In the novels, an exiled Summer Islander prince named Jalabhar Xho has taken up residence in the Red Keep for the past several years. Being warm islands, the diet of the islanders consists mostly of fruit and fish. Summer Islanders also have great respect for their elderly. Funerals are not somber occasions mourning the dead but celebrations of the lives they led, with wine and lovemaking. After that period, those deeemed the most skilled stay on at the temple in the same capacity, effectively becoming priests and priestesses in all but name. Nearly all islanders also spend a period of time serving as sacred prostitutes in the temple of the love gods. Even prostitution is considered a very respectable profession in the Summer Islands. Sex is believed to be a gift from the gods for humanity to enjoy, and is regarded as a joyous and life-affirming act. Although many gods are worshipped on the islands, the god and goddess of love and beauty are held in particualrly high esteem. Summer Islander culture is very much what might be called " sex-positive" in real life. Many crews also make the long trade route around the Jade Sea far to the east, visiting Qarth and distant Asshai.
#Summer islands 17 free
Swift and well-crewed, Summer Islander merchant ships can be found in most major ports across both Westeros and the Free Cities, from Oldtown to King's Landing, and from Braavos to Volantis. Many Summer Islanders re-applied these skills to take part in international shipping: the islands are rich in natural resources- spices, gemstones, hardwood timber, and exotic animals- and possess a large merchant fleet which operates across much of the known world. They are famed sea-farers, as they have to rely on extensive maritime transport due to the archipelago nature of their homeland. People from the Summer Islands are dark-skinned and tend to wear colorful clothes, including cloaks made of interwoven tropical bird feathers. An ancient and advanced civilization, Summer Islanders are quite distinct- ethnically and in many ways culturally- from the peoples of both Westeros and Essos. In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the Summer Islands are among the southern-most explored parts of the known world. Galleryįrom the Season 5 opening credits: The northernmost of the Summer Islands is due south of the Narrow Sea, east of Dorne and west from Tyrosh and the other Free Cities In the books Season 8ĭuring her speech after the Battle of King's Landing, Daenerys promises her army that they will free the world from tyrants from the Summer Isles to the Jade Sea. In order to craft the poison known as the strangler, the base plant must be aged and soaked in a wash containing, among other things, a number of rare spices from the Summer Islands. He does not even remember when the slavers castrated him at the beginning of his forced training to be one of the Unsullied.
Missandei, who is from the neighboring island of Naath, asks if he remembers anything of the Summer Islands or his life before becoming an Unsullied, but he says that "Unsullied" is all he remembers. The Unsullied commander Grey Worm says that he was taken from the Summer Islands by slavers as a baby. Tyrion jokes that they should sail there immediately. Xaro Xhoan Daxos was born in the Summer Islands, but has since become resident in the eastern city of Qarth." Īccording to Varys, the Summer Islanders worship a fertility goddess with sixteen teats. As a free man, he was chosen as the commander of the Unsullied. Purchased and liberated by Daenerys along with eight thousand Unsullied.