Dothraki...

[fajrdrako]

maaseru now gets HBO, which means we can watch A Game of Thrones. So while she was showing me today what shows she gets, we chanced upon a fascinating behind-the-scenes feature on the Dothraki language.

They needed a language for the Dothraki to speak, so they went to the Language Creation Society and had one made to order.

I never even knew there was such a Society. I should have known; I love invented languages. So cool. All I remember of Dothraki from the books are the words Khal and Khalessi. There are samples and discussions of it online here.

And then after going so far as to invent the language, they made the poor actors and actresses actually speak the thing. I am impressed. Actors work hard for their pay. It reminds me of Klingon: a tough manly language with lots of gutterals, for a manly warrior race. Just about every translated excerpt they showed, was a threat.

I love the care and artistry they've put into the details in this show. It's following the lead of Peter Jackson with Lord of the Rings and, as with Tolkien, it's paying off.

Less surprisingly, there's a forum on Dothraki on the Westeros website.