Thor

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Donner (Thor) calls upon the storm clouds in this illustration by Arthur Rackham to Wagner's Das Rheingold.

Thor (Proto-Germanic: *Þunraz, Old Norse: Þórr, Old English: Þunor, Old Dutch and Old High German: Donar) is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder in Norse Mythology and more generally Germanic Mythology. He is the son of Odin and Jord. During Ragnarök, Thor will kill and be killed by Jörmungandr.

Thor features strongly in the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson, in which Thor's many conflicts with the race of giants are a main source of plots. Thor is one of the most powerful Norse gods. He uses his superior power to protect Asgard and Midgard. He is also known as the God of Thunder.

Several Finno-Ugric peoples have thunder gods with names similar to Thor: Tiermes, Tordöm or Torum ("the golden light", Finno-Ugric). Some, like Estonian Taara even retain the connection with Thursday. One theory is that Thor is a loan from Finno-Ugric mythology, although the Hittite Tarhunt and the Vedic Indra seem to be cognates pointing to a basis in a Proto-Indo-European religion, which suggests the opposite; that the god was borrowed from the Proto-Indo-Europeans by Finno-Ugric groups. It may even be seen as representing some common heritage between the two peoples. (The celtic Taranis also seems to be linguistically related.)

[edit] Family

Thor is the son of (Wotan or Woden) and the giantess (Jord, the Earth). His wife is called Sif, and little is known of her except that she has golden hair , which was made for her by the dwarfs after Loki had cut off her hair. With his mistress, the giantess Jarnsaxa, Thor had his son Magni, and with Sif he had his daughter Thrud. The euhemeristic prologue of the Prose Edda also indicates he has a son by Sif named Lóriði, along with an additional 17 generations of descendants but the prologue is apocryphal and was meant to give a plausible "explanation" on how the Aesir came to be worshipped even though they were not gods in order to appease the church. Thor also has a stepson called Ull who is a son of Sif. Skáldskaparmál mentions a figure named Hlóra who was Thor's foster mother, corresponding to Lora or Glora from Snorri's prologue, although no additional information concerning her is provided in the poem.

[edit] Possessions

Thor travels in a chariot drawn by the goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr and with his servant and messenger Þjálfi and his sister Röskva. The skaldic poem Haustlöng relates that the earth was scorched and the mountains cracked as Thor travelled in his wagon. According to the Prose Edda, when Thor is hungry he can roast the goats for a meal. When he wants to continue his travels, Thor only needs to touch the remains of the goats and they will be instantly restored to full health to resume their duties, assuming that the bones have not been broken.

Thor owns a short-handled war hammer, Mjolnir, which, when thrown at a target, returns magically to the owner. To wield Mjolnir, Thor wears the belt Megingjord, which boosts the wearer's strength, and a pair of special iron gloves to lift the hammer.

The strike of the hammer caused thunderclaps, and Thor was named after the Common Germanic word for thunder. With the hammer, Thor performs his giant-killing duties.

Thor lives in the palace Bilskirnir in the kingdom Thrudheim (a.k.a. Thrúdvangar).

[edit] Stories and myths

Most of the surviving myths centre on Thor's exploits, and from this and inscriptions on monuments we know that Thor was very much the favorite deity of ancient Scandinavians.

According to one myth in the Prose Edda, Loki was flying as a hawk one day and was captured by Geirrod. Geirrod, who hated Thor, demanded that Loki bring his enemy (who did not yet have his magic belt and hammer) to Geirrod's castle. Loki agreed to lead Thor to the trap. Grid was a giantess at whose home they stopped on the way to Geirrod's. She waited until Loki left the room then told Thor what was happening and gave him her iron gloves and magical belt and staff. Thor killed Geirrod and all other frost giants he could find (including Geirrod's daughters, Gjálp and Greip).

According to Alvíssmál, Thor's daughter was promised to Alvis, a dwarf. Thor devised a plan to stop Alvis from marrying his daughter. He told Alvis that, because of his small height, he had to prove his wisdom. Alvis agreed and Thor made the tests last until after the sun had risen--all dwarves turned to stone when exposed to sunlight, so Alvis was petrified.

Thor was once outwitted by a giant king, Útgarða-Loki. The king, using his magic, tricked Thor several times by creating illusions. First the king pitted Thor's fast servant, Þjálfi, against one of his own servants in a race. However, the king's servant turned out to be thought itself, and since nothing is faster than thought, which can leap from land to land and from time to time in an instant, he had no chance to win to begin with. Second, Thor was challenged by Útgarða-Loki to an eating contest with another of his servants, which Thor eventually lost. The servant even ate up the trough containing the food. The servant was an illusion of "Fire", which no living thing can equal the consumption rate of. Third, Útgarða-Loki called Thor weak after challenging him to lift his cat, since Thor could only lift one of its paws. However, the giant cat turned out to be the Midgard Serpent, which he almost lifted out of the ocean. Fourth, Thor was challenged to a drinking contest. The horn of mead he was given was actually an illusion for the ocean, which was magically linked to the object. Because of the amount of water Thor drank, tidal changes were created. Finally Thor wrestled an old woman who after an impressive struggle caused Thor to kneel. Útgarða-Loki had shrouded old age in the form of the old woman, something no mortal can conquer. After the whole ordeal, and facing the shame of failure, Útgarða-Loki gave Thor, Loki and Þjálfi a place to stay. In the night, the three snuck away from the giants' land and Útgarða-Loki greeted them. It was there that they were told that Thor had in fact performed impressively, doing exceptionally well as he did with those challenges.

Þunor gave his name to the Old English day Þunresdæg, meaning the day of Þunor, known in Modern English as Thursday. Þunor is also the source of the modern word thunder. Many writers (Saxo, Adam of Bremen, Snorri Sturluson, Ælfric of Eynsham) identified Thor with Jupiter. The comparison can be borne: both are gods of the sky that control thunder and lightning, are children of the mother Earth and were at some time considered the most powerful of the gods. The oak tree was sacred to both gods and they had mysterious powers. Thor is to kill the Midgard Serpent and Jupiter, the dragon Typhon. Tacitus identified Thor with the Greco-Roman hero-god Hercules because of his force, aspect, weapon and his role as protector of the world.

[edit] Norse literature

The two biggest works are the Elder Edda (or Poetic Edda) and the Younger Edda (also Snorri's Edda, Prose Edda). Thor is a very common figure, probably more common than Odin.

Thor appears as the central figure in the following works of Norse literature:

• Þórsdrápa (summarised by Snorri Sturluson in Skáldskaparmál)
• Hárbarðsljóð which details a contest between Thor and Odin in the guise of Harbarth as to who is the most accomplished.

Thor also appears in: Þórsdrápa (summarised by Snorri Sturluson in Skáldskaparmál) Hárbarðsljóð which details a contest between Thor and Odin in the guise of Harbarth as to who is the most accomplished.

[edit] External links/References

• Viktor Rydberg's "Teutonic Mythology: Gods and Goddesses of the Northland" e-book
• W. Wagner's "Asgard and the Home of the Gods" e-book
• H. A. Guerber's "Myths of Northern Lands" e-book
• Peter Andreas Munch's "Norse Mythology: Legends of Gods and Heroes" e-book