Uncover all the hidden pop culture references in A Song of Ice and Fire

Image: The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring/New Line Cinema

The Lord of the Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien is an inspiration to pretty much every fantasy author alive, and Martin has been very open about drawing inspiration from his seminal The Lord of the Rings, even framing A Song of Ice and Fire has “answer” to Tolkien’s story:

"This was maybe my answer to Tolkien, whom, as much as I admire him, I do quibble with. Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history and it’s not that simple. Tolkien can say that Aragorn became king and reigned for a hundred years, and he was wise and good. But Tolkien doesn’t ask the question: What was Aragorn’s tax policy? Did he maintain a standing army? What did he do in times of flood and famine? And what about all these orcs? By the end of the war, Sauron is gone but all of the orcs aren’t gone – they’re in the mountains. Did Aragorn pursue a policy of systematic genocide and kill them? Even the little baby orcs, in their little orc cradles?"

But Martin may have gone a bit further and slipped explicit references to Tolkien characters directly into his series. To start, there’s Theodan the True, one of the Warrior’s Sons under the Faith of the Seven. Théoden was the name of the king of Rohan in The Lord of the Rings.

"His High Holiness has been expecting you. I am Ser Theodan the True, formerly Ser Theodan Wells. If Your Grace will come with me."

There’s also an island in Westeros called Oakenshield, which shares a name with the dwarf Thorin II Oakenshield from The Hobbit. We’ll even point out that Khal Drogo shares a name with Drogo Baggins, father to Frodo.

Not all of these references may have been intentional, but considering how big of a fan Martin is of Tolkien’s work, we wouldn’t be surprised.