[What is dead may never die.]
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The Greyjoy sigil is a gold kraken on a black
field.
It exudes power and intimidation,
which isn't misleading --
the Greyjoys, and the rest of the ironborn,
or people from the Iron Islands,
take pride in their violent culture.
Like the powerful kraken on a mysterious black
field,
the Greyjoys are almost superhumanly
vicious and strong,
so long as they're at sea.
[We can defeat anyone at sea,]
[but we'll never hold lands and castles
against mainland armies.]
The Greyjoys' way of life, the Old Way,
is reminiscent of pirate lore and inspired
by the Vikings:
the ironborn raid and ransack villages
to sustain themselves,
paying the iron price --
which means to take what they want from
those they have killed,
instead of paying for it with gold or other
goods,
they call that, the gold price.
[That bauble round your neck, did you pay
the iron price for it, or the gold?]
[I asked a question.]
[Did you pull it from the neck of a corpse
you made]
[or did you buy it to match your fine clothes?]
The Greyjoys have one of the largest
and most formidable fleets in Westeros.
On land, however, their soldiers don't fare
as well,
as they lack numbers and discipline.
Overall, house Greyjoy symbolizes brute force
and unapologetic violence,
tough survival, devotion to traditions,
alternative way of life, closeness to water,
broken family,
open defiance and fearless faith.
Game of Thrones introduces House Greyjoy splintered,
and they don't do much to earn our affection
--
Theon, the first and for some time the only
member of his house we see,
begins as a bitter and cocky character -
and that's before he turns against the Starks
in Season 2.
After his betrayal, Theon's bad luck endeared
him
to the audience --
captured, tortured, and broken to the point
where he didn't even know who he was,
Theon became less of a Greyjoy and more of
a character the audience feels for.
Theon's father, Balon, who's the leader
of the Greyjoys
when the series starts, is introduced as
an unloving man.
Theon's sister, Yara, is a strong woman who,
despite the sexist community she grew up in,
commands ships and leads with courage.
She is truly ironborn, although one of the
conditions
of her alliance with Daenerys was that as
leader
she would stop paying the iron price.
The Ironborn's continuation of the Old Way
shows their defiance against the Iron Throne.
Theon's grandfather, Quellon,
actually tried to strengthen ties to
the rest of Westeros,
but Balon reversed his father's efforts
when he came to power
and started Greyjoy's Rebellion against
Robert Baratheon's rule.
Balon's two eldest sons were killed in battle
--
leaving Theon and Yara as his only two
surviving heirs.
After the rebellion was crushed, Theon lived
with the Starks
as a ward/hostage to keep Balon in check,
as Ned was ordered to kill Theon
if Balon tried anything again.
Since then, Balon's brother, Euron,
murdered his brother to seize the Salt Throne.
Euron was chosen by their traditional
selection process, the kingsmoot,
and crowned through the ceremony of the Drowned
God,
but Yara opts to seize the Salt Throne anyway,
deciding to team up with Daenerys,
until Euron hunts her down and captures her.
Euron's vying to marry Cersei and his hunger
to rule the seven kingdoms
departs from the traditional Ironborn distrust
of
and isolation from the rest of the Westeros.
Euron adds a third red eye to the sigil,
making the kraken even more creepy than ever.
In the books and one version of the sigil
we see on the show,
he uses a silver kraken, instead of gold,
perhaps emphasizing the iron of ironborn
or his interest in the Iron throne.
With Joffrey and Ramsay Bolton gone,
Euron is now one of the more frightening
and purely cruel villains on the show.
[We do not sow.
We are ironborn.]
[We're not subjects.
We're not slaves.]
The Greyjoy's motto, "We Do Not Sow,"
indicates their stubborn refusal to give up
their Old Way.
They are proud of their ironborn traditions
of paying the iron price,
pillaging and taking through brutal force.
The Iron Islands are a harsh
and unpleasant landscape --
a bleak backdrop of storm and grey skies,
far from the warm tones of King's Landing
or Dorne.
But the environment symbolizes, and has formed,
the hard nature of the ironborn,
who have had to survive by raiding their neighbors
and taking their food and supplies.
Not surprisingly, this lifestyle puts them
in conflict with most others around them.
[I don't trust Lord Greyjoy because he is
not trustworthy.]
Their choice of title for their leader,
Lord Reaper of Pyke,
reveals their value system.
Since violence is their preferred mode of
reaping,
earning respect in the Iron Islands is all
about
showing fearlessness and cruel strength.
[They have ships, and they're good at killing.]
[They're not good at anything!
I know the Ironborn.]
[They're bitter, angry little people.]
[All they know how to do is steal the things
they can't build or grow themselves.]
While it isn't the most noble or intellectual
way of life,
the Greyjoys can boast that they're honest
and straightforward,
and don't hide behind political games.
The polar opposite of the crafty Tyrells'
motto
"Growing Strong,"
the Greyjoys "We Do Not Sow" can be read
as a declaration that,
whereas other houses might pretend to be peaceable
and generous,
the Greyjoys make no pretense about who they
are
or the brutal world that they're living in.
The ironborn are also uncompromising
in their religion --
they refuse to worship the New Gods,
as the majority of the Seven Kingdoms do.
Instead, they worship the Drowned God,
whom the Faceless Men of Braavos believe to
be
one of the aspects of the Many-Faced God.
