Valhalla is one of the greatest Danish cartoon series of all times.

The cartoon is based on the Nordic mythology and each album takes its starting point in one these myths. Humor is a very important part of the series.

The idea to start this new series started around 1976 when Henning Kure (b. 1953) and Arne Stenby of the Danish publishing company “Interpresse” started discussing the possiblities of creating a new cartoon series, that took its starting point in the world of the vikings. Kure suggested that the young cartoonist Peter Madsen (b. 1958) was given the chance to drawing this new series. Peter grapped the chance, and this turned out to a great thing for all parties. Peter has developed from being a very talented cartoonist into one of the greatest of this media.

Kure also made contact to Hans-Rancke Madsen who had recently shown great skills in creating dialouge and characters.

Together the four of them started creating the universe of Valhalla. Their ideas was that they would be faithful to both the original myths and their own ideas.

The idea behind the first album “Ulven er Løs” ( The Wolf is Loose ) is that the “Fenris-wolf” had escaped his captivity and this causes great troubles for the gods in Asgård ( the world of the gods ).
They wanted the series to be both entertaining, intelligent and Danish.

The storyline in the first album was mostly worked out by Hans, Henning and Peter. The drawings were created by Peter and the colouring was created by Peter and Søren Håkonsson.

The series starts coming as a strip in the Danish newspaper "Politiken" in 1978.

The first album was published in 1979 on Interpresse. The album quickly became very succesful and the team continued to work on new albums

. From late 2008 two weekly pages of the very last album Valhalla 15 - "Visions of the Seer" will be printed in the Danish weekly "Weekendavisen". The album is planned for final publishing in July 2009

The Wolf is Loose

Published by Interpresse 1979:
2nd edtion with new front cover Interpresse 1986
3rd edition with yet a new cover Carlsen Comics 1992 ( shown here! )

Drawn by: Peter Madsen
Story by: Hans Rancke-Madsen
Coloured by: Søren Håkonsson
Produced by: Henning Kure

Short summary:

Thor´s Wedding
Published by Interpresse 1980:
2nd edtion with new front cover Interpresse 1986

Short summary:

While the gods are having a late-night party in Thor´s home Bilskirner the Giants succeed in stealing the most import weapon among the gods - Thor´s hammer Mjølner. The gods know this is a disaster and in order to secure their defence it´s important they get it back as soon as possible.Loke finds out that the giant Trym is behind the theft and that his price for returning it is that he gets married to the goddess of love and beauty Freja. It´s impossible to persuade Freja to do this, so the gods decide that they have to try and fool Trym by letting Thor dress up like Freja
Luckily Trym is stupid enough to be fooled by this seemingly hopeless trick; and everything turns out alright. The gods get back Mjølner and Trym is killed.

Main characters in this album:

Odin´s Bet
Published by Interpresse 1982
2nd edtion with new front cover Interpresse 1986

Short summary:

Odin - the king og the gods - discovers that his army of Einherjer ( vikings killed in battle) may not be strong enough to defend Asgård against the giants and claims that he can easily find better warriors than those Valkyries have brought him. He decides to visit Midgård to seek new and stronger warriors for the defence of Asgård. While he´s away his two brothers arrive to Valhalla and take over control of the gods. This causes new trouble among most of the gods, as the brothers change a lot things and do not seem capeable of the job of securing the safety of the gods.
Meanwhile Odin has no luck in finding his warriors until finally he finds three. These three turn out to be Thor. Loke and Balder - ( Thor´s brother ) who have travelled to Midgård in order to get Odin back to Asgård so they can get rid of Vile and Ve again. When they return to Asgård order is restored.

