KARTAG
the KEEPER
Real Name: Kartag
Identity/Class: Extra-dimensional(?) humanoid
Occupation: Guardian of the Twilight Well
Affiliations: Norns/Fates (masters); Him who Sleeps (Guard), Redguard (Guard), Satrina (servant and lover);
Thor, Warriors Three (Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg)
Enemies: Mangog
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Keeper of the Twilight Well
Base of Operations: The Twilight Well, World's End
First Appearance: (mentioned) Thor I#195, (seen) Thor I#196 (February, 1972)
Powers: Kartag is large (10-12' tall)
and possesses superhuman strength (Class 75?) and durability. He
is a reasonably skilled warrior and uses a large battleaxe. He is
apparently immune to the effects of aging, and possibly of
conventional disease. It is also possible that the Twilight
Well exists within a division of Limbo, and thus shields him from
the effects of time.
History:
Kartag's race and origins are mostly unrevealed.
(Thor I#197(fb)-BTS) - Under unknown circumstances, Kartag became a servant of the Norns/Fates. For 200, 000 years, Kartag guarded the cave to the Twilight Well at World's End. In that time, none had ever crossed its threshold and lived.
(Thor I#195-197,[198],199) - On the verge of an
assault by Mangog, Odin dispatched Thor and the Warriors Three to
wrest the secret of the Twilight Well from Kartag. The four faced
numerous trials, assaults, and struggles before finally locating
the Well. Kartag sought to stop them from approaching the Well,
and challenged Thor to combat. Kartag's ally, Satrina, prevented
the Warriros Three from interfering with the battle. Thor and
Kartag fought back and forth briefly until their struggle brought
them into the Well itself. Thor was overwhelmed by the myriad of
images, of past, current, and future events, which assailed him.
Under the direction of his masters, the Fates, Kartag pulled Thor
from the waters.The Fates revealed that his quest for the Well
had been a test, to see if his race was worthy of saving. They
had passed the test, and so the Fates granted Thor and his allies
three large sheepskins filled with the waters of the Twilight
Well.
Kartag the joined the four warriors in returning to Asgard to
join the battle against Mangog. They found Asgard missing; the
Rainbrow Bridge coming to an abrupt end. (Odin had relocated
Asgard to a distant dimension, so that Mangog could not continue
on to the other realms if he proved victorious over the forces of
Asgard). Thor used the waters of the Twilight Well to enhance the
magics of his own hammer, Mjolnir, and locate and travel to
Asgard. Kartag attacked Mangog, but was quickly swatted aside,
knocking him a great distance from the battle and apparently
incapacitating him as well.
Thor sent Volstagg to take the waters of the Twilight Well to
Odin's Vizier, while he stayed and continued the struggle against
Mangog. The Vizier combined the waters of the Twilight Well with
those of Odin's Cosmic Well. This generated large amounts of
magical power, which had two effects: The landmass of Asgard
began to return to its location within its original dimension. In
addition, geysers of water shot up across Asgard. Odin allowed
the waters to pour over him, replenishing his might, so that he
could again confront Mangog. Odin succeeded in severing the link
between Mangog and the energies which initially created it,
causing Mangog to shrink out of existence. The drain on Odin's
weakened form was too much, and he died. However, as Asgard was
in transport across time and space, Odin would not truly be dead
until Asgard returned to its original location, and Hela could
claim his soul.
With the battle against Mangog concluded, Kartag returned to
World's End to continue to defend the Twilight Well. The Fates
watched via the Twilight Well as Thor fought off the hordes of
Hela and then Pluto, who sought to usurp Odin's soul. Thor nearly
fell beneath the axe of Pluto, but the Fates themselves
interfered, destroying Pluto's axe and allowing Thor to continue
the battle. Thor managed to fight off Pluto and Odin was
successfully restored to life.
Comments: Created by Gerry Conway and John Buscema.
Thor I#197 revealed that the Norns of Asgardian mythos are the same beings as the Fates of the Olympians.
Kartag the Keeper had the big build-up, but never amounted to much. Thor had heard legends "about this cruel keeper," but Kartag seemed more of the "gruff, but lovable" type.
Also, I'm not really sure where World's End is. It could be a distant border of Asgard (or one of the other Nine Worlds), or someplace across the Universe, or another dimension. It wasn't made clear.
The above (left) image of Kartag is artistic license. Kartag's not that big.
The Death of Odin...never gonna happen, my friend! it may take 4 years or more, but they will ALWAYS bring him back. Can't fight the status quo!
