Lord Volund passed away on May 23, 2025.
He started Valhalla Lost with Odin and continued to help him on and off for the next 20 years until Odin’s passing. Volund absolutely loved the concept of Ultima Online and this was the game he continually loved playing. His dedication was so much that he played on a Mac running Windows just so he could play UO.
In mythology, Volund was the smith of the gods but he was the soul of Valhalla Lost. He took the role of creation very seriously. Much of the hustle and bustle around the maps is attributed to Volund. He took the tools that were available and started amassing hundreds of quests around the lands. He wanted a shard that was teeming with life and activity, with NPCs filling the towns and buildings looking like they were in use. He loved trying to figure out where paths should lead and what would be in an area, then develop a theme for the area and quests to fill it. Vikings were his favorite which is why you will see viking lore scattered throughout the maps. The little things you may see around the map, such as the henchmen talking to each other or NPCs having a daily life, came about to see what Volund’s reaction would be. Rarely did he not like anything and his response was always the same, “I love it!”
For those that haven’t seen it or know of it, there’s a large empty part of the map called Green Acres that we use to develop new ideas and lay down art tiles to use. Volund spent most of his time there and most of the map is filled with his ideas. He would often spend hours changing something, such as the troll colors then page to have them put in. Once in, he was delighted to see the change and went hunting for them on his player characters.
It was upon his insistence that gargoyles be made part of the lore. Gargoyles were already in but they weren’t developed due to the class-based system. So we gave him Ter Mur to play with and he couldn’t have been any happier developing a lore that fit with Valhalla Lost. It was him that developed the idea that gargoyles were outcast and they would start in a Ter Mur to scavenge for their clothing and work towards returning to Asgard. He spent his time discovering how gargoyles would fly around the map and often as we logged on, would show us his discoveries. He also created all the dinosaurs for the Valley of Eodon, loving the savagery of the land.
Unfortunately, in real life, Volund had suffered a stroke a few years ago. He was a talented artist that did work for comics and movies. But his real passion was horror movies, such as Nosferatu and the Wolfman, and he loved drawing posters for conventions and custom orders. We would often talk about the state of comics today and how Frazetta was an inspiration for his work. The stroke was hard on him as it left him partly paralyzed. His health had been declining but we always had hope that he would one day regain himself again. It was looking promising these last few months that he was moving around and enjoying his meatball subs but sadly, the Norn had spun a different thread and his fate was already decided.
Volund loved going to The Waffle House. He often would tell us whenever he would go and what he got. So when you pass one next time, give a nod towards it and remember our smith to the gods.
We’ll miss you, Volund.
