Thor

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For other uses, see Thor (disambiguation).

Image:Manuscript thorr.jpg Thor (Old Norse: Þórr, Old English: Þunor, Old High German: Donar) is the red-haired and bearded nature 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. He lives in the palace Bilskirnir in the kingdom Thrudheim or Thrudvang.

Contents

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Characteristics

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 the most powerful of the gods and protects Asgard and Midgard.

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Family

Thor was the son of Odin (Wotan). His wife was called Sif, and little is known of her except that she had golden hair, which was made for her by the dwarfs after Loki had cut off her hair. With the giantess Jarnsaxa, Thor had the son Magni and with Sif he had Thrud, and Modi. The prologue of the Prose Edda also indicates he had a son by Sif named Lóriði, along with an additional 17 generations of descendants. He also had a stepson called Ull who was a son of Sif.

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Possessions

Thor travelled in a chariot drawn by the goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr and with his servant and messenger Thjálfi 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 was hungry he could roast the goats for a meal. When he wanted to continue his travels, Thor only needed to touch the remains of the goats and they would be instantly restored to full health to resume their duties, assuming that the bones had not been broken.

Thor owned a short-handled war hammer, Mjollnir, which, when thrown at a target, returned magically to the owner. To wield this formidable weapon, even a deity like Thor needed special iron gloves and the belt Megingjord that doubled the wearer's strength.

The strike of the hammer caused thunderclaps, and indeed, the name of this deity has produced the word for thunder in most Germanic languages. With the hammer, Thor performed his giant-killing duties.

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Surviving representations

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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).

Image:Thor.jpg

According to Alvíssmál, Thor's daughter, Thrud, 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 and Thrud remained unmarried.

Thor was once outwitted by a giant king, Útgarða-Loki. The king, using his magic, tricked Thor. The king used his spells to make one of his giants faster than Thor's fast servant, Þjálfi. He called Thor weak when he only lifted the paw of a cat, the cat being the illusion of the Midgard Serpent. Thor was challenged to a drinking contest, and could not empty a horn which was filled not with mead but was connected to the ocean. This action started tidal changes. And here, Thor wrestled an old woman, who was Old Age, something no one could beat. It was only later that Thor was told that he had in fact performed impressively doing as 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) 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 killed 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.

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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 a central figure in the following works of Norse literature:

Thor also appears in:

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Archaeological finds

A seated bronze statue of Thor (about 2.5 in, 6.4 cm) from about AD 1000 was recovered at a farm near Akureyri, Iceland [1] and is a featured display at the National Museum of Iceland. Thor is holding Mjolnir, sculptured in the typically Icelandic cross-like shape.

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Named after Thor

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Locations

  • The placename 'Thurso' (Scottish town in Caithness) is derived from the name 'Thor'.
  • The placenames 'Þórsberg', 'Þórey', 'Þórsnes', 'Þórshof' and 'Þórsland' (Norwegian places) are derived from the name 'Thor'.
  • The placenames 'Torsaker', 'Torslunda', 'Torsvi', 'Torshof' and 'Torsharg' (Swedish places) are derived from the name of Thor.
  • The placenames 'Þórshöfn', 'Þórsnes' and 'Þórsmörk' (Icelandic places) are derived from the name of Thor.
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Misc

  • "Thor's Day" is Þórsdagr in Old Norse, Thursday in English, Donnerstag in German (meaning "Thunder's Day"), Donderdag in Dutch (meaning Thunder day), and Torsdag in Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian.
  • The Galaxy NGC2359 is derived from the name of Thor, known as Thor´s Helmet.
  • "Thor's Oak" was an ancient tree near Fritzlar in northern Hesse (Germany) and one of the most sacred of sites of the old Germans. In 723, St. Boniface cut down the tree to demonstrate the superiority of the Christian god over Thor and the other Germanic/Nordic deities, an event that commonly marks the beginning of the Christianization of the non-Frankish Germans.
  • Thorium was named after the god Thor by Jöns Jakob Berzelius, the chemist who discovered it.
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Other names

  • Ása-Þórr, which is Thor of the Æsir, the most important Norse gods
  • Öku-Þórr (driver-Thor), a reference to the chariot, drawn by the (magic) goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr (often translated as "Toothgrinder" and "Toothgnasher"), in which he travels the earth and skies
  • Tórur (Faroese)
  • Tor (Swedish, and Norwegian)
  • Thor (Danish)
  • Þórr (Old Norse)
  • Þór (Icelandic)
  • Þunor (Anglo-Saxon)
  • Þunaer (Saxons)
  • Donar (Dutch)
  • Donner (German)
  • Þur (Normans)
  • WigiÞonar (Bavaria)
  • Atli (Eddic)
  • Asabrag (Eddic)
  • Djüphugadr (Eddic)
  • Ennilang (Eddic)
  • Eindridi (Eddic)
  • Bjorn (Eddic)
  • Hlorridi (Eddic)
  • Hardveur (Eddic)
  • Vingthor (Eddic)
  • Sonnung (Eddic)
  • Veud (Eddic)
  • Rym (Eddic)
  • Gofar (Folklore)


See also: List of names of Thor.

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Homologues

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Homologues in related Indo-European religions

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Homologues in other religions

  • Tiermes, Tordöm or Torum ("the golden light", Finno-Ugric). Several Finno-Ugric peoples have thunder gods with names similar to Thor. 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 pan-Indo-European phenomenon, 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.
  • Xolotl, the coyote god of Aztec mythology
  • Raiden and his brothers in Japanese mythology
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Modern popular culture

Template:Main Thor, under the German form of his name, "Donner", appears in Richard Wagner's opera cycle, Der Ring des Nibelungen. This has led to many portrayals based on Wagner's interpretation, although some are closer to pre-Wagner models. In modern times, the most famous depiction of the god is the Marvel Comics version; one of the company's oldest superhero characters.

Thor is also a character in the popular science fiction TV show Stargate SG-1. He is an alien from an extra-galactic race known as the Asgard, of whose fleet Thor is the Supreme Commander.

Image:Mjollnir icon.png

Norse mythology

List of Norse gods | Æsir | Vanir | Giants | Elves | Dwarves | Valkyries | Einherjar | Norns
Odin | Thor | Freyr | Freya | Loki | Balder | Tyr | Yggdrasil | Ginnungagap | Ragnarök
Sources:
Poetic Edda | Prose Edda | The Sagas | Volsung Cycle | Tyrfing Cycle
Rune stones | Old Norse language | Orthography | Later influence
Society:
Viking Age | Skald | Kenning | Blót | Seid | Numbers
The nine worlds of Norse mythology | People, places and things
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