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The Casket of Ancient Winters was an Asgardian artifact, which contains the Fimbulwinter of Ymir; it created massive snowstorms when opened. The hand size Casket of Ancient Winter contained the fury of a thousand killing winters.

History

The Casket of Ancient Winters was used by Surtur in his attempt to defeat Thor.

Surtur unleashed the devastating power of this artifact on the planet Earth. Needless to say, this event caused mass-hysteria. Thor with the aid of Earth's heroes was able to defeat Surtur and safeguard the Casket so that it could not be misused again.

Sometime later the Casket mysteriously appeared in the possession of the Dark Elf, Jagrfelm. Before he had the chance to use it for his own purposes, he was slain by the leader of the Dark Elves Malekith the Accursed. Malekith used the Casket to wage war on Asgard.

In this battle, he was able to bring the Mystical Kingdom to its knees. The power of the Casket reached the realm of Hel, causing concern of Volla and Hela. The cold was so permeating that the strongest of the trolls Ulik was overtaken by this calamity. It even incapacitated the Frost Giants themselves.[citation needed]

There seems to be no cure for its effects, until the Lady Sif recalled the secret Gem of Infinite Suns. This was concealed among Odin's personal treasures. Thor retrieved the Gem and used its mighty powers to right the wrongs caused by Malekith. Once everything was returned to its natural state, Thor sent both the Casket and the Gem into an unknown dimension. Only time will tell if we will ever see either the Casket of Ancient Winter or the Gem of Infinite Suns again.[citation needed]

Alternate Reality Versions

Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610)[]

This reality also apparently has a Cask of Ancient Winters (or an amazing facsimile). It was housed and protected in the Project Pegasus Facility in Wyoming.[1]

2010s Marvel Animated Universe (Earth-12041)[]

In this reality, Loki integrated the Casket of Ancient Winters to the hilt of his sceptre, giving it the power to manipulate cold weather, which he used to bring an new Ice Age to New York.[2]

Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999)[]

Casket of Ancient Winters from Thor (film) 001

The Casket of Ancient Winters in Odin's Vault

The Casket of Ancient Winters was long held in the possession of the jotuns until it was wrested from their grasp by the Asgardians in 965 AD during a battle in Tønsberg, Norway. It was then secured in Odin's vault where it remained for over a thousand years until Loki removed it for use as both a weapon and a bargain chip in a bid to gain a kingdom of his own. Loki then froze the Bifrost Bridge open with the Casket's power, so that the Bridge's energy would build until it destroyed Jotunheim, intending to please Odin and be named the rightful heir of Asgard. When Thor destroyed the Bridge with Mjolnir to prevent this from happening, Loki willingly fell into the black hole left behind.[3] The Casket was later returned to Odin's Vault and was most likely destroyed when Surtur razed Asgard.[4]

What if Thor and Loki hadn't been raised as brothers? (Earth-72124)[]

On this Earth, a group of frost giants used the casket of ancient winters to adorn the heads on Mount Rushmore with beards and horns made of ice.[5]

See Also

Links and References

References

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