The Drowned God explains a lot about
the Greyjoys' fearlessness
and their connection to the sea.
Worshipping the Drowned God reinforces and
celebrates
the ironborn practices of pillaging,
because they believe the Drowned God created
them
to do so.
An unofficial but more popular saying of the
Greyjoys,
is a common prayer in their religion:
"What Is Dead May Never Die."
This is met with the response,
"But rises again, harder and stronger."
Resurrection, specifically being revived
after drowning,
plays a large part in the religion of the
Drowned God,
who is said to have drowned in the sea for
the sake
of the ironborn.
The ironborn don't fear drowning
because their religion claims that fearless
raiders
who drown in the sea
are taken to the Drowned God's halls to feast
on fish
and be tended by mermaids for eternity.
The Ironborn sacrifice enemies and execute
criminals
through drowning.
Their leaders are anointed with a ceremony
led by
the Drowned Men,
priests of the religion and devotees may also
be blessed
by the Drowned Men using seawater.
The Greyjoys base their claims of legitimacy
in ruling the Iron Islands
on the belief that they descend from
a semi-mythical figure,
The Grey King, who is said to have been blessed
by the Drowned God,
taken a mermaid as his wife and ruled
the Western isles
and the sea itself for a thousand years.
The Iron Islands are theoretically something
of loose democracy,
where the ship captains choose their leaders
through a kingsmoot,
but in actual practice the Greyjoys seem to
largely go unchallenged,
due to their long history of rule and ability
to intimidate others.
[The Salt Throne is not yours to swear upon,]
[not unless the kingsmoot chooses you.]
[My father would have wanted me to rule!]
[Your father does not get to choose!
The law is clear!]
The Greyjoy's version of black is a fearsome
color,
meant to be unfriendly and mysterious.
The ironborn way of life creates a barrier
between itself and the outside world,
championing confidence and intimidation.
The black of the field also indicates
the depths of the open ocean,
large, daunting, and unforgiving.
While many are afraid of what the bottom
of the sea may hold,
the ironborn embrace the unknown that may
be
lurking under the open waters.
The pirate-like nature of the ironborn is
reflected
in the Greyjoy aesthetic,
yet while we might expect black and silver,
which would be more pirate-like and allude
to
the Iron of the Iron Islands.
The gold on the traditional Greyjoy sigil
is a nod
to all the riches they steal from their neighbors.
While the ironborn look down upon paying
the gold price,
the gold in their sigil signifies an undying
thirst
for power,
and the selfish nature of paying the iron
price.
Gold's links to masculine energy remind us
of their sexist culture and religion.
Traditionally, Women of the Iron Islands
aren't allowed to be clergy members,
sail around the world to pillage, or command
ships.
This is why Yara is such an important
female character --
even though she's a woman, many ironborn support
her as their leader.
[Kraken.
Strong, as long as they're in the sea.]
[When you take them out of the water, no bones.]
The Greyjoy animal is another creature
that's mythical,
both in real life and Westeros: the kraken.
[Release The Kraken!]
The story of the legendary sea monsters comes
from Nordic folklore
and may be based on sightings of the giant
squid
dating back to the 12th century.
A Kraken is said to be as long as an island
--
some maintain that they attack vessels
with their long arms
and eat entire crews at once.
Resembling a giant squid, the kraken is said
to be the dragon of the sea.
Although many in Westeros don't believe krakens
exist,
they said the same of direwolves and dragons,
and sailors occasionally report sightings
of krakens,
so it's possible one could make an appearance
in the show.
Like the ironborn, krakens are terrifyingly
strong,
savagely take whatever they please,
and sound so larger-than-life
that most people hope the rumors of them
are exaggerated.
Legend holds that krakens, like octopi,
can regrow limbs.
This renewal mirrors the resurrection
in the religion of the drowned God.
A story goes that the Greyjoy ancestor,
the Grey King, slay Nagga,
a sea dragon that fed on krakens,
and the Grey King then made his hall
out of Nagga's bones
and took Nagga's fire for his own.
The story symbolizes that House Greyjoy is
so strong,
they descend from a figure blessed by the
Drowned God
to defeat a creature even more powerful
than the fearsome kraken.
Currently caught in a family civil war,
House Greyjoy is in crisis --
the ironborn are split in their allegiance
to either Euron or the captured Yara.
We viewers feel for Theon more now that
he has less the typical Greyjoy --
now that he's shown human weakness and remorse,
in contrast to Euron's proudly barbaric behavior.
[It always seemed like there was,]
[like there was an impossible choice I had
to make,
Stark or Greyjoy.]
Theon also shows love for his sister,
even though his PTSD prevented him from saving
her
as she tried to save him.
[You don't have to choose.
You're a Greyjoy
and you're a Stark.]
Through Theon's more complex current self,
and Yara who could represent a change
to the Ironborn's routine sexism,
this generation of Greyjoys could represent
a step forward,
a more updated, nuanced version of their house
--
while still respecting their culture's traditions.
[We're going to sail east, find a nice, quiet
island,]
[kill all the men, and take their wives
for ourselves.]
[We're done with all that.]
Overall, the Greyjoys illustrate the wide
variety
of lifestyles
that exist within the Thrones world,
speak to the hold that culture and religion
have
on peoples who live in difficult environments,
and demonstrate the raw power of ruling the
seas
in a Westeros at war.
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