Founding Fathers

Jorunn the Skald

Region: The Fjords, Skald's Retreat

Importance: Founder of Skald's Retreat

Summary: Warrior bards or Skalds as they are known, emerged as a warrior clan in fjord sometime during the second age. By nature, the bards tended to wander, mobile and lone fighting units only loosely associated with each-other. Jorunn was a minor prince of the Fjords and was the youngest of thirteen brothers, unlikely to inherit a throne or land. Instead of noble politics Jorunn turned to music, traveling and gaining more bardic knowledge and reputation as he went. Eventually Jorunn became a skald when he grew tired of simply singing of the deeds of others. In Jorunn's eyes skalds needed a place of rest so he created Skald's Retreat. From this hall the skalds would gather to sing of their deeds and the deeds of others. Seeking new songs became a constant process and the skalds began going on hunts. These hunts were of great beasts and monsters, often dangerous trolls or giants. While Jorunn died around 1015, his legacy lives on in Skald tales and in the Skald's Retreat itself. Now one of the most prominent and respected Bardic Colleges in the world the songs of Jorunn sung by the students of Skald's Retreat are still heard echoing over the seas and hills of the Fjords.