Vaedys Targaryen Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 I'm not quite sure if this question belongs in the "General" forum, but I don't know where else to post the question, so here goes: Bastards of noble families, whether one of their parents or both are of a noble house, get their own last name, depending on the region they live; if you are born in the Reach, you get the name Flowers, if you're born in the Stormlands, you get the name Storm, etc. All the last names have some connection to the environment of the region that they live in; there are many flowers in the Reach, so noble bastards get the last name Flowers. Storms are constant in the Stormlands, so they get the name Storm. It snows a lot in the North, sometimes even in summer, so bastards get the name Snow. All the names have a connection to a particular trait of their respective region. All of them, except the Iron Islands, whose noble bastards recieve the last name Pyke, after the island called Pyke and the castle Pyke, on that same island, which is the official castle of house Greyjoy. Why is that? Is there a reason why the Ironborn decided to give their bastards the last name Pyke after the island and castle, and not after a common trait of the Iron Islands like the rest of the Seven Kingdoms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darry Man Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Good question. One would think the bastard name for the Ironborn would be "Iron". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renly's Banana Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Probably just another way for GRRM to show that the Ironborn are a different people with their own stubborn, different customs. The Iron Islands are nowhere near as big as the other regions, and most of their politics revolve around the island of Pyke. Lore-wise, if I had to guess, it started as their own unique trend and just stuck. The rulers of Pyke have always asserted their dominance with an iron fist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Yozza Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 57 minutes ago, Renly's Banana said: Probably just another way for GRRM to show that the Ironborn are a different people with their own stubborn, different customs. The Iron Islands are nowhere near as big as the other regions, and most of their politics revolve around the island of Pyke. Lore-wise, if I had to guess, it started as their own unique trend and just stuck. The rulers of Pyke have always asserted their dominance with an iron fist. Except the Iron Islands have only been ruled by Pyke for 300 hundred years. Before that, the Hoare's ruled from Orkmont I believe and even earlier the Greyiron's ruled from the same place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renly's Banana Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 19 minutes ago, Adam Yozza said: Except the Iron Islands have only been ruled by Pyke for 300 hundred years. Before that, the Hoare's ruled from Orkmont I believe and even earlier the Greyiron's ruled from the same place. Then I'm willing to guess the Pyke surname only goes back to 300 years ago. Before that it may have been something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Good Guy Garlan Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 3 hours ago, Vaedys Targaryen said: All the names have a connection to a particular trait of their respective region. Then the surname of the Ironborn bastards should be "Crap" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clegane'sPup Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 3 hours ago, Vaedys Targaryen said: Why is that? Is there a reason why the Ironborn decided to give their bastards the last name Pyke after the island and castle, and not after a common trait of the Iron Islands like the rest of the Seven Kingdoms? I do not know. There are fish named Pike that are aggressive. Maybe Martin is a fisherman and he decided to change the I to Y when writing his saga. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praetor Xyn Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 48 minutes ago, Good Guy Garlan said: Then the surname of the Ironborn bastards should be "Crap" Or Hellhole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clegane'sPup Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Maybe Crappie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1000th Lord Commander Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 I noticed this too. I had wondered if it started out as a tradition of naming bastards after the island on which they were born, which then evolved into simply Pyke. But there's no mention of this in the World Book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftheking Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 "Salt" would fit best with the others, but be boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Ravens Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 3 hours ago, Adam Yozza said: Except the Iron Islands have only been ruled by Pyke for 300 hundred years. Before that, the Hoare's ruled from Orkmont I believe and even earlier the Greyiron's ruled from the same place. 2 hours ago, Renly's Banana said: Then I'm willing to guess the Pyke surname only goes back to 300 years ago. Before that it may have been something else. So before Iron Born bastards were called Pykes they were called Orks? I like it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Loras The Gay Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 2 hours ago, Good Guy Garlan said: Then the surname of the Ironborn bastards should be "Crap" Omg, apply salt water to the burn. And yes, that's very odd, and you made me think about this the very first time. Maybe they see their devotion to the greyjoys which such passion they name every bastard as if they were from the pyke castle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James West Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 1 hour ago, ftheking said: "Salt" would fit best with the others, but be boring. Yes, salt is the most fitting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daena the Defiant Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 7 hours ago, Vaedys Targaryen said: I'm not quite sure if this question belongs in the "General" forum, but I don't know where else to post the question, so here goes: Bastards of noble families, whether one of their parents or both are of a noble house, get their own last name, depending on the region they live; if you are born in the Reach, you get the name Flowers, if you're born in the Stormlands, you get the name Storm, etc. All the last names have some connection to the environment of the region that they live in; there are many flowers in the Reach, so noble bastards get the last name Flowers. Storms are constant in the Stormlands, so they get the name Storm. It snows a lot in the North, sometimes even in summer, so bastards get the name Snow. All the names have a connection to a particular trait of their respective region. All of them, except the Iron Islands, whose noble bastards recieve the last name Pyke, after the island called Pyke and the castle Pyke, on that same island, which is the official castle of house Greyjoy. Why is that? Is there a reason why the Ironborn decided to give their bastards the last name Pyke after the island and castle, and not after a common trait of the Iron Islands like the rest of the Seven Kingdoms? 'Pyke' is an alternative, archaic version of 'pike' which is a type of spear. That fits more with the "Vikingly" culture of the Iron Islands, and also probably why the castle is called that too, since it sits on cylinders of rock standing up above the surf, like thrust spears or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaedys Targaryen Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 4 hours ago, ftheking said: "Salt" would fit best with the others, but be boring. I suppose it could work for their Salt Children (the children conceived through their Salt Wives), but what about the bastards of Ironborn nobles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hammer of Justice Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 2 hours ago, Peter Peckerton said: Yes, salt is the most fitting. I prefer "Sea" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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