The Saga of Thor

On the day of Thor’s birthday, the Norn’s celebrate the thunder god’s life by looking into their pool of visions to witness the milestones of his life…

They first witness the events leading up to Thor’s birth. In those early days, Odin had just re-created the gods but longed for a blood son to call his own. To accomplish this he came to Midgard to seek out the Earth Goddess, then in her identity of Jord. The pair shared a romance and eventually Jord became pregnant. As the baby was coming due, Odin had a cavern carved out for Jord to give birth. Soon, she gave birth to Odin’s son — Thor. Wanting his boy to grow up to be an Asgardian prince, Odin brought the baby Thor back to his homeland where he was raised by Odin’s wife, Frigga, who promised to raise the boy as one of her own.[1]

Thor was raised alongside his half-brother, Loki. One day when they were children they asked to hear the story of how Odin’s spear, Gungnir. Odin explains that, long ago, the Dwarves that lived below the mountains of Asgard came upon a shaft of light in their tunnels. They took the suns rays and used them in their forge to create the powerful weapon as a gift for Odin as they knew that the All-Father would pay them handsomely for such a powerful weapon. After finishing his tale, Odin warns the two children that only he may hold the enchanted weapon and leaves it resting against his throne as he goes about his duty. Loki then attempted to grasp the weapon but it suddenly transformed into a snake that began squeezing the trickster in its coils. Thor, sword drawn, came to the defense of his foolish brother, saying the beast and causing the spear to return to normal. That’s when Odin returned and is furious to learn that Loki disobeyed his orders. Odin explains that he was going to have the Dwarves create gifts for his sons but since Loki misbehaved, only Thor would be rewarded.

Thor is soon sent on a quest into the mountains with materials for the Dwarves to use in their forges. Little does he know that Loki is following him as the trickster has disguised himself as a raven. When Thor meets with Eitri and Brokk, the two Dwarves who made Gungnir, they are more than happy to create more treasures for Odin. As the two work spinning some gold, Loki takes on the form of a moth and begins pestering the Dwarves in the hopes of making them fail in their task. This only proves to be a minor nuisance and the pair first create a living wild boar made out of solid gold they name Gullinbustri. After the second creation they get to work on the third which will be a weapon cast out of the mystical Uru metal. Although Loki tries his best to stop them, the Dwarves succeed in creating Mjolnir, a near perfect hammer with a shortened handle.[2]

Eitri and Brokk then return to Asgard with Thor where they present their gifts to Odin. On top of Gullinbustri and Mjolnir, they present Odin with a golden arm band called Draupnir which can replicate itself over the course of nine days. Odin is impressed with these gifts, particularly Mjolnir which Odin decrees will be a gift for his son Thor. Odin then infuses the hammer with his own magic making it so that it will return to the hand that throws it. However, the hammer will also only be able to be lifted when Thor is worthy enough to do so. While Thor hopes to one day be able to lift the weapon, Loki conspires to make sure that will never happen.

In the coming years, Thor would accomplish many heroic feats, such as saving Agnar the Eagle and the Golden Apples of Idunn from some Storm Giants.[3] Later, he stood alone against an invading horde attacking Asgard.[4] In yet another adventure, Thor saved Sif from the clutches of Hela, goddess of death.[5] All of these brave deeds eventually led to Thor becoming worthy enough to lift Mjolnir, much to Loki’s chagrin.[6] A celebration is held in Thor’s honor. However, Thor decided to step away to try out his new weapon and discovers that he can fly after a fashion when tossing the hammer and holding onto its leather thong. It’s while doing this he witnesses Gullin, the boar god, leading an army to attack Asgard. Thor quickly used Mjolnir to stop this secret attack and returned to the party acting as though he only stepped out for a moment to get some fresh air.[7]

When Thor was in his twenties he began his courtship of the goddess Sif who was envied for her golden hair. Growing jealous of their love, Loki sought to put an end of their romance. One night, as Sif lay sleeping, Loki sneaked into her room and cut off all her hair. Sif was horrified to discover that she was bald the following morning and when Thor came calling she refused to see him without her hair. Suspecting that his half-brother had a hand in this, Thor tracked Loki down. Fearing for his life, Loki pleaded with Thor to spare him, promising to restore Sif’s hair by the following day. Loki then rode out to the domain of the Dwarves where he attempted to get Eitri and Brokk to spin new hair out of gold. When Loki had no gold to pay them with, the two Dwarves spun new hair out of the evening darkness. With no time left, Loki returned with a weave of black hair. Upon learning this, Thor is furious, but still they give the hair to Sif and it attaches itself to her scalp when she puts the hair on. Seeing Sif with her new dark tresses, Thor admits that she is even more beautiful than ever before.[8]

