George R. R. Martin couldnt resist incorporating the odd reference to his literary heroes and colleagues in the fantasy genre into his books - and one of the only ones that makes it to the television show is this homage to H. P. Lovecrafts tales of cosmic horror in the posthumously-named Cthulhu Mythos. Theon Greyjoys people, the raiders and reavers known as the ironborn, worship a resurrection figure like a Christ or Osiris that they call The Drowned God, who underpins and supports their lifestyle of piracy. Their constant prayer, repeated over and over during religious rituals, begins what is dead may never die, echoing the oft-repeated cultist prayer in Lovecrafts work: that is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die. Seem like just a happy coincidence? Lovecrafts horrific alien monsters also live beneath the ocean waves in the drowned city of Ryleh. Their god, the Great Old One Cthulhu, as well as a number of his servants, appears in the approximate shape of a squidlike, dragonlike sea monster and the sigil of House Greyjoy is the kraken, a squidlike, dragonlike sea monster. Want more? One of Theons ancestors went by the name of Dagon Greyjoy and Dagon, taken from the name of an ancient Semitic god, was the name of a sea monster worshipped as a god in two of Lovecrafts tales.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
