A rotor for a salient pole, wound field, synchronous machine includes a rotor core, a plurality of pole bodies, and a field winding. Each pole body of the plurality of pole bodies includes a pole core, a pole shoe, and a single flux barrier. The single flux barrier forms an enclosed space filled with a material having a magnetic permeability between zero and 1000 relative to a magnetic permeability of a vacuum. The single flux barrier includes a top wall, a shaft mounting wall configured to mount adjacent a shaft when the rotor is mounted to the shaft, and a plurality of interior walls connected between the top wall and the shaft mounting wall. The plurality of interior walls extend parallel to and centered between a first pole core face and a second pole core face of the pole core that extend from the rotor core.