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connections to:
Keeper, a Hyborian Era
alien/demon creature, @ Conan the Barbarian I#192
Keeper of Earth-Guardians of the Galaxy, an
alternate future counterpart of the Silver Surfer, @ Guardians of
the Galaxy#23
Keeper of the Comic Code, who determines
acceptable material for comic books, @ Not Brand Ecch#5
Keeper of the Flame, a line of
natives of el Dorado who guarded the Sacred Flame of Life, @
Avengers I#30, Namor Annual#1/2
Keeper Whitman of Earth-Killraven, who mutated
and trained Killraven, @ Amazing Adventures II#27
Keepers of the Sacred Koan, who empowered the
American Samurai, @ Elektra I#12
Karthon the Questor, a Lemurian manipulated and
killed by Naga, @ Sub-Mariner I#9
Him who Sleeps has no known connection to:
Him, Adam Warlock, @ Fantastic Four I#66, 67
He who Protects, the mystic talisman that
contained the Monolith, @ Avengers I#179
He who Remains, last director of the Time
Variance Authority, creator of the Time Keepers/Time Twisters, @
Thor I#245
He who Summons, summoner for the Watchers, @
Fantastic Four I#398
Satrina has no known connection to:
Satriani, a planet in the Skrull Galaxy, home of
S'Byll, @ Silver Surfer III#13
The Twilight Well has no known connections to:
The Twilight Sword, aka the Sword of Doom, a
weapon of Surtur, @ Thor I#337, 343
Twilight 2099, of X-Nation, @ Marvel Vision#1,
2099 Genesis#1, X-Nation#1
Twilight of the New Universe, Lenore Fenzl, of
DP7, @ DP7#1
Well at the Center of Time, an interdimensional
conduit, @ Avengers I#84
Well of All-Things, the power source of the
Temple of Dragon's Breadth sought by Tai, @ New Warriors I#24
Well of Life, the energy source which further
empowered Morg, @ Silver Surfer II#72
Infinity Well, a source of information in the
Death Dimension, @ Silver Surfer III#38
it's connection to Odin's Cosmic Well is undefined.
...and a bunch of other Wells I missed
Acting as Kartag's guardian, Him who Sleeps was
one of the first beings to attack Thor and his allies in the
quest for the Twilight Well. This insect dealy-o fought off Thor
and the Warriors Three for awhile, until Thor got fired up, and
dropped him with a blast from Mjolnir.
It was strong to hold and contain Thor in one of its hands, and
it could fire powerful energy blasts from its mouth.
--Thor I#195
The flaming dragon was an illusion created by
Satrina to delay or halt Thor and his companions. It attacked
them, surrounding them with a sea of flame. Satrina did not
realize that Thor could fly, and he carried his allies up and out
of the flame to confront her once again.
--Thor I#196
Satrina served as both the servant and lover of
Kartag. Her origins are similarly unknown, but she was unaware
that they served a higher power: The Fates. She first confronted
Thor and the Warriors Three, catching them off guard with casual
conversation, and then released a crimson mist that robbed them
of consciousness. When they awoke, Satrina had ensorcelled their
minds, making them believe they were in the hands of fair and
amorous maidens--a place they were none to eager to vacate. Thor,
however, overcame her illusions, and after some struggle forced
his allies to do so as well.
As the heroes continued their journey, she conjured Redguard to
entrap them, but they overcame this obstacle as well. Finally,
she led them to the Well itself, hoping that Kartag could
overcome them. As Kartag battled Thor, Satrina created great
hands out of the rocky ground to hold the Warriors Three and
prevent their interference (likely an illusion).
Satrina failed to understand what was going on when the Fates
appeared and granted some of the water from the Twilight Well to
Thor and his allies. Mistaking them for attackers, she fired a
bolt of energy at the Fates, which had no effect. Kartag calmed
her and attempted to explain their true role.
Satrina's primary abilities seemed to be illusion casting and mesmerization, although she did fire a bolt of energy at the Fates. She could levitate herself and other small objects.
--Thor I#196 (197, 198
Kartag guards the Twilight Well, a mysterious
pool of unknown origin, tied in to the Fates somehow. The
Twilight Well also has some connection or affinity to the Cosmic
Well of Odin. The waters can stimulate memories, project images
of distant events, or even show posisble futures. Thor used the
waters of the Twilight Well to locate the Cosmic Well, and later
to restore Asgard to its original location after Odin had moved
it to protect the rest of the world from Mangog.
--Thor I#195, 197 (195+196-BTS, 197, [198-201]
Last updated: 08/02/02
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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