While Myrcomb Fennel is technically a resident of Bree, he spends very little time there. He spends most of his time abroad, delivering whatever he can convince people to entrust him with. Myrcomb was reared on stories of heroes, adventures, and other tall tales. He understood from an early age, however, that he himself was no hero. Physically weak, clumsy, and cowardly, Myrcomb instead resolved to become the teller of tales, since he could not become the subject. He aspires to become a renowned chronicler, recording the history of his age. To this end, he is always in search of interesting or "significant" things to observe and describe.

He is not a remarkably competent chronicler. He frequently fails to recognize the most important historical landmark of his time, the War of the Ring, instead focusing on whatever he happens to blunder into on his travels.