THE BEGINNING
In 1962, Jack Kirby introduced The Mighty Thor to readers of Marvel Comics, unleashing a new era of action adventure with their take on the hammer-wielding Norse god. Despite the Nordic-sounding names, the story was rooted in The Nine Realms from Norse mythology and refers to the nine worlds that are supported by Yggdrasil, an immense ash tree, which is central to Norse cosmology. Asgard is depicted at the top and Earth, known as Midgard, is in the middle.
THE NINE REALMS
Asgard– Home of the Gods
Vanaheim– Home of the Vanir, sister race of the Asgardians
Alfheim– Home of the light elves
Nidavellir– Home of the dwarves
Midgard– Earth
Jotunheim– Home of the frost giants
Svartalfheim– Home of the dark elves
Niflheim– Land of the dead
Muspelheim– Home of the fire demons and home of Sutur
After the global cinematic success of Marvel’s Thor, the filmmakers reached once more into a rich archive of Norse mythology and comic book history for Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World. The movie paints an adventure of the most epic and spectacular proportions. Again drawing on universal and familiar themes, the film pits duty and family allegiance against personal aspiration and love. It sees a nation in conflict with an enemy long thought dead but who now threatens the universe.
Director Alan Taylor, describing Thor’s journey, says, “In the first film we saw Thor go from being an impetuous prince to taking his first steps towards maturing and growing up, and in our film that life story continues. He’s moving closer to actually claiming the kind of power that comes with Odin. He’s becoming not just a man, but potentially a king as well.
“In this story, as Thor matures and deepens, he has to give some things up and suffer.”
A special pre-release screening of the new Thor movie will be held on Thursday, November 7 and Tonight is giving away 25 double tickets for each showing in Cape Town, Joburg and Durban. All screenings will be taking place on at 7.30 for 8pm (show starts 8pm sharp) at the following venues:
Joburg: Montecasino NuMetro; Cape Town: Canal Walk NuMetro; and Durban: Galleria NuMetro.
To stand a chance of winning,
all you need to do is answer the following question: How many
realms are there in the Thor universe?
Send your answers, as well
as your full name, contact
number and physical address to [email protected] with the subject line ‘Tonight/Thorsdays’.
Terms and conditions:
Only winners will be contacted.
Winners will be chosen at random. The judges’ decision is final. Employees of Marvel Studios, The Walt Disney Company, Independent Newspapers, their affiliates or relations are not eligible for entry.
Don’t forget to look out for our weekly Thorsday editorial and enter the weekly competitions to stand in line to win the ultimate prize: a trip for two to New York!
Only those who enter the weekly competitions will be entered into the draw for the trip to New York, which will include the following:
A magnificent journey to nine different realms in New York, the first of which will be the Hayden Planetarium where you will travel into the darkest realms of the universe on a once-in-a-lifetime tour. With unrivalled private access to the fantastic exhibits, you’ll be able to enter the Hall of the Universe, accompanied by your own Heimdall; his duty is to be your gatekeeper to the stars. As a memento of this amazing experience, you’ll get to take home an incredible compilation of treasures that could very well be found in Odin’s Vault.
- The next realm offers a view that even a Viking god would bask in: ascend the Empire State Building at lightning speed to the observation deck on the 102nd floor.
- The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are the next sights to see, both of which have welcomed visitors from distant lands for centuries.
- The voyage continues with a private city tour taking in the famous Big Apple realms of Times Square, Wall Street, Chinatown, Central Park and Broadway.
- Finally, this memorable journey will end with a traditional Nordic meal at Smörgås Chef located in Scandinavia House.