House of the Dragon linguist on how Game of Thrones renewed the interest in fictional languages

The author of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin, has been a great champion of the fantasy genre. As we all know, one of the most crucial aspects of a successful dream is that it distinguishes itself from reality, and one key component of that is language. As some of you may know, linguist David J. Peterson created the Dothraki and High Valyrian languages especially for the TV adaptation, based on the minimal use of the languages in the novels.

Game of Thrones renewed the interest in fully developed fictional languages in the film industry

Peterson recently talked to The Guardian in an interview, where he recalled how he was getting more calls for work after developing Dothraki and Valyrian for Game of Thrones. He said, “Game of Thrones was so big that everyone wanted to hire everybody who worked on Game of Thrones. That’s why I got my second, fourth, and 15th job.”

David J. Peterson feels most fans won’t know a linguist’s contribution to a TV show or film

Peterson and his partner, Jessie Sams, both create fictional languages for a living, and both have worked on popular TV shows like The Witcher and Game of Thrones. Jessie remarked, “Ninety-eight percent of viewers are never going to know 99 percent of what we do.”

Peterson joined in, “It doesn’t matter if people don’t really notice it at the time. It’s always going to be there. And so at some point in time, if somebody decides to analyze it, it’s going to hold up or it’s not.” 

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