Pyke (island)

For the castle see Pyke (castle), for other uses see Pyke

Map showing the location of Pyke off the coast of Westeros.

Lordsport, Pyke's harbor town.

Pyke is one of the Iron Islands, an archipelago located on Ironman's Bay, on the western side of Westeros. The island is the site of the castle of the same name, which serves as the seat of House Greyjoy, the ruling house of the Iron Islands, and the town of Lordsport.

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the island of Pyke serves as home to both House Greyjoy and House Botley, which holds Lordsport.

According to The World of Ice and Fire (2014), officially, no one is sure if the island is named after the castle or the other way around. The Greyjoys claim that the island is named after their Pyke castle (after they came to dominate the rest of the island), while the smallfolk of the island say that it was always called "Pyke", and the castle is named after the island.

The four largest of the Iron Islands - Great Wyk, Harlaw, Orkmont, and Pyke - have mines which rich supplies of iron, lead, and tin. Pyke isn't as wealthy as Harlaw and Great Wyk, however, or even Orkmont: instead the Greyjoys were selected to rule all of the islands after the Targaryen Conquest due to their distinguished lineage stretching back to the Dawn Age, and the great respect they already commanded from the other ironborn.

Over time their rule did enrich Pyke island (probably through various shipping benfits, etc.) so that the largest town in the Iron Islands is Lordsport, also on Pyke island (ruled by House Botley). Even Lordsport, however, is modestly sized compared to larger trading towns on the mailand.

See also

Pyke (island) on A Wiki of Ice and Fire