Narda

Princess Narda
First appearance:	"The Hawk"
Created by:	Lee Falk and Phil Davis

Narda is a character from the Mandrake the Magician comic strip that first appeared in "The Hawk".

Fictional Character Biography

Narda is of royal blood; she is Princess of the European nation Cockaigne (today ruled by her brother Segrid). She made her first appearance in the second Mandrake story. Although she and Mandrake were infatuated with one another from first sight, they didn't marry until 1997, when it was an extravagant triple wedding ceremony—at Mandrake's home of Xanadu, Narda's home country Cockaigne and Mandrake's father Theron's "College of Magic" in the Himalayas.

Family

Narda is the daughter of King Karl and Queen Isabel of Cockaigne. Queen Isabel died when the children were young and her father remarried Elsa, a girl from the people. When Karl died a few years later Narda's older brother Segrid became the king of Cockaigne.

Narda has an aunt living in US, Janet who is her mother's sister.

Natalie the duchess of Kort is Narda's cousin. Natalia married King Ferrand of Ferna, and she has one step son, Prince Randolph.

Notable appearances

Narda has appeared in a majority of the stories featuring Mandrake after her first appearance. Some of the stories where Narda has featured most prominently are:

Year	Daily/Sundays	Title	Artist	Comments
1938	Daily	"Mandrake in Love"	Davis	Narda breaks her engagement with Avery the Duke of Hectares.
1939	Daily	"Mandrake in Cockaigne"	Davis
1947	Daily	"HRH Cuddles"	Davis	Narda renounces her succession to the throne. Segrid is crowned King of Cockaigne.
1948	Sunday	"The Prince Who Never Smiled"	Davis	Natalie, the Duchess of Kort
1950	Sunday	"Curse of the Kavrun Emerald"	Davis	Sophia, Grand Duchess of Cockaigne
1955	Daily	"Michael"	Davis	Prince Michael
1970	Daily	"The Clay Camel (plus Women's Lib!)"	Fredericks
1997	Daily	"Mandrake's Wedding at Cockaigne"	Fredericks	Narda's father was Darius 14

Behind the scenes

• Lee Falk told he was writing copy for a St. Louis advertising agency, and came across one from the National Association of Retail Druggists (acronym: NARD), and simply added an 'a' to the end which made the name Narda.
• Strangely the letters in Mandrake contain an anagram of Narda.