Main characters in this album:

The Story of Quark
Published by Interpresse 1987

Short summary:

The concept of this story is a bit diferent from the first 3, since the main-character Quark a young boy-giant is a new invention that does not come from the original Nordic mythology.
On his return from a journey to Udgård (the world of the giants ) Loke has back this boy giant. Quark behaves very badly and soon becomes a nuissance to the gods and everybody feld except Røskva, Tjalfe and Loke himself who has claimed that he´s able to teach Quark better manners. Later in the story Røskva and Tjalfe become friends with Quark, but in the end Loke is forced to bring back Quark to Udgård.
The story continues in album 5 "Rejsen til Udgårdsloke".
The much acclaimed movie Valhalla is based on these two albums.

Main characters in this album:

The Journey to Udgårdsloke
Published by Interpresse 1989

Short summary:

This is the second part of the Quark adventure/the movie script. Thor, Loke, Tjalfe and Røskva have travelled to Udgård to compete with the giants. The losers must keep Quark. The giants win all contests - but in the end it´s revealed that they have cheated the whole way through - so Quark must stay in Udgård.

Quark does not appear in the following albums - instead he get get his own cartoon album-series drawn by Torben Osted.

Main characters in this album:

The Golden Apples
Published by Interpresse 1990

Short summary:

The apples that makes the gods stay young is guarded by the goddess Idun. I this story Loke has been forced by the giant Tjasse to help him kidnap Idun and her apples. The gods very soon begin to grow very old but they cannot find Idun anywhere. As usual their suspicion is directed towards Loke who has been playing tricks on them before, and since he´s the only ones who has not started growing old he must promise to get Idun back.
This is no easy task since she´s very well guared by Tjasse. Thor and Loke makes the journey to Tjasse in order to get back Idun. Here Tjasses´ beautiful daughter Skade falls in love with Loke . When Loke has freed Idun Skade finds out that Loke has just used her for that purpose; and she gets extremely mad. The three gods succeed in escaping Tjasse and Skade and get back to Asgård. But they are followed by both Tjasseand Skade. In Asgård Tjasse gets killed and to compensate her loss Skade is allowed to choose one of the gods for her husband - but she has to choose him from only looking at his feet. She hopes to get Balder but gets Njord ( The god of the sea who has very nice feet ). This never becomes a happy marriage since Skade loves the mountains and Njord loves the sea.

Main characters in this album:

The Worm in the Deep
Published by Carlsen Comics 1991

Short summary:

The Valhalla army consists of brave fallen vikings that the Valkyries bring to Asgård as warriors.
One day Thor overhears a discussion among the new recruits about who among the gods is the bravest. Thor is shocked to find out that they believe it´s Tyr ( The god of war ). Of course he had expected his own name to come up.
Tjalfe tries to convince them that Thor is the bravest; but they only seem to know that he was the one dressed up in women´s clothes ( 2 - Thor´s Wedding ).
The whole things ends in chaos and Tyr has to be called in to restore order. The Tyr and Thor star an argument about who has been the bravest through the years. They agree that they will go see if they can capture the Midgårdsorm ( an enormous seasnake ). Tyr surprisingly seems a little uneasy about this. Together with Heimdal and Tjalfe they travel to Udgård near Tyr´s childhood home by the sea.
In Udgård we learn that Tyr´s parent are giants; and that Tyr´s father is the stupid Hymer.
We also hear that Tyr is afraid of Hymer
Next day Hymer, Thor and Heimdal sail to see to look for the Midgårdsorm. They do get it on the hook, but Hymer is afraid and cuts the line. Afterwards Tyr admits that Thor is the bravest; and though he did not catch the Midgårdsorm he had caught something bigger - Tyr´s friendship.
Back in Valhalla a new group of recruits have started an argument. This time they belive that Heimdal ( The god that guards the entrance to Valhalla - who is a little overweight and often behaves cowardly ).
This gives them all a good laugh.

