High Valyrian Phrases | Words, Meaning and Usage 2026

Welcome to our complete collection of High Valyrian phrases — the web’s most detailed free guide to learning High Valyrian phrases with accurate meanings, pronunciation, and real usage examples from Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. Whether you want to speak like Daenerys, find tattoo inspiration, or master everyday High Valyrian phrases, this guide brings the most beloved High Valyrian phrases together in one place.

Want to build your own sentences? Try our free English to Valyrian translator or decode what you hear with our Valyrian to English translator. High Valyrian was created by linguist David J. Peterson for HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Below you will find the most useful High Valyrian phrases organized by theme — greetings, battle cries, words of wisdom, and romantic lines — each with a simple pronunciation guide. Bookmark this collection of High Valyrian phrases and return whenever you need the perfect line.

From iconic High Valyrian phrases like valar morghulis to everyday greetings, every entry includes the Valyrian text, a plain-English meaning, and pronunciation tips so you can use these High Valyrian phrases with confidence. For single words, the High Valyrian dictionary gives you the exact meaning and pronunciation.

Common High Valyrian Phrases

Start with these common High Valyrian phrases — the greetings, courtesies, and iconic lines fans actually use. Every phrase below is documented in the language David J. Peterson created for the shows, with its English meaning and the moment it fits.

Common High Valyrian Phrases — Quick Questions

Q: Which High Valyrian phrases should a beginner learn first? A: The greetings set: rytsas (hello), kirimvose (thank you), biarvose (you’re welcome), and geros ilas (goodbye) — then the famous pair valar morghulis and valar dohaeris. Those six cover most fan conversations.

Q: Are the common High Valyrian phrases on this page from the shows? A: Yes. They are documented phrases from the language David J. Peterson created for Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon — the same forms listed in the public High Valyrian wiki and taught in the Duolingo course.

Conclusion

There are countless High Valyrian phrases in the High Valyrian language, created and refined by its growing community of speakers. Gamers, writers, and roleplayers use these High Valyrian phrases to add an authentic sense of fantasy to their games, stories, and dialogue. We hope this collection of High Valyrian phrases helps you find the perfect line — copy any phrase above and start speaking like a true Valyrian.

High Valyrian Phrases FAQs

Valyrian Phrases — New Sections: Tattoos, Names & Pronunciation

Valyrian Phrases for Tattoos

Valyrian is one of the most tattooed fictional languages on earth, and it’s easy to see why — the phrases are short, the meanings run deep, and the script of those long vowels looks stunning in ink. But a tattoo is forever, and Valyrian has traps for the careless: one missing macron and your “all men must die” becomes linguistic gibberish.

The golden rules of Valyrian ink: keep it short (short phrases age better and hurt less), verify every single macron (ā ē ī ō ū ȳ — those bars are not decoration), and check the word-by-word meaning, not just the headline translation. Never trust a tattoo artist’s “I found it on Pinterest” version.

Here are the phrases that actually work as tattoos:

(Pronunciations are practical approximations for English speakers, not phonetic transcripts.)

Placement tip: wrist and forearm suit the short phrases (dracarys, valar morghulis); the longer lines deserve ribs, back, or thigh where the lettering can breathe. And please — show your artist this page, not a blurry screenshot.

Valyrian Phrases for Names & Titles

Naming a character, a pet, a gaming handle, or — let’s be honest — a future child? Valyrian gives you options that sound ancient and powerful without sounding made up, because they aren’t.

The trick is following the language’s real conventions instead of bolting cool syllables together:

Follow the show’s pattern: Valyrian titles and epithets come after the name — Daenerys Jelmazmo, never Jelmazmo Daenerys. Copy that structure ([Name] + [Epithet]) and whatever you create will instantly feel authentic.

For dragons specifically, take inspiration from the show’s own: Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal. One honest note — those are the show’s dragon names, not dictionary Valyrian words, so treat them as inspiration for style rather than vocabulary you can translate.

And a plea from everyone who loves this language: don’t invent words and call them Valyrian. With real words this good available, there’s no need.

How to Pronounce Valyrian Phrases

You don’t need to sound like a native speaker — there are none; it’s a constructed language. But you can absolutely avoid the common mispronunciations that make fans wince.

Rule one: every letter gets pronounced. Valyrian doesn’t have silent letters hiding in corners. If it’s written, say it.

Rule two: respect the macrons. Those bars over vowels (ā ē ī ō ū ȳ) mean “hold this vowel longer” — roughly twice as long as the short version. Zaldrīzes with a short “i” and zaldrīzes with a long “ī” don’t sound the same, and the long version is correct.

Rule three: learn the vowel sounds. As a practical guide for English speakers: ā sounds like “ah,” ē like “eh,” ī like “ee,” ō like “oh,” ū like “oo,” and ȳ like the French “u” (lips rounded, tongue forward). Get these right and you’re 80% of the way there.

Rule four: lean on the long vowels. As a rule of thumb, give the macron-marked vowels the emphasis in the word. It won’t be perfect classical pronunciation, but it’ll be close — and it’ll sound a hundred times better than flattening everything into English vowels.

Try it with the famous ones:

Say them out loud. Right now. There’s no better way to make the sounds stick — and you’ll feel approximately 40% more powerful.

Phrases FAQ

What’s the most popular Valyrian tattoo phrase?

“Valar morghulis” — by an enormous margin. “Dracarys” comes second, mostly as a single-word piece. If you want something less common, “zaldrīzes buzdari iksos daor” (a dragon is not a slave) is the connoisseur’s choice.

How do I make sure the spelling is 100% right?

Three checks: verify every macron against this page, run the phrase through the site’s translator for a word-by-word breakdown, and keep a screenshot of the verified version for your artist. Never let anyone “fix” the spelling from memory.

Can I combine two phrases into one tattoo?

Yes — and the classic pairing is “valar morghulis / valar dohaeris” together, since they’re the traditional call and response. Keep combinations to phrases that genuinely belong together grammatically; don’t splice random halves.

Is it disrespectful to tattoo a constructed language?

Not at all. High Valyrian has no native speakers and no sacred status — it was created for television by a linguist who loves seeing fans use it. What would be a shame is tattooing it misspelled. That’s the only real sin here.