The History
The Targaryens are the royal (or ex-royal) house of the Seven Kingdoms, but they weren't always. Hundreds of years ago, they were one of the mighty dragon-riding houses of the Valyrian Freehold.
The Valyrians originate from the the Valyrian Peninsula. Their homeland was full of active volcanos were dragons dwelled. Exactly how the Valyrians tamed the dragons is unknown, but harnessing their power the Valyrians managed to conqueror huge swaths of Essos. This empire was known as the Valyrian Freehold.
Two dozen families helmed the Freehold, among them were the Targaryens. Relatively minor, the Targaryens eventually moved to Dragonstone. From this tiny island, Aegon the Conqueror took over the Seven Kingdoms.
After the Conquest, the Targaryens continued to speak their mother tongue: High Valyrian.
High Valyrian Writing
The people of the Valyrian Freehold did not write used with an alphabet, like in English. Instead, they had a writing system with many, many glyphs.
Glyphs can be read either as a single sound (think “m”), as a full word (think “mother”), or pronounced as that word without accounting for meaning (think “muña”).
Importantly, High Valyrian does not record short vowels (a vs ā).
For example, the most important Targaryen in the books—Daenerys—might spell her name with the glyph for “chase” pronounced DAEN + the glyph for R (this lets the reader know to insert a short vowel!) + the glyph for “dragonfire” (DRACA)RYS.
In HBO’s House of the Dragon we meet several more Targaryens.
Rhaenyra
The only surviving child of King Viserys I and Queen Aemma Arryn, Rhaenyra was proclaimed her father’s heir after her younger brother passed away in infancy.
Rhaenyra attempted to ascend the throne after her father’s passing. Unfortunately for her, so did her
younger half-brother, Aegon. Thus began the Dance of the Dragons.
Rhaenyra’s name is written with the glyph for “meet” RHAEN + the glyph read as R (remember the short ‘y’ is implied!) + the glyph for “woman” (ABR)A.
Daemon
Brother of King Viserys I and husband of Rhaenyra Targaryen, Daemon was known as the Rogue Prince. He spent much of his life away from King’s Landing, as he had a tumultuous relationship with his brother.
Daemon’s name would be written with the glyph for “violet” DAEM.
Valyrians often had violet eyes, a trait not seen in other peoples. For this reason, the word for “violet eye colour” (daemōñe) came to mean authentically Valyrian”. Daemon’s name is a reference to his heritage.
The ending of his name ON can be achieved with several different glyphs as it’s mostly grammatical. Unlike in English, Valyrian words need to have certain endings to work with their grammar.
Because the first part of his name refers to his eyes, it’s likely he would use the “stone” glyph DŌRON.
Alternatively, he would write his name with the glyph for “egg” DRŌMON, “salt” LOPON, “table” QURDON, “earth” TEGON, “mountain” BLĒNON, or “rope” HUBON.
Aegon
Several Targaryen kings had this name. The first was Aegon the Conqueror, progenitor of the dynasty. With his sisters Rhaenys and Visenya, he conquered (most of) the Seven Kingdoms.
The first part of this name comes from the Valyrian word for “iron” āegion. In names it is typically read as AEG.
Much like Daemon’s name, the ending of Aegon’s name can be written several ways.
Because there were several Aegon’s, they often got by-names to distinguish them. Here are the first three.
Aegon the Conquer would be Āegon Ērintys in High Valyrian.
Aegon the Elder is Āegon Uēpir.
Āegon Zaldrīzer-Buqtys means Aegon the Dragonbane.
To learn about the Targaryen names in The Knights of the Seven Kingdoms in this blog.
Viserys
The name Viserys belongs to King Viserys I and King Viserys II, who are both important for the Dance of Dragons.
The name likely comes from High Valyrian visagon, “to manage”.
However, at this stage there is no glyph for that concept. So instead, their name would be spelled V + S + (DRAKA)RYS “dragonfire”.
Baela and Rhaena
Daemon has two daughters, the princess Baela and Rhaena. Unlike most of the Targaryens in the Dance of the Dragons, both of them survived the war.
To write Baela’s name, use the glyph for “help” BAEL + the glyph for “woman” (ABR)A.
To write Rhaena’s name, use the same glyph as Rhaenyra, i.e. RHAEN “meet” + the glyph for “woman” (ABR)A.
