Dwarf, Eunuch, and Banker: The Intuitions of the Modern State in Westeros

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the mechanisms of the interaction of power, money, and knowledge in the context of the pre-modern society described by George Martin in A Song of Ice and Fire. The author notes that Martin created an almost unique picture of a society roughly corresponding to Europe of the late Middle Ages, deprived of the state, but drunk with its intuitions and forebodings. In the framework of this society, personal loyalty, love, physical strength, and beauty, that is, the qualities inherent in most of the main characters, become the main values. However, the future turns to other people; the dwarf Tirion Lannister cares about the welfare of the common people, the eunuch Varis personifies the power of knowledge, and the financiers Petir Bailish and Ilirio Mopatis represent the power of money. Finally, Daenerys Targaryen, after the death of her husband and the birth of her dragons, also becomes not so much a real woman as a living symbol of the upcoming new world order. Her attributes are the absolute power represented by the dragons, and the complete equation of the citizens of the future state, symbolized by the army of impeccable eunuchs. Thus, the confrontation between old and new, and between feudalism and modernity in Martin’s novel is not only at the level of socio-political constructions, but also at the level of aesthetic opposition. Moreover, the gain, most likely, remains with the ugly new times.