Forged in Fire

At a tavern in Asgard, a pair of men are spending their time telling old war stories. When they are trying to decide on a tale worthy of telling, they are joined by a mysterious man in a cloak who offers to tell them a tale about the mighty Thor.[1] The tale that he has to tell is one that is mostly unknown and contains a tragic tale….

A long time ago, a trio of fire demons left the domain of Surtur to rape and pillage their way through Alfheim, terrorizing the local elf population. In one of the villages the demon known as Skulveg took a young maiden named Aeltri as his prisoner back to Muspelheim. There she was repeatedly raped by her captors. Eventually, Aeltri became pregnant and gave birth to a child that was half elf and half fire demon named Hrinmeer. Upon seeing the boy Skulveg found the child hideous and had an iron mask forged that the boy was forced to wear at all times. The boy was scorned and teased by his peers due to his half-breed nature. The only person who showed him love was his mother. Tragically, she eventually died and part of Hrinmeer died with her that day. Now an adult, the halfling constructed himself a suit of armor and, renaming himself the Flame, decided to venture out into the world to find his destiny.

The Flame’s first order of business was to end the life of his cruel father. After killing Skulveg, the Flame rode out of Muspelheim to Asgard where he slew and entire village as retribution for his years of abuse. This slaughter didn’t go unnoticed by Odin who decided to send his son Thor out to track down and stop the Flame’s slaughter. To aid the thunder god in his quest, Thor was given Sleipnir, Odin’s six legged horse so he can search as quickly as possible.

Thor followed the Flame’s trail of destruction to another village where he finds a lone survivor, a small child, whom told him the harrowing tale of the Flame’s slaughter. Thor puts the boy on his horse and sends it back to Asgard and tells him to seek out Volstagg who will gladly take him in as one of his own.[2] With this out of the way, Thor continues hunting his foe on foot.

Thor finds the Flame in a great flaming chasm and engaged him in battle. In the ensuing clash, the Flame explains his traumatic past and how he was shunned for his hideous appearance. Thor refuses to accept this as justification for the slaughter the Flame has perpetuated. Tired of hearing this sob story, Thor ultimately disarms the Flame and pulls off his helmet to see his hideous face for himself. He’s shocked to discover that Hrinmeer isn’t hideous at all, as his face has the normal appearance of an average looking elf, all be it one that is in flame. When the thunder god tries to explain this to him, Hrinmeer refuses to believe it and lashes back. The battle doesn’t last that long as Thor is forced to knock his opponent into a pit of lava in an act of self defense.

Hrinmeer accepts this fate, believing that it is a suitable end for one such as himself. Thor leaves Hrinmeer to his fate and then uses Mjolnir to summon a heavy rainstorm which cools the Hrinmeer’s fiery grave, which solidifies into stone.

Concluding his tale, the stranger is commended for telling such a harrowing tale. When the gathered warriors ask him where he heard of this story. The stranger removes his hood for a brief moment — revealing that he is Hrinmeer himself — he doesn’t explain more than saying that it is only a tale that he knows and that should be enough. Pulling his hood back over his head, Hrinmeer goes back out into the rain where he disappears into the gloom.

Recurring Characters

Thor, Odin, Hirnmeer the Flame, Sleipnir

Continuity Notes

1. One of the warriors mentions how Thor had recently left the kingdom. The thunder god left Asgard to rediscover who he is. He departed in Thor #460. He will return in issue #470, but it’s not going to be a happy return.

2. It’s not clear if Volstagg ended up adopting this child, as their identity is not given here. However, it’s not impossible that he did since Volstagg is later shown adopting Mick and Kevin Mortensen in Thor #372.

The Flame: Rekindled

After being trapped for centuries under volcanic rock, Hirnmeer the Flame finally breaks free from his prison. He is greeted by Loki, who has come to recruit Hirnmeer to his cause, even going so far as to return the warrior’s helmet to him.[1]

The Flame knows all about the trickster god and is naturally suspicious of Loki’s true intentions. However, before he can leave, Loki insists that Hirnmeer hear him out. The warrior has had enough and turns to attack Loki with his sword but the trickster disappeared. Loki then reappears in the form of a great dragon and tells the halfbreed that he can have his every desire fulfilled if they work together. Loki offers him women, power, and revenge — taking the same of these very things. When it comes to revenge, Loki takes on the form of Thor. Seeing the anger in his eyes, Loki can see that revenge is what the Flame covets more than anything else.

He appears to the warrior, saying he knows what it’s like to be shunned by society and scorned by his father. Seeing that Loki can offer him the opportunity to get revenge against Thor, he decides to make a deal with the devil. Loki finds this turn of phrase very appropriate and teleports the pair away.[2]

Recurring Characters

Hirnmeer the Flame, Loki

Continuity Notes

1. According to the Marvel Chronology Project, Loki’s liberation of Hrinmeer happened very early in Thor’s modern age career. Happening between Loki’s appearances in Silver Surfer #4 and Thor #167.

2. Hrinmeer won’t be seen again until he is used as against Thor in Thor Annual #19.

Beta Ray Bill Stormbreaker

Following his battle with Thor, Beta Ray Bill has returned to Asgard in search of Sif to find out what happened.[1] Unfortunately, she is nowhere to be found. However, there is a powerful storm raging that has been artificially created and is causing flooding in the region. Since Thor is absent and unable to stop the storm himself, Bill decides to find its source and stop it himself.

Atop a high mountain, Beta Ray Bill finds a Storm Giant is responsible, taking advantage of Thor’s absence to do do what he wishes. When Bill demands that he stop, the giant tries to pick a fight. The giant underestimates Bill’s skill and abilities as the cyborg alien is able to defeat the Storm Giant and use the power of Stormbreaker to send the storm away.

Recurring Characters

Beta Ray Bill

Continuity Notes

1. Beta Ray Bill was enlisted by Sif to help deal with Thor’s Warrior Madness in Thor #461. Thor beat the shit out of Bill and sent him flying into space. Bill got distracted helphing the Silver Surfer and the Thor Corps before returning to Asgard as seen in Silver Surfer (vol. 3) #79, 81-82 and Thor Corps #1-4.

Supplementary Material

Like all annuals published in 1993 this issue was polybagged with a trading card of the new character introduced in this issue. In this case, it is a trading card featuring the Flame.

The reverse side of the card has a brief summary about the character and his vital statistics (real name, height, weight, first appearance).