VIKING STORM

CREATED BY: SNAKEBITE CORTEZ & JOSHUA ORTEGA

MASTER MASK BY: DIGGER T. MESCH

MASK BY: GARY MONTALBANO

STORY BY: JOSHUA ORTEGA

PICS BY: RJ LAMENDOLA

Viking Storm

Thor was widely known to be the god of thunder.

But the god of lightning? There was none.

She was a goddess.

Her name was Molniya, and she was born in the cold climes of the north, the fatherless daughter of a weaver mother who was known for making bright patterns in her weavework. Her mother, whose name has been lost to history, said that the patterns were inspired "from above," and more importantly, that her child was as well.

Considering Molniya's legacy, and the legends of her otherwordly powers, it's hard to argue with the legend.

There has been much conjecture recently in academic circles that Thor's hammer, often known as Mjolnir or Mjonler, was actually not a "literal" hammer, but in fact, was the great love of Thor's life, a woman who was the lightning to his thunder, the light to his sound, the bright to his dark.

Molniya.

If this is correct, then every tale of Thor must be interpreted even more metaphorically than before. Not only must one glean the history from the myth, but one must also realize that even within the myth, there are layers of metaphor.

Any action taken by Thor and his hammer, any incredible feat performed alone by his hammer, was likely the actions of his greatest lover, Molniya, enscribed to history, at least for now, as a hammer, rather than the goddess that she actually was…