George R.R. Martin has revealed how he envisions the Iron Throne when writing A Song of Ice and Fire – and it’s nothing like the Game of Thrones version!

The Iron Throne is the most iconic prop from the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, and yet in a new blog post, George R.R. Martin sets the record straight about what it’s actually supposed to look like.

“This Iron Throne is scary. And not at all a comfortable seat, just as Aegon intended,” he writes.

In Game of Thrones, the throne is gargantuan and very solid, and made from pointed swords that look like they’ve been melted together, just like it’s described in the book series.

“It’s a terrific design, and it has served the show very well,” Martin writes in his blog post. “I love it. I have all those replicas right here, sitting on my shelves.”

However, he goes on to say that, “it’s still not right. It’s not the Iron Throne I want my readers to see. […] My throne is a hunched beast looming over the throne room, ugly and assymetric [sic].”

Luckily, even TV show fans can now find out exactly how the “real” Iron Throne looks.

The talented illustrator Marc Simonetti (whose art is featured in the 2013 A Song of Ice and Fire calendar) paints a version which matches Martin’s description, and which the author himself now says will be the reference he gives future illustrators:

“Marc has come closer here to capturing the Iron Throne as I picture it than any other artist to tackle it,” Martin writes.

“It’s a throne made by blacksmiths hammering together half-melted, broken, twisted swords, wrenched from the hands of dead men or yielded up by defeated foes… a symbol of conquest.”

Does Marc Simonetti’s Iron Throne match what you imagined in your head when/if you read the A Song of Ice and Fire book series?