More people are trying to learn the Game of Thrones language High Valyrian than the number who understand Scottish Gaelic, which stands at 87,056, according to the last census.

In the UK more than 100,000 people have signed up to a course on Duolingo, while globally that figure is 830,000 - more than those who understand and speak Welsh.

The course promises to allow the user to learn enough High Valyrian to have a full conversation.

David Peterson, the creator of the Game of Thrones language, wrote and voiced the course which has more than 2,000 words.

The linguist has been creating languages for TV for more than a decade and was also behind other languages in the series, including Dothraki.

To teach the cast, he recorded himself saying their lines in the languages on his iPhone and sent it to them so they could perfect the pronunciation.

A few words of the language were written in the Song of Ice and Fire Books by George R. R. Martin, but Mr Peterson has had to expand it from 56 words.

"There was a little of the language in the books created by George R. R. Martin," the linguist told CBS.

"It was just 'valar morghulis' which means 'all men must die', and 'valar dohaeris', meaning 'all men must serve'.