High valyrian translation sources are the documented materials behind every word in our dictionary and every result our translators produce. This page explains exactly where our 400 entries come from, how we verify them, what our tools can and cannot do, and how you can help us fix mistakes. Trust is earned with specifics, so here are ours.
Quick Answer
Our 400 High Valyrian dictionary entries come from the public language documentation on wiki.dothraki.org, on-screen Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon dialogue as transcribed and analyzed by the language community, and the published language materials of David J. Peterson, the linguist who created High Valyrian. The chain runs: show dialogue, community documentation on the wiki, then our dictionary. Entries are reviewed against the wiki’s documentation before publication.
Where Our 400 High Valyrian Entries Come From
High Valyrian is a constructed language created by linguist David J. Peterson for Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. Because the language was built for television, its vocabulary exists in a specific, traceable chain, and our high valyrian translation sources follow that chain directly.
| Link in the chain | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| On-screen dialogue | New Valyrian words first appear in episodes of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. A line spoken in High Valyrian is the raw source material. | Daenerys commanding her dragons with the fire command |
| Community documentation | Fans and linguists transcribe that dialogue, analyze its grammar, and record the vocabulary in the public High Valyrian wiki at wiki.dothraki.org, the community-maintained reference for the language Peterson created. | Dictionary-style entries with glosses, parts of speech, and attestations |
| Our dictionary | We take the wiki’s documented entries as the source for our own 400-entry High Valyrian dictionary, which powers both our English to Valyrian translator and Valyrian to English translator. | Searchable entries with meanings and pronunciation notes |
Peterson’s own published materials supplement the wiki where the creator has released language notes, interviews, or explanations of his own constructions. We do not invent intermediate sources: if an entry traces to a documented line of dialogue on the wiki, that is what we say. We do not fabricate episode timestamps or scene references we cannot verify.
How These High Valyrian Translation Sources Get Verified
Before any entry goes into our dictionary, it passes a simple verification routine.
- Cross-check against the wiki. The spelling, meaning, and part of speech of entries are reviewed against the documentation on wiki.dothraki.org. Entries that do not match do not ship.
- Uncertain items are marked. Some words appear in dialogue with disputed meanings or multiple possible readings. We do not silently pick one: such entries carry a note that the meaning is uncertain or reconstructed.
- Phrase entries are stored whole. Famous lines like Valar morghūlis (“All men must die.”) and Zaldrīzes buzdari iksos daor (“A dragon is not a slave.”) are recorded as complete documented phrases, because their attested form is the phrase itself, not a grammar exercise we assemble ourselves.
- Corrections are welcomed and applied. The wiki evolves as the community analyzes new dialogue; when our entries fall behind or a reader spots an error, we update. See the reporting section below.
What Our Tools Can and Cannot Do
Being explicit about limits is the entire point of documenting our sources. Here is the honest boundary for these high valyrian translation sources.
| Our tools can | Our tools cannot |
|---|---|
| Look up any of the 400 documented words and their meanings | Invent authentic Valyrian words for concepts with no attested term |
| Translate phrases built from documented vocabulary | Guarantee native-level nuance: there are no native speakers of High Valyrian |
| Show pronunciation and usage notes alongside results | Instantly absorb brand-new House of the Dragon dialogue before the community documents it |
| Decode famous lines and common phrases reliably | Reproduce the full grammatical subtlety of the language in long sentences |
In short: our tools are a window onto the documented language, not a replacement for it. The main High Valyrian translator combines both directions, while the individual English to Valyrian and Valyrian to English translators let you work one way at a time.
Our Editorial Promises About Our High Valyrian Translation Sources
- Every entry has a documented basis. Our 400 words are compiled from the chain above: community documentation, dialogue, and Peterson’s materials. We do not invent entries.
- Reconstructions are always labeled. When a translation is assembled from documented parts rather than attested as a whole phrase, we say so. You will never find an invented word presented as historical Valyrian.
- We cite the wiki openly. We link to wiki.dothraki.org as our primary source because it is one. Hiding sources is what untrustworthy sites do.
- Corrections are welcome. We would rather be corrected than be wrong. Any reader can report an error, and verified corrections are published.
- No inflated claims. We will not claim perfect accuracy, native-level quality, or the “biggest” anything. The language community’s documentation is the authority; we are its careful students.
What “Attested” Means on This Site
In language documentation, attested means a word or phrase is actually recorded in a reliable source: spoken on screen, written in Peterson’s published materials, or documented in the community wiki with a source. Reconstructed means a line was assembled by us from attested words, so its components are real even though the exact sentence never appeared in the show. We use these two labels consistently across the site, including in our High Valyrian wedding vows, so readers always know what they are reading. If a claim on another site carries neither label nor source, treat it as unverified.
How to Report an Error in Our High Valyrian Translation Sources
Found a wrong meaning, a misspelled word, or an entry that no longer matches the wiki? Reliable high valyrian translation sources stay current, so we genuinely want to know. Contact us through the site’s contact page with the word, what you believe is wrong, and (if you have it) a link to the relevant wiki page so we can verify quickly. Reports that cite a source get processed first, because verification is everything around here. Learn more about who maintains the site on our About Us page, or start learning the language with our beginner’s guide while you wait.
Translation Sources FAQs
Where do the words in your dictionary come from?
From the public High Valyrian wiki at wiki.dothraki.org, which documents vocabulary from Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon dialogue along with the published materials of David J. Peterson, the language’s creator. Our 400 entries were compiled from that documentation and reviewed against it.
Why only 400 words?
Because we publish only what we can verify. High Valyrian’s documented vocabulary is finite: it is a constructed language built for television, not a natural language with centuries of recorded use. Four hundred verified entries we stand behind is worth more than four thousand unverified guesses.
What if the word I need is missing?
First, check whether it is a genuinely undocumented concept: even famous words can be absent from a given dictionary. Try a synonym or a simpler phrasing built from documented words, and check the wiki for the latest community documentation, which may be ahead of ours after new episodes air.
Do you invent words to fill gaps?
No. We never present an invented word as real, attested Valyrian. Where a translation must be assembled from documented parts, it is labeled as reconstructed. An honest gap beats a confident fabrication, always.
Why do subtitles and the dictionary sometimes spell words differently?
Because the show’s subtitle team and Peterson’s lexicon made different choices. The best-known case is the dragonfire command: subtitles write “Dracarys,” while the published dictionary spells it drakarys. Both refer to the same word. We follow the dictionary spelling in our entries and explain the on-screen variant where it matters.