Jeor Mormont, called the Old Bear, was the nine hundred and ninety-seventh Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, an imposing and resolute man whose broad shoulders and shaggy grey-white beard belied his advancing years. Once the head of House Mormont and Lord of Bear Island, he set aside that seat in favor of his son, Ser Jorah, and took the black, rising swiftly through the ranks until he was elected to command at Castle Black in 288 AC. Ever attended by a corn-begging raven, he proved a formidable battle commander, troubled by the waning strength of the Watch and the gathering of the wildlings beyond the Wall. When Jorah fled into exile to escape Lord Eddard Stark's justice, leaving behind the Valyrian steel blade Longclaw, the Old Bear reclaimed the sword and later bestowed it upon his steward, Jon Snow.
Determined to learn the cause of the unrest in the haunted forest, Jeor led a great ranging beyond the Wall, only to see his host shattered by wights upon the Fist of the First Men. He brought the survivors on a grim march back to Craster's Keep, where, in 299 AC, his own brothers turned against him; he was slain in the mutiny at Craster's Keep by the man called Ollo Lophand. As he lay dying he begged Samwell Tarly to carry word to Jorah, his last wish that his son be forgiven his crimes and suffered to come home and take the black.