NJORD

Real Name: Njord

Occupation: God of sea, wind and storm, patron god of sea-farers, former Chief of the Vanir

Legal Status: Citizen of Asgard

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

Other Aliases: Niord, Njorth, Nordur (alternate spellings), Saturnus (alleged alias),

Place of Birth: Unrevealed

Marital Status: Separated

Known Relatives: Buri (presumed father), Bor (presumed brother) Bestla (presumed sister-in-law), Nertha (sister), Frey (son by Gaea), Freia (daughter by Gaea), Skadi (former wife), Odin, Vili, Ve (presumed nephews), Sjofn, Sigyn, Lofn, Nanna (granddaughters),

Group Affiliations: The Gods of Asgard

Base of Operations: Noatun 

First Appearance:  (historical) "Pantheons of the Megaverse" by C.J. Carella, (recent) Thor I #274

History: Njord is one of the Vanir, a group of much older gods who predated the Aesir. Worshipped by the old Germanic and Teutonic tribes of Ancient Europe, Njord and the Vanir were once constantly at odds with the Aesir, but their battles came to an end after Kvasir, the god of wisdom, noticed that neither side had gained much on either side after several decades of war. He arbitrated peace between Njord and Odin of the Aesir and the Vanir were finally accepted to dwell with Asgard where they all became known as Asgardians.

On Earth, Njord was revered as god of the sea and storm. Both the Vikings and the Germans sacrificed to him for safe passage at sea and for bountiful harvest. As god of the sea, he ruled the tides and shore while Aegir, the Saxon god of the ocean, ruled the depths and open ocean, otherwise, the two seem to have had an amicable relationship. It is possible Njord also took over the worship rites of Cronus, the ancient Greek god of prosperity known as Saturn to the Romans. Njord soon seduced Gaea and became the father of Frey, god of earth, and Freia, goddess of fertility. He was also married to the giantess Skadi, daughter of Thiassi, the wealthiest of the giants of Jotunheim. Odin had offered Skadi any amount of gold as retribution over her father's death, but she turned down the offer and instead asked to choose a husband from among the gods of Asgard. Odin allowed her wish, but Skadi preferred that she would pick her husband from among the other men of Asgard. Odin meanwhile limited her choice by placing the Asgardian gods behind a curtain and allowing Skadi to choose her husband by the look of his feet than his full appearance. As Njord stood beyond a curtain in his bare feet, Skadi picked him to be her husband expecting him to be Balder, the most handsome of the Asgardian gods. Surprised by her error, Skadi remained true to her choice and accepted Njord as her husband.

Chosen by Skadi, Njord took her to his island home of Noatun on Earth, but Skadi did not care much for the visions of sunshine or the sea nor for the sound of the tide and birds. She invited Njord to her home in Thrymheim, but Njord became depressed amidst the cold and desolation surrounded by howling wolves and rushing winds. They began spending equal parts of the year living in one location at a time, but eventually, Skadi began spending more and more time in Thrymheim and Njord began to see her less and less over time.

After worship of the Asgardian gods came to an end, Njord continued his role as patron god to sailors and sea-farers. Not as temperamental as the Olympian god Poseidon, he instead shared wisdom and compassion on par with the Mesopotamian sea-god Ea who inspired Njord to create sea crafts that Poseidon could not sink. From that challenge, Njord built and established a shipping empire based on wealth he shared with Skadi. When a rival shipping company built a huge ocean liner said to be so vast that no god could sink it, Njord decided to teach mortal man about being so presumptuous and marshaled forces of the ocean to sink it, but he later recanted his decision based on the mortals he inadvertently killed in the disaster. The ship was the HMS Titanic.

In recent years, Njord helped raised the corpse of the shape-shifting giant Holth who was slain while in the form of a whale by the Asgardians Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg.  Bringing the giant's body to his parents in Jotunheim averted what could have become a war between the Asgardians and Jotuns. In order to preserve the sanctity of the misfortunate death, Njord joined the Asgardians in attendance at Holth's funeral. 

