--- title: Game of Thrones: Daenerys' Fleet and Real Medieval Warships description: Does the real history of naval warfare in the medieval period—a frequent source for Game of Thrones plots—provided a clue about next season? canonical: https://time.com/4383576/game-of-thrones-season-six-finale-2/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-27T19:40:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:25.113Z article:section: History og:title: What Real Medieval Warships Can Tell Us About 'Game of Thrones' og:description: What they were used for and what they were capable of og:url: https://time.com/4383576/game-of-thrones-season-six-finale-2/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb63b63cdb6c2e40a/69889987656a3fa8adbcc0f4/daenerys-season-six-finale.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: daenerys-season-six-finale og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Real Medieval Warships Can Tell Us About 'Game of Thrones' twitter:description: What they were used for and what they were capable of twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb63b63cdb6c2e40a/69889987656a3fa8adbcc0f4/daenerys-season-six-finale.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Real Medieval Warships Can Tell Us About _Game of Thrones_ > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: A History of Dragons [Watch (HLS stream): A History of Dragons](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aX3EGE0r.m3u8) (2:51)  _Published 2016-04-22. Professor Christopher Fee discusses the history of dragons in our culture and their relevance today._  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jun 27, 2016 7:40 PM UTC  Courtesy of HBO  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jun 27, 2016 7:40 PM UTC **_Contains spoilers for the season six finale of_** **Game of Thrones** The sixth season of Game of Thrones ended with a shot that viewers have been waiting on for years: countless warships under the command of Daenerys Targaryen, sailing for Westeros. Fans will have to wait months to find out how her mission plays out, but—knowing that the show [draws frequently on real histor](http://time.com/3921873/7-times-game-of-thrones-drew-on-history-this-season/)[y](http://time.com/3921873/7-times-game-of-thrones-drew-on-history-this-season/)—perhaps a clue can be found in the real history of how warships worked during the medieval period. And, if history turns out to be any indication, fans are unlikely to see an epic naval battle start off the next season. There were [two oft-cited types of ship](https://books.google.com/books?id=Xh7CSxFeK-IC&printsec=frontcover&dq=medieval+wooden+warships&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwigzozSu8jNAhVGOj4KHYwGAbw4ChDoAQhRMAc#v=onepage&q=medieva%20sz&f=false) at sea in the Mediterranean during that period, and both were often merchant ships outfitted for warfare_._ While historians have debated the exact size of these fleets, they are generally thought to have numbered in the hundreds of vessels, according Helen J. Nicholson’s [_Medieval Warfare: Theory and Practice of War in Europe, 300-1500_](https://books.google.com/books?id=h2MdBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT160&dq=how+did+medieval+warships+attack+a+coastline&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjs%5F6rLxMjNAhUOID4KHa5WD6wQ6AEIMDAC#v=onepage&q=how%20did%20medieval%20warships%20attack%20a%20coastline&f=false)—which is [about right](http://www.thewrap.com/game-of-thrones-finale-how-many-ships-were-in-daenerys-fleet/) for _Game of Thrones_. [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) The fact that Daenerys’ armies are used to fighting on land may not be much of a drawback for her, even if Lannister ships are waiting: Naval warfare in the medieval period was such that it was usually more about hand-to-hand combat, which took place as the ships drew together, than it was about sinking the enemy’s ships. A multi-tiered defensive structure built into some ships allowed archers to fire down at the enemy’s decks, and soldiers in crow’s nests could throw down down “stones, javelins, darts, and pots of quicklime (a caustic powder),” writes Mike Loades in [_The Longbow_](https://www.amazon.com/Longbow-Weapon-Mike-Loades/dp/1782000852). Full-on battles at sea were a last resort. “Most often \[the goal for the enemy’s ships\] was to capture them as prizes, if at all possible,” [notes](https://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Maritime-Warfare-Charles-Stanton/dp/1781592519) Charles D. Stanton in _Medieval Maritime Warfare._ Those prizes were how the crewmembers were often paid. Medieval states generally lacked the bureaucratic underpinnings to support a standing navy, as Susan Rose’s [_Medieval Naval Warfare 1000-1500_](https://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Naval-Warfare-1000-1500-History/dp/041523977X) argues. So many medieval naval actions were “logistical support for land operations or the blockade of a hostile port,” Stanton argues. “This is particularly true when one takes into account that the primitive state of nautical navigation at the time, the vulnerability of galleys to inclement weather, and the need for constant resupply constrained medieval fleets to the coastlines anyway.” Medieval ships were extremely slow and navigation tools provided limited help. Ships also tended to stay close to the shoreline for refuge in bad weather and clean water supplies. As Nicholson [writes](https://books.google.com/books?id=h2MdBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT160&dq=how+did+medieval+warships+attack+a+coastline&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjs%5F6rLxMjNAhUOID4KHa5WD6wQ6AEIMDAC#v=onepage&q=how%20did%20medieval%20warships%20attack%20a%20coastline&f=false), “No nation could be said to have achieved ‘control of the sea’ during the Middle Ages, as it was never possible to keep track of where a ship-borne enemy might be in order to attack and eliminate it.” And that’s why Stanton writes that “whoever controlled the shorelines also controlled the seas.” In other words, the hardest part of what the Queen of Dragons has undertaken wouldn’t necessary have been winning the battle—it would have been getting to Westeros at all. ## Transcript Well, dragons never seem to go away do they? They occur in culture after culture. They occur in story after story. The idea of. Of being able to live in world full of magical creatures well that offers a certain excitement and joy and curiosity. Dragons are like a canvas upon which we paint our fears and desires as a culture and I think they remain relevant because they change with us. [ MUSIC ] Well in today's world we often define a dragon as a giant, scaly, winged reptilian beast, often can breathe fire. In the ancient world this wasn't always the case. They were very often giant serpents of various kinds. And they could be also multivalent. In the Asian world for example, dragons are often Symbols of good luck, good fortune. While in the biblical tradition, on the other hand, dragons are clearly evil. In the middle ages, dragons were indeed emblems of greed, avarice. Most people in America today would know that through the Hobbit and Smaug the dragon who was clearly developed on that exact theme and that In the Arthurian tradition, dragons are associated with the rise of a mighty, powerful, royal house, as well with omens and portents having to do with their demise. It seems to me that in Game of Thrones, this association with royalty and portents comes most clearly from the Arthurian tradition which Dragons might represents [ UNKNOWN ] [ MUSIC ] One of the ways that dragons myth spread was through travellers coming back with stories of dragons. So imagine if you will that, you travelled to North Africa from England When the 12th to 13th century and you saw a crocodile wouldn't that appear to you to be a monstrous, demonic beast? In our culture, dragons tell us about that which we fear not just out on the world like a crocodile but within ourselves like greed. Game of Thrones Plays with our sense of light and darkness, the best of humanity and the worst of humanity. And this tension is developed fully in the symbol of the dragon. Because the dragon, Dragon represents great power, but it also represents greed and destruction. And this bring together of these ideas tell us something about ourselves. 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