Theories
Game of Thrones fan had guessed the meaning of Hodor’s name back in 2008!
The ending of Game of Thrones season 6 episode 6 was really heart-breaking. It was tough for the fans to watch the climax scene without getting emotional or shedding a tear or two. Finally after all these years we came to know the meaning of Hodor’s name and it was an overwhelming experience. Fans have been guessing the meaning of Hodor since a long time and there were theories which suggested that he was a warg and one that suggested that it was somehow related to the White Walkers. However all that turned out to be false.
Have you played our Game of Thrones themed Wordle, Hodordle?
The first person to solve the mystery of Hodor’s name
However there is a Game of Thrones fan who had correctly guessed the meaning of Hodor’s name way back in 2008. The great man who had correctly guessed it is a forum member with the name Myrddin. Myrddin guessed this answer on a thread on Westeros.org forums in 2008! The thread was started in 2008 with the question, “What does Hodor mean?”
Here’s the answer that was given by Myrddin:
The poor guy is just asking someone to hold the door for him, since he’s always carrying someone else around. After a while, “Hold the door” became “Hold the doorHold the doorHoldoorHodoor. Dammit! Hold the door!” His mind finally snapped, and now all he can say is Hodor.
Now, even though he didn’t exactly guess the scenario in which the name originated, he was bang on target when it came to how the name originated. I bet that right now this guy might be an internet celebrity for getting it right and that too in 2008!
Michael A. Ventrella’s elevator interaction with George R.R. Martin
However, he wasn’t the only person to correctly guess the origin of Hodor’s name. A writer named Michael A. Ventrella had written a blog post about his interaction with George R.R. Martin at a convention in 2014, where both of them were guest authors and he happened to bump into GRRM many times in the elevator. On the third occassion, Martin told Ventrella that he always wanted to be an elevator operator. After that incident, when they met for the final time, Ventrella told Martin that Hodor might be the short name for “Hold the door”.
Martin: I always wanted to be an elevator operator. If the writing thing hadn’t worked out…
We both laughed and went on to our rooms.
The final time we ended up together, the conversation went like this:
Me: I finally figured out why you have a character named “Hodor.”
Martin: Oh?
Me: I was thinking about your comment about wanting to be an elevator operator. It’s clear to me now that “Hodor” is short for “Hold the door.”
Martin: (laughing) You don’t know how close to the truth you are!
There you have it. we have two people who guessed the meaning of Hodor’s name in 2014 and 2008. Hats off to these wonderful people for guessing it correctly.
Taking place nearly a century before the events of A Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms compiles the first three official prequel novellas to George R. R. Martin’s ongoing masterwork, A Song of Ice and Fire.