The eighth story in the Dr. Who's Time Tales series was printed in Doctor Who Weekly #37.
It followed the format of the series: short tales depicting strange events in the Doctor Who universe, narrated by the Fourth Doctor himself, similar to DWM backup comic stories, created by adding the Fourth Doctor framing device to a preexisting Marvel comic story, in this case Gundar!, first published in 1962 in Tales of Suspense #39.
Plot[]
The Fourth Doctor tells the time tale of a man who made a strange discovery after being cast away on an "unknown isle". Confronted with a group of ageless Vikings, he learns from them that they are the crew of historical Viking captain Gundar.
They tell the woeful tale of how they mutinied against their cruel captain, only for him to place a curse on them, foretelling that they would be cast away on an unknown island and remain there for all eternity, unable to escape even by dying, until he himself chose to break the curse — which he would never do, nor allow any of his descendants sufficient knowledge to do, because he then immediately rowed out to sea on a small boat, intent on drowning himself. Odin fulfilled Gundar's dying curse, and the Vikings' ship was indeed wrecked soon after in a storm, with the sailors washing up on the island.
However, as they finish the tale, the Vikings begin to vanish, feeling themselves being pulled back through time to the year when they were cursed and first became were trapped on the timeless island. The man, revealing himself to be a descendant of Gundar, realises that now that he knew of their plight, him sincerely wishing them home sufficed to break his ancestor's curse, and speculates that "Fate herself" must have intervened to bring the island and undo Odin's curse. With Fate's task for him complete, he is unsurprised to se that a cruise liner has changed course towards the island to rescue him.
Characters[]
Worldbuilding[]
- The "Viking code" states that "the captain of a vessel is supreme"; "none may defy him for any cause".
Notes[]
- Odin is depicted wielding a hammer, an item more commonly associated with Thor, in one hand; in the other is a lightning bolt, making him resemble Zeus/Jupiter. However, he also has a raven perched on his head, indeed one of Odin's mythological attributes. This coincidentally also makes him resemble the portrayal of the Black Guardian and White Guardian in Enlightenment.
Continuity[]
- Odin appears as a giant in the cloud. An extraterrestrial war-leader impersonating Odin later faked a similar entrance. (TV: The Girl Who Died)
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