"And Who Will Forge a Jaw of Iron? The Origin of-- Ironjaw!"
Weary, bedraggled Ironjaw muses on his past life as a folk balladeer. How he could woo the hearts of maidens and sow jealousy in their mens' hearts with his music. One day his own charismatic mystique caught up with him.
Dektor, a jealous suitor of the maiden Carlotta, who secretly adores the minstrel, takes gruesome revenge. Since this soft voice has become the bane of his courtship, Dektor silences it forever by severing the minstrel's lower jaw from his face.
The balladeer is left to bleed to death, bound to a tree bark. Carlotta, in whose name the atrocity has been committed arrives to rescue her true love. Only the ancient sorceress, Soran can perform the necessary artifice to save the minstrel's life.
Soran uses a combination of old medical lore and magical potions to preserve the life of the young man and consecutively restore her own youth and vitality... at a price. Because she has practiced the spell more than four times, Soran can no longer rely on the boon of immortality.
Now young and beautiful again, the sorceress Soran guides the convalescing patient and recruits a friend to fashion a new metal jaw to replace the damage done to him. A chance meeting with two of his attackers soon grants the opportunity for retribution and Ironjaw is born in a blaze of blood and bone.