Family Feuds Fit for the Gods
The Origin of The Mighty Thor
If there’s one lesson to be learned from reading The Mighty Thor comics, it’s that the Norse gods are horrible family members.
And it’s not just Thor’s terrible brother Loki that’s the problem. If having the God of Lies as an adopted brother already sounds bad enough for you, keep in mind that things can be much worse. As in, having your overbearing father being in charge of the entire universe.
Just take a look at Young Thor’s Lament. In this Marvel Comics book by Jason Aaron, Tony Moore, and John Rauch, Thor is given an origin story revolving around his personal struggle for independence from his domineering father — the tyrannical All-Father Odin. Turns out, Thor’s journey to becoming worthy begins by rejecting his very own omnipotent dad.
The Tyrannical All-Father
It’s pretty hard to knock on Thor for turning his back to his one-eyed father. Look no further than the opening page of Young Thor’s Lament to see where he comes from.
The comic’s first panel features a drawing of Odin confronting a trio of Elven prisoners in his throne room. The All-Father is situated atop the raised platform of his throne, literally looking down upon his prisoners as he condemns them to a painful death.
Good Guy Thor
Being a noble superhero of the Marvel kind, Thor is quick to inform readers that he disapproves of all this. In fact, good guy Thor is even brave enough to entrust the audience with a confession of fear about his father.
But not all is bad for our beloved hero. Despite Odin’s omnipotence, Thor “began to learn lessons my father could never teach me.” These lessons involved “joy and passion and the thirst for adventure. And what it truly meant to be young, alive, and immortal.”
In spite of the splendor of his native Realm Eternal, Thor points out he never learned these lessons “in Asgard.” Rather, the God of Thunder learned what he “loved about being a god… once [he] was among the mortals.”
What it Means to Be a God
It’s then revealed that Thor spent time living among the mortals of the Earth, where he fell in love with a fierce Viking warrior named Erika the Red. The story concludes with Erika’s inevitable death of old age, after which the God of Thunder learned a painful, yet invaluable lesson on living life to the fullest:
I never thought about turning my back on the realm I loved. That would have been the same as letting her go. Letting her die in vain.
And that, I will never do.
Cherish every moment. And every mortal soul you touch along the way.
Cherish them all the more because they are fleeting. And you are not.
That is the legacy of Erika the Red.
The woman who taught Thor what it means to be a god.
What it meant to be worthy.
The story’s climax thus reveals the nature of the lesson Thor was never able to learn in Asgard. While Odin’s conception of godhood was all about dominance, Thor’s experiences in Young Thor’s Lament lead him to embrace a very different interpretation of what it meant to be a god.
Rather than dominating mortal lifeforms, Thor’s journey lead him to appreciate life in all its forms; to recognize the importance of savoring the moment as it presents itself — to live his life of immortality with the same intensity as mortals do. As such, Thor was only able to become the beloved superhero of the Marvel Universe by going against his own father.
In the end, Thor’s character arc requires him to lose both his father and his beloved. But by the time his origin story is told, the God of Thunder succeeds in finding something else: his identity.
And thus, he is worthy.
Citation drawn from: Thor (2018) #7: written by Jason Aaron, art by Tony Moore, coloring by John Rauch. Published on November 14, 2018, by Marvel Comics.
