Karnilla
Karnilla is a female comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Karnilla
Due to his jealously of Balder, Loki came to plot his death where to achieve this he sought out the Norn Queen to uncover his weakness. At first the Norn Queen refuses to aid Loki, but eventually gives into Loki's demands and tells him that the only item in all of Asgard that did not pledge to protect Balder was mistletoe. With this knowledge in hand, Loki travels out and obtains a small amount of mistletoe and has one of his slave trolls fashion it into a dart and construct a blow gun. The next day Loki spies Balder jousting in the combat practice fields and waits for the right moment to strike. Balder trips in an attempt to avoid stepping on a caterpillar and Loki uses it as an opportunity to fire the dart at him. Just as he is about to fire the dart, the blow gun bursts into flames in his hands. The Norn Queen contacts Loki via her crystal ball and informs him that although mistletoe did not pledge to protect Balder, she did, and thus thwarts his attempt to kill Balder. Loki pledges revenge, but the Norn Queen has her aide prepare witches's brew against any such attempt. Balder, meanwhile regains his feet, little knowing how close he was to losing his life. (Journey Into Mystery v1 #107)
Imprisoned, Loki sent mental waves in order to send a message desperately to Karnilla where he asked her to use her magic to awaken Odin from the Odinsleep. This was so that he would stop the Destroyer from killing Thor which would have sealed Loki's fate as a result. (Journey into Mystery v1 #119)
Loki came to contact Karnilla the Norn Queen to cast a spell to regain his powers after being stripped of them. Unknown to him, he was being watched by the Wrecker who has targeted Loki as his next robbery victim. At the critical point of the spell, the Wrecker breaks in and knocks Loki out with his crowbar. Finding only a special container and Loki's helmet, the Wrecker is a little more than disappointed. He puts on Loki's helmet none the less, and when Karnilla finally appears, she mistakes the Wrecker for Loki and grants the petty crook with the power that Loki intended to regain. (Thor v1 #148)
Afterwards, Loki came to hide in the home of Karnilla where he would remotely view the actions of Odin and Thor. At this time, he had approached the Norn Queen's side to get the aid of her people. Witnessing Balder and Sif's approach through the crystal, Loki sends one of Karnilla's giant barbarians to attack the approaching Gods. Although the giants' attack catches Balder off guard, the brave warrior is able to regain his footing and counter attack, easily defeating the barbarian. With the battle over, Balder is shocked to find that Sif has disappeared at some point during the fight. Balder continues his quest to Karnilla's castle, when he is attacked and taken out by barbarians who knock him out with sleeping herbs. In that same castle, Sif who had been taken prisoner by Karnilla where they had been forced to watch Balder's defeat, and in a cruel jest Karnilla shows Sif the fate of Thor. Taking advantage of Sif's belief that Thor is still alive, Karnilla offers her "aid" by bringing forth the Destroyer armor and allowing Sif to put her soul into the device to give it life. After doing so, Karnilla transports the Destroyer armor to Earth once more. This plays into both Karnilla and Loki's hand as they know that the Destroyer's predisposition to destroy any Gods would force Sif to attack her lover once the threat of the Wrecker had been dealt with. (Thor v1 #150)
To stop the Enchantress, the Norn Queen dispatched the wolf god Skoll with dispatching her. In his humanoid form, he ambushed Amora in her mortal guise as she summoned the Executioner's axe to give to Heimdall. Turning into a wolf, he attacked and their fight damaged a room in the hospital with them disappearing from the scene thus leaving the axe to be picked by a mortal passing the scene. (Thor v1 #459)
Karnilla was part of the list of women Odinson suspected to be the new Thor. (Thor v4 #6) She was one of the many women warriors Odinson and Freyja brought to help Thor in her fight against Cul Borson, as he commanded the Destroyer armor under Odin's order. (Thor v4 #7) She had heard rumours of a new Thor on Midgard and decided to travel there to see them. (Thor v4 #8)
During the War of Realms, the Dark Elf Malekith the Accursed sought to kill the Norns so that fate itself would die and therefore he along with his allies would be free to forge their own destiny. Thus, Karnilla called upon the Odinson to aid in the protection of the Norns who had already fought back several assassination attempts by Ulik and his Trolls. They were then attacked by a large force including Frost Giants, Dark Elves and Fire Demons where despite the efforts of the guards and Thor they were overwhelmed. Queen Karnilla had the three Norns taken away to safety by the guards whilst she fought the intruders. At that moment, their foes severed part of the root above the keep causing it to crash down thus fatally wounding her. As a result, the dark cabal had succeeded in eliminating the Norns allowing them to chart their own fate in the future. (Mighty Thor v1 #700) Upon dying, she went to the afterlife in Niffleheim where she was reunited with Balder who was king of Hel. At that point, Fire Demons arrived in Hel where they attacked the native undead as they sought to conquer the land in the name of their Queen Sindr. (Mighty Thor v1 #701)
