WARNING: The following contains spoilers for King in Black: Return of the Valkyries #2 by Jason Aaron, Torunn Grønbekk, Nina Vakueva, Tamra Bonvillain, & VC's Joe Sabino, on sale now.
In King in Black: Return of the Valkyries #1, Jane Foster continued her duties as the sole Valkyrie of the Marvel Universe and began to ferry the body of the Sentry back to Valhalla, who was killed by Knull at the start of the King in Black event. However, on the way over to the mystical realm, Jane discovered the dead body of a Celestial without a head. This corpse had swallowed an untold number of souls, and trapped them inside itself for thousands of years.
From inside the dead Celestial, Jane rescued another Valkyrie -- a mysterious new addition to the Asgardian pantheon and the Marvel Universe. Now, in Return of the Valkyries #2, more information about this new character is revealed -- but what is perhaps most shocking about this mysterious Valkyrie that she is the one true master of Thor's powerful ax, Jarnbjorn.
The new Valkyrie was one of the original nine. She was active during a time when Bor was the King of Asgard and Odin was still young. This would mean that she is likely millions of years old. She is still heartbroken over the death of her girlfriend, who she was sadly unable to save. Her existence was kept a secret all this time because she was trapped in the dead Celestial for millennia. Now, thanks to Jane Foster, this Valkyrie is finally freed. In Return of the Valkyries #2, she goes on a quest to find her signature weapon.
Atop a winged horse, Valkryie travels to Vanaheim where she means to find Vanlandi, King of Thieves. When she finally finds him, she demands that he give her what belongs to her: the Asgardian ax, Jarnbjorn.
In the Marvel Universe, Jarnbjorn is an ax that has long been associated with Thor. Indeed, this is the weapon the God of Thunder wielded when he was a young warrior, before he was ever worthy of lifting Mjolnir. Even in his adult years, Thor would come to wield Jarnbjorn again after losing Mjolnir. The ax may not his signature hammer, but it's another iconic weapon in Thor's arsenal.
But now, Return of the Valkyries #2 reveals that the weapon didn't originally belong to Thor -- it belongs to the new Valkyrie. When facing Vanlandi, Valkyrie informs the King of Scoundrels that the dwarves of Nidavellir forged the weapon specifically for her.
This revelation adds a whole new layer to the history of Jarnbjorn. Before, it was a weapon associated with Thor, but now we know that he is not the ax's original owner. Its true master is this Valkyrie. And although she is not reunited with her weapon just yet, she is gearing up for a fight to reclaim it. Chances are, Valkyrie will come to swing Jarnbjorn again by the next issue. Then, she will be ready to face Knull and reclaim her role as one of Asgard's Valkyries.