In recent years, Njord lost his life in a revised version of Ragnarok created by Loki. He was restored to life sometime later by Thor using the Odin-Power bequeathed to him after the death of Odin. Many of the Asgardians became guests of Doctor Doom in Latveria afterward where Thor found them, but Njord instead retreated back to Noatun at its location in the North Sea between Denmark and Norway. Upon returning home, he discovered it had become home of a tribe of refugee Atlanteans protected by Ea, the ancient Mesopotamian god of the sea. Rather than engaging Njord in battle, Ea surrendered protection of the Atlanteans to Njord as his responsibilities were required elsewhere. Njord and Ea eventually joined forces to defend Earth against Mikaboshi, the Japanese shadow-god trying to destroy Earth.

Height: 6’ 2”
Weight: 475 lbs.
Eyes: Green
Hair: White (Brown in his youth)

Strength Level: Njord possesses superhuman strength enabling him to lift (press) 85 tons under optimal conditions.

Known Superhuman Powers: Njord possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Asgardian gods. Like all Asgardians, he is extremely long lived, but not immortal like the Olympian gods. He has not aged since reaching adulthood and cannot die by any conventional means. He is immune to all Earthly diseases and is resistant to conventional injury. If he were somehow wounded, his 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 his bodily molecules to cause him a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for a god of significant power, such as Odin or for a number of Olympian gods of equal power working together to revive him. Njord also possesses superhuman strength and his Asgardian metabolism provides him 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 superhuman strength and weight of the Asgardians.)

Njord possesses greater mystical powers than any other Asgardian god except for perhaps Odin. He can tap into and control the elements such as storm and the sea, able to generate storms and controlling the tide with a forethought. His ability to create storms may approach that of Thor himself while his power over the sea seems on par with Poseidon himself. Sharing a rapport with all sea life, Njord can mystically exist underwater and can create objects out of water such as giant hands and columns. He can control the currents to move icebergs and pound the sea shore with the destructive power of a hurricane or tsunami and likewise quell any storm even not of his making. He can toss off lightning bolts and guide the force and power of the wind to follow his bidding.

Njord can also travel inter-dimensionally, such as from Asgard to Earth, and change his form to appear as an young man, or cast his appearance from the waters of earth and speak through it. He can teleport into any location where there is fresh or saltwater. 

Abilities: Njord is quite adept with a sword as well with a hammer.

Comments: This bio involves Njord two appearances in the Marvel Universe; he has not yet been seen in the DC Universe.

Njord's exact relationship as well as that of the rest of the Vanir and how they are related to the Aesir has never really been exactly mythologically defined, but considering the Vanir allegedly predate the Aesir and counting Buri and Bor as respectively the Norse equivalents of Cronus and Zeus, speculation is that Njord could be the brother of Bor, the father of Odin. Another possibility is that Njord is another name for either Ve (Lodur) or Vili (Hoenir), but that assumption would be based on the idea that Odin is the direct counterpart of Zeus. About the only thing that can be said with any certainty is that Buri, Odin's grandfather, is the ancestor of the Asgardians and among them is both Njord and Odin. 

The Dictionary of Ancient Deities by Patricia Turner and Charles Russell Coulter also identifies Njord as Saturnus and father of Jupiter, Neptunus and Plutus. According to this myth, Jupiter (Zeus) was not satisfied with the gift of heaven from Saturnus and made war on him. Saturnus, meanwhile, hid near Italy and changed his name to Niord (Njord). Since this myth is contradictory and biased with the official version of Greek-Roman Myth, it is possibly apocryphal or a sign that Njord absorbed Cronus/Saturnus worship rites on Earth. 

Clarifications: Njord is not to be confused with:  

• Gaea, alias Jord, mother Earth, ancestor of the gods of Earth, @ Dr. Strange I #6
• Jord, goddess of earth, mother of Frigga and Fulla, Not seen in the Marvel or DC Comics
• Or any other god of sea