Dragons, Silver Hair and Dangerous Royal Families
Fantasy has a long tradition of beautiful people with magical bloodlines being the heroes. Then writers like Michael Moorcock and George R. R. Martin arrived and asked a far more interesting question.
What if those ancient magical families were actually terrifying?
The similarities between the Targaryens of A Song of Ice and Fire and Elric of Melniboné are difficult to ignore. Silver hair, dragons, ancient empires, magical weapons and a family history that includes enough questionable decisions to keep historians busy for centuries.
Daemon Targaryen, in particular, feels like he belongs in the same shadowy corner of fantasy as Elric. He is not a direct copy, but the two characters clearly come from the same tradition of morally complicated fantasy.
George R. R. Martin has spoken about his admiration for Michael Moorcock, and both authors explore a similar idea: power, beauty and ancient blood do not automatically make someone good.
Sometimes the dragon rider is the person you should be worried about.
Valyria and Melniboné: Two Ancient Empires Built on Dragons and Power
The strongest comparison is not actually between individual characters. It is between two lost civilisations.
Ancient Valyria and Melniboné share a remarkable amount of fictional DNA.
Both are:
- Ancient imperial powers from a previous age
- Dominated by a small, almost otherworldly ruling class
- Associated with sorcery and forbidden knowledge
- Masters of dragons
- Built on conquest and exploitation
- Feared long after their decline
- More unsettling than traditionally heroic
Melnibonéans are not the noble elves of classic fantasy. Moorcock created a race of elegant, cruel aristocrats who ruled the world through magic, military strength and dragons. They are beautiful, intelligent and deeply disturbing.
Swap a few names around and that description could almost appear in a history of Old Valyria.
Valyria was a civilisation of dragonlords who created wonders, but also practised slavery, brutal expansion and dangerous magical experiments. The Doom of Valyria feels less like the tragic fall of paradise and more like a civilisation finally being consumed by its own ambition.
The Targaryens are essentially the last surviving fragment of that world, forced to live among ordinary people who both admire and fear them.
Elric of Melniboné and Daemon Targaryen: Two Dangerous Princes
Daemon Targaryen is probably the closest major character in Martin’s world to Elric.
The surface similarities appear immediately.
| Elric | Daemon Targaryen |
|---|---|
| Prince of an ancient civilisation | Prince of an ancient Valyrian bloodline |
| Silver-white hair | Classic silver Targaryen hair |
| Linked to dragons | Rider of Caraxes |
| Master swordsman | One of the deadliest fighters of his age |
| Connected to a legendary blade | Wielder of Dark Sister |
| Charismatic but dangerous | Charismatic but dangerous |
| Both heroic and destructive | Both heroic and destructive |
They both represent the uncomfortable side of fantasy royalty.
These are not farm boys discovering a magic sword and saving the kingdom. They are the people born with the sword, the dragon and the castle.
That changes everything.
The Major Difference Between Elric and Daemon
Despite their similarities, Elric and Daemon are almost opposites in personality.
Elric is a reluctant heir. He looks at Melniboné and questions what his civilisation has become. He is intelligent, philosophical and often horrified by the cruelty that created his world.
He carries the weight of history like a curse.
Daemon carries it like a crown.
Daemon does not reject being a dragonlord. He embraces it completely. He loves the mythology of House Targaryen, the old traditions, the power and the fear that comes with the name.
If Elric looks back at his ancestors and thinks:
“What did we become?”
Daemon looks back and thinks:
“Why did we stop?”
That contrast is what makes the comparison fascinating. They are two fantasy princes standing in the ruins of ancient empires, but facing opposite directions.
Stormbringer, Dark Sister and Blackfyre
Fantasy loves a legendary sword, and both worlds understand that a blade can be much more than sharp metal.
Elric carries Stormbringer, one of the most famous weapons in fantasy literature.
Stormbringer is:
- Black-bladed
- Supernatural
- Ancient
- Connected to destiny
- A source of power with a terrible price
It is almost a character itself.
The Targaryen ancestral swords are less magical, but they serve a similar storytelling purpose.
Dark Sister
Dark Sister represents the dangerous elegance of House Targaryen. It is a slimmer Valyrian steel blade associated with warriors such as Visenya Targaryen and Daemon Targaryen.
It suits Daemon perfectly. Beautiful, deadly and carrying centuries of family mythology.
Blackfyre
Blackfyre is even more politically powerful. It represents kingship, legitimacy and the old Valyrian idea that some people are simply born above others.
In both Moorcock and Martin’s worlds, swords are never just tools.
They are memories.
Dragons as Symbols of a Dying Age
The dragon connection is one of the clearest similarities.
Melnibonéan dragons are:
- Ancient creatures from a fading world
- Connected to noble houses
- Rarely awakened
- Almost unstoppable when unleashed
That sounds extremely familiar to anyone who knows Targaryen history.
Dragons in A Song of Ice and Fire are beautiful, magnificent and terrifying. They are also the reason the Targaryens struggle to see themselves as normal rulers.
A king with soldiers has to negotiate.
A king with dragons can start believing negotiation is optional.
That usually ends well for absolutely nobody.
Elric Was the Anti-Conan. The Targaryens Are Anti-Fantasy Royalty
Michael Moorcock created Elric partly as a response to traditional fantasy heroes like Conan.
Conan was physically powerful, confident and full of life.
Elric was:
- Physically weak
- Dependent on magic
- Troubled by his own civilisation
- Emotionally conflicted
- Bound to a cursed weapon
He challenged the idea that strength and nobility naturally belonged together.
George R. R. Martin expands that idea across an entire family.
The Targaryens look like the heroes of an old fantasy painting. They have shining hair, legendary swords, dragons and royal blood.
Then Martin asks:
What if those beautiful dragon riders were also the descendants of conquerors?
That is where the real similarity with Moorcock appears.
Is Daemon Targaryen Based on Elric?
Daemon is probably not intended as a direct version of Elric, but the influence of the same fantasy tradition is obvious.
They are both descendants of frighteningly powerful cultures. They both carry the legacy of empires that changed the world. They both combine heroism and cruelty in a way that makes them impossible to place neatly into good or evil.
The difference is that Elric is haunted by Melniboné.
Daemon wants to bring Valyria back.
One is trying to escape the shadow of his ancestors.
The other is trying to become one.
