Five great warriors of Asgard traversed the frozen landscape of Jotunheim. Thor led them toward Laufey, king of the Realm’s Frost Giants. The son of Odin was determined, filled with a euphoria he only experienced on adventures such as these.
The party accompanying Thor was not quite as thrilled with the experience. Most did not agree with Thor’s decision to defy Odin’s orders, but joined him because they were loyal friends. As they trudged over the ice-covered soil of Jotunheim, they learned that even the fiercest warriors of Asgard could fall prey to a chill so painful as to burrow into their bones and make it seem as though their limbs might snap from their bodies.
The warriors knew nothing of their course. They anticipated the battle would come to them once the Frost Giants discerned that Asgardians had entered Jotunheim. From what they could observe through a blizzard, they were journeying through an endless, barren landscape of ice. Not a soul was to be seen.
But then the giants began to emerge, seemingly from the landscape itself. They surrounded the Asgardians and squinted their glowing amber eyes as they asked what business they had in Jotunheim. Thor raised his head arrogantly and told them he would speak only to their king. And with that, Laufey, king of Jotunheim, appeared. His skin was a pale blue, like that of the other Frost Giants, but he towered over even the other Jotuns.
Thor asked Laufey how it was that Frost Giants came to enter Asgard. Laufey replied that Odin’s house was full of traitors. This disparaging comment angered Thor, and he threateningly raised Mjolnir. Loki urged his brother to calm down. They were outnumbered. They should return home.
The Frost Giants extended their arms, which became encased in swordlike shapes of rock-hard ice. The Asgardians rallied around Thor, readying their own weapons.
For a moment time became still, palpable. And then a brutal battle erupted between the two parties. Ice splintered and shattered as it was smashed by Asgardian and Jotun weaponry. As the battle continued, it also escalated. The scene was more horrible than any battlefield on which the warriors had ever fought before. It seemed that nothing would end this confrontation save the totally annihilation of every living being fighting in it.
And then, the sky became charged with energy, as Odin rode his eight-legged horse, Sleipnir, down from the telltale Bifrost portal onto Jotunheim. He was fitted in golden battle gear and carried his all-powerful staff, Gungnir. He urged Laufey to join him in condemning the battle, but Laufey refused. All of Odin’s efforts—his wise leadership, his diplomacy—had been in vain. The truce he’d worked so hard to secure was broken. And his son, Thor, next in line for the throne of Asgard, was to blame.
Odin slammed his staff on the ground, sending the Frost Giants toppling. At the same time, he commanded the Asgardians back over the Bifrost and home to Asgard.