High Ruler

One of the things I've delighted in when talking about the Old Kingdom with people who aren't familiar it is the subject of its High Ruler. One might expect that because they are called High Ruler, well High King or High Queen depending on their gender, they would expect them to have a power similar to a king over its subject. This however isn't what the High Ruler is.
The Nords are foremost a tribal people, where the largest clans with the jarls at their head rule over their own territories, answering to no one but their own selves. A sovereign, in the traditional Southern senses of the term, would be something jarls would never stand for. Still, my people were never so proud and stupid not to see the value of unity in the face of a world that would, and has, preyed on small kingdoms. Thus the jarls decided, a very long time ago, to elect amongst themselves a person that would represent their will and strength to the world outside the borders of the Old Kingdom.
The question then is what exactly it is that a High Ruler does? The answer is quite simple: the High Ruler, on top of their functions as a jarl, takes care of foreign matters. Whether on the military side, like wars and raids, or the mercantile side with commercial treaties, it is the High Ruler's duty to oversee them.

Requirements

The only and foremost requirement to become a High Ruler is to be a jarl.

Appointment

The title is usually inherited; the High Ruler designates their successor, more often than not, amongst their own children. More rarely¹ they name another jarl they deem worthy of the title, as Vébjörn the Great chose Tyrfingr Strong-Arms to take his mantle after his death.
Despite that nomination, for them to take power, every jarl has to willingly bow to the High Ruler in acknowledgement of their authority over them. In the case they don’t, the jarls assemble in a jarlsthing to chose amongst themselves another jarl to ascend to the throne.

Accoutrements & Equipment

The thollrkróna or Crown of Ash, is the thin crown of branches from Yggdrasill itself dipped in gold and silver. It was given to High King Randvér the Defender, the first High Ruler, by the Allfather himself and has been passed down his successors for generations.

Grounds for Removal/Dismissal

If a High Ruler is deemed unfit to keep the throne, the jarls can call a jarlsthing and if an unanimous vote is cast, the High Ruler has to forfeit the throne.
A High Ruler can also lose their crown if another jarl defy him in what Nords call a allvaldar einvigi, simply translated as ‘duel of the sovereigns’², a term that I find rather self-explanatory.

Notable Holders

Vébjörn the Great

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¹ As in, it mostly happens because the High Ruler doesn't have children to pass their crown to, as was the case of Vébjörn the Great.
²The concept might seem rather straightforward and, in principle, it should be but history, recent for that matter, taught us that it isn’t always the case.
The death of Vébjörn the Great, whom I mentioned multiple times because even more than what he accomplished during life, will also be remembered for what his death lead to. Before he revealed who was his successor, there were two favourites to that title. The first, of course, was my grandfather, Tyrfingr. The second was Sökkólfr, the jarl of Sólkell.
As often happens amongst clansmen, both Tyrfingr and Sökkólfr had fostered under a jarl as boys. That jarl was Vébjörn’s father. The three years they had spent in Winternid, at Vébjörn’s side made the three of them thick as thieves, as close as blood brothers as fosterages are wont to do.
If Vébjörn’s naming of Tyrfingr as his successor was welcomed by the whole Kingdom, not only for the strength of their bond but also because my grandfather had proven himself countless times on the battlefield, it’s worth noting that Sökkólfr would have gathered the same reactions for the same reasons.
The Kingdom was left aghast when, following Vébjörn’s death, Sökkólfr defied my grandfather in an allvaldar einvigi, because they were foster brothers. Still, tradition is tradition and they followed through.
At the end of the duel, neither jarl had managed to defeat the other. Meaning that neither could get the crown. The jarls called a jarlsthing to vote on the new High King. There was a split amongst them however, one half wanting Tyrfingr to ascend on the throne while the other wanted Sökkólfr.
The stalemate lead a period we call Nordófidr, whose literal translation is ‘Norse wars’ but that we exclusively use to mean civil war. That Nordófidr lasted for 30 years until they eventually decided to call for another duel to end it all, in which Sökkólfr defeated my grandfather, and finally gained the crown.

Type

Civic, Political

Alternative Naming

High King/Queen | Allvaldr (formal) | Alljarl (obsolete, only used to refer to the old High Rulers)

Source of Authority

The jarls

Length of Term

Lifelong unless voted out unanimously by the jarlsthing or defeated in an allvaldar einvigi.

Current Holders

• Einarr Heimkelsson of Himinsfall

Related Organizations

• The Northern Kingdom