Sam Salt

Sam Salt appears in the account of the Iron Islands’ succession struggle as a pretender backed by men of Great Wyk. His claim of descent from the black line set him apart from the rival factions around the boy Toron Greyjoy and his half-brother Rodrik Greyjoy, making him one of three contenders in a conflict that had already turned bloody.

Claim and Support

After the Red Kraken died, his sisters and their husbands seized Toron, the boy seated on the Seastone Chair, and put his mother to death. Against them, Toron’s cousins joined with the lords of Harlaw and Blacktyde to raise Rodrik. Men of Great Wyk rallied instead to Sam Salt, who claimed descent from the black line. The account identifies the basis of his claim and the men who supported him, but gives no further detail about his ancestry or the strength of his right to rule.

Place in the Succession Struggle

The three factions had been fighting for half a year when the conflict expanded into a Lannister intervention. Sam’s alignment with Great Wyk made him one pole in a contest otherwise organized around rival Greyjoy claimants; the account does not describe his individual actions during the fighting or state what ultimately became of him.

Narrative Significance

Sam is presented briefly, through the claim and following he represents rather than through personal deeds or characterization. His appearance shows that the struggle after the Red Kraken’s death was not simply a contest between Toron and Rodrik: a third claimant, invoking descent from the black line and backed by Great Wyk, further divided the Iron Islands.