valar dohaeris

English

Etymology

Coined by American writer and television producer George R. R. Martin for use in his A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novel series. The phrase means "all men must serve" in the fictional language of High Valyrian. It is a traditional response to valar morghulis (“all men must die”).

Phrase

valar dohaeris

1. (fandom slang) An expression used as an affirmation of duty to a higher purpose or authority.
   • 2014, "Acknowledgements", in Kathleen A. Moore, "Scrutiny on the Bounty: From Crisis Communication To Crisis Conversation", dissertation submitted to Pennsylvania State University, page xi:

     If Valar Morghulis, then I shall do my very best in paying it forward in the time I have left. Valar Dohaeris.

   • 2017 July 14, Josh Kupecki, “Stream Analysis”, in The Austin Chronicle, page 43:

     But soon there will be a new clickbait queen, as HBO's Game of Thrones gears up for its penultimate season this weekend. After that, you can expect endless recaps and speculations for the next two months, clogging up your social media feed (not to mention the endless memes) as the show moves beyond the source material and into the realm of "everyone will have theories." We'll try to steer clear of that business, but no promises: We are a free alt-weekly in 2017, after all, and everyone's got bills to pay. Valar dohaeris.

   • 2021, Steven G. Coca, "Tribute to Barbara Murphy", Kidney360, Volume 2, Issue 9, page 1500:

     Although Dr. Murphy’s “watch has ended,” her trailblazing legacy and extreme passion to improve kidney and health care will live on in many ways (14), but forever in our hearts and minds. Indeed, Valar dohaeris (15).

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:valar dohaeris.