SNOW QUEEN

Real Name: Astriel

Identity/Class: unclassified Goddess (or at least a member of a powerful, immortal race)

Occupation: Ruler of an unidentified race of immortals/gods

Affiliations: Conan the first (ally, former lover); Kendrick (ally, defender), Firetongue (tiger(?))

Enemies: Thoth-Amon and his agents (Shard and his band of warriors, and two sorcerers)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: The Lady of the Silver Silence, The Lady of the Silver Snows

Base of Operations: an unnamed realm within the Arctic Plateau, during the Hyborian era.

First Appearance: Savage Sword of Conan#74 (March, 1982)

Powers: Astriel is a sorceress of great power within her realm. She is immortal and can manipulate magical forces to destroy an entire legion of warriors with a but a thought. She possesses limited powers of healing. It is undefined whether her physical abilities are superhuman as well, but this would seem likely. She also has some skill as a warrior, and is formidable with a sword.
Outside of her realm, her powers dwindle to the slightest ability to conjure minor spells.

History: Astriel claims to be a goddess. She is native to an unnamed realm that is home to a race of immortals that existed within the Arctic Plateau in the Hyborian Era.

(SSC#74(fb)-BTS)-Astriel met and fell in love with the warrior Kendrick. Unwilling to watch him die a day at a time, as mortal men do, she wove a spell to preserve his youth forever, as long as he stayed within the boundaries of her realm.

(SSC#74(fb))-Years later, the wizard Thoth-Amon somehow managed to abduct Astriel from her native realm, and he brought her to Stygia. Seeking to obtain her vast power he used malefic spells and physical torture, in an attempt to break her spirit and bind her to his will. Astriel resisted fiercely, but her defeat would have been inevitable had she not been rescued by Kendrick.

(SSC#74)-Knowing Thoth-Amon's agents were hot on their trail, Kendrick commissioned the barbarian Conan to attempt to return Astriel to her realm. If he could not stop Thoth-Amon from reclaiming her, he was to kill her himself. Conan and Astriel were not long gone from that place when Thoth-Amon's men located and slew Kendrick, and then continued after the two.

 

 

 

 

Conan and Astriel continued their flight to the north, managing to hold off their pursuers in several encounters. Conan was gravely wounded, but they managed to keep moving. Eventually, they were surrounded, but a group of arctic animals came to her defense, and Astriel realized they had already made it into her realm. Accessing her full power, Astriel drove off the attackers. After healing Conan, she offered him the same magic she had granted Kendrick: eternal youth in exchange for staying by her side. Conan knew he could never remain contained like that, but he did decide to "cram an eternity's worth of love into a few short months."

 

 

 

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont and Val Mayerik.

Astriel's true nature is unknown. Her conversation with the tiger Firetongue could indicate that her true form is as an Arctic beast...or not.

It's black and white, but Astriel has silver hair and eyes, and alabaster skin.

I place the Hyborian era @ 12, 000 BC-10, 000 BC. For a truly excellent pre-modern era Chronology of the Marvel Universe, check out Robert Wicks' Unofficial Chronology of the Marvel Universe.

 

 

 

 

 

Her ties to mythology? Let's ask William:
"Some time back, I started a novel about pantheons of gods wiped out by the Fomore and the Titans working together with the Frost Giants to kill off relations that broke away to form their own pantheons. Never finished it though. The idea was that that there were certain gods that existed millenia before the Olympians and Asgardians that were wiped out. A few survivors crept into the pantheons under various aliases or inserted their life forces into others. Helen of Troy was one, another was Tyr. This is who she reminds me of. An ancient Asgardian, Danaan or Dievan who operated alone without the co-operations of her family."

Clarifications:
No known connections to:

Stygia and the Stygians of the Hyborian era refer to the natives and the land that eventually became Egypt...or something like that.
There is no known connection to:
Stygia, the planet, home to the Stygians, of whom both Neutron/Quasar and the Stygian Starbender are members, @ Quasar#26 (mentioned)

Kendrick of Aloë is a mortal who met and fell in love with Astriel. She granted him eternal youth as long as he remained within her realm. When she was abducted by Thoth-Amon, Kendrick risked his life and youth by traveling to Stygia and rescuing her. He knew he could not protect her from Thoth-Amon's forces forever, and as he grew weary, he commissioned Conan to take his place. Soon after they had left, Thoth-Amon's forces located him, and though he fought valiantly, he was slain by them

 

Last updated: 12/16/02

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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