Cbr18 Bingo – Craft: the main character crafted a Viking helmet with horns because she’s a heathen. (They’re antlers, but take that, Christians.) There are watercraft. Storytelling and story listening are both important to the narrative.
Heathen is a comic book by Natasha Alterici, Ashley A. Woods, et al. I don’t know enough to say if it’s based on Norse mythology or not, but I know enough to say the story is based in it.
It takes place a long time ago, but not that long. In some heteronormative Viking town, Aydis was sentenced to death for being gay, but her father faked her death and she went out into the world with the goal of saving Brynhild.
I should note that marriage (to a man) was presented as an alternative to death for Aydis but her dad said no.
Brynhild was the leader of the Valkyries, the death bringing warriors who worked for the god Odin. When Brynhild disobeyed Odin, she got a two part punishment with no tolerance for loopholes.
- Be encased in a flame.
- Marry whoever is mortal and brave enough to get through the flame.
Aydis gets through the flame but she doesn’t want to marry Brynhild, she wants to break the curse forever. This instigates a mythological civil war and Odin puts out a hit on Aydis. A lot of beings think Brynhild suffered enough, including her Valkyrie pals. Others are loyal to Odin.
But a lot are loyal to Aydis. Aydis is a nice girl. She’s got a nice horse who talks and can’t fly. She tells people stories, asks them about themselves, and can’t figure out anything to say about herself. But enough pirates and wolves and gods and trolls listen to make a difference.
When Aydis does figure out her story, it was a bit anticlimactic, but that’s ok. Maybe that was even the point. Not everything needs to be an epic Norse saga to be good. But those are good too sometimes. This one was.
