The Grey King is a legendary monarch from the Iron Islands. He is said to have ruled for 1.007 years. All of the great houses of the Iron Islands claim descent from the Grey King, apart from House Goodbrother, who claim descent from his loyal eldest brother.
Appearance and Character[]
The Grey King is so named because his hair, beard and eyes were as grey as the winter sea. At the end of his life his skin had turned grey. He supposedly wore robes of woven seaweed. Accounts differ on whether he wore a driftwood crown, or a crown made out of Nagga's teeth.
History[]
Legends say that the Grey King defeated the first of the sea dragons, Nagga. Afterwards, the Drowned God turned Nagga's bones to stone, and the bones were then used to build his hall with them. He supposedly heated the hall with the living fire of Nagga.
The Ironborn claim that he took a mermaid as a wife, so that his children could live on the land and in the water. He also wore a crown of driftwood, to show that his power had been given to him by the oceans.
He is also responsible for the discovery of fire, as he supposedly taunted the Storm God into using one of his thunderbolts to set fire to a tree. He taught the Ironborn how to weave nets and sails. He allegedly carved the first longship from the pale wood of Ygg, a tree that ate the flesh of men.
Eventually he cast aside his driftwood crown and walked into the sea, so that he could dessend to the watery halls of the Drowned God, so that he could take his place at the right hand of the god. The Storm God then snuffed out Nagga's fire, and the sea reclaimed the throne, leaving just Nagga's Bones as the only remnant of his hall.
The Grey King is said to have had a hundred sons who fought after his death. The sixteen who survived divided the Iron Islands amongst themselves.