Jorunn the Skald - King ( Book ) Content . Born in 2E 546 to Queen Mabjaarn Flame - Hair , Prince Jorunn grew up knowing that his elder sister , Nurnhilde , was fated to take the throne . A singer of rare talent in a culture that reveres the power of the human voice , Jorunn studied at Skald ' s Retreat on the Isle of Gold outside Riften . There he learned all that could be taught by the most renowned bards of the Eastern Kingdom . He was dubbed the " Skald Prince " of Skyrim . Jorunn spent most of his youth in artistic and philosophical pursuits , cultivating a broad array of artists , artisans , and performers throughout Eastern Skyrim and beyond . He spent time in Mournhold , Stormhold , Sutch , Elinhir , and is even reputed to have visited Solitude , the capital of Western Skyrim , in disguise . Though he claimed to have no interest in politics or the business of rule , his natural leadership qualities made him the unofficial leader of the creative community wherever he found himself . Though he received little formal schooling in the arts of arms and warfare – as little as a prince of the Nords could manage , anyway – traveling across Tamriel was always a dangerous activity . His travels taught him less orthodox ways of dealing with trouble . Jorunn was in Riften when the Akaviri of Dir - Kamal assaulted the northeast coast of Skyrim in 2E 572 . Jorunn and his closest comrades , the " Pack of Bards , " fought their way up the coast to Windhelm , arriving just in time to see its gates breached by the Akaviri . Jorunn hurled himself into the fray , street - fighting being something he had experience with , but was unable to prevent the fall of the city and the slaying of Queen Mabjaarn and the Princess Nurnhilde , who both went down fighting . Wounded and devastated , Jorunn barely escaped the sack of Windhelm alive . Feeling for the first time the responsibility of his royal birth , he decided to appeal to the Greybeards for aid , and so made his way , stealthily but quickly , to High Hrothgar . For reasons that have not been divulged , the Greybeards summoned a hero from Sovngarde , Wulfharth the Ash - King , to fight at Jorunn ' s side . Together Wulfharth and Jorunn , now claiming the title Skald King , rallied the Nords of Eastern Skyrim , mustering an army from the Rift and the outer regions of Eastmarch , then fortifying Riften . Dir - Kamal , moving south from Windhelm , found Riften defended by angry Nords inspired by the presence of Wulfharth and eager to fight . So Dir - Kamal bypassed Riften and marched on Mournhold , the Akaviri leader assuming that the Nords would be glad to see him go . That choice was a fatal mistake . Jorunn and Wulfharth led their army in pursuit of the Akaviri force , and a Nordic army entered Morrowind for the first time since the Battle of Red Mountain . The Akaviri army was caught at Stonefalls between the Nords and a Dunmer legion led by Almalexia , but the outcome of the great battle hung in the balance - - until a surprise intervention from a phalanx of Argonian shellbacks , led by a trio of reptilian battlemage s . The Akaviri line was broken and they were driven into the sea , where they drowned by the thousands . The Ash King , his purpose fulfilled , returned to Sovngarde . In Windhelm , three weeks later , Jorunn was crowned High King in the throne room of the Palace of Kings .