For Whom the Belles Toll…

Asgard

Thor’s search for Balder the Brave has led him to a castle in the sky, home to three women named Unn, Gertha, and Kossi. The women welcome him in with open arms, confusing the thunder god because he came here under the impression that these three women were prisoners of a troll. Exhausted after his recent trails, Thor is invited to a massive feats.[1] However, having recently been a victim of enchanted food and drink in the past, the thunder god can smell the sorcery involved here and angrily lashes out.[2]

With their plot exposed, the three women summon their warrior, Annar, to defend them. In the ensuing battle, Thor knocks off Annar’s helmet and is surprised to discover that he is actually Balder. Observing that his friend is wearing a golden ring, belt, and bracelet, Thor correctly deduces that these are charms that have made Balder forget who he is and made him a slave of the three women. Summoning lightning with Mjolnir, Thor blasts off the enchanted jewelry, freeing Balder from their control.

When the women attempt to charm the two men again, Thor pretends to fall for it to get close enough to Gertha and slip on the ring that they forced Balder to wear. This causes Gertha to transform into her true form, that of a Troll Hag. With their covers blown, Kossi and Unn also drop their disguises and the trio attack Thor and Balder. However, they are unprepared for Balder’s new ability to unleash a powerful light from his body.[3] This disorientates the three trolls and they stumble out a hole in the castle wall created by Thor and fall to their deaths.

Chicago

Ruby has come outside to tell her children Mick and Kevin that it is time to come inside and clean up their toys. That’s when Ruby’s old boyfriend, Thug Thatcher, arrives at the home. He is angered when she doesn’t recognize him and suspects that Thor did something to make Ruby forget her past. After sending the children to their room, Thug gets rough with Ruby and pulls a gun on her to make her stop resisting him. Deciding to get back at Thor for ruining his life, Thatcher decides to force Ruby to help him get revenge by targeting Jane Foster.[4]

Asgard

Thor and Balder have escaped the floating castle and returned to the path where they encountered the old woman who sent them both on their ill fated rescue mission. There, the old crone tells them that she was an unwitting victim of the troll hags who have mystically trapped her on the path to lure unsuspecting victims into their clutches. She asks Thor to free her by plucking one of the red flowers from the path to the castle. When Thor complies, the old woman suddenly transformed into a younger more beautiful version of herself.

Suspecting more trickery, Balder takes the ring that was used to enthrall him and places it on the woman’s finger. This causes her to transform into her true form, that of Uglitha, a Troll Mother. Uglitha tries to kill the two gods as they have murdered her husband and three children. However, she too is vulnerable to Balder’s ability to project pure light. This fends off the Troll Mother long enough for Thor to shatter the floating castle with Mjolnir, burying Uglitha under tons of stone.

In the aftermath of the battle, both Thor and Balder realize that they had gotten in the middle of all of this because the two were seeing if they still had the zest for adventure. Whereas this convinces Thor that he was not ready to give them up for the role of leadership, Balder is more than happy to leave it all behind. With that, the pair head back to Asgard so that they can finally toast Skruge, their fallen comrade.[5]

Recurring Characters

Thor, Balder, Kossi, Unn, Gertha, Thug Thatcher, Uglitha, Ruby Mortensen, Kevin Mortinesen, Mick Mortensen, Widowind

Continuity Notes

1. Thor is feeling the after affects of wearing the Belt of Strength from Thor #363-366.

2. Thor had been exposed to enchanted golden mead and perfume by Lorelei in Thor #346 and 358 respectively.

3. Balder learned this ability during his battle against the Frost Giants. See Balder the Brave #1-4.

4. About seven years earlier (per the Sliding Timescale), Thatcher was busted by Thor in Journey into Mystery #89. During that story, Thatcher held Jane Foster as a hostage hence why he knows there is a connection between her and Thor. After Thug was arrested, Thor used magic to make Ruby forget about her association with Thatcher in the hopes she could have a fresh start. Thug’s first name and Ruby’s last name are not revealed here. The Zaniac entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #13 reveals that Thatcher’s first name is Andrew, while Ruby’s last name is identified as Mortensen.

5. Skurge the Executioner sacrificed his life in order for buy time Thor, Balder, and an army of warriors from Asgard to escape Hela’s domain. See Thor #360-362.

Errors

• In this story, Ruby Mortensen’s children are named Bill and Jeff. However, in all subsequent appearances the boys are named Mick and Kevin. Marvel hasn’t explained this error and I somehow doubt they will for such minor characters. Usually, something like this is explained away by saying that Bill and Jeff are middle names. Why their mother would call them by their middle names in this story is anyone’s guess, but not everything in comics makes sense. At any rate, I refer to them by their most consistent names above.