Buri, Thor's Great-Grandfather, Is Far More Powerful Than Asgardian Magic
Immortal Thor #12 – Written By Al Ewing; Art By Valantina Pinti, Color By Matthew Wilson; Lettering By Joe Sabino
Buri embodies the idea of being the Asgardian All-Father like no other God, which fits perfectly with his full appearance in Immortal Thor #12. Buri was been mentioned several times in Marvel canon as the first ‘real’ Asgardian god, but didn't appear fully until Thor (Vol. 1 ) #355, where he met his great-grandson in the guise of the magician ‘Tiwaz’. In the issue, Buri nursed Thor back to health without ever revealing his true identity, and the God of Thunder never learned the truth – until Immortal Thor #12. One of the brilliant things about Marvel’s Norse Mythology is that someone as theoretically important as Buri can go unseen for decades, before returning in an unexpectedly vital role.
Even One Of Marvel's Oldest Heroes Still Has Lessons To Learn
Thor (Vol. 1) #355 – Written By Walt Simonson; Art By Sal Buscema, Color By Christie Scheele; Lettering by John Workman Jr.
The difference is that Buri seems to recognize his role. He performs the act of the All-Father with almost a wink and a nod. Writer Al Ewing has constantly emphasized that the gods are ‘creatures of story’, and Buri is following a well-worn script here. Buri’s test is right out of the structure of mythology. His challenge isn’t just a test, it’s an archetypal parable with a moral lesson attached. He could just give Thor the rune, but that wouldn’t be in the nature of the story that he’s made of.
Thor Just Got Outclassed By His Oldest Ancestor
Thor’s lineage traces back to the creation of the world itself, and one of his oldest ancestors has just shown how outmatched the God of Thunder really is by stopping Mjolnir with seemingly no effort. As Thor confronts threats he can’t beat with a hammer, he’ll have to rely more and more on wisdom and the power of story, the very building block of godliness itself in the Marvel Universe.
Immortal Thor #12 – written by Al Ewing, with art by Valantina Pinti – reintroduces Buri, Thor’s Great-Grandfather, who is potentially the most powerful All-Father ever; as depicted in the issue, he is capable of stopping Mjolnir with a word.
Thor's Great-Grandfather Stole The Show
The issue demonstrates just how outmatched Thor is against Buri, who challenges him to a battle for possession of a rune Thor needs to save his brother, Tyr. Buri is unaffected by all of Thor’s attacks and is able to block Mjolnir by simply talking to it.
Even when Thor gets the upper hand, tricking Buri with a riddle, Buri hints that he himself came up with the riddle and passed it down through the generations; in other words, it is suggested that he let his successor as the Asgardian All-Father get the better of him.
The God of Thunder is Going to Need More Than Brute Strength
Buri’s latest appearance was foreshadowed in Immortal Thor #7, which deals with the ‘Utgard-Gods’, the beings who first embodied different godly archetypes. Toranos, villain of the series’ first arc, is the Utgard-Thor, the first ever God of Thunder, and Buri was shown in #7 to be the Utgard-Odin. This means that Buri embodies the idea of being the Asgardian All-Father like no other God, which fits perfectly with his full appearance in Immortal Thor #12. Like Odin, Buri is wise but obstinate. He’s all-powerful but, like the mythological Odin, often hides behind the façade of an old man.
The test also fits neatly with one of the other key themes of Immortal Thor: wisdom. From Loki trapping Thor on a barren planet in Immortal Thor #3 to the defeat of Toranos in Immortal Thor #5, Thor has constantly had to draw upon the wisdom expected of the All-Father to defeat his foes, and Buri is only the latest ‘foe’ who can’t be defeated with strength alone. Buri departs Immortal Thor #12 reemphasizing this, and as Thor heads towards prophesied doom, it will undoubtedly be this wisdom that will eventually see him win the day once again.
