Aeron Greyjoy is the youngest brother of Balon Greyjoy, Lord of the Iron Islands, and the son of Lord Quellon Greyjoy and Lady Sunderly. After a near-death experience, he became a priest of the Drowned God and changed his last name to Damphair. Aeron calls the kingsmoot after Balon’s death. He tries to make Victarion, a godly man, the next ruler of the Iron Islands. However, an exiled Euron returns and claims the throne with promises of getting the Iron Throne with the might of dragons.
Aeron Greyjoy Personal Details
- Name: Aeron Greyjoy.
- Year of Birth: Between 269 and 273 AC in Pyke.
- Allegiance: House Greyjoy.
- Culture: Ironborn.
- Parents: Lord Quellon Greyjoy and Lady Sunderly.
- Aliases: The Damphair, Aeron Damphair.
- Religion: The Drowned God.
- Hair Color: Black.
- Eye Color: Black.
Appearance and Personality
Aeron is tall and slim-framed with fierce black eyes and long hair that reaches his waist and has seaweed woven into it. He has a beak of a nose and is shorter than his older brother Victarion. He wears roughspun wool dyed in the green, grey, and blue color worn by priests of the Drowned God. As a prophet, he carries a container filled with seawater.
Before becoming the sour-faced man he is, Aeron was once jovial and loved partying, drinking, and women. He indulged in many things, including playing the pipes, juggling, and horse riding. However, after becoming a priest of the ironborns’ deity, the Drowned God, he changed to a humorless and religious man with profound dedication to the work of the Drowned God. After becoming a prophet, he stated he could hear God and started drinking seawater to strengthen and renew his faith.
Biography
Early Life
Aeron was the youngest son of his father. At age sixteen, he claimed to be a man but became a drunk who indulged in ale, singing, dancing, and horse riding. He started making absurd claims and once wagered his ship against a flock of goats. Aeron is scared of Euron and has nightmares related to his brother. He also has a guilt that haunts him for the death of Urrigon, his brother, after he got an infection from a finger dance they performed together.
Greyjoy’s Rebellion
When Robert Baratheon ascended the Iron Throne, Balon Grejoy declared the Iron Islands an independent state and crowned himself King of the Iron Islands, sparking a rebellion. Aeron joined his brothers, Victarion and Euron, and raided the coast.
During the battle off Fair Isle, Lord Stannis Baratheon crushed the Iron Fleet of the Greyjoys in a trap and almost killed Aeron by tearing his ship, the Golden Storm, apart. Aeron got discovered by some fishermen who led him to Lannisport, where he got imprisoned by the Lannisters. For the rest of the war, Aeron was a prisoner of the Lannisters, and after Balon’s defeat, he returned to Pyke.
Religion
After surviving the destruction of his ship, Aeron went through a spiritual reawakening and decided to dedicate himself to the deity worshiped by the ironborn of the Iron Islands. Upon getting released, he became a humorless hermit drowned priest and started spreading the word of his newly found faith, believing that every breath is a gift that should get used to worship the Drowned God.
With a new name, Damphair, Aeron gathered a following and got his acolytes called the Drowned Men. He began performing the rites of passage for people who wanted to dedicate themselves to the Drowned God by drowning them in the ocean and restoring them with the kiss of life.
Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire
A Clash of Kings
When the War of the Five Kings starts, Robb Stark sends his trusted man, Theon Greyjoy, to the Iron Islands to negotiate an alliance between the Greyjoys and the Starks. On getting to the Iron Islands, Aeron, Balon’s brother, takes Theon from Lordsport to Pyke and blesses him with saltwater because he had been staying with the Starks who worshiped the Old Gods of the Forest.
Balon refuses Robb’s offer and declares himself King of the Iron Islands. He sends his son, Theon, with Aeron and Dagmer to harry the Stony Shore and Aeron blesses Theon’s ship, the Sea Bitch. Aeron and the Ironmen capture Benfred Tallhart, and when he refuses to answer their questions, Aeron commands that he gets sacrificed to the Drowned God.
