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Tales of Asgard

Season 2, Episode 2

Utgardaloki

Thor's journey to the land of the Giants (This will be in Utgard? Niflheim? Perhaps Utgard can be part of Niflheim, just to simplify things)

Preceded by the story of Odin's quest to get the mead of poetry, focusing on Odin's trickery (abridged). In the norse legend there is a war between the Aesir (Asgardians) and Vanir, Frey and Freya are involved and there's another god who gets killed and some evil dwarves who get killed and Frigga and Thor and Loki are there. Complicated...

This version is before Odin has married Frigga, and Sif and Volstagg (who replaced Frey and Freya) and Thor and Loki don't exist yet. There is no mention of the war or the extra god or the dwarves and begins thusly:

Odin is visited by his ravens who tell him of the mead of poetry and how it is kept in a deep dark cave in Utgard where no one but Suttung, the giant, can ever use it. He dons his cloak and hat. He tells the royal family and courtiers that he will wander the world. They know he's up to something but they don't know what. He tells them to build three huge vats and leave them by the gates of Asgard. He asks for the finest whetstone they have and Rati, the finest drill.

He approaches the lands of the giant Baugi, Suttung's brother. He tricks the (giant) farmers who guard Baugi's land into letting him sharpen their scythes with his whetstone to better cut the grass for hay making. They are delighted at the ease with which they can now cut the grass.

When Odin (calling himself Bolverkr) reveals what he is there for (the mead of poetry) they attack him. He nimbly avoids them and the finely sharpened scythe blades mean the guards/farmers kill each other instead.

He then offers to work for Baugi in their place (keeping the means of their death a secret). Baugi is skeptical at this tiny being claiming to do the work of nine giants. But Bolverkr does it and more (secretly thanks to his Asgardian physiology and the Odinforce too).

As a reward he asks to drink from the mead of poetry. Baugi agrees to take him to his brother.

Suttung is not having it, which embarrasses Baugi. So Bolverkr convinces Baugi to steal the mead from Suttung, to bring him down a peg or two. They drill into the mountain with ease (thanks Rati). When they finally break through to the secret cave inside the mountain, Baugi tries to kill Bolverkr (meaning to take the mead for himself). Expecting this betrayal, Bolverkr transforms into a snake and slips down the drill hole. Baugi slinks off hoping his brother never finds out.

Popping out into the cavern where the mead was kept he takes the form of a giant to flatter Gunlodd, Suttung's daughter, who guards the mead of poetry. He convinces her that three sips of the mead would help him create three ageless odes to her beauty. He, of course, takes the lot in three sips and transforms into an eagle to escape. Suttung and Gunlodd are no magical slouches and they transform into eagles too to give chase.

Bolverkr, now unashamedly proclaiming to be Odin manages to spit the mead into the vats at the gates of Asgard as the eagle giants draw close.

Odin takes great delight in telling his boys how he wet farted some foul smelling mead into their faces to throw them off. And how if you hear a bad poet, you know which mead they tasted.

Odin, of course, shared the mead wisely, his intention all along.

The link to the main story being defeating Utgard giants takes some cunning. Odin tells them they have his blessing to go to Utgard for talks, but be careful. And don't beat anyone else up. And don't start a war. And you can't have any Einherjar to back you up. They are busy doing important things.

Thor wants to have words with the Utgard giants as stealing his hammer is not on (notwithstanding he already pulverised an entire wedding party full of giants as punishment).

He assembles a crew (Loki, Volstagg and Hogun). Loki refuses to be part of the Warriors Three, bristling at the idea that he might be thought of as Thor's sidekick.

Balder can't go as he has become more serious about the Einherjar. Sif refuses to go as this is all very machismo, bravado and ego driven.

Undeterred Thor, Loki and the Warriors Two set off for Utgard. They can't use the bifrost as the giants would see them coming. They stop at the last lodgings before Utgard and are reintroduced to Fandral, son of two courtiers. He can run impressively fast.

You can forget the goat eating/resurrecting thing from the legend (little too crazy, little too cruel). Fandral upsets Thor somehow at Loki's tricking and offers to become his bondservant.

Utgardaloki (a nickname I imagine), the trickster giant will use some ruse to see through Loki's illusions. He disguises himself as an even bigger giant to trick the team, but promises to take them to Utgard. Thor feels threatened by the giant giant and bashes him with Mjölnir while he sleeps, to seemingly no effect.

When they arrive at Utgardaloki's house he challenges them to a competition to settle the matter of the stolen Hammer. Loki is revealed as the thief (but not as a Laufeyson). Thor is livid but the gang break it up.

Utgardaloki reveals the theft was in retaliation for the incident where a giant built Asgard a fortifying wall and Loki had to distract his horse so Asgard didn't have to pay him. He did this by becoming a female horse and ended up birthing Sleipnir who Odin would take from Loki as he was a fine steed; strong and fast. The giants felt this was unfair. Loki is upset by this story as he lost his (horse) son to his father. Then Thor teases him for getting pregnant with and giving birth to a horse. Loki is livid, the gang break it up.

Volstagg takes on the eating challenge (Loki in the legend).

