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The Drowned Gods

Illustration: symbol of House Greyjoy

Picture: Drowned God

The Drowned God (DG) is the deity worshiped primarily on the Iron Islands which is ruled by House Greyjoy. Other areas where this is religion is followed loosely include King's Landing in the Seven Kingdoms and Braavos in the continent of Essos. The Drowned God is depicted in the form of statues sometime made by assembling pieces of driftwood into a humaniod shape with upraised arms. In Braavos, the Drowned God is believed by the Faceless Men to be one of the aspects of their Many-Faced God. This religions condones the ironborn practices of piracy and raiding believing that He (DG) brought flame from the sea and that He created the ironborn to reave, raid and pillage, preaching that it better to pay the "iron price" (i.e. take possessions by force), rather than the "gold price" (i.e. trading or paying for possessions). The opposition god, which is known as the Storm God (SG) is constantly trying to send storms in order to creative havoc to those at sea in attempts to wreck their ships. The DG is said to have drowned at sea for the sake of the Ironborn, only to return to life "harder and stronger". With this belief, the Ironborn do not fear drowning at sea, but instead those "godly" ironborn (i.e. fearless raiders) who drown are believed to be taken to the DG's watery halls to feast on fish and be tended by mermaids for eternity.  

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A common prayer often begin with the line: "what is dead may never die", which is then responded by "but rises again, harder and stronger" and involves clutching the right hand in a fist over the heart. The Priests of this religion is are called Drowned Men and anoint devotees using sea water which is equivalent to holy water. Infants are typically "drowned" during baptism. During this ceremony, they are submerged into seawater for a short period or will have seawater poured over heads by one of the Drowned Men. 

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This religion shares the same values to the other major religions of the show including basic social rules against incest, kinslaying, and bastardy; it too upholds the laws of hospitality. 

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The Drowned God religion can be loosely be tied in with the Norse Folk religion which was a common religion among the Viking Era Danes. Like the worshipers of the Drowned God, the followers of the Norse Folk religion also used water in birth and naming rituals. In addition, the Norse concept of Valhalla-a majestic, enormous hall located in one of the nine worlds and home of the Aesir tribe of gods, also known as Asgard-where men who die gloriously in combat travel to the majestic hall in their afterlife. Like the followers of the DG, Vikings also condoned looting and piracy and were warriors of the sea. Vikings looted many of the European countries during their time including England, Germany, France, Russia, Spain and Italy. In Norse Mythology, Njörðr is a seafaring god associated with sea, seafaring, wind, fishing, and wealth. Prose Edda, an Old Norse work of literature, tells of the ill-fated marriage of Njörðr with the goddess Skaði, the goddess associated with bow-hunting, winter, and mountains. This story bears striking resemblance to the fabled war between the Storm God and The Drowned God.

Video: Game of Thrones Histories and Lore: the Drowned God 

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