Odin

Odin is the Allfather and lord among the Asgardian Æsir. He is the father of Thor, son of Bor, and stepfather of Loki.

Biography

Ancient times

After Odin became king of Asgard, he engaged in many events that have since become legend; as such, the extent to which they are literally true is unclear. He declared war on the Frost Giants of Niffleheim that threatened the peace of the realms. Odin almost singlehandedly defeated the Frost Giants and their king Ymir, using his powerful sword to rend the ground asunder and send them into the fiery depths below—the realm of the demon Surtur. Ymir in particular was trapped in an eternal circle of fire, seemingly never to return. Odin then set his sights on Surtur himself, fighting through the land of the trolls to find the demon emerging from a sea of fire. The two did battle, and upon realizing that he was no match for Odin, Surtur instead turned his sights on Odin's beloved Midgard. Surtur dug deep into the planet's crater, ejecting a large ball of flaming rock that would eventually form into the Moon. Odin created the rainbow bridge Bifrost to make his way to Midgard, and caused the planet to spin rapidly, sealing Surtur inside and leaving them there as a source of heat and energy. With no other option, Surtur sent a winged horse up through a volcano as a peace offering, hoping to one day be freed.

Modern times

After Thor's embodiment as the human Donald Blake in 1962, Odin continued to advise his son in various matters, Asgardian and earthly. Thor found himself falling in love with Blake's nurse, Jane Foster, and had reason to believe that she felt the same. He repeatedly besought Odin for permission to marry her, but Odin refused him on the grounds that mortals and immortals should not intermarry. Thor proposed that Foster herself be made immortal, and Odin begrudgingly conceded that if she were to prove herself worthy, this could be possible. Not long after, under complex circumstances, Foster indirectly aided the villainous Mister Hyde, convincing Odin that she was unworthy of immortality. Around this time, Loki had recently been released from his imprisonment, and he took every opportunity to get into Odin's ear and make life difficult for Thor. As Odin tried to warn Thor to forget Foster, Loki convinced the Allfather that Thor's refusal to do so was tantamount to disobedience. Odin agreed, stripping half of Thor's strength from him until he gave up all thoughts of loving Foster. Odin was upset at being unable to drive Foster from his son's mind, and Loki proposed another solution: sending the Enchantress, a virtually irresistible Asgardian, to claim the love in Thor's heart. Odin agreed, but this plan didn't work, and in fact only seemed to strengthen Foster and Blake's mutual but unrequited love.

Odin became desparate to expel Foster from Thor's heart once and for all. Loki again made a suggestion to him, proposing that he himself travel to Earth and exert his will. An emotionally vulnerable Odin agreed, and gave Loki a portion of his power to watch over Asgard while he was gone. Arriving at Dr. Blake's office, Odin was informed by Thor (who had been told by Balder) that Loki was looking to destroy the two of them, and had released Surtur and the Storm Giant Skagg to that end. Odin transported all of humanity into a pocket dimension and stalled their memory to keep them safe from the coming battle. Soon the enormous Skagg came stomping through the bay, and Thor, Odin, and Balder took the fight to him. Surtur soon joined Skagg, and the two enacted catastrophic damage, remotely strengthened by the will of Loki. Odin used much of his own strength to disable Skagg, and Thor knocked Surtur deep into space, clinging him to a magnetic asteroid. Odin returned humanity to Earth and himself returned to Asgard, punishing Loki by sending him to "serve the trolls." His faith in Thor renewed, Odin still wished to find a way to ease the romantic longing in his son's heart.

See also

• Odin on Wikipedia