As an adult, Thor enjoyed the worship he received from the Vikings who frequently sacrificed animals as an offering to him. Observing his son, Odin feared that Thor’s pride would not be able to handle the responsibility of being worshiped but would not deny his son’s request to go to Midgard and spend time with his worshipers. Soon, Thor was present as some Vikings stormed a Catholic Church. After the Vikings slaughtered everyone inside and set the church ablaze, Thor decided to go in and see their handiwork. He was horrified to discover that the Vikings hadn’t killed warriors, but slaughtered innocent monks in cold blood. Disgusted by this display, Thor returned to Asgard vowing to withdraw from the mortal world and forsake all worship.

Despite this moment of maturity, as the years progressed Thor soon became consumed by pride. Accused of cheating in an arm wrestling competition, Thor and the Warriors Three engaged in a bar brawl. The fight was quickly ended by Odin who demanded his son come to see him. Seeing that his son has committed the sin of pride, Odin decides that the thunder god needed to be taught a lesson in humility. Using his magic, Odin transported Thor to Earth in the mortal guise of Donald Blake, a medical student with a limp. The hope was that Thor would learn to overcome this disability and learn to help others. Blake made his way through medical school and soon opened a practice where he treated the sick and infirm.[9] A decade later, Odin decreed that Thor was worthy enough to return and compelled Don Blake to take a vacation to Norway. This coincided with an alien invasion and when Don Blake sought to escape the aliens by fleeing into a nearby cave he found an old walking stick. Tapping it against a wall, Don Blake transformed into Thor and used his returned powers to fend off the alien invaders.[10]

Believing himself be a modern day incarnation of Thor, the thunder god became a hero, protecting the world from many threats and joining the Avengers, Earth’s mightiest heroes.[11] Still, Don Blake was still confused about his origins until one night Odin revealed the truth to him. Remembering his past, Thor also was made to remember the murders the Vikings committed in his name. He then decided to stay on Earth to make up for his past misdeeds.

… Concluding their tale, the Norns know that some day Thor will eventually leave Midgard for good and return to his home in Asgard. They vow that they will be present to observe whatever destiny has in store for the thunder god. Conjuring up Thor’s image once more, the three fates hail the thunder god.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Norns (Urd, Skuld, Verdandi), Jord, Sif, Frigga, Gondolff, Brokk, Eitri, Idunn, Loki, Hela, Gullin

Continuity Notes

1. The Norns recount how Odin created the Asgardian gods with his magic. This happened after the last Ragnarok cycle. See Thor #293-294. Jord is an aspect of Gaea, the Earth Mother. Gaea revealed that she was Thor’s biological mother in Thor #300-301.

2. The creation of Mjolnir is told slightly differently in Avengers Origins: Thor #1. In that version of events, Loki was punished for trying to cut Sif’s golden hair rather than trying to grasp Gungnir. The rest of the tale is more or less the same. For more on the various contradictions told in later tales, see Contradictions below.

3. Thor’s quest to save Agnar and the Golden Apples was first depicted in Journey into Mystery #100. Another version of this story was told by Sif in Mighty Thor (vol. 2) #12.1. In that version of events, Agnar stole the apples and Idunn, leading to Thor, Loki, and Sif working together on a rescue mission that ended with Agnar’s death.

4. The battle against the Forces of Evil was originally told in Journey into Mystery #101 and again in Thor #252.

5. Thor rescued Sif from Hela in Journey into Mystery #102.

6. There are varying accounts of how and when Thor became worthy to lift Mjolnir:

   • Journey into Mystery #102 states that Thor returned to Asgard after visiting the Norns to learn that the kingdom had been attacked and Frost Giants had kidnapped Sif on behalf of Hela. Thor was able to lift Mjolnir and rescue Sif from danger.

   • Thor: God of Thunder #11 tells this story slightly differently. In it, Thor returns home while the attack is still on going. After Sif is kidnapped, Thor petitions his father to be allowed to rescue her and thus became worthy to lift Mjolnir.

   • A third account in Avengers Origins: Thor #1 states that Thor was able to lift Mjolnir in order to help defend Asgard from an invasion of Storm Giants.

