- "I cannot help you."
"No, but maybe you can help your village." - ―Church Keeper and Johann Schmidt[src]
Tønsberg is a village in Norway. Following the Infinity War and the Snap, it was repopulated by the surviving Asgardians who, in homage to their destroyed home-world Asgard, renamed it New Asgard.
History
Battle of Tønsberg
Tønsberg in 965 A.D.
Centuries ago, the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, led by their king Laufey, arrived to Tønsberg, planning to conquer Midgard, freezing everything in their path using the Casket of Ancient Winters to plunge the world in a new glacial period.
However, the Asgardian army, led by King Odin, defended Midgard and engaged in a war against the Frost Giants, forcing them to abandon Earth and retreat to their own world.[1]
Around this time, the Tesseract was lost on Earth and made its way to Tønsberg, where it was kept safe for centuries by a sect of Odin worshippers.[2]
World War II
During World War II, Johann Schmidt, German SS officer and leader of HYDRA, organized an incursion in Norway searching for the Tesseract. Following its trails until reaching a church full of Viking warriors entombed within its walls, Schmidt interrogated the Church Keeper, who tried to make Schmidt cease his search, claiming the Tesseract was a simple myth.
Johann Schmidt finds the real Tesseract
Schmidt, convinced of its existence as the most valuable object in Odin's Vault, located a fake replica inside one of the tombs, and threatened the Church Keeper to kill all the inhabitants of the village if he didn't help him locate the Tesseract. Schmidt then focused his attention at a sculptured mural of Yggdrasil, finding a hidden box behind a Nidhogg depiction in the mural with the actual Tesseract inside.
The Church Keeper warned Schmidt that he wouldn't control the power of the Tesseract, but Schmidt simply killed him and ordered his army to destroy the village.[2]
New Asgard
Rocket Raccoon and Bruce Banner arrive at New Asgard
Following the Infinity War during which Thanos used the power of the Infinity Stones to wipe out half of all life in the universe, Tønsberg was repopulated by the surviving Asgardians who renamed it New Asgard. The aftermath of the war and the inability to undo Thanos' genocidal work left Thor bitter and he became a drunken overweight hermit who cared nothing about his people. Over the next five years, the Asgardians lived peacefully as fishermen, accepting the fact that their days of battles and glory were over.
Thor's days of drunken slumber came to an end when Hulk and Rocket Raccoon informed him about another chance to bring back from the dead all the people who were killed by Thanos. The Time Heist resulted in all six Infinity Stones from different time periods in the hands of the Avengers who used their power to resurrect the dead. However, their actions also brought the past version of Thanos to 2023, and the resurrected Asgardians assisted in the enormous battle against Thanos. Following the Battle of Earth, Thor returned to New Asgard, where he made Valkyrie the new Queen of Asgard while himself joining the Guardians of the Galaxy.[3]
Trivia
- Tønsberg is regarded as the oldest town in Norway.
- Scenes in Tønsberg were filmed at St Abbs, Scotland. Signs in the small fishing village now proclaim it to be twinned with New Asgard.
- In the comics, the Asgardians settled near Broxton, Oklahoma after Asgard feel on Earth after the Siege of the city.
- In the alternate reality of Earth-3515, New Asgard was a city built by the Asgardians over the ruins of New York City after they conquered Earth.
Behind the Scenes
- While developing the story of Spider-Man: Far From Home, New Asgard was at one point considered to be one of the stops in Europe as part of the trip of Peter Parker and his friends, but the idea was dropped.[4]
