is approaching ( The Lords of Winterfell & The Legacy of Winterfell summarized in an undivided German-language edition), Penhaligon Verlag, ISBN 978-3764531522

expenditure

  • George RR Martin: A Game of Thrones . Bantam Books, New York 1996 (several reprints), ISBN 0-553-10354-7 .

filming

The novel will be shown in the first season of the US television series Game of Thrones . The series remained very close to the novel as in no other season.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin, George RR (2010): A Song of Ice and Fire. The Lords of Winterfell . Munich: Random House GmbH, p. 296.
  2. ↑ Martin, George RR (2010): A Song of Ice and Fire. Winterfell's legacy . Munich: Random House GmbH, p. 82.
  3. ↑ Martin, George RR (2010): A Song of Ice and Fire. Winterfell's legacy . Munich: Random House GmbH, p. 282.
  4. ↑ Martin, George RR (2010): A Song of Ice and Fire. Winterfell's legacy . Munich: Random House GmbH, p. 497.

annotation

  1. ↑ The English original speaks of the direwolf , the Canis dirus , a species of a large dog that is now extinct.
The Song of Ice and Fire


Books

A Game of Thrones  (1996) • A Clash of Kings  (1999) • A Storm of Swords  (2000) • A Feast for Crows  (2005) • A Dance with Dragons  (2011) • The Winds of Winter • A Dream of Spring

series

Game of Thrones ( Episode  List • Season 1  • Season 2  • Season 3  • Season 4  • Season 5  • Season 6  • Season 7  • Season 8 )