HOUSE GREYJOY

House Greyjoy of Pyke is one of the Great Houses of Westeros. It rules over the Iron Islands, a harsh and bleak collection of islands off the west coast of Westeros, from the castle at Pyke. The head of the house is the Lord Reaper of Pyke. Following the extinction of House Hoare, the Ironborn elected House Greyjoy as Lord of the Iron Islands, an administrative region of the Seven Kingdoms, as vassals to House Targaryen. During Robert's Rebellion, House Greyjoy declared for House Baratheon. During the Greyjoy Rebellion, Balon Greyjoy declared sovereignty as the Kingdom of the Iron Islands and seceded from the Seven Kingdoms, but the rebellion was put down. House Greyjoy bent the knee to Robert Baratheon, and the Kingdom of the Iron Islands became defunct.

During the War of the Five Kings, Balon Greyjoy declared himself King of the Iron Islands and the Iron Islands independent once more, restoring the Kingdom of the Iron Islands and seceding from the Seven Kingdoms. Following his assassination and the election of his brother and murder, Euron Greyjoy, the new King of the Iron Islands, House Greyjoy was divided between Euron and his followers, and Balon's surviving children, Yara and Theon Greyjoy, and their followers. During Daenerys Targaryen's war for Westeros, Euron allied with Queen Cersei of House Lannister, while Yara and her followers allied with Daenerys Targaryen, who Euron originally intended to ally with. After being set free by Theon, Yara retook the Iron Islands in Daenerys' name. Theon died at the Battle of Winterfell while Euron died at the Battle of King's Landing, leaving Yara firmly as the head and last living member of House Greyjoy.

House Greyjoy's sigil is traditionally a golden kraken on a black field. Their house words are "We Do Not Sow," although the phrase "What Is Dead May Never Die" is also closely associated with House Greyjoy and their bannermen, as they are associated with the faith of the Drowned God.

BACKGROUND

House Greyjoy is one of the Great Houses of Westeros. Their lands are the Iron Islands off the west coast of the continent. They rule from their castle Pyke from the island of the same name. The Iron Islands are harsh and bleak and the Greyjoys have traditionally survived by raiding their neighbors. They have always had plans to conquer the mainland. The Old Way is a term used by the Ironborn to refer to their traditional lifestyle of reaving and plundering. According to the Old Way, the Ironborn raised their kings from their own numbers. It is also consecrated in the Ironborn religion, as they believe the Drowned God made them to reap and rape, to carve out kingdoms to make their names known in blood and song. The Old Way centers around the concept of "paying the iron price:" to seize any wealth or possession by force. To pay the "gold price," buying or trading for items, is shameful for any man.

House Greyjoy boasts descent from the Grey King, a legendary King of the Iron Islands who was said to have waged war against the Storm God himself for a thousand years and slain Nagga, the first sea dragon, using its bones to build his hall. Legend has it that he also took a mermaid as his wife and lived for a thousand years, stealing fire from the Storm God and carving the first ship from Ygg, a demonic tree that feasted on flesh. After the Grey King’s death, the Storm God tried to erase his memory, but the Ironborn still sing songs about him. His one-hundred sons slaughtered each other until only sixteen remained. Unable to overpower one another, they held the first Kingsmoot to elect the strongest as their king

Lord Balon Greyjoy was the founder of the Kingdom of the Iron Islands. He led a rebellion against King Robert Baratheon eight years before the events of the series begin. Balon's sons Rodrik and Maron were killed in the unsuccessful rebellion and Balon was forced to surrender. He was later accepted back into Robert’s peace, keeping his lordship and titles, but only on one condition. Balon's only surviving son Theon, just 8 years old at the time, was then made a ward of Lord Eddard Stark to ensure Balon's submission to King Robert, whose victory cemented his hold on the throne, after having overthrown the Targaryens a few years before. Only Balon’s daughter, Yara Greyjoy, and two of his brothers remained on the Iron Islands after his defeat.

At the outset of the Greyjoy Rebellion, when Balon first declared himself King of the Iron Islands, Euron orchestrated the daring Raid on Lannisport which burned Lord Tywin Lannister's entire fleet at anchor. This gave the Ironborn command of the western seas and coasts of Westeros for a time. Following the failure of the rebellion, Euron went into exile, and has spent the last years as a pirate, reaving from Oldtown to Qarth and beyond, fighting Summer Islanders and the Ibbenese. He once lost his senses during a storm while sailing on the Jade Sea, and his crew was forced to tie him to the mast to prevent him from jumping overboard. When Euron was let down after the storm, he had all their tongues ripped out and later glibly remarked of the incident that "I needed silence."

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*REPRESENTED IN THE SERIES*