Daeron the Daring
The third son of Viserys I and his second wife, Queen Alicent, Daeron is one of many Targaryens with this name!
In fact, he was not the only Daeron running around at the time. He had a distance cousin named Daeron Velaryon, the father of the future Queen Daenaera Velaryon.
Future Daerons in the family tree were named after this other Daeron, not Daeron the Daring.
The name Daeron combines the Valyrian word for “free” DĀER.
Once again, the ending of his name is optional. In this case, I used the glyph for “mountain” (BLĒN)ON. Because I felt like “free mountain” goes better together.
His by-name “the Daring” can be translated as Nēdys, meaning “brave person”.
Laenor and Laena
This brother and sister pair share very similar names.
The glyph representing LAEN has an unknown meaning.
Their names have different grammatical endings. While High Valyrian does not specific gendered endings, some endings are favoured for boys or girls.
LŌGOR, “boat”, is often used for the -or ending.
Meanwhile, Laena’s name used the ending (ABR)A meaning “woman”.
Helaena
The sister and wife of Aegon II, in the show she is a rare Dragon Dreamer. This gives her foresight into the destruction facing her family (and sends her a little mad).
Helaena's name comes from the High Valyrian word for "oleander" helaenor.
At this stage, there is no glyph for oleander, so her name would be spelled H + LAEN + A.
Aemond One-Eye
A key player in the Dance, Aemond lost his eye as a child in a brawl with his nephews. His earned him the moniker: One-Eye.
Becuase Valyrian words do not end with an D, his name is likely a Westerosi form of Aemondor, much like how "Alysanne" is pronounced al-is-an rather than al-ys-an-neh.
This would mean his name combined the Valyrian aemagon "to have" with the word for "power" ondor.
Rhaenys
Last but not least, Rhaenys: the “Queen Who Never Was”.
Her name uses the same glyph as Rhaenyra, namely RHAEN “meet”. This is combined with the glyph for “fire” (PERZ)YS.
Let me know if the comments your favorite Targaryen name!
If you are a fan of the Targaryens, you'll love this printable poster of the Valyrian Freehold.
Map of Old Valyria | Map for Game of Thrones
Map of Old Valyria | Map for Game of Thrones
🏳 Looking for a map of the Valyrian Freehold? 🏳
Are you a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin? Buy a gift for a Game of Thrones fan. This printable map is sure to WOW the crowd. Display this map on your wall or bookshelf beside your collection.
The original art is fully hand-drawn and painted with watercolors to give it an authentic look. Discover the various corners of the Valyrian Freehold.
This poster print would look fantastic on a wall or on your bookshelf.
Here's what you get with the MAP OF OLD VALYRIA
✅ BLANK map. Just the map. Admire the colors and contours of Essos without labels. It features the famous "Fourteen Flames" intact and the Valyrian peninsula pre-Doom.
✅ ENGLISH. A map of Old Valyria with easily legible labels for all notable locations. Places in the Freehold itself are marked in purple (other locations have other colors assigned), so you can see the extent of the empire.
✅ VALYRIAN GLYPHS. An "authentic" map of the empire, as the Valyrians would see it. This version of the map has the locations labelled with the Valyrian glyphs created by David J. Peterson. I have stylized the glyphs so they look "hand-drawn" (because they were!).
✅ VALYRIAN GLYPHS + ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS. Love the idea of a map of the Freehold with Valyrian Glyphs, but want to know what they say at the same time? This map includes both.
Who is this for?
✅ Fans of A Song of Ice and Fire books who want to liven up their bookshelf with Game of Thrones-themed art
✅ Fans of House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms who want a cool poster to hang on their walls
✅ Friends and family looking for an awesome gift for a Game of Thrones fan!
🌟 PRODUCT INFORMATION🌟
This poster is recommended for printing as A3 (metric paper size). It is highly recommended that this map be printed in color. You can cut it to size to fit in a photo frame, as shown in the product images.
📌 Please Note:
This is a digital download; no physical product will be shipped.
Since this is a digital file, we cannot provide returns or exchanges on downloadable items. While the creator has made every effort to translate terms into High Valyrian Glyphs correctly, there may be variations or mistakes in the text, as she is not the original creator.