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“ | We Do Not Sow | „ |
~ House Greyjoy's words. |
“ | House Greyjoy had always been one of the greatest houses of the Iron Islands. We trace their descent from the Age of Heroes and the legendary Grey King, who took a mermaid to wife and made war upon the Storm God for a thousand years. | „ |
~ Yara Greyjoy on House Greyjoy's origin. |
“ | The Greyjoy sigil is the kraken. What it grasps once, it will never surrender. | „ |
~ Theon Greyjoy on House Greyjoy's sigil. |
House Greyjoy of Pyke are major characters in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation Game of Thrones. It is one of the Great Houses in the western continent of Westeros and is the current ruling house of the Iron Islands and the Ironborn, having ruled in the last three centuries. Members of the house tend to be attractive, being tall and black-haired, usually with black eyes. House Greyjoy's sigil is a golden kraken on a black field and its official motto is, We Do Not Sow. In the main series, they serve as one of the archenemies of House Stark, the North, House Hightower and the Reach. In the past, during the Dance of the Dragons and King Aegon III Targaryen's regency, the Greyjoys initially served as the archenemies of House Lannister and the Westerlands.
The Greyjoys, like many other ironborn houses, is infamous for being seafaring raiders who practice the Old Way, in which they would raid and plunder the mainlands. As King Aegon I Targaryen, the founder of House Targaryen, had outlawed the Old Way, following the death of King Harren Hoare and the extinction of House Hoare, several members of House Greyjoy, over the years, attempted to revive the practice, but were usually short-lived/resulted in failure.
At the start of the main series, the head of House Greyjoy was Balon Greyjoy, the Lord of the Iron Islands and Lord Reaper of Pyke, who, nine years ago, sought independence from the Iron Throne by crowning himself King of the Iron Islands as Balon IX Greyjoy and launching a rebellion against the Crown only to be forced to bend the knee to King Robert I Baratheon in the end. During the War of the Five Kings, Balon made a second attempt to achieve independence by once again crowning himself King. This time he sought to take control of the North by launching an invasion of the region, making Balon the first self-styled King of the Isles and the North, as he claimed the region by right of conquest, thus forming the Kingdom of the Isles and the North, though Balon and the ironborn earned little and had suffered heavy casualties from the invasion, despite it (most notably the capture and later sack of Winterfell by Prince Theon Greyjoy and Ramsay Snow) having a notable significant effect on House Stark.
Prior to beginning of the Third Century, after King Balon mysteriously died, as he was said to have fallen off a crushed bridge during a storm on Pyke, he was succeeded by his younger brother, Euron Greyjoy the Crow's Eye, as the current head of House Greyjoy at the beginning of the Third Century, despite his niece, Princess Asha Greyjoy, being a potential successor to her father. Having no interest in continuing his brother's campaign to conquer the North, despite being the new King of the Isles and the North, Euron III seeks to conquer the entirety of Westeros and usurp the Iron Throne from House Lannister while also seeking to marry Daenerys I Targaryen , the Queen of Meereen and current disputed head of House Targaryen, and take control of her three dragons in order to solidify his rule on Westeros. At the same time, it is implied that Euron has higher purpose, claiming that a "new god" will rise to take the place of every single deity and religion in the world.
Quotes[]
“ | Where is it written that our king must be a kraken? What right has Pyke to rule us? Great Wyk is the largest isle, Harlaw the richest, Old Wyk the most holy. When the black line was consumed by dragonfire, the ironborn gave the primacy to Vickon Greyjoy, aye... but as lord, not king. | „ |
~ The claimant Lord Dunstan Drumm to the captains and kings during the kingsmoot, reminding them that King Balon's successor doesn't have to be another Greyjoy. |
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- House Greyjoy on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- House Greyjoy on the Wiki of Westeros.