who do the ladies of the iron islands marry?

[longlivestannis96]

well there arent much mentions of noble females from the iron islands but im guessing they marry other ironborn... anyone know of any ironborn ladies or even lords that marry mainlanders?

[Bright Blue Eyes]

Ser Harras Harlaw's mother was a mainlander.

Lord Quellon Greyjoy's (Balon's father) third (or fourth) wife was a Piper.

[Fat Mac]

Presumably Lords of the Iron Islands.

Out of the females we know on the Iron Islands:

-Alannys Harlaw married Balon Greyjoy

-Asha Greyjoy was married to Erik Anvilbreaker

-Gwynesse Harlaw married an unknown man, but since he died during the Greyjoy Rebellion, I'm assuming he was Ironborn.

It seems more common for Ironborn men to marry greenlanders than the other way around it seems. Quellon Greyjoy married a woman of House Piper and Harras Harlaw's mother is from House Serrett.

Maybe it all boils down to very few women being mentioned from the Iron Islands. Almost all of the characters we see are males.

[Aeternum]

It seems more common for Ironborn men to marry greenlanders than the other way around it seems. Quellon Greyjoy married a woman of House Piper and Harras Harlaw's mother is from House Serrett. Maybe it all boils down to very few women being mentioned from the Iron Islands. Almost all of the characters we see are males.

This strikes me as a bit weird, TBH. Why would mainland nobles want to marry off their daughters to Ironborn men? It seems like a huge step down in status, really. Not to mention the religious divide - the average medieval person was very religious and God-fearing, so it's hard to imagine that the average Seven-worshipping nobleman would be happy at the idea of having these heathen pirates as his new in-laws.

(I never got the vibe that the Ironborn were ever peacefully integrated into the Westerosi nobility, like the Martells were. Even in peacetime, the Westerosi mainlanders seem to view the Ironborn with suspicion and usually steer clear of them.)

[Steinnis]

It's not unheard of for the Ironborn to marry people of the mainlands, but they strike me as the type who are very much stuck in their own ways, and mostly stick to themsleves. I could see Asha marrying a mainlander, assuming she lives, but she does seem like one of the more forward thinking Ironborn/Greyjoys.

[Blackfish Tully]

This strikes me as a bit weird, TBH. Why would mainland nobles want to marry off their daughters to Ironborn men? It seems like a huge step down in status, really. Not to mention the religious divide - the average medieval person was very religious, so it's hard to imagine a devout Seven-worshiping nobleman being happy at the idea of having these heathen ex-pirates as his new in-laws.

(I never got the vibe that the Ironborn were ever peacefully integrated into the Westerosi nobility, like the Martells were. Even in peacetime, the Westerosi mainlanders seem to view the Ironborn with suspicion and usually steer clear of them.)

The Harlaws and Greyjoys are fairly powerful and rich houses so I can see why some noble families would marry off their daughters to them. As for religion I would expect that most of the nobles just go through the motions just like I doubt many of the mainlanders are really that religious.

[longlivestannis96]

i dont think many of the main characters are even practicing worshippers of the seven. its probably just a part of their culture to get married by a sept and whatnot. smallfolk are probably much more conservative

religion is probably just for weddings and funerals

[Mad Monkey]

Marrying an ironborn for political reasons is like intentionally ingesting a tapeworm to lose weight. Yeah, you might get something out of it but you will likely give far more than you get.

The ironborn were never fully incorporated into Westerosi society, partly because they were dragged into the Seven Kingdoms without their consent, partly because their religion/culture is distinct, and partly because they must make their living through reaving because their own lands (now that they lost the Riverlands) are barren. Balon Greyjoy rebelled twice in less than ten years, for instance. This makes it hard for southron politicians to view the ironborn as an acceptable match. Functionally, marrying an ironborn is the same as marrying a foreigner like Doran and his Norvoshi bride -- it has to be for love or money, because your ironborn spouse isn't going to be able to help you manipulate southern politics.

Of the ironborn who have married non-ironborn, most seem to be from the North or the Riverlands, their former kingdom.

[Knight Of Winter]

Given their contempt of "soft green lords" , I doubt Iron Islands men and women often marry with mainlanders. If any of mainlander women ends up on Iron Islands, most likely she's salt wife.

For examples of Iron Islanders's opinion of mainlanders, just look at fate Quellon Greyjoy's last wife suffered. Or what Asha thinks her countrymen would say if she married Justin Massey (Balon's daughter is just a woman after all. She how she spreads her legs for this soft green lord)

[Bright Blue Eyes]

Given their contempt of "soft green lords" , I doubt Iron Islands men and women often marry with mainlanders. If any of mainlander women ends up on Iron Islands, most likely she's salt wife.

For examples of Iron Islanders's opinion of mainlanders, just look at fate Quellon Greyjoy's last wife suffered. Or what Asha thinks her countrymen would say if she married Justin Massey (Balon's daughter is just a woman after all. She how she spreads her legs for this soft green lord)

That's post-Balon and his Old Ways Crusade though. Lord Quellon was different, and even pre-Rebellion Balon wasn't as bad. Theon is quite vocal about it when he arrives at Pyke - the greenland influences he remembers from his childhood are all gone, but they were there 10 years ago.