7. Thor’s battle with Gullin was first told in Journey into Mystery #103. That account differs from this one. Rather than taking place during Thor’s worthiness celebration, Thor encounters Gullin while embarking on a quest to create Aske and Embla, the first humans. A possible explanation for these contradictions is made in Thor #294, which suggests that the Aske and Embla story was a fabrication created by Odin and implanted into the minds of the Asgardians as a creation myth.

8. The story about Sif’s hair also has many contradictory accounts:

   • A flashback from Thor #403 tells a tale of Thor and Sif meeting when they were children and that Sif already had black hair at the time. Since this is the lone story to do this, it’s entirely possible that this was a coloring error.

   • Avengers Origins: Thor #1 states that Loki cut off Sif’s hair prior to the creation of Mjolnir. However, in that version of events Loki only cuts off a single braid instead cutting off all her hair.

   • Thor: Son of Asgard is a retelling of Thor’s youth, focusing on his becoming worthy enough to wield Mjolnir. In that story, Sif is depicted as a long time friend of Thor. She is depicted in this series as having black hair the whole time.

9. Thor’s banishment to Earth and the creation of the Don Blake identity was detailed more fully in Thor #159.

10. This, of course, is a retelling of Thor’s first Modern Age adventure from Journey into Mystery #83. That story is also told in more detail in Thor: First Thunder #1.

11. Here, Thor is depicted fighting the Absorbing Man, that first happened in Journey into Mystery #114. Thor was a founding member of the Avengers, joining the team in their first issue. The flashback here shows Thor fighting Skrulls alongside Captain America and Iron Man, placing it as happening during the Kree/Skrull War that took place in Avengers #89-97.

Contradictions

The stories of Thor’s past have been retold in various other stories and, as you can tell from reading the continuity notes above, some of these retellings contain various contradictions. Some of the events are shown as happening either before or after Thor earned the right to wield Mjolnir. One of the major contradictions surround Thor’s relationship with Sif with respect to when the first met and when her original blonde hair was cut off and replaced with the black hair created by Loki.

In universe, there aren’t really many specific explanations for all these contradictory accounts, at least at the time of this writing (October 2021). The semi-official Marvel Chronology Project doesn’t favor one version of these events or the other, but rather places the stories in the best chronological order (despite the contradictions). I suppose the intent is that people’s mileage may vary and they can choose whatever version of the events they wish to subscribe to.

This index chooses to accept this method of accounting for these events in continuity until such a time a specific explanation can be made. However, it could be that Marvel intends to keep these looks into the past murky in order to fully embrace the nature of the ancient Norse mythologies which are rife with multiple and contradictory versions of stories.

That all said there are three possible explanations for these differing accounts:

1) Thor #294 details how during the last Ragnarok cycle Odin created the Asgardians as adult versions of themselves around the time Jesus Christ was born. He then filled their minds with a version of Norse mythology so that they had “memories” of the past.

2) Thor (vol. 2) #83 explains that every Ragnarok cycle has the Asgardians reliving their lives and that each iteration is slightly different than the last. This has been shown in a series of Thor one-shots: Ages of Thunder #1, Trial of Thor #1, The Rage of Thor #1, Man of War #1, and Reign of Blood #1.

3) Thor: God of Thunder #3 states that the Asgardians have a limited capacity for memories in their brains and that over time newer memories overwrite older ones. The older memories growing dim or forgotten entirely.

My index tends to accept all accounts as equally valid (just as in every other case where events have contradictory accounts), as usually the accounts are told from different perspectives and different characters. Their motivations for telling a story a certain way may be colored by their perception of self, their needs, or how they wish to appear to others (just like in real life)

In the case of the Asgardians, a lot of their stories are told in a third person perspective and as such one could assume that the differing accounts are not any different than the recordings of Norse mythology themselves which, as I’ve stated above, contain many contradictory accounts in and of themselves. These stories have been told and reinterpreted many times even before they were ever written down. Even the process of translating these old stories into a language you can understand can fundamentally change them.

That all said, the story told in this annual comes from the vision pool watched over by the Norns. If one believes that this version of Asgard was created by Odin (as told in Thor #293-294) then that pool is governed by his magic and therefor it could be that the visions that the Norns are looking at are influenced by Odin to make sure everyone in Asgard adheres to the backstory he fabricated for them all. For a guy who regularly manipulates and mindwipes people over the centuries, this idea shouldn’t be that outlandish to consider.