Kingsmoot

"We raised our Kings from our own ranks, and used beaten foes as thralls to work our mines and farm our land."

- Yara Greyjoy

The Kingsmoot is an ironborn custom and part of the traditions which they call the Old Way. Through the Kingsmoot, the ironborn chose their Kings from among their own numbers. Some of the Kings of the Iron Islands were elected this way.

Vickon Greyjoy rose to Lord of the Iron Islands by the choice of the ironborn themselves, though this election was not called "kingsmoot".

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, during a Kingsmoot all captains may cast a vot to choose the new Iron King and any captain may put his name as candidate. Kingsmoots are traditionally held on Nagga's hill on Old Wyk. According to the book History of the Ironborn there hasn't been a kingsmoot in four thosuand years, but according to Questions, it has been two thousand years. Some famous Iron Kings were chosen at a Kingsmoot: Urras Ironfoot, Sylas Flatnose, Harrag Hoare (of House Hoare), and the Old Kraken (of House Greyjoy).

Once a candidate puts himself forth, he is bound to the kingsmoot decision. Only once in the history of the Iron Islands has the election been declared unlawful. When one king died, the king's brother called a kingsmoot while Torgon the Latecomer, the deceased king's son, was off at sea raiding. The king's brother hoped he would be elected in the son's absence, but the kingsmoot raised up Urragon Goodbrother, whose first act was to put all the present kin of the old king to death. Torgon returned two years later and claimed the kingsmoot was unlawful since he, the previous king's son, was not present to put forth his candidacy as was his right. Since Urragon was bloodthirsty and his cruelty made him many enemies, the priests and Ironborn denounced him and raised Torgon to be the new Iron King.

The last Kingmoot was a bloodbath and took place centuries before the Andal invasion. Urron Greyiron gathered his men and killed all the other attendees and set up the Greyiron dynasty, which lasted a thousand years until the arrival of the Andals.