Hogun takes the wrestling challenge (Thor in the legend).

Fandral takes the running challenge (a boy called Thialfi in the legend).

Thor takes the drinking challenge and Loki the picking up of the cat challenge.

When they all fail they are shocked and humiliated. Utgardaloki then reveals it was all a trick. He was the giant giant. And reveals that Mjölnir's blows could have killed him were he not a skilled sorcerer and secretly put mountains in the way (there are now valleys beside those mountains where Mjölnir struck).

Volstagg's opponent was fire disguised as a giant. You can't eat faster than fire, though Volstagg came close.

Hogun's opponent was time, disguised as an old lady giant. You can't beat time, though she only got Hogun down to one knee.

Fandral's opponent was thought disguised as a boy giant. You can't run faster than thought, though Fandral kept up well.

The drink that Thor took was secretly from Niflheim's oceans which cannot be drained, though Thor affected the tides.

The cat was actually Jormungundr, the world serpent and impressively Loki lifted a coil of it. Loki is sad again at this as this is another of his children/pets, banished by Odin to the deepest part of the Nifelheim sea as it was prophesied that it would poison Thor at Ragnarök. Learning from his previous mistake, Thor comforts Loki instead of teasing.

Utgardaloki considers the matter settled and vows never to let such fine warriors near his real home.

As Thor reaches again for Mjölnir, Utgardaloki and his home vanish.

Chastened, the gang return home.

As the gang recount their tale to Sif and Frigga, Fandral is released from his bond and welcomed into the Warriors Three for his impressive endeavours. Loki, despite his earlier attitude, is disappointed and a little jealous. He later recounts this to Sigyn and laments the loss of Sleipnir and Jormungundr. She encourages his bitterness.

Thor quietly muses to Sif about recapturing Jormungundr as a surprise for Loki to cheer him up. Sif, astonished, asks him where he is planning to keep it.

Tales of Asgard

Series 2, Episode 5

Balder the Brave part II

Again, this is mostly taken from The Warriors Teen comic. The main difference being that they are not teens here but young adults. And also they wear proper armour instead of tunics. The storyline was a good fit for where I wanted to take the characters and only needed a few little tweaks.

We join our trio sunbathing and bantering before making their way through the temperate rainforest to the dunes at the edge of Asgard where the mines of Jennia plunge below the surface of the desert.

Unlike the blatant excuse to build some sexual tension in the comics, Sif and the boys go to bathe separately. Loki uses illusion to mimic the boys and Sif and manages to separate them. Thor rushes back to Sif who is dressed and drying her hair. He realises it was a trick and they race to Balder who is being strangled by enchanted vines. They manage to free him in time.

Sif says Loki is here. Balder croakily concurs. Thor is wavering now. He calls Loki. Loki, of course, silently presses himself into the foliage. Balder croaks they should get out into the open.

They go back to get their gear from where they were sunbathing and are worried. If it was Loki, he seemed to be trying to kill Balder. It could be any one of them next. If it's not Loki they possess a very similar skillset. Thor asks why anyone would be trying to kill them? Let alone their brother. Sif says he's no brother of mine.

They warily set up camp in silence. Thor wants to take first watch but Sif insists. The boys have a heart to heart about the current state of their family. Sif tells them to get some sleep.

The mirror user observes the tense trio and notes that Odin's other son is glowering in the treeline. An unwitting ally as she says in the comics.

The next day there are a few quips but the group is not as bantery as before. No sexist comments from Thor like the comic though.

Also, Sif does not suddenly go all girly at the thought of jewels as in the comic.

Then gang are suddenly swallowed by quicksand one by one. Loki approaches and appears to shed a tear as he proclaims it done, though not by his hand. Then he too sinks.

The trio come to in a chamber surrounded by strange childlike creatures with glowing red eyes. Thor, already riled up tries to bat them away and they start to swarm him. They start to creep onto Sif as well. Balder recognises them as the Jennia, keepers of the jewels. The feed on emotion. He advises the others to be calm and rid themselves of emotion. They do and the Jennia retreat, leaving a jewel.

When Sif states that anyone with hatred in their heart would be in for a worser fate, we expect to see Loki engulfed by Jennia. Instead we cut to Loki having been rescued/captured by the magic mirror user who is revealed to be...Karnilla...

Karnilla is the Norn Queen and believes that Odin owes a large unpaid debt to the Fates of Norn as he gained knowledge of the runes without permission.

"Such powerful magic for less than half a soul? We would have charged a much steeper price if we had known."

The Fates (Skuld, Verandi and Urd) warn Loki that Odin will pay a terrible price. Karnilla says "exactly ". Loki tries to pretend he doesn't care. Verandi tells him that he longs for Odin to love him the way he loves his other sons. She tells them to be quiet, how Loki has no love for family. How she has seen him trying to murder both his brothers and their companion.

Urd says he made a pact with hatred.

Karnilla asks her elderly assistant Haag to still their wagging tongues.

K: How hard can it be to destabilise a royal family?

That first ungrateful wench...you give a girl a little power and...

Ah sorry, you can't speak about her at the moment can you?

Then if your foolish wife hadn't actually fallen in love with you this could all have been done by now.

