Asgardian Alignments

A classic Dungeons & Dragons source book titled Deities & Demigods (later Legends & Lore) placed mythological gods and heroes from numerous cultures within the popular game system.

Below are the D&D alignments Deities & Demigods listed for several Norse gods who also had an impact on the Defenders.

Chaotic Good: Thor (thunder god).

Neutral Good: Odin "All Father" (supreme ruler of the gods); this alignment aptly describes the hero Thor during his time as a founding and recurring member of the Avengers.

Chaotic Evil: Loki (god of mischief, strife and fire); he teamed up with Dormammu in the a cross-over event that spanned Avengers #115-118 and Defenders #8-11.

Neutral Evil: Hel (goddess of death); her name is spelled Hela in Defenders #66-68 and other Marvel publications.

Chaotic Neutral: Valkyries "Choosers of the Slain"; the temperament of the hero Valkyrie steadies after #66-68, ending the the inner turmoil between her true self and the spirit of Barbara Norriss.

Visions of Valkyrie

Of all the examples of similar cover designs throughout the course of the Defenders, the most deserving instances of parallelism honored turning points for Valkyrie.

Defenders #4 marked the introduction of Valkyrie into the team. With the horse Aragorn at her command, there was no mistaking this Valkyrie (Barbara Norriss) for the previous incarnations of the character. Defenders #66 appropriately reworked the cover layout to reintroduce Valkyrie during a milestone trip to Asgard (where she left the troubled mind of Barbara Norriss behind).

	#130 wasn't a landmark issue for Valkyrie, but the striking surrealism of the cover conveys her depth of character just the same.

As Seen on TV

One of their earliest foes used television as part of a disturbing attempt to manipulate the children of Earth. Using his muppet-like appearance to his advantage, the extraterrestrial named Xemnu was a hit on a Saturday morning kids' show (seen in Marvel Feature #3).

Through his popularity and mind-control abilities, the furry giant intended to lure hoards of children to a hijacked rocket, then use them to repopulate his planet. Beneath the surface of this offbeat tale was a serious message about the threat of child abduction.

Dr. Strange, Sub-Mariner, and the Hulk thwarted the plot. Although Xemnu's hypnotic powers could influence both children and adults, the Hulk's altered intellect was resistant. Xemnu returned in Defenders #12 and appeared briefly in #100.

Marvel Feature. Vol. 1. No. 3. June 1972. "A Titan Walks Among Us!" Stan Lee (editor), Roy Thomas (writer), Ross Andru (artist), Bill Everett (inker) Art Simek (letterer).

Before Bruce Banner ever overdosed on gamma rays, the monstrous Xemnu was billed as the "Hulk" in Journey into Mystery #62 (November 1960) and #66 (March 1961). To avoid confusion, the giant extraterrestrial later became "Xemnu the Titan."

Who Was Barbara Norriss?

Long before she was physically and mentally restored as one, an ongoing burden faced Valkyrie. She was living in the body of someone else.

The armored adventurer joined the Defenders with her mind mystically bonded to the body of Barbara Norriss, a woman rescued from another dimension, but driven mad by the netherworldly imprisonment (Defenders #3-4).

With no memory of this other woman, and only a general sense of her own self, the spirited Valkyrie found friendship and acceptance among the Defenders.

But there was still one problem. Barbara Norriss was married. And explaining the situation to her husband was an uphill battle (Defenders #21).

Valkyrie: Must I remind you again, Mr. Norriss? This is your wife's body--but I am not your wife. And my name is Valkyrie--not "Barbara." The personality of Barbara Norriss has been submerged 'neath my own by the magic of the Asgardian Enchantress. I am what I am--the woman warrior. The Defender. And you, Mr. Norriss, are a stranger to my eyes and to my heart.

Out of obligation, Valkyrie tried to play the role of wife to Jack Norriss. But he disapproved of her life as a hero, and she did not love him. The feminist subtext played out topically in the 1970s, with Valkyrie symbolic of a woman forging her own identity amidst social expectations to be someone she was not.

Because of the fragmented nature of her psyche—with the madness of Barbara Norriss and the manipulative intentions of the Enchantress in the mix—Valkyrie often swung her sword when men behaved chauvinistically, only to second-guess her rash behavior afterward.

The inner conflict came to a head in Defenders #64. While fighting a minor villain named Joe the Gorilla, Valkyrie began to hallucinate that all of the nearby Defenders for a Day were Norse trolls. When she realized what had happened, Valkyrie knew she could not continue this way.

An initial trip to Asgard seemed to remedy the situation, with the mind of Barbara Norriss resting safely in Asgard and Valkyrie returning to Earth (Defenders #66-68). But not until Defenders #109 was Valkyrie back in her own body, with her full sense of identity intact.

Along with peace of mind, Valkyrie also gained more strength. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (1983) ranked Valkyrie with the power to lift 45 tons (in her restored Asgardian body).

Though not precisely recorded, her strength level in the human body of Barbara Norriss was much less than that.