NANNA
Real Name: Nanna
Occupation: Goddess of fertility, Attendant to Frigga - Queen of the Asgardian gods
Legal Status: Citizen of Asgard
Identity: The general populace is unaware of Nanna except as a figure from Scandinavian mythology.
Other Aliases: None
Place of Birth: Unrevealed, possibly Asgard
Place of Death: Nornheim
Marital Status: Married
Known Relatives: Iwaldi (father), Freya (mother), Frey (uncle), Njord (grandfather), Gaea (grandmother, alias Nertha), Balder (husband), Forseti (son, possibly deceased), Hnossa (half-sister), Idunn , Lofn, Sjofn, Sigyn, Snotra, Syn, Var (sisters), Odin (father-in-law), Frigga (mother-in-law), Thor, Hermod, Hoder, Tyr, Vidar, Vali (brothers-in-law), Sif, Brynhilda and the Valkyries (sisters-in-law)
Base of Operations:
Asgard
First Appearance: Thor I #305
History: Nanna is the daughter of the goddess Freia and the dwarf Iwaldi, whose
sons created many of the treasures of the gods. She is also a member of the
Asynjur, seven goddesses who serve Frigga, Queen of the Asgardian gods. In
a previous incarnation of the Asgardian Gods, Nanna died of a broken heart
after the death of her husband Balder and was placed on his funeral pyre to burn with him.
She accompanied him to the afterlife, but when Hermod entered Hel to petition
Hela to allow them to return, she gave gifts to him to return to Asgard.
In the new Asgard, Nanna was manipulated from afar into incidents
that allowed her into a chance encounter to meet Balder, the son of Odin and
Frigga. Charmed by him, she became romanced by him and they fell in love.
Realizing she could further manipulate their romance, Karnilla teleported them
to Nornheim and lead them to her presence. She then placed chains on Nanna on
her captive and told Balder that Nanna’s safety was dependant upon Balder
marrying her. If they were wed, Karnilla would safely return Nanna to Asgard,
but if he did not marry her, she would kill Nanna. As Balder decided, Nanna
screamed that she would risk death to keep him from marrying Karnilla. Balder
then realized that he could not stand to lose Nanna and sacrificed himself to
marry Karnilla to spare Nanna. Karnilla remained true to her word and Nanna was
restored alone to Asgard.
Unwilling to allow Balder to marry Karnilla,
Nanna met Hermod in the Asgardian stables and asked him who was the fleetest of
foot. Hermod answered that Odin’s eight-legged steed known as Sleipner was the
swiftest unaware that she intended to borrow Sleipner. Nanna returned to
Nornheim as Hermod tried to stop her, but even he could not keep up with
Odin’s steed. Since Karnilla had promised not to marry Balder if she had died,
she stormed the wedding proceedings and pulled out a dagger as she plunged it
through her cloak into herself. The wound proved fatal and Nanna died to keep
Karnilla at her word not to marry Balder over her death. Karnilla’s pact
broken, Balder realized he was free to leave and returned to Asgard with
Nanna’s body.
As Nanna’s body lay in state, Karnilla and a
false image of Hela approached Balder. Karnilla claimed that Hela would restore
Nanna to life using her life force if he would be her husband in the afterlife,
but he refused and walked away as the false Hela faded away.
Afterward, all of Asgard stood in
attendance at Nanna’s funeral except for the true Hela who was off entering
into a pact with the gods of the dead from other underworlds. Balder presented
Nanna’s body with a necklace meant for her on their wedding day. As Nanna’s
funeral boat was cast afloat, Thor called upon lightning to set it aflame. In
the resulting smoke, Odin’s Valkyries claimed her spirit for Valhalla.
Nanna’s spirit was ordered by
Hela to appear to Balder and lure him to his death as Thor searched for mortal
souls who Hela had abducted from Earth. Balder just happened to realize a chasm
opening behind him and reacted. When he asked Nanna why she tried to kill him,
she answered it was because he was alive and that by killing him they could be
together. Hela then stopped her from saying more by proclaiming that the secrets
of her realm were for the dead and not the living. Confronting Thor, Nanna then
confessed that she had been enslaved by Hela and that she did not truly live
with having killed Balder and removing the world of light. Realizing he would
see her as something corrupted, Nanna told Thor that Balder would now return to
Asgard without her as she kept Thor to his promise not to tell Balder the truth.
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 350 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Strength Level: Nanna possessed the normal strength level of an Asgardian
woman of her size, height, and build. She could lift (press) 25 tons under
optimal conditions.
Known Superhuman Powers: Nanna possesses the conventional physical
attributes of the Asgardian gods. Like all Asgardians, she is extremely
long-lived, but not immortal like the Olympian gods: she has not aged since
reaching adulthood and cannot die by any conventional means. She is immune to
all Earthly diseases and is resistant to conventional injury. If she were
somehow wounded, her godly life force would enable her to recover with
superhuman speed. It would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a
major portion of her bodily molecules to cause her a physical death. Even then,
it might be possible for a god of significant power, such as Odin or for a
number of Asgardian gods of equal power working together to revive her. Nanna
also possesses superhuman strength and her Asgardian metabolism provides her
with far greater than human endurance in all physical activities. (Asgardian
flesh and bone is about three times as dense as similar human tissue,
contributing to the Asgardians' superhuman strength and weight.)
Nanna also has limited but undeveloped
potential for tapping into and manipulating magical energies. The full range of
her godly powers are unrevealed.
Clarifications: Nanna is not to be confused with: