Balder the Brave #2
Balder the Betrayed!
Balder has been gone for days and Karnilla, the Norn Queen, fears that she will never see her beloved again.[1] That’s when one of her minions, Rattusk, alerts her to the fact that someone is riding toward the castle. It appears to be Balder and Karnilla races out to the courtyard to greet him. However, when she goes into to embrace “Balder” his arms suddenly wrap around her. As it turns out, this man is actually a shape-shifter named Grungnir, and her kingdom is being invaded by the Frost Giants. At the command of a master swordsman named Hagen, Karnilla’s army is swiftly defeated.
That’s when the Frost Giant’s leader, Utgard-Loki, arrives on the scene and uses his magic to petrify all of Karnilla’s subjects into stone.[2] Searching the castle for treasure, Utgard-Loki is pleased to find the long lost Sword of Frey, an enchanted weapon that makes its wielder unbeatable. They then shackled and gag Karnilla to prevent her from casting any spells and then cut her hair, adding insult to everything else. Utgard-Loki then has Karnilla taken back into Jotunheim, the realm of the Frost Giants, as their prisoner. Utgard-Loki explains that they have invaded Karnilla’s realm as they intend to invade Asgard after taking down the golden realm’s allies.
Meanwhile, Balder the Brave and Agnar the Vanir return to Karnilla’s castle after their fruitless mission to find the missing All-Father Odin. They find evidence of the Frost Giant’s battle and deduce that Karnilla had been captured. Although his arm was injured in the battle against Hela, Balder insists on going on a rescue mission. They are then led onto the trail by Whiteface, the lord of the eagles. While in Jotunheim, the Frost Giants amuse themselves with their prisoner by having Karnilla scrub the floors of the castle. As she cleans, the Nornqueen vows to give the giants their comeuppance once she gets free.
The trail to Jotunheim is one fraught with danger as Balder and Agnar travel across a mountain pass. Agnar even loses his horse when it steps on a brittle part of a mountain pass. Nearly falling to his death, Agnar decides that he will not risk his life for Karnilla. However, he has a change of heart when Balder insists on going alone.
As Balder and Agnar continue their trek, Karnilla continues to be tortured by the Frost Giants for their amusement. Utgard-Loki decides to use his magic to transform the Nornqueen into a dove with clipped wings and then places her in a cage. During their nightly feast, while the others are gorging themselves Utgard-Loki suddenly feels the presence of intruders in his land.
This would be Balder and Agnar who have set up camp for the night. The pair try to keep warm by the fire, they are visited by Karnilla’s minion Rattusk. He explains that he survived the Frost Giant’s attack and followed them back to the castle. He had found a secret way into the castle and offers to show Balder the way in. Balder agrees to go, but orders Agnar to stay at the camp in case this is some kind of trap. Agnar does as he told and eventually falls asleep. He is woken up by the apparent return of Balder. However, some nearby birds begin acting strangely and although he can’t understand them he recognizes it as a warning. That’s when the man who appears to be Balder attacks Agnar. Luckily, the birds fly into the impostor’s face disorientating him long enough for Agnar to run him through with his sword. The Balder impostor — actually Gungnir — falls to the ground and reverts back to his true reptillian form.
Wondering what happened to the real Balder, Agnar begins following his trail and is shocked to find what appears to be Balder’s dead body along the path…[3]
Recurring Characters
Balder, Agnar, Karnilla, Utgard-Loki, Whiteface, Rattusk
Continuity Notes
Last issue, Balder left on a quest to rescue Odin from Hela’s domain. Odin seemingly perished battling Surtur in Thor #349-353. Their quest is chronicled in Thor #360-362. They don’t find Odin, that’s because he was taken prisoner by Seth, the Egyptian god of death, as we’ll learn in Thor #399.
Karnilla’s people will remain trapped in stone until Balder finds a cure for them in New Mutants #87.
This isn’t really Balder, obviously, next issue we’ll discover that it is Rattusk wearing Balder’s armor.
