Life in Westeros varies wildly across geographical lines, climates, and socioeconomic status. The dominant religious group on the continent provides guidance, but it isn’t the only option. The frozen North eschews the more modern Faith of the Seven in favor of the Old Gods of the Forest. The minuscule Iron Islands also ignore the current deities, choosing to throw in their lot with the undersea bounty of the Drowned God.
Religion plays a strange part in the narrative of Game of Thrones. The nobles and knights carrying the narrative often count the church among their endless concerns. The Faith Militant makes the dominant religious group slightly more influential than the masses, but they rarely make or break their rulers. Instead, spiritual forces live within the characters’ hearts and motivate their actions.
RELATED: Game of Thrones: The Red God, Explained
Who is the Drowned God?
The Drowned God is a deity who resides in the unexplored depths of the unforgiving sea. His mythology is limited, but some stories break the surface. He Who Dwells Beneath the Waves created the ironborn of the Iron Islands in his image. His name is literal, as many believe he drowned and returned to life. He is considered dead, leading to his followers’ most iconic prayer, “What is dead may never die.” The Drowned God is said to have brought fire from the sea to the land to allow his followers to live above the surface. His eternal enemy is the Storm God, who lives in the sky and regularly sends violent winds and rain to crash humanity’s ships. His supposed champion was a figure from the Age of Heroes called the Grey King. The Grey King slayed a legendary sea dragon called the Nagga. Generations later, a descendant of the Grey King would become the Lord of his ancestor’s land, the Iron Islands.
Who Worships the Drowned God?
The Drowned God is the patron deity of the Iron Islands. The ironborn, who reside in one of Westeros’s least-populated regions, resisted the Andal’s efforts to convert the continent. The Priests of the Drowned Gods, sometimes called the Drowned Men, eschew many traditions common to other religions. The Drowned God has no temples, holy texts, or idols. His priests wander the Iron Islands, dressed in filthy robes and sealskin. They wield substantial power despite most of the group being illiterate. Resurrection is a central element of their faith. Followers are baptized in seawater, while prospective priests are temporarily drowned. These rituals risk and often result in killing the participants, but the Drowned Men have mastered the kiss of life, a technique known today as CPR. Aeron Greyjoy, the most notable living priest, suffered a near-death experience at sea and took the surname Damphair after becoming born again. He led the Drowned Men to oppose the reign of the godless over the Iron Islands. He described his experience like this:
The god took me deep beneath the waves and drowned the worthless thing I was. When he cast me forth again he gave me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a voice to spread his word, that I might be his prophet and teach his truth to those who have forgotten. For I was not made to sit upon the Seastone Chair … no more than Euron Crow’s Eye. For I have heard the God, who says, No godless man may sit my Seastone Chair!
The Drowned God’s followers firmly believe the deity created them to fight on the high seas. They saw reaving, pillaging, and murdering enemy sailors for conquest and profit as pious tributes to their holy figure. Dying at sea earned an ironborn a free trip to the Drowned God’s feasting hall beneath the waves. They extend that courtesy to their captured foes, offering human sacrifices to the deity by leaving victims to drown slowly as the tide comes in. Though the Drowned God’s rules seem permissive, they have similar restrictions on basic morality. Regicide, incest, and violence towards guests are cardinal sins. The Drowned Men aren’t particularly progressive, but they may have fewer restrictions on homosexuality than the dominant faith. They are, however, also more permissive to slavery, allowing a system of indentured servitude that enables victims’ children to go free. No ceremony under the Drowned God is free from the ocean’s influence. From pillaging to blessing newborns, salt water is like the air they breathe.
The Drowned God is based partially on Norse deities, advocating conquest and violence in his name and promising an endless feast for his followers. His rules are brutal, but his followers swear by his perceived judgment. No godless man will sit on the throne of the Iron Islands. The Grey King forged their seat of power from a sea dragon’s jaws. As brutal and ruthless as the ironborn seem, their piety rivals the Faith Militant. Actions many would see as sin look to them like virtue. Few religious groups repelled the might of the dominant religion of Westeros, but it seems fitting that the Drowned God would survive. After all, what is dead may never die.