Balder's forces were overpowered, but he received aid in the form of Thor and Loki, who teleported to Niffleheim to put an end to Malekith's plans. Tyr tricked Balder and his allies into liberating Hela, who was being returned to Hel as a prisoner of the Queen of Cinders. (Thor v5 #2) Loki convinced Balder and Hela to marry despite their enmity for tactical purposes to unite the realm against Sindr. Karnilla was displeased with this development, but wished the best for the realm. (Thor v5 #3) Before the marriage could be sealed, Sindr's forces attacked. The Queen of Cinders was defeated by Thor, who had also recruited the Einherjar and the Valkyries to fight for Niffleheim. After Sindr and her forces retreated back to Muspelheim, Hela refused to continue the ceremony, arguing that Balder never got to say his vows. Karnilla had helped battle against the hordes of Muspelheim where she secretly took the ring from Balder that he needed to wed Hela. After the battle was won, Karnilla wore it thus wedding her to Hela to maintain the pact and secure the aid of Hel despite the protests of Balder as he did not want to be separated from the Norn. However, she decided to make this sacrifice for her love as she felt Hela would try to kill him even after they were wed. She then asked Loki to use a spell to send Balder back to the land of the living whilst she herself came to rule the dead as one of the Queens of Hel. (Thor v5 #4)
Karnilla adjusted to co-ruling the Asgardian afterlife. When Malekith was returned to Hel following his death in the War of the Realms, Karnilla devised a tortuous punishment for him that left even Hela impressed: excising the part of his soul embodying his child-self and forcing him to watch as it played happily with the souls of his bog tiger and hounds - which were reverted to a cub and puppies. (Thor v5 #15)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Her skill and power led to her being known as the Norn Queen. (Journey into Mystery v1 #107)
Such was her anger that she claimed that none were capable of spurning the mistress of the Norn. (Thor v1 #165)
It was noted that she and Loki had been allies in the past. (Journey into Mystery v1 #119)
Karnilla's love for Balder was said to had been undying. (Thor v1 #201)
Powers and abilities
As the Mistress of Magic, the Norn Queen knew a number of mystical spells that she weaved through her sorcery. (Journey into Mystery v1 #107) Karnilla's magical senses were so great that she could probe through the nether regions of time and space to find someone lost in the universe. (Thor v1 #437) She was able to channel this magic into powerful energy blasts that she could fire at her target. (Thor v4 #8)
Her great magical knowledge made her aware of rare mystical flowers such as the Rose of Purity. (Defenders v1 #107)
She could control the threads and through them she could access a person's fate allowing her to manipulate their destiny. Karnilla was able to spin these green threads that attached to a person whereby she could alter a person's fate. It also allowed her to see a person's end and their death. (Mighty Thor v1 #700)
Haag could bridge through dimensions in service to Karnilla. (Thor v1 #165) Another servant was the elderly grey haired woman called Ismalda whose celebrated skills brought torture to new artistic heights. (Thor v1 #451)
One of her servants was the green-skinned monstrous Gothog. (Balder the Brave v1 #1) Combining her magic with Loki, she was able to magically create Durok the Demolisher. (Thor v1 #191)
Many foes had challenged Karnilla with her wrath freezing them in eternity where they were motionless and lifeless with the Legion of the Lost being among those trapped in this state. (Thor v1 #154)
It was the magic of the mystic Norn that was used to create Durok the Demolisher who was a being fashioned by Loki's desire for a being greater than Thor. She had formed a man whose limbs were stronger than the strongest steel and whose every fibre along with sinew being beyond compare. However, her creation lacked life and was only imparted it through Loki using the mystic Odin-Ring. (Thor v1 #191)
She had access to the Space Pool that she and her agents were able to use to access other dimensions. (Thor v1 #165)
This place was said to be the cavern kingdom of the Norns with giant barbaric warrior gods guarding it. Karnilla ruled as absolute monarch where within its forests were faithful trolls that served her. (Thor v1 #150) She called the Nornkeep her home with this being a fortress carved from the living rock of the earth. It was there that she kept her ancient court and governed her dangerous realm. (Thor v1 #344) At the Well of Wyrd, the Norns spun the threads that wrote the adventures of a person. (Mighty Thor v1 #700) One means of entry into the Nornkeep was through the crypts. (Balder the Brave v1 #1)
Notes
- Karnilla was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby where she made her first appearance in Journey into Mystery v1 #107 (August, 1964).
In other media
Television
- In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Karnilla made a brief appearance in the animated television series in the the episode "This Hostage Earth" where she was voiced by actress Kari Wahlgren. She was shown as being the keeper of one of the mystical Norn Stones with the Masters of Evil looking to acquire its power. Enchantress and Executioner along with the Grey Gargoyle were sent to attack Karnilla's home. Though Karnilla was prepared for the two Asgardians, she did not know about the Grey Gargoyle who turned her to stone.
Appearances
- Journey into Mystery v1: (1964)
- Thor v1:
- Defenders v1:
- Balder the Brave v1:
- Mighty Thor v1:
- Thor v4:
- Thor v5:
External Links
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