jack@hp-dcde.UUCP (03/06/84)
re: Latest Thor ("Balder the Brave?")
This artist is *really* taking liberties with the Asgardians. Frigga, who was
a tender young lovely a few issues ago, is now an aging goodwife. She looks
like a wife of Odin should look, mind you, but I'm somewhat distressed about
the rapidity of the change.
-Jack Applin
(hplabs!hp-dcd!jack)hutch@shark.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison) (03/14/84)
| If you had to put up with an overweight, one-eyed grouch who leaves on | the slightest whim for the far reaches of the universe, who keeps | wolves and ravens around the house at all times (maybe even in the | bedroom), and whose subjects are all a bunch of rejects from Warner | Brother's Robin Hood flick (fighting and drinking and wenching and | fighting and wenching and drinking and probably puking with Olympian | style...), you wouldn't look like Cheryl Tiegs either. Christ, and can | you imagine what she gets from Loki on Mother's Day? | | "Peel me another grape, Lorilei..." | | Moriarty I have followed the behaviour of the Marvel Norse for a while now. REAL STRANGE>> What did all those raunchy Asgardian males do while all their females were away? Recall that homosexuality was considered to be so unthinkably horrid that the mere suggestion was enough to cause wars (IN NORDIC CULTURE, no flames, please, fact are facts.) No wonder Balder went after Karnilla. Some things they have failed to note: Firstly, and as is well established, the Asgardians are MORTALS!! They attain their extremely protracted lifespan from the Golden Apples of Youth, kept by the goddess Idunn, and these apples are at least a major part of the reason why the Frost and Fire Giants hate and envy the Norse. Also, WHERE ARE THE ELVES? Not the cutesy-poo elves of later England, the children of Frey, who were REAL DIRE enemies and the Asgardians kept them as loose allies. This Allfather bullsh*t is complete nonsense. In Norse myth, Thor was the peace-chief of the Asgardians, and his father Odin was the War chief. This contrasted with their natures well: Thor was a fierce and powerful warrior, but not wise enough in War to be the general. Odin, who was a magician and a learned man, but not their greatest warrior, was at the same time the best General, due to his incredible ways of gathering data on his enemies. The Asgardians are children of Chaos, just like most other deities. Loki is the bastard son of someone, probably Odin, and a Fire Giantess. He was god of fire (Loki means Fire) and was mischievous, sly, and nasty but never really evil. He was CHAOTIC, which was why Thor really liked him (they shared a common sense of humor) but normally had the best interests of the Asgardians in mind. He was hardly a god of Evil. Oh - the reason why I quoted Moriarty above . . . Frigga, and Odin, ought to both be physically about forty, at the latest - recall those Apples? Well, I conjectured that Marvel could cover up by saying that the Asgardians can choose to make their appearance reflect their "nature" and that this is evident in Balder's decline into porkitude. He chooses to be the opposite of a warrior, so grows fat and soft. This is not necessary, since there are a number of athletes who are not warriors. The IDEA is the thing. Therefore, Odin looks old, so as to command respect, and Frigga follows suit so as to keep Odin from looking like a cradlerobber. Hutch
eric@aplvax.UUCP (03/16/84)
Loki and Thor "friends" in Norse mythology? Strange, not the way I remember the legends. I seem to remember Loki trying to trick Thor at every turn, and the battle getting really nasty before the final days. Early on they may have shared some "jokes", but the later myths definitely have them as enemies. Besides, wasn't it Loki that suggested the mistletoe trick? My books on mythology are at home so I can't name specifics. -- eric ...!seismo!umcp-cs!aplvax!eric
moriarty@uw-june (Jeff Meyer) (03/19/84)
If you had to put up with an overweight, one-eyed grouch who leaves on the slightest whim for the far reaches of the universe, who keeps wolves and ravens around the house at all times (maybe even in the bedroom), and whose subjects are all a bunch of rejects from Warner Brother's Robin Hood flick (fighting and drinking and wenching and fighting and wenching and drinking and probably puking with Olympian style...), you wouldn't look like Cheryl Tiegs either. Christ, and can you imagine what she gets from Loki on Mother's Day? "Peel me another grape, Lorilei..." Moriarty
hutch@shark.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison) (03/20/84)
<Crasha-Boom ... Here, Mjolnir, C'mon, here, boy> The time during which Thor and Loki demonstrated the greatest amount of "friendly" behavior was during one spying expedition which was, if I recall well, an attempt to recover Heimdall's sword, and maybe even Thor's hammer. These had been stolen by Surtur, King of Fire Giants. Thor, Loki, and two mortals were along on this one, and in it they were put to four tasks. Thor's tasks were to do such simple things as emptying Surtur's drinking horn, picking up his cat, and wrestling his dear old grandmother. One of the mortals was set to racing with a thrall in Surtur's kingdom, and Loki was challenged to an eating contest. They all lost. The contests were fixed. Thor NEARLY drained the drinking horn, terrifying the Giants, since the other end of the Horn was connected to the Ocean. He NEARLY beat the old woman wrestling, but since she was Old Age, he lost. He NEARLY picked up the cat, only managing to lift its belly from the floor, but since it was really the Midgard Serpent, all he managed was to lift a section of its belly from the ground (a task which was beyond the Giants). Loki lost his contest, against Logi. Loki was only the God of Fire, Logi was FIRE ITSELF, and ended up eating not only the meat and bones but the table as well. The mortal failed to outrace Thought. But he was mere inches behind him all the way. It was indeed Loki who killed Balder. He sharpened up a Mistletoe dart (hard to come by, since mistletoe is a rather soft stuff) and gave it to Balder's blind friend (brother?) Hoder and guided his hand. See, Balder had been rendered immune to EVERYTHING else, so it was a popular pastime to use him as a practice dummy. This was the point at which Loki really blew it. Nobody liked him after that. At least, that's how I read it in grade school. Hutch