The Sword of Frey!

Once Upon a Time…

The legends of Asgard tell a story of Lord Frey a king that was smitten by the goddess Gerd. Seeking to make her his wife, Frey sent his childhood friend, Skirnir, to bring Gerd to him. To aid him on this quest, Skirnir was given Frey’s magic sword, that made the wielder unbeatable in battle. While Skirnir succeeded in wooing Gerd for Frey, the sword was eventually stolen. Over the centuries it eventually found its way to Nornkeep, the home of Queen Karnilla.

Now

Balder the Brave, Karnilla’s lover, is enjoying a beautiful day feeding the birds. Karnilla is impressed by Balder’s ability to speak to and understand birds. She is more impressed when Whiteface, the great eagle also comes to visit. Karnilla can’t remember the last time she had birds in her kingdom.

Their time together is interrupted by one of Karnilla’s demonic minions, Gothog who asks to speak with her in private. Karnilla goes to her throne where she is told that an intruder has entered the kingdom. Looking through her crystal ball, Karnilla is annoyed to see that it is Agnar the Vanir, no doubt coming to recruit Balder on some quest with Asgard. She also worries that Agnar will also reveal that she neglected to tell him of Odin’s recent demise.[1] She has her demons capture Agnar and bring him directly to her. He explains that he has been sent by Thor to recruit Balder on a mission to Hela's domain to search for Odin.[2] Not wishing to lose Balder on some deadly quest, she zaps Agnar with a spell and has him thrown in the dungeon. When she returns to Balder, she learns that he learned that Karnilla was dealing with a visitor from his birds. She quickly makes up a lie that it was someone seeking to trade with her kingdom and leaves it at that.

Hours later, Agnar wakes up in the dungeon and discovers a spell has been cast upon him to make him speak only in gibberish. Dropped a meal in his cell, Agnar frightens off some hungry rats and wonders how he will get free and tell Balder about his quest. Over the next few days, Balder continues to spend his days with Karnilla, little knowing his friend is in the dungeon. Agnar passes the time by feeding some of his food to the rats and bats, befriending the creatures in the process. Meanwhile, Balder has come to believe that he will have to return to Asgard eventually, but Karnilla tries to convince him everything he will ever need is here.

Eventually, one of the bats that Agnar has been feeding flies out of the dungeon and finds Balder and leads him down to where his friend is being held. Balder is furious that Karnilla has lied to him and frees Agnar. He then confronts the Nornqueen in her throne room and orders her to remove the spell from Agnar so he can explain why he has come. Balder is shocked to discover that Odin had fallen in battle against Surtur and agrees to go back to Asgard to help on the quest into Hela’s domain. Karnilla is furious that he would leave her kingdom on what is surely going to be a suicide mission.

Despite this, Agnar and Balder undergo a rigerous training regemine to get Balder back into shape. Once Balder has rebuilt his lost muscle mass, he and Agnar prepare to leave for Asgard. Karnilla briefly considers giving Balder the Sword of Frey, but decides against it because she is angry that he is leave. When Balder and Agnar announce they are leaving, one of Karnilla’s demons — Rattusk — tries to attack Balder for offending the queen. Balder easily defeats him but when Karnilla moves to kill the creature, Balder pleads with her to spare his life. Karnilla stays her hand until Balder and Agnar are out of sight before blasting Rattusk with a mystical bolt. Karnilla then takes a silent vigil at her balcony praying that Balder return to her safely.

Recurring Characters

Balder, Agnar, Karnilla, Haag, Whiteface

Continuity Notes

1. Odin seemingly perished battling Surtur in Thor #350-353. Odin actually survived and will turn up alive again in Thor #399.

2. Agnar was sent to collect Balder in Thor #360. The reason why they want Balder is because he spent an extended period of time in Hela’s realm while in a near-death state from Thor #274 through 301. This ordeal made Balder swear off violence and become a pacifist, hence his doughy appearance at the start of this story.