[Knight Of Winter]

That's post-Balon and his Old Ways Crusade though. Lord Quellon was different, and even pre-Rebellion Balon wasn't as bad. Theon is quite vocal about it when he arrives at Pyke - the greenland influences he remembers from his childhood are all gone, but they were there 10 years ago.

Didn't pre-rebellion Balon gruesomely dealt with his father's Piper wife?

Theon can hardly be representative for Iron Islands culture, in fact one of his main character themes is him being an outcast. He gets much contempt from his fellow Iron Islanders just from spending 10 years in greenlands. IIRC, Theon himself muses how he can never belong in Iron Islands.

Besides, Iron Islanders don't seem troubled with returning of the Old Ways, quite the contrary. They elected Euron as king, after all.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

Didn't pre-rebellion Balon gruesomely dealt with his father's Piper wife?

Theon can hardly be representative for Iron Islands culture, in fact one of his main character themes is him being an outcast. He gets much contempt from his fellow Iron Islanders just from spending 10 years in greenlands. IIRC, Theon himself muses how he can never belong in Iron Islands.

Besides, Iron Islanders don't seem troubled with returning of the Old Ways, quite the contrary. They elected Euron as king, after all.

Yes, Balon did. As I said: "post-Balon". The guy influenced the Ironborn and his rebellion hammered it home.

I'm referring to Theon's memory of septs and septons and other greenland influences, which were present in old Lordsport, but not in the one rebuilt after Balon's Rebellion.

[Brynden Bloodraven Rivers]

Balon did nothing to his father's wife, he took out the maester's hand (this maester couldn't cure Balon's brother) and Piper died in a child-birth.

[Aeternum]

The ironborn were never fully incorporated into Westerosi society, partly because they were dragged into the Seven Kingdoms without their consent, partly because their religion/culture is distinct, and partly because they must make their living through reaving because their own lands (now that they lost the Riverlands) are barren.

And when you combine all these things with the Ironborn's track record of raping and pillaging Westeros for centuries, resulting in a deep-seated historical grudge, you'd think that marrying into an Ironborn family would be about as popular as willingly infecting yourself with AIDS.

It's a social no-go, if you're a Westerosi noble with political ambitions. Which is why I'm surprised to hear about those Greyjoys and Harlaws being married to mainlanders without anyone noting it as unusual.

Functionally, marrying an ironborn is the same as marrying a foreigner like Doran and his Norvoshi bride -- it has to be for love or money, because your ironborn spouse isn't going to be able to help you manipulate southern politics.

Yeah. It's about as profitable as show-Robb's marriage to Floplisa. In a pre-modern medieval society, where everything was about feudal power and family connections, very few nobles are going to marry for tr00 luv. And the "money" part is really doubtful - we don't ever get the impression that the Iron Islands are wealthy by Westerosi standards. Rather the opposite. From what we've seen of Pyke, it's hardly an attractive catch for Westerosi gold-diggers and social climbers. The Greyjoys have a lot of ships and seawater and rocks.

IMO, the perfect match would be Ironborn men and Frey women. Lord Heh-Heh should set up a dating agency.

Of the ironborn who have married non-ironborn, most seem to be from the North or the Riverlands, their former kingdom.

This is an interesting thought.

Since the Ironborn had a kingdom in the Riverlands, and conquerors often interbreed with their subjects (and especially in the upper levels of society), it's pretty likely that many Riverlands nobles have Ironborn genes in them. For the Riverlands nobility, this fact is probably one of those shameful and dirty secrets that everyone knows but no one really talks about. Those funeral rites of House Tully, the boat-burning Viking funeral, must have come from somewhere...

[Fire Eater]

I think that while most Ironborn have no problem marrying women from the green lands, they are averse to their daughters marrying men from the green lands. Ironborn women are married to men on the Iron Isles.

[Black Mike Secret]

The Harlaws seem like a pretty much normal noble family.

[GallowsKnight]

I imagine that the only Ironborn men who marry Greenland Women are full Lords. Marrying to a lands and tile, even if it's less than fertile and prospective islands, is an attractive option, especially for younger daughters.

[BondJamesBond]

I think some of the mainland lords that are close to the sea by the Islands may marry a daughter to a very high ranking iron born in order to gain some protection from raids. It would have to be someone very high ranking like Balon who gets to decide where the raids take place and where not to raid.

[Fire Eater]

I think some of the mainland lords that are close to the sea by the Islands may marry a daughter to a very high ranking iron born in order to gain some protection from raids. It would have to be someone very high ranking like Balon who gets to decide where the raids take place and where not to raid.

Harras Harlaw's mother was a Serrett of Silverhill from deep inland in the Westerlands, and her husband, his father, was a younger son of Lord Harlaw.

[BondJamesBond]

Harras Harlaw's mother was a Serrett of Silverhill from deep inland in the Westerlands, and her husband, his father, was a younger son of Lord Harlaw.

I said "some" not all. Thanks for the exception.