Main characters in this album:

Freja´s Jewel
Published by Carlsen Comics 1992

Short summary:

Freja is the goddess of love, beauty and fertility. Her favourite jewel is the Brisingegamen - a golden necklace.
It´s springtime - In the forest Odin secretly watches Freja picking flowers. He is very attracted by her beauty and tries to seduce her. He has no luck, since Freja prefers to dance. Odin´s wife Frigg oversees the situation and reminds Odin that his position as king of the gods requires dignity.
Still, it´s spring and everybody seems to be in the mood for love. But nobody needs Heimdal. He also meets Freja in the forest and she asks him to come visit her one day, This is very flattering for Heimdal and he immediately falls in love with her. Freja has a magic door which only allows persons that are welcome to enter.
During the night Odin tries to come in but the door won´t open. Heimdal now believes that Freja is an innocent beauty. Loke who hates all this love-thing tries to convince him that she is only a whore. Heimdal finds out that Freja´s door is open for him and Freja invites him to join her in bed. His illusion of innocent love breaks!!
We learn that Freja originally had got the Brisingegamen for spending one night with each of the dwafrs who made it. But in the end things work out and Heimdal gets Freja.

Main characters in this album:

The Big Challenge
Published by Carlsen Comics 1993

Short summary:

Tjalfe is dreaming about becoming a great giant-killer like Thor. Like always Thor thinks it would be great to take a trip to Udgård and chase some giants.Sif thean asks him what he´s exactly doing on all these trips. “Nothing special” ansers Thor, but in the same moment and in enters a young boy crying “Dad!!”
Sif gets mad and leaves. The boy´s name is Magne and he has just learned from his mother, the female giant Jernsaxa that Thor is his father and he has decided to come and live with Thor among the gods.
Magne gets along pretty well with Tjalfe, Røskva and Thor´s and Sif´s children Mode and Trud. Magne is allowed to stay if he learns better manners.
Meanwhile Odin is travelling in Udgård and he has made a bet with the giant Rungner about whose horse is the fastest - Odin´s 8-legged horse Sleipnerr or Rungner´s Guldfaxe. They agree to meet in Valhalla and settle this.
Rungner is extremely big and strong and also very rude and terrorizes Valhalla after his arrival. The Thor learns that there´s a giant iside Asgård he gets mad and wants to meet Rungner is a duel. They meet to settle this on neutral grounds. Thor brings along Tjalfe and Magne as helpers and Rungner brings Mokkurkalve ( a gigantic creature mad by clay and giants´ courage ) as his helper.
Rungner gets killed by Thor´s hammer Mjølner but he falls over Thor who unconsciouslt is stuck under his body.
Meanwhile Tjalfe succeeds in beating Mokkurkalve by making him fall over.
Nobody can free Thor until Magne comes and pulls Rungner away. Tjalfe finds out that Magne has “borrowed” Thor´s strenght-belt, but he keeps iy a secret. Magne is allowed to stay with Thor.

Main characters in this album:

The Gifts of The Gods
Published by Carlsen Comics 1997

Short summary:

Sif has golden hair; a gift she got from Loke a long time ago. The children want to hear the story behind this and the talk continues with the stories behind some of the other special gifts that the gods got long time ago; among them Thor´s hammer Mjølner, the ship Skridbladner and the golden ring Drypner. All these things were originally made at Loke´s request to settle a bet he had made.

Main characters in this album:

The Mystery of the Poet Mead
Published by Carlsen Comics 1998

Short summary:

Odin learns of the existance of a special mead that gives you special abilties and makes you feel happy. It is brewed by the giant Suttung and Odin decides to try and steal the mead. The mead is hid inside of a mountain and is guarded by Suttung´s beautiful daughter Gunlød.
We hear about the two tibes among the gods the Asaes and the Vanes and how they exchanged member to secure peace among them. Njord, Freja and Frej were originally Vanes and Høner ( who is actually a transformed hen ) and Odin´s wise brother Mimer are gives in exchange to the Vanes.
In the end Odin succeeds in seducing Gunlød and by getting her drunk he manages to steal the mead.

