Who Created High Valyrian? Meet David J. Peterson
High Valyrian did not emerge from George R.R. Martin’s novels fully formed — the books contain only a handful of Valyrian words. So who created High Valyrian? The person who turned those fragments into a complete language is David J. Peterson, a professional linguist hired by HBO to create the languages of Game of Thrones. His work on High Valyrian (and Dothraki) set a new standard for constructed languages on television.
This article answers who created High Valyrian and tells the story of how Peterson got the job, what he built from Martin’s raw material, and how his design choices shaped the language fans hear in both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.
Quick Answer
Who created High Valyrian? Linguist David J. Peterson, who was hired by HBO for Game of Thrones after winning a competition run by the Language Creation Society. He also created Dothraki for the series. Starting from the few Valyrian words in George R.R. Martin’s books, Peterson designed a full grammar — eight noun cases, four noun classes, SOV word order — and a vocabulary of thousands of words, later expanded for House of the Dragon.
David J. Peterson: The Man Behind the Language
To understand who created High Valyrian, start with the man himself: David J. Peterson is a linguist by training and a language inventor by profession. Before Game of Thrones, he was active in the online constructed-language community, where hobbyists design artificial languages the way others might compose music or build model railways. He co-founded the Language Creation Society, an organization devoted to the art and craft of inventing languages, and his academic background gave him the tools to build languages with the depth and consistency of natural ones.
When HBO needed believable languages for its adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, the producers did not want actors mumbling made-up syllables. They wanted speech with real structure — something that would hold up under repetition across seasons. Peterson, already respected in conlang circles, was the natural kind of specialist for the job, and the competition process confirmed it.
Since Game of Thrones, Peterson has become the most prominent language creator working in film and television, building languages for numerous other productions. But High Valyrian and Dothraki remain his signature achievements — the projects that proved a television language could be a serious linguistic work.
How He Won the Job
HBO’s language needs were put out as a competition administered through the Language Creation Society. Applicants were asked to produce sample translations and grammatical sketches demonstrating how they would handle the material in Martin’s books. Peterson’s submission stood out for its linguistic rigor: rather than inventing exotic-sounding words at random, he showed how a coherent sound system and grammar could generate the book’s existing words naturally.
Winning the competition to decide who created High Valyrian meant Peterson was hired to create not one but two major languages for the series: Dothraki, the harsh tongue of the horselords of the Dothraki Sea, and High Valyrian, the refined language of the dragonlords. The two were designed to feel like opposites — Dothraki guttural and direct, High Valyrian flowing and formal — reflecting the cultures that speak them.
From a Handful of Words to a Full Language
Martin’s novels gave Peterson very little to work with: a few famous phrases and scattered terms, among them valar morghulis (“all men must die”), valar dohaeris (“all men must serve”), and dracarys (“dragonfire”). Everything else — the grammar, the sound system, the thousands of additional words — is Peterson’s invention, reverse-engineered so that Martin’s original words fit naturally into the larger design.
This “backwards” process is one of the most impressive aspects of the work. The new grammar had to produce the old words: whatever rules Peterson wrote for verbs and nouns, they had to generate valar morghulis exactly as Martin spelled it. Fans can verify the results on the public High Valyrian wiki, where the vocabulary and grammar are documented in full.
| Martin’s original word | Meaning | What Peterson built around it |
|---|---|---|
| Valar morghulis | All men must die | A complete verb system in which valar (“all men”) and the verb form fit documented conjugation patterns |
| Valar dohaeris | All men must serve | Parallel ritual phrasing showing consistent syntax across related sayings |
| Dracarys | Dragonfire | A dragon-related vocabulary family, including zaldrizes (“dragon”) |
| Zaldrizes (show usage) | Dragon | A full noun declension system — zaldrizes is a documented solar-class noun |
Note: the table above describes Peterson’s design method; the exact derivations are documented on the High Valyrian wiki, and forms built by fans beyond the documented material should always be labeled as reconstructed.
Peterson’s Design: What Makes High Valyrian Distinctive
Peterson gave High Valyrian the character of a classical language — the in-world equivalent of Latin. Its signature features include eight noun cases, four noun classes (lunar, solar, terrestrial, aquatic) instead of masculine/feminine gender, default subject-object-verb word order, and a vowel system that distinguishes long vowels written with macrons (ā ē ī ō ū ȳ). These choices make it feel ancient and formal next to the blunter Dothraki.
The language was also designed to age. Peterson created not just High Valyrian but its descendant dialects — the rougher Valyrian varieties heard in Slaver’s Bay — by applying centuries of fictional sound change to the parent language, the way real dialects diverge from Latin into French, Spanish, and Italian. Our guide to the High Valyrian dialects explores Astapori and Meereenese Valyrian in detail.
When House of the Dragon required extensive new High Valyrian dialogue, Peterson returned to expand the language further, coining the additional vocabulary the prequel’s Targaryen-centered story demanded.
Trying the Language Yourself
You can explore the work of the man who created High Valyrian directly: look up any documented word in the High Valyrian dictionary, decode lines from the show with the Valyrian to English translator, or test your own sentences with the English to Valyrian translator. Our guide to how High Valyrian translation works explains what these tools do — and where they honestly fall short.
Related Valyrian Tools
- Valyrian to English translator — decode High Valyrian text into English
- English to Valyrian translator — render English phrases in High Valyrian
- High Valyrian dictionary — look up documented words and meanings
- High Valyrian phrases — common phrases with English translations
Frequently Asked Questions
Who created the High Valyrian language?
David J. Peterson — the answer to who created High Valyrian — is a professional linguist and language inventor who built the language for HBO’s Game of Thrones. He won the commission through a competition run by the Language Creation Society and later expanded the language for House of the Dragon.
Did George R.R. Martin create High Valyrian?
No. Martin invented only a handful of Valyrian words and phrases for his novels. The complete grammar, sound system, and expanded vocabulary are David J. Peterson’s creation, built for the television adaptations.
Did the same person create Dothraki and High Valyrian?
Yes. David J. Peterson created both languages for Game of Thrones. He designed them as deliberate contrasts: Dothraki is harsh and direct, while High Valyrian is flowing and formal.
How was David J. Peterson chosen for the job?
He won a competition administered through the Language Creation Society, in which applicants submitted sample translations and grammatical sketches. His entry demonstrated the linguistic rigor HBO wanted for the series.
Is High Valyrian still being developed?
Yes. Peterson returned to expand High Valyrian for House of the Dragon, which features far more Valyrian dialogue than Game of Thrones did. New documented vocabulary continues to appear on the public wiki.
Can I learn the language Peterson created?
Absolutely. The grammar and vocabulary are publicly documented, and there are courses, dictionaries, and translators available. Start with the High Valyrian dictionary and our complete guide to the language.
The story of who created High Valyrian is the story of David J. Peterson, who turned a few scattered phrases into one of the most fully realized fictional languages ever created — a language with real grammar that actors perform, fans study, and translators work with every day. That a television commission could produce something this linguistically serious is a testament to both Peterson’s craft and the ambition of the shows it serves.