Thorskald was an archaeologist who, following earlier work by Jastro, explored various locations in Iceland looking for remnants of the lost continent of Atlantis east of the former dig site of his predecessor. During his work, Thorskald descended into a crater where he unearthed an Atlantean horned idol but froze to death.[1]
With Marcus Brody was unable to contact Thorskald, Indiana Jones and Sophia Hapgood sought out the archaeologist in 1939, in order to understand the Nazi interest in Atlantis, and the pair found his corpse clutching the idol. Jones speculated that Thorskald had climbed down into a underground chamber, gotten soaked by a geyser, then was frozen solid as the temperature dropped.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
Thorskald appeared in Dark Horse Comics' comic book adaptation of the LucasArts video game Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.[1] He didn't originate from or appeared in the game it adapted, his role being fulfilled there by Bjorn Heimdall, who is seen alive and well before suffering a similar fate to his comic counterpart having just exposed an eel figurine.[2]
Thorkshald's frozen corpse was initially intended to be drawn behind an exploring Indiana Jones checking on a glacier for the comic adaptation's second issue. However, despite the intended cover receiving Lucasfilm Ltd.'s approval and being liked by Dark Horse's staff, cover artist Dave Dorman disliked his original work because of his feelings that the design didn't personally capture adventure's spirit, so he opted to redraw the cover to give Indy a more dramatic and active pose.[3]