For most of the past decade "Game of Thrones" has awed viewers with its bold plotlines and political intrigue. But its fantasy world is not as mythical as it seems, and some of its most pivotal moments are rooted in history.

Author George R.R. Martin often draws from the historical record, and there are a plethora of historical parallels in his "Song of Ice and Fire" series upon which the HBO series is based. The Dothraki's fearsome bloodriders mirror the indomitable force of Genghis Khan's cavalry. And the shocking Red Wedding was practically torn from the pages of Scottish history as it was based on the Glencoe massacre of 1692, in which Archibald Campbell's soldiers slaughtered members of the McDonald clan amid a bitter blood feud.

Feuding is rampant in "Game of Thrones" and likely inspired in part by the Wars of the Roses in 15th-century England between the Lancasters and the Yorks -- and the feuding in Scotland, which was far more prevalent.