High Valyrian vs Low Valyrian: What's the Difference?
When Daenerys negotiates for the Unsullied in Astapor, the slave master Kraznys insults her in what he assumes is a language she can't understand. He's speaking Astapori Valyrian — a Low Valyrian dialect. She understands every word, then answers in High Valyrian.
That scene only works because the two are related but different. Here's how.
Short Answer
High Valyrian is the ancient, classical language of the Valyrian Freehold, used by nobles and scholars — like Latin in medieval Europe. Low Valyrian is a group of dialects that evolved from it in the Free Cities and Slaver's Bay after Valyria fell — like Spanish, Italian, and French evolved from Latin.
The Counterintuitive Truth: The "Lower" Language Is the One People Actually Speak
"High" sounds better than "Low." But in Essos, High Valyrian is barely anyone's everyday language. It's for books, prayers, and aristocratic showing off.
Low Valyrian is what merchants, sailors, soldiers, and slaves speak every day. It's alive in a way High Valyrian isn't. We call this prestige inversion: the language with the highest status often has the fewest real speakers.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | High Valyrian | Low Valyrian (e.g. Astapori) |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Classical, prestigious | Everyday, regional |
| Speakers | Nobles, maesters, priests | Free Cities, Slaver's Bay |
| Grammar | Complex: 4 genders, many cases | Simplified |
| Vocabulary | Pure Valyrian | Borrowings from local languages |
| Real-world analogy | Latin | Romance languages |
| On-screen | Daenerys, Targaryens, House of the Dragon | Astapor, Meereen scenes |
High Valyrian in Detail
David J. Peterson built High Valyrian as a richly inflected classical language.
- Four genders: lunar, solar, terrestrial, and aquatic
- Eight noun cases marking roles like subject, object, possession, and location
- Long vowels marked with macrons: ā, ē, ī
- Word order: typically subject–object–verb
Try it in the Valyrian Translator.
Low Valyrian in Detail
When the Doom destroyed Valyria about 400 years before the series, its colonies were cut off. Their Valyrian changed independently.
Astapori Valyrian
- Heard in Season 3
- Simplified grammar — genders and many cases merged
- Heavy influence from Ghiscari, the language of the old Ghiscari Empire that Valyria conquered
Meereenese Valyrian
- Heard in later seasons
- Another Ghiscari-influenced dialect, with its own sound changes
Other Dialects (Books)
- Volantene — spoken in Volantis, the oldest Free City
- Braavosi — Braavos, founded by escaped slaves
- Pentoshi, Lysene, Tyroshi, Myrish
Martin notes that Free City dialects differ enough that speakers can struggle to understand one another.
Why Low Valyrian Is Simpler
Real languages simplify when many people learn them as adults — for example, when conquered peoples adopt the language of their rulers. Linguists call this contact simplification, and it's well documented in creole languages and in the history of English after the Norman Conquest.
Peterson applied the same logic. Astapor was full of slaves from many cultures, so its Valyrian lost complicated endings. That's realistic decay: designing a fictional dialect using real rules of language change.
Common Valyrian Phrases
Valar morghulis
"All men must die." A traditional Braavosi greeting.
Valar dohaeris
"All men must serve." The traditional reply.
Dracarys
"Dragonfire." Daenerys's famous command.
Rytsas
"Hello."
Kirimvose
"Thank you."
Geros ilas
"Goodbye."
Zaldrīzes buzdari iksos daor
"A dragon is not a slave." Daenerys's High Valyrian reply to Kraznys in Astapor.
Notice how short and weighty these phrases are. Martin coined Valar morghulis and Dracarys years before Peterson built the grammar, so Peterson had to design rules that made those existing words correct. That's a bit like an archaeologist reconstructing a language from inscriptions — except the inscriptions were written by a novelist.
Try building your own phrases in the Valyrian Translator.
The Astapor Scene, Explained
In Season 3, Episode 4 ("And Now His Watch Is Ended"), Kraznys speaks Astapori Valyrian and relies on Missandei to translate. He insults Daenerys freely. When she reveals — in High Valyrian — that she understood everything, it's one of the show's biggest moments.
Why it works linguistically:
- Mutual intelligibility. A High Valyrian speaker can partly understand Astapori, like an Italian speaker partly understanding Spanish.
- Status reversal. She uses the "higher", older form — the language of dragonlords — to assert power.
- Dramatic irony. Viewers (with subtitles) know more than Kraznys.
We explore this further in our post on why Daenerys speaks Valyrian so fluently.
Where Valyrian Is Heading
House of the Dragon uses High Valyrian as a living language of Targaryen family life, not just an ancient relic. We predict future Westeros stories set closer to the Doom will finally show High Valyrian as an everyday spoken language — reversing its status from "Latin" back to "living tongue", and giving Peterson room to expand vocabulary for daily life.