Later, Theon gets angry that his sister, Asha, is his father’s heir and concocts a plan to capture Winterfell. He leaves with Dagmer, giving Aeron the remaining six ships in his possession.
A Feast for Crows
Aeron returns to the Iron Islands and resumes his duties as a priest. He learns of Theon’s capture at Winterfell and tells his brother, Balon, who states that he plans on making Asha the next in line.
Aeron vehemently refuses his brother’s plan of making his niece rule the Iron Islands and returns to his duties. While reviving a young boy, Emmond, on the shores of Great Wyk, Aeron learns from Sparr and Gormond Goodbrother that Balon is dead. He calls the kingsmoot on Old Wyk to determine who will become the next King.
The ironborn captains heed Aeron’s call. The kingsmoot proceedings begin, and Aeron listens to the claims of Lord Dunstan Drumm, Erik Ironmaker, Victarion, Asha, and other lords. Victarion almost wins, but his exiled brother, Euron, returns and shows the people the horn he retrieved from Old Valyria.
Euron tells everyone that with Dragonbinder, he will take back the power of dragons and march on King’s Landing. The men are impressed and agree to make him the new King. Aeron, displeasure by Euron’s rise to power, tries to make Victarion fight against him, but he disappears.
A Dance with Dragons
Asha tells Tristifer Botley that Aeron has disappeared since the kingsmoot, but his men claim he is hiding on Great Wyke and will soon come out to call down the wrath of the Drowned God on Euron Crow’s Eye and his minions. A search begins for the drowned priest, and some start suspecting Euron killed his brother.
The Winds of Winter
It gets revealed that Aeron got captured by Euron’s mutes and chained in the hold of the Silence. He gets forced to drink the shade of the evening, and when he does, he gets many nightmares. He remembers how his brother abused him and Urri when they were children.
Aeron meets Falia Flowers, who tells him that Euron will make her his salt wife, and though Aeron advises her to flee, she does not. Later, Aeron gets taken to a captured castle near the Arbor and gets mocked by Euron’s men. He gets tied to Euron’s ship, and beside him is a pregnant Falia with her tongue cut out.
Appearance in Adaptation
In HBO’s tv series, Aeron’s character got portrayed by Michael Feast. He appeared in season 6 and starred in 2 episodes. He played a minor role in the series than in the books, and after Euron gets drowned, he never appears again. Later, Euron’s statement suggested that Aeron died.
Aeron: The Repented Priest
Aeron is a character with a rollercoaster story arc. He was once a carefree man who indulged in the follies and vanities of life. However, when he came close to death and lived, he decided to become a priest. Though it may sound like a development, it is not. Aeron decided to lose his humanity for the sake of a Drowned God that did not exist.
He became a fanatic and tried to make everyone change. However, he could never make everyone change as his near-death experience was unique to only him. Aeron also had scars in his past, scars from his blood that added more depth to his character. However, that past has not yet gotten explored as ‘The Winds of Winter’ is yet to be released.
FAQs
Did Aeron get kidnapped by his brother?
Though the details from ‘The Winds of Winter’ are still unfinished, it gets revealed that Aeron got captured by his brother Euron. He meets Falia Flowers and warns her against his evil brother. However, she does not heed his advice, and later, her tongue gets cut out.
Why did Aeron hate Euron Greyjoy?
Besides the revelation that Euron abused him when he was little, Aeron hated his brother because of his unhinged nature. Euron had no self-control and provoked others meaninglessly.
Did Aeron hate Balon Greyjoy?
No. Aeron, like Victarion, loved his older brother, Balon. As the former Lord of the Iron Islands got dedicated to making the ironborn return to the Old Way, he had the support of his brother, Aeron, who became a priest.
Will Aeron die in A Song of Ice and Fire?
Though Aeron’s future in A Song of Ice and Fire is uncertain, there is a chance he may survive. However, if the details from the yet-to-be-released ‘Winds of Winter’ are not false, he will likely get killed.