Main characters in this album:

Through Fire and Water
Published by Carlsen Comics 2001

Short summary:

The mad and power-greedy Geirrød has made an alliance with the giants and may become a treath to the gods. Odin and Loke travel to his country to find out what is going on. Here they are shocked to learn that there are plenty of giants around. They are both captured by Geirrød; but he does not know who they are
Loke is allowed to leave but Odin is kept hostage.
Together with Thor Loke return to Geirrød in order to free Odin.On their travel they meet Thor´s silent brother Vidar who helps them find the way.
Meanwhile Geirrød tries to force Odin to reveal his real name. When Odin finally gives his name Thor and Loke have arrived, Geirrød´s nice brother Agner helps the gods. Geirrød accidently fall over his own sword and get deadly wounded. He tries to kill Agner, but he is saved by Thor who afterwards kills Geirrød.

Main characters in this album:

The Ballad of Balder
Published September 2006

Main characters in this album:

Valhalla 14 - Muren

The Wall
Published September 2007

Short summary:

Two stories are told in this album which currently can be followed each week of Jyllands Posten's website Link Here!
Frey falls in love with giant female Gerd, and he persuades Tjalfe to bring her to Valhalla.

Meanwhile the Gods are feeling more and more threathened by the Giants, and Loke arranges that a wall is built around Valhalla to protect them. He makes a deal with a giant who has has to build this wall within a year, or else he won't be paid. If he succeeds, well . . .

Main characters in this album:

The Sibyl's Visions
Published September 2009

Short summary:

This is the final chapter of Valhalla and deals with the Sibyl's visions about the last battle between the gods and the giants.
This will be the final chapter in the Valhalla saga. Peter Madsen and Henning Kure have decided that they now have told the stories that they had wished to from the beginning. Instead of turning the popular series into an ordinary fantasy-cartoon without foundation in mythology, they decided this album to be the last.

The story will be based on the visons of the seer, predicting the fall of the Gods.

All 15 volumes will be reissued in 5 books with additional comments and drawings during the coming years.

Main characters in this album:

Valhalla in new Hands
Published October 2019

Short summary:

This is a special 40 years anniversary tribute book. Translated from the publisher's advertising text,
"The great Danish cartoon classic Valhalla turns 40 in 2019, and it is celebrated by a large number of Danish and international cartoonists in a cornucopia of an anniversary book. Filled to the brim with subtle declarations of love, humorous, satirical explanations and personal memories in cartoon form about the biggest Danish cartoon success ever. As well as something completely unusual, a brand new Valhalla cartoon by Henning Kure and Peter Madsen himself. Odin, Thor, Loki, Tjalfe, Røskva, Quark and all the other beloved characters in an Asgård, a Midgård and an Outgård as you have never seen them before! "

Main characters in this album:

Special Edition Valhalla 4+5
Published by Carlsen Comics 2001

Short summary:

See above!

Main characters in this album:

Valhalla 4 - with New Cover Drawings
Published by Carlsen Comics 2003

Short summary:

See above!

Main characters in this album:

The second volume will contain albums four, five and six, with extra material, background information etc. 50 extra pages in each volume.

Second volume issued in August, 2010.

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The third volume contains albums seven, eight and nine, with extra material, background information app. 50 extra pages.

Third volume issued in 2010.

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The fourth volume will contain albums ten, eleven and twelve, with extra material, background information app. 50 extra pages.

Fourth volume issued in 2010.

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The fifth and final volume contains albums thirteen, fourteen and fifteen, with extra material, background information app. 50 extra pages.

Fifth volume issued in 2010.

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Valhalla in Other Languages

So far I have only found Valhalla albums issued in Sweden, Germany, France, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and Russia - probably other countries have too . I´ll keep looking out
Check covers here!

Check German Site here!

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Click Here to See More Covers

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LINKS:

Official Peter Madsen Pages

Valhalla - Carlsen DK.

From Sketch to Comic-Book

Peter Madsen Biog.

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Morten Vindberg

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