How to Say Goodbye in High Valyrian
The High Valyrian phrase for “goodbye” is geros ilas (pronounced GEH-ros EE-lahs). It covers “goodbye”, “bye”, and “farewell” all at once, and it carries one of the most beautiful literal meanings in the whole language: “may the path lie straight”.
If “hello” opens the door in High Valyrian, geros ilas closes it with grace. This guide breaks down the pronunciation, the poetry hidden inside the phrase, a shorter form for casual use, and example sentences, plus answers to the questions fans ask most.
How to Pronounce Geros Ilas
Geros ilas is two words, each with the stress on its first syllable: GEH-ros EE-lahs. The official pronunciation guide gives /ˈgeros ˈilas/, which means you lean on “GEH” and “EE” and let the other syllables fall softly after them.
Practice tips:
- Keep the “g” hard, as in “go”, never soft like “gem”.
- The “o” in “geros” is a pure “oh” sound, short and clean.
- Run the two words together smoothly, almost like one flowing phrase: “GEH-rosee-LAHS” said as a single breath.
There is also a shortened form, gerosilas (geh-roh-SEE-lahs), where the two words fuse into one. Use geros ilas when you want the full, proper farewell, and gerosilas when you are in a hurry or speaking casually, much like “goodbye” versus “bye” in English.
What Geros Ilas Literally Means
This is where High Valyrian shows off. Geros ilas derives from the phrase Geros ilas!, which literally means “May the path lie straight!”
Think about that for a moment. A Valyrian farewell is not really about the parting at all. It is a blessing for the journey ahead: may your road be free of twists, obstacles, and danger. In a world of sea voyages between Essos and Westeros, of queens crossing deserts with dragons in tow, wishing someone a straight path was wishing them safety, luck, and a swift return.
This road imagery runs deep in the culture. The related noun geron means “path” or “way”, and from it comes geralbar, a grand road or thoroughfare. When you say geros ilas, you are tapping into a whole Valyrian worldview in which life itself is a road to be walked well.
For more of this hidden linguistic poetry, see our guide to Valar Dohaeris and its true meaning, where an equally famous phrase turns out to be subtler than it sounds.
Example Sentences: Goodbye in High Valyrian
Every sentence below uses documented High Valyrian vocabulary.
Geros ilas! Goodbye!
Geros ilas arli! Farewell again! (Literally “goodbye, again”, for when you expect to meet the person soon.)
Gerosilas! Bye! (The shortened, casual form.)
Geros ilas, mittys! Goodbye, fool! (A playful or teasing farewell; “mittys” means fool. Save this one for friends.)
Notice how the phrase stays intact while the words around it change the flavor: warm, expectant, or mischievous. That flexibility is the mark of a real, working farewell rather than a frozen catchphrase.
When to Use Geros Ilas
Use geros ilas anywhere you would say goodbye in English: leaving a gathering, ending a conversation, or signing off a message. A few usage notes from the documented vocabulary:
- Geros ilas: the complete, proper farewell. Default to this.
- Gerosilas: the quick, casual “bye”. Friends, fast chats, repeated farewells.
- Geros ilas arli: “farewell again”, perfect when parting is temporary and you will see the person soon.
Pair it with its natural bookends to hold a whole conversation in Valyrian: open with rytsas (hello), sprinkle in kirimvose (thank you) where gratitude is due, and close with geros ilas. Three phrases, one complete exchange, and you already sound like someone who has done their homework.
A Note on Farewells in the World of the Shows
Geros ilas comes from Peterson’s official High Valyrian phrasebook, the same body of documented vocabulary taught in the Duolingo course, rather than from a single scripted scene. That makes it genuinely practical: it is the farewell ordinary speakers of the language would use every day, from dragonlords taking their leave to sailors pushing off from a Volantene dock.
There is something fitting about a culture as road-obsessed as the Valyrians blessing every departure. The old Valyrian Freehold was built on movement: ships, armies, dragons crossing continents. “May the path lie straight” is the kind of farewell a civilization of travelers would invent, and now it can be yours too.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you say goodbye in High Valyrian?
Say geros ilas (GEH-ros EE-lahs). It means “goodbye”, “bye”, and “farewell”, and it is documented in David J. Peterson’s official High Valyrian phrasebook.
What does geros ilas literally mean?
It derives from the phrase Geros ilas!, literally “May the path lie straight!” A Valyrian goodbye is really a blessing for a safe and smooth journey.
Is there a shorter way to say bye in High Valyrian?
Yes. Gerosilas (geh-roh-SEE-lahs) fuses the two words into one, like saying “bye” instead of “goodbye”.
How do you say “farewell again” in High Valyrian?
Say Geros ilas arli! It is the documented way to bid someone farewell when you expect to see them again soon.
Keep Learning
You now hold the complete Valyrian conversation arc: hello (rytsas), thank you (kirimvose), and goodbye (geros ilas). To go deeper into the language’s most iconic phrases, read what Valar Dohaeris really means and how to say “I love you” in High Valyrian, explore High Valyrian dragon names, or start building your own sentences in our free High Valyrian translator.
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