Origins of Marvel's heroes continued: Thor vs. the Norse World part 2

Thor battling his evil half-brother Loki

Continuing the comparison of Thor comics vs. Norse mythology...

Loki

Marvel’s Loki also inherited similarities and changes from the myths. Loki’s parentage in both stories shows him as a child of the frost giants in Jontunheim, home of the giants. The comics show Loki and Thor as half brothers while the myths clearly show Odin and Loki to be half-brothers. Beyond everything else, Loki’s portrayal in both worlds embodies the largest differences. In the Norse myths, Loki embodies a trickster and god of mischief. He accompanies Thor and the other Norse gods on their adventures, and often plays a helpful role, many times coming across as craftier than the rest, who depend on his tricks to get them out of trouble. Still, in the final battle of Ragnarok, the twilight of the Gods, Loki helms a ship made from the fingernails of the dead to destroy the gods in both versions of the story. Marvel’s version places Loki’s role as main arch-villain while the myths keep him in the role of simply mischievious with only a few lapses. Thor and Loki became mortal enemies in the Marvel comic and that duel forms the basis of the struggle within the pages of the comic book.

The final battle between Thor and the Midgard Serpent

As previously mentioned, Ragnarok, the final battle in Norse mythology, represents a large difference between the two versions. Many specific elements make up the battle including Thor dying in battle with the world-encircling Midgard serpent, the ever-watching Heimdall and Loki killing each other, the giant Fenris Wolf (a spawn of Loki) swallowing up Odin and the fire god Surter setting the world ablaze. Marvel though handles the event of Ranarok much more loosely and used the name Ragnarok for a number of storylines over the years. These events included the fabled fiery attack of Surter upon the world yet also included the siege of the alien threat Mangog.  Marvel’s end-of-the-world Ragnarok storylines pop up every few years to boost sales and keep the character’s popularity high. The end of the world scenario from Norse myths contradicts the needs of a monthly ongoing series that started over 50 years ago!

Many changes made and many attributes stayed over the years to Thor’s world but the popularity of the characters endures and grows everyday. Whether it be the in ancient time under the guise of a deity or in a modern age of comic books and super-heroes, Thor and the adventures in his home Asgard still go on after so many years.  The future looks promising for this franchise as Thor enters into a possibly endless number of movie sequels, further heightening his popularity. The good stories never get old.