What is the Lannister motto?

George Martin’s novel “A Song of Ice and Fire” gained popularity before talk of an adaptation of the film began. It is worth noting that the television adaptation contributed to the explosive and instantaneous growth of fame of the epic novel. And without that, popular history has acquired a huge army of fans arguing over any occasion, and the Lannister motto was no exception. Accidentally or deliberately, but the novel is designed in such a way that it is easy for an inattentive reader to get confused in such a seemingly insignificant nuance. The screen version, following the style of the novel, also contributed to escalating the situation, although there is essentially nothing to argue about here.

Coat of arms and motto of the Lannisters

We must pay tribute to George Martin - he carefully worked out the details of the described world and paid close attention to heraldic symbols. One way or another, the mottos of noble houses are associated with its emblems, although this is not the rule. The Lannisterov motto logically continues the image on the coat of arms: a golden lion with bared fangs on a crimson background. However, a small problem is connected with the motto, which just misleads readers and viewers. The fact is that the motto is mentioned much less often than the common saying about debts, namely: "Hear my roar." Probably, it is implied that detractors should hear, remember caution and their place in front of a dangerous predator.

Heraldic symbolism of the Lannisters in the series "Game of Thrones"

The creation of visual surroundings in the series "Game of Thrones" relies heavily on heraldic symbolism, despite the fact that small details are often simply invisible to viewers. Since the Lannister House associates itself with lions, all sorts of images of these predators are literally everywhere, from furniture to dishes, from armor and weapons to embroidery on women's dresses.

The painstaking work of costume designers is striking, especially when you consider that many elegant embroideries do not fall into the frame close-up enough for the viewer to even figure out which particular plot is depicted on the dress.

The motto against the saying

Many Game of Thrones fans are convinced that the Lannister’s motto is “Lannisters always pay their debts.” Indeed, if you watch a television series, the proverb is mentioned quite often, attention is focused on it, it is logically woven into plot twists. Compared to the saying, the motto sounds much less often and is mentioned just a couple of times.

Lady Olenna Tyrell lists some emblems and mottos when she sarcastically criticizes her own heraldic symbols. Arya Stark also lists the noble houses of Westeros, describing their coats of arms and quoting mottoes. The rest of the time, the saying about the debts that the Lannisters would certainly pay off is presented as the ultimate truth.

Charismatic family

The peculiarity of George Martin’s novel “A Song of Ice and Fire” is a very vital description of the characters, and with the Lannister family as an example it looks especially convex and expressive. For example, Jaime Lannister from the first meeting causes a feeling of acute hostility, it was he who threw Bran Stark from the tower, crippled an unfortunate curious child, has an incestuous relationship with his sister. A little time passes, and the viewer begins to genuinely sympathize with Jaime, because he is honest and direct, he saves Lady Brienne, risking himself. He pulls out his brother Tyrion from the dungeon and goes against his sister, despite all the love for her.

Almost every Lannister demonstrates stunning interweaving of positive and negative qualities of character. Cersei Lannister shines such charisma to such an extent that the actress who embodied her on the screen, Lena Headey, laughed in an interview that the censure of the audience partially passed to herself. Cersei is beautiful, smart and insidious, but at the same time sometimes makes tactical mistakes, and this makes her very humane, intimate and understandable.

Perhaps the most charismatic of the Lannisters is Lord Tyrion, nicknamed Bes. Despite his physical ugliness, he is a surprisingly attractive and intelligent man, noble, brave and in his own way brave. This is a favorite of the audience, they worry about him, they admire him.

Lannisters are proud of their emblem, call themselves lions and lionesses, and their children - lion cubs. The author does not forget about this speech feature of the family, therefore from time to time the references “my lion” or “my lion cub” are found in the text of the novel, are mentioned in the television series.