Born into the famous McHayden blacksmithing family, Eddard McHayden was born in Coillearnach, but his mother Ranalta moved the family to T'Kashire after his father Eason died fighting in the Imperial Wars when Eddard was about forty. He was an skilled blacksmith when he was younger but as he came of age he quickly became more interested in learning to fight, and managed to become the squire of Sir Rufus de'Valice, the Earl Marshall of Balla. He proved himself to be extremely capable with a Greathammer and during his training he was nicknamed "Eddard the Thunderer" as the crashing noises his armour made when walking around combined with his massive footsteps made him easy to hear coming.
He earned himself a Knighthood in around 3A 13 after single-handedly slaying an White Dragon who emerged from Loch Nach and began terrorising the nearby towns and villages. While back in Coillearnach around this time, he fell in love with Jezebel Beddoes, the daughter of a local High Elf seamstress, and the two married in 3A 25. Jezebel provided him with a daughter, Ephri, who herself would become well-known in her own right as an adventurer and blacksmith.
After training Eslo Lightfoot to take over from him as protector of the local area (Eslo would, coincidentally, go on to train Ephri later in life), Eddard settled down back in T'Kashire with his family at the McHayden Forge and produced beautiful metalworks, armours and weapons for much of the rest of his life before illness and infirmity caused by chronic injury prevented him from working.
Eddard died in 3A 190 from lung cancer caused by a lifetime of pipe smoking, with Ephri taking over the forge following his passing.