L: Sigyn? You sent her?

K: Where do you think she learned all those things that your mother wouldn't teach you? She thought I was putting you on the throne. I just wanted the chaos.

But she had to get herself thrown in jail defending you. Now I shall just have to take care of things myself.

Cut to the trio in the forests of Lilitha. Thor is nostalgic for swimming and climbing there in his childhood. Balder has noticed the trees seem to be dying.

The comics go in for some love triangle nonsense here. Not us.

Then Loki apparates in, tears in his eyes, genuinely conflicted.

Thor asks him how he has appeared here and why? Has Odin sent him? Is Asgard in trouble?

Loki names Karnilla and tells of her plot to kill Odin and take Asgard with the Utgard giants and the creatures of Niflheim. How she captured him while he followed them and tried to turn him against Asgard. He refused, she admired his previously unobserved backbone and weirdly kissed him. This allowed him to steal a little of her power, which meant he could apparate.

Sif is enraged! She knew Loki had been conspiring against them! How he nearly killed Balder. The spiders...that was you too wasn't it?

Loki lies and says it was all Karnilla.

Sif wants to run him through with her blade. Balder muses that it could be a plot to make them fail the quest.

Thor puts it to him, Loki says no even after everything he still loves father and that he needs them all. They (Thor and Balder that is) choose to believe him.

Loki conjures them horses from the fallen leaves (they are stunned by his magic prowess, this makes Sif a little more suspicious) and they ride to Asgard. Thor stays to finish the quest as Odin may want Svadren for the fight. Loki leaves a horse for him.

He fights a conjured stone golem which he assumes was conjured by Karnilla. He fights with particular fierceness as he has no time to waste. When he finally reaches the lake he sees it is dry. Magically drained. He scoops some into a bottle as a reminder to never fail again then rides like the wind to Asgard.

He finds it under assault by the forces of Niflheim (giants, orcs, ogres and goblins) and storms his way through. This rallies the troops.

Thor finds Sif and Balder and tells them the quest has failed.

Odin battles his way to them and tells them there will be no talk of failure. Defend Asgard!

Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three defend one side of the gate, Balder and Heimdall the other. Odin holds fast in the middle. Einherjar are positioned strategically. Loki is murdering Niflheimers too.

They hold fast. The Utgard Giants et al, see defeat is coming and decide to retreat.

Just as the celebrations begin Karnilla apparates in and shoots Thor straight through the heart with an arrow. Then she apperates into the throne room. Balder warns a shocked Odin that she may go for his vault. Odin grabs Mjölnir, calls for Sleipnir and races upstairs. Epic battle between Odin, Frigga and Karnilla. Odin and Frigga eventually win.

Coming back down they see they have not been able to save Thor.

Odin ritualistically pours the sand from the bed of the Lake of Lilitha on to Thor's wound. He gives a regretful and moving speech while Frigga, Sif and Balder mourn. The Warriors Three cling to eachother for comfort. Heimdall and the Einherjar remove their helmets. Heads bowed.

Then as the tears of Frigga, Sif and Balder mingle with the sand it turns to water and heals the wound. Thor lives! They bottle the rest of the magical liquid.

Just as everyone is celebrating, a dishevelled Karnilla appears holding Loki at knifepoint. If she can't have the kingdom, she will have a sacrifice for the knowledge of the runes. One of your sons must forfeit their lives.

They all show concern for Loki. Even Odin. Karnilla scoffs that their lives would be much easier without him. All the trouble he caused. She blames Loki for all the things he blamed her for. Even the stone golem. That he followed them and sabotaged them because his heart was full of jealousy and hate.

Sif says she knew it. Thor cries out , "You lie, witch!". Balder reasons that this may all be true. But despite all that, knowing the consequences of being found out, Loki chose to do the right thing and saved all of Asgard.

Dialogue from the comic:

K:How can you defend him? His hands are as dirty as mine.

My hands...that will spill blood once more today.

B: If you must take a life this day...take mine.

I forfeit it in exchange for Loki's.

And if the denizens of Asgard hate Loki, as you say, won't my death better satisfy your need for revenge?

K (releasing Loki and pointing knife at Balder): You fool! What kind of man would sacrifice his life for that of his enemy?

B: A man who knows no enemy.

A man who believes in the value of all life.

A man who believes there is good in every soul.

Even in yours, Karnilla.

K (releasing him too): This is not over, Balder.

She apparates away. Odin confirms she is gone.

He vows to have the sword forged.

Sif and the Warriors Three are sent with the four elements to Nidavellir. In a month he there will be a ceremony to bestow the sword upon the winner. That he has much to deliberate upon. Now he would speak to his other son. But Loki is gone.

One month later, at the ceremony, Svadren is given to Balder for his mercy and compassion. Celebrations!

Some time after that Balder and Nanna, Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three return to Lilitha with the last few drops remaining in the vial and empty them onto the lake bed. Slowly, the water returns. The friends swim, splash and horse about. Happy ending!

Post credits - Loki just sitting there in the family home hatred bubbling away under the surface. One of his boys runs through shouting for his father. Sigyn's mum comes and ushers him away as Loki glowers.