Jørgen Jørgensøn sorgþungr

Summary

The exceptionally mundane Tom first attended the SCA event That Stinky Little War Over There 3 ½ in 2002 as a guest of Tadhg the Thinker (now Taðkr ormstunga) and the House of Hormones. There, he served as a photojournalist for his high school yearbook.

In 2008 he attended Tryggvy's War XLIII as a guest of House Jormungandr. While at the event he again took photographs, but this time for the household and its members. At their Thing ceremony, he accepted a house favor and was formally invited to join House Jormungandr.

Since he had no persona of his own, and no name to accompany it if he did, he accepted the pseudonym of Tómas Sorgþungr (Tom the Sorrow Stricken).

He returned in 2009 to the July Coronation under the (self assumed and unofficial) name Jørgen Jørgensøn Sorgþungr.

Persona

Son of the Hunter Jørgen Ælfricsøn and Herbalist Bodil Birgeardóttir, Jørgen Jørgensøn was born in 880 A.D. in the port town of Århus. A healthy and normal child, he lived with his parents until his 16th year when their longhouse burnt down and his parents were lost. After suffering the loss, Jørgen gathered what remained of his possessions and left Århus, heading westward, guided by a vision he had received in a dream.

Upon completion of his journey he found himself on the tall peak of Sky Mountain upon which stood a simple shack. There he met an old man who claimed that he was waiting for him, citing Jørgen’s vision to satiate his queries. The man, who called himself Ørn, invited Jørgen into his home explaining that he was a Runemaker and that he had, with guidance from the runes, picked Jørgen to be his apprentice.

Jørgen stayed with Ørn for many years, learning to carve and empower runes. After seven years of study and crafting, Ørn dubbed Jørgen to be a Journeyman Runemaker, ready to travel and ply his craft. The morning after his promotion, Jørgen found that his master had died in his sleep, but had left a letter for him as if he was expecting death. The letter explained Jørgen’s path to become a Master Runemaker and Ørn’s request for him to live in the shack on the mountain after he finished. This second loss prompted Jørgen to adopt the title Sorgþungr to display his grief.

After burying his master at the base of the mountain, at the foot of a yew tree, Jørgen traveled south to the trading town of Hedeby to offer his services. Seven years of inscribing blades and carving hearths passed and finally Jørgen returned to live in the shack on Sky Mountain, occasionally traveling to distant parts in the kingdom to inscribe runes, but mostly doing his craft out of his home.