The World of Ice and Fire has solved one of the biggest enigmas for me: the descend of the Ironborn. I have devoted this post to them because the chapter dedicated to them in the aforementioned book is one of my favourite ones. At the same time, the Ironborn are interesting in their own way since they are different than the rest of the people in Westeros. Unfortunately, it seems that the TV show will cut off most of the Ironborn characters. I suspect that the characters of Euron and Victarion, Theon’s uncles, will be merged to that of Balon Greyjoy. This is a guess since by the end of the third book, A Storm of Swords, Balon is already dead.
Here is the evidence that the Ironborn descend from the First Men.
House Farwynd: What is said about them and the people they rule is interesting. They lie with seals to produce half-humans, and they skinchange into some marine mammals (sea lions, whales and walrus). In A Feast for Crows, Aeron Greyjoy, the Damphair, even describes them as “unholy” because of their skinchanging abilities.
Warging or skinchanging are abilities present in First Men, especially in those ones that follow the Old Gods. The expression of producing half-humans is also reminiscent of Old Nan’s stories about the Others / White Walkers mating with Wildlings to produce half-human infants.
Thralldom: In A Song of Ice and Fire, thralldom is only found in the Iron Islands. However, according to The World of Ice and Fire, it was a common practice amongst the First Men when they were the only occupants of Westeros. Thralls have more rights and freedoms than the slaves in the Free Cities. Basically they are not slaves.
The legend of Nagga: The Grey King was a monarch who ruled the Iron Islands during the Age of Heroes. He slew an extremely large sea dragon called Nagga, and used her bones to build his hall. Was Nagga actually a sea dragon? Maester Yandel has his own opinions about this.
The petrified bones of some gigantic sea creature do indeed stand on Nagga’s Hill on Old Wyk, but whether they are actually the bones of a sea dragon remains open to dispute. The ribs are huge, but nowise near large enough to have belonged to a dragon capable of feasting on leviathans and giant krakens.
The general consensus at Westeros.org is that Nagga’s bones are the petrified remnants of a weirwood grove. Here is a link to one of the Heresy threads that details the locations of several weirwoods in Westeros. The last location listed is Old Wyk / Nagga. Note the resemblance of Nagga’s bones to white, pale trees.
Here is another interesting deed performed by the Grey King.
The Grey King also taught men to weave nets and sails and carved the first longship from the hard pale wood of Ygg, a demon tree who fed on human flesh.
It seems Ygg was actually a weirwood. In A Dance with Dragons, readers become aware that the First Men used to perform sacrifices in front of weirwoods. If skinchanging is considered unholy, the same would be applicable to weirwoods. In this case the tree is a wicked carnivore. Is this true? In a future post, I will write about the abilities of greenseers and the speculation of them moving trees. However, the Ironborn with few exceptions are highly illiterate, and their religion is fundamentalist and based on an oral tradition. As a result, the truth about Ygg is probably obliterated. It is also important to consider that the Grey King is from the Age of Heroes, which took place thousands and thousands of years before the events in A Song of Ice and Fire. Events from that period of time might not be recorded properly.
Galon Whitestaff: He was a prophet of the Drowned God. He used to carry a “tall carved staff”. It is said that this staff was made of weirwood. Other accounts detail that it was made from one of Nagga’s bones. I think this is confirmation of the theory that Nagga’s bones are actually the remains of a weirwood grove.
An Ironborn character that is worth mentioning is Torgon Greyiron since it has been speculated that his story foreshadows Jon Snow as a king. The following post includes several spoilers because it is written by one of the “masters” of foreshadowing at Westeros.org. The post belongs to a thread about the foreshadowed second dance of dragons (Targaryen vs. Blackfyre). Concerning the post, just focus on the text written under Torgon the Latecomer. Remember that Asha Greyjoy is Yara Greyjoy in the TV show. The Kingsmoot is a ceremony in which the Ironborn elect their kings. Originally kingship was not inherited, it was actually earned. However, many rulers have suppressed Kingsmoots and its supporters, mainly Ironborn priests, in order to favour their sons.
Foreshadowing: Torgon the Latecomer
I might be using the concept of foreshadowing in a wrong manner since many of these cases of history repeating itself are mentioned throughout A Song of Ice and Fire but have not happened yet. However, they are placed in the story for a reason – mainly as clues or foreshadowing devices, and they are used for speculation by readers. I am of the belief that it is fun to speculate.
If interested in learning more about the Greyjoys, there is a Re-read project that focuses on the Greyjoy uncles. It is an interesting read.
In the new year I will be writing more about weirwoods and something associated with them, the hammer of the waters.
Excerpts from
Martin, George R.R., Elio M. Garcia & Linda Antonsson. The World of Ice and Fire. New York: Bantam Books, 2014. Print.
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