
                  In this paper, the two texts selected are Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings. What is interesting about these books, first and foremost, is the unique, beautiful introduction filled with startling images and complexity. The Game of Thrones is a TV series based on George R. R. Martin's books. It narrates the bloody tale of various warring clans that are fighting for control of the Iron Throne in the realm of the Seven Kingdoms in Westeros. Going by a fictional and mythical land that is vividly inspired by medieval Europe, the battles stirred up by the feuding families in the pursuit of power lead to backstabbing and treachery by the bucket load. Historical dramas are present in this plot and the storylines inspired by actual events. Once a viewer starts to watch it, the eyes remain glued to the screen from one episode to the next (Jackson 60).

                On the other hand, The Lord of the Rings is a series written by an English author J. R. R. Tolkien with a unique and substantially established philological, philosophical, and mythological background. The storyline tells of an antagonist, the Dark Lord Sauron, who created the One Ring to rule the rest of the Rings of Power as the ultimate weapon in his campaign to conquer and run all of Middle-earth. Powerful wizards and supernatural elves or mighty humans are used to capture the eye of the viewer making him feel to be part of the scene. The wizard characters frequently employ magic (Jones et al. 923-945). The location of the shooting comes in handy with peaceful and beautiful sceneries. One cannot ignore such an epic high-fantasy series.

                By placing the two texts in conversation with each other, much seems to unveil itself. Swords and sorcery are overwhelming in these two worlds where they draw back to the early 20th-century work of Robert E Howard, L Sprague De Cramp, among other American genres. The author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, is clear-cut good guy versus bad guy and in the end, the good guy always win. Martin, in the Game of Thrones, shows no preference to any character in that there is no good guy or bad guy. The spectrum of the ideas of these two seems to diverge at some point. Tolkien would question the uncertainty of the characters portrayed by Martin in his plot as they are unpredictable. For instance, Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones started out as a villain, but in the following seasons, he ceases being a bad guy.

                 Tolkien is imaginative in his theories. On the other hand, Martin's imagination seems to draw suspense in the minds of the viewers in a way Tolkien could never match. Even if Tolkien tried his best, it would not be at the scale which Martin has done. These two authors share a world with a vast amount of history, tales, and lore. Warriors use spears and swords for battles, multiple cultures intensified and weird creatures like Dragons and Balrogs employed to enhance epic fantasies.   

                   The aspect of putting these two texts in conversations is significant in making relevant conclusions. It is hard to determine the better of the two authors regarding their structural writing because both of them outdo each other in one way or another. Their ideologies bring viewers to a whimsical fantasy and wars resulted by a hunger for power. 


               J. R. R. Tolkien and George R. R. Martin use linguistics to explore old myths and legends. For example, the existence of dragons in the early centuries is apparent in both tales. The dragons interact with humans and adjust to the lifestyle of people like engaging in battles to conquer the enemies of a particular clan. Both of these authors have multiple running plot lines that are interconnected. In The Lord of the Rings, the stories cover one book or episode and the plotlines follow Bilbo, Frodo, Aragorn, and the Hobbit with each episode involving a different person. For the Game of Thrones, the plotline covers a series of characters such as Tyrion Lannister, Jon Dow, Arya, among others. 

           Prophecies are part of the two plots and come to pass with time. In The Lord of the Rings, the prophecy of the “Crownless again shall be King" comes true when Aragorn steps in as the King. In the Game of Thrones, the prophecies of Azor Ahai and the promised Prince. Also, glory years and destruction of the empires in the two texts are similar. In both cases, a secondary residence like the Westeros and Middle-earth had a premonition of the imminent ruin and managed to escape and ended up ruling an entire continent. Sauron and Whitewalkers, depicted as the chosen ones, had to be of the blood of Numenor and Valyria to scourge the world of evil once again.


            Game of Thrones features explicit sex scenes that include nudity, something Lord of the Rings does not. Tolkien develops characters in that they grow or deteriorate over the course of the series. For instance, Sam discovers his untapped courage and Frodo finds a will to progress and resist. However, in Martin's work, the characters are static and unpredictable. No one matures or grow. Tyrion seems to change to being selfless especially in regards to Penny, but it remains unclear, and only Martin knows if he will change or not.

               One of the main differences between Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings is the perception of evil. In The Lord of the Rings, the evil aspect is vivid and unambiguous leaving the viewer little room for interpretation. However, Game of Thrones depicts more well-rounded characters whose interpretation could be good or bad depending on the viewer's perspective. One can describe the fantasy genre of Lord of the Rings as our childhood whereas Game of Thrones as our future. In other words, Game of Thrones fits only adult viewers and Lord of the Rings; anyone can watch it since the explicit sexual scenes are absent.


            The similarities between The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones suggest that the two authors, Tolkien and Martin, appreciate the world of fantasies and invite the viewers to experience with them the tales. The set of the location of their plots reflects on the old American times back before the revolution began taking roots. The differences between these two authors imply that both of them have independent thoughts and ideas. The imagination aspect is more pronounced in one author than the other meaning people cannot be equal in everything. The notion of evil presented by these authors in their stories diverges. It provides the viewers a wide range of interpretation of evil and good as portrayed by the characters in the plots. 

             Martin's film eye-capturing, the only issue is the obscene imagery of nudity and sex is disturbing. If there were a way Martin would minimize or eradicate such clips, then the series would be comfortable to watch even in the presence of family and minors. Meantime, I would use an approach of forwarding such scenarios when they seem to dwell more on that sector at least to overcome such difficulty.
