AEGIR

Real Name: Aegir

Occupation: God of the Boundless Sea

Legal Status: Citizen of Jotunheim

Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of the existence of Aegir except as a mythological character.

Other Aliases: Hler, Hymir, Eagor (Saxon name)

Place Of Birth: Unknown

Marital Status: Married

Known Relatives: Fornjotr (father, alias Forneus), Logi, Kari (brothers), Ran (sister/wife), Alta, Angeyja, Grolp, Greip, Eistla, Eyrsjafa, Iarnsaxa, Imda, Ulfrun (daughters), Heimdall (grandson), Sif (granddaughter), Iokul (nephew), Snaer (great-nephew),

Group Affiliation: The Gods of Asgard, The Giants of Jotunheim,

Base of Operations: Jotunheim (possibly), formerly Hlesey Island (now modern day Laeso Island near Denmark)

First Appearance:  Thor I #307

History: Aegir is the son of Forneus, a member of the Jotuns, a race of giants native to the other-dimensional realm of Jotunheim, and the brother of Kari, god of wind and Logi, god of fire. He ruled the boundless seas of earth from the island of Hlesey on Earth, which he shared with his wife, Ran, the sea-giantess, and their several daughters. In ancient times, mortals who worshipped him sacrificed one out of every ten prisoners taken from foreign lands to ensure safe sea passages home. Unlike most of the giants, Aegir always remained on good terms with the gods Odin and Frey. During a feast he held in his home to the gods, Aegir was insulted by Loki who had grown tired of hearing of the praise the servants of Aegir had for their master. In his tirade, Loki not only insulted Aegir but hurled insults upon all of the gods and boasting of being responsible for the miseries which had fallen them. Even Odin was not immune to his insults and as Thor arrived late to the festivities, he lifted his hammer to silence Loki. Slipping away to avoid a confrontation, Loki changed into various animals to escape, but Ran, Aegir’s wife, gave Thor an enchanted net to capture Loki and drag him away to be punished by chaining him to the mouth of a cave to be burned by dripping venom.

Aegir is also known for nine daughters who control the waves. One of his daughters, Atli, was taken as a wife by Odin and became mother of the gods, Heimdall and Sif. Odin's eldest son, Thor, took Jarnsaxa as his first wife and she conceived him two sons named Modi and Magni. At least one of his daughters became known as Saga, the rune-goddess, and mother of Tyr, the war-god. However, the Asgardians seem to have been trapped in various cycles of Ragnarok forcing them to relive several incarnations of the same events. While many of the Asgardians and Jotuns have survived through these cycles with little memories of their past lives, like Thor and Heimdall, some of them, such as Modi and Magni, have not reappeared in successive incarnations.

As Hymir, Aegir was also known as a god of meade; his grandson, Tyr, having stolen a barrel of it in his youth with the help of Thor. In later years, Aegir was approached by Thor in order to help slay the Midgard Serpent. Aegir took Thor out on his boat from Hlesy Island near modern Denmark trying to bait the serpent with raw meat, but the size and face of the Midgard Serpent so terrified Aegir that he cut the line before Thor could kill it. Thor was bitter toward Aegir for several years, but has lately forgotten his grudge in sake of his father's friendship with the amicable sea-god.

As god of the sea, Aegir shared his dominion with Njord, the Norse sea-god. Their relationship is uncertain, but there seem to be undefined boundaries to their domains with Njord ruling over the tides and open seas and Aegir controlling the depths and currents which claim those lost at sea.

Over the years, Odin and Aegir remained good friends and allies, one of their gatherings interrupted by Loki, the god of mischief, bemoaning his punishment for trying to set into the motion the consequences of Ragnarok. Loki continued to be a threat to the Asgardian gods and eventually succeeded in setting off a revised Ragnarok in the aftermath of the death of Odin at the hands of Surtur. Recognizing that the Asgardians were trapped in repeating incarnations, Thor allowed Ragnarok to occur which claimed all of Asgard and Jotunheim. While several of the Asgardians have reappeared on Earth, Aegir's whereabouts along with Ran and his daughters is unrevealed.

Height: 23' 7"
Weight: Undetermined
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Grey, Black in his youth

Strength Level: Aegir possesses superhuman strength enabling him to lift (press) around 75 tons under optimal conditions.

Known Superhuman Powers: Aegir possibly possesses the conventional powers of the Giants of Jotunheim including superhuman strength, stamina, resistance to harm and a long life enchantment. It is not known if he is dependant on cold temperatures to survive as many of the Frost Giants have, or if he has managed to substitute the temperature of the sea for the temperature of Jotunheim. His existence therefore might be dependant on the cold of the ocean rather than the cold of snow and ice. Considering his nature as a Giant, he might be able to control his size and be able to increase and decrease his size at will.

Aegir also has mystical power over the sea and ocean, enabling him to create tidal waves to down Viking ships or sir up hurricane-scale forces to devastate the land. He can also call upon and control the creature of the sea, such as fish, whales and creatures native to the sea such as the Kraken. He can dredge sunken wrecks from the ocean bottom and pierce the sea's crushing depths. His extent of power seems equal or on par to Poseidon of the Olympian gods.

Comments: Aegir appears in the Marvel Universe where he is possibly intended to be portrayed as the Norse equal to Poseidon, but he actually compares to the Titans Oceanus and Nereus both as older sea-gods and as the fathers of a significant number of daughters. (Both the Oceanides, Nereids and the Daughters of Aegir had reputations of kidnapping sailors to be lovers.) Poseidon’s actual Norse counterpart is Njord, the god of sea, wind and storm who fathered Frey and Freia. Njord’s place in the Asgardian family has yet to be revealed, but theoretical guesswork would suggest Njord brother of Bor and uncle of Odin. This placement would make Odin, former leader of the Aesir, and Frey, former leader of the Vanir, conceptual cousins.

The names of Aegir’s nine daughters vary in myth. Some of them usually have the spellings of their names altered (Atla, Gialp and Jarnsaxa instead of Alta, Grolp and Iarnsaxa) while some of the names are dropped completely to include others (Augeia, Aurgiafa, Egia, Sjogunra, and Sindur). Rana of the Marvel Universe has no mythological counterpart (except for Ran - her mother), but this may actually just be a nickname for one of the others. Saga only appears as a daughter of Aegir when he is known as Hymir in the story of Thor and Tyr stealing his great cauldron of meade.

Clarifications: Aegir is not to be confused with:

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