Thor

This article is about Thor, the god of Norse mythology. For other meanings see Thor (disambiguation).

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Thor's battle against the giants

Thor, Þórr (ON), Thunor (OE), Donar or Donner (German) is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder and lightning in Germanic and Norse Mythology, the son of Odin and Jord. While Odin is the god of the powerful and aristocratic, Thor is much more the god of the common man, often siding with mortals against other gods. Thor was an outright hero for mankind, powerfully defeating his enemies, though he lost a wrestling match to an old woman named Elli (old age). During Ragnarok, Thor will kill and be killed by Jormungand. He lived in the hall of Bilskirnir in Thrudheim.

Thor features strongly in the Eddas of Snorri Sturluson, where Thor's many conflicts with the race of giants are a main source of plots. As Snorri portrays him, Thor is a straightforward god, but not necessarily the sharpest pencil in the box, and he is (for instance) thoroughly made a fool of by the mysterious Utgardaloki and his magic spells.

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 the evil god Loki had cutt off her hair. With Jarnsaxa, Thor was the father of Magni, Thrud and Modi. Thor travelled in a chariot drawn by goats (Tanngrísnir and Tanngnjóstr) and with his servant and messenger Thjálfi or Thjelvar. These were not your normal goats or your usual chariot since the Eddas note that the earth was scorched and the mountains cracked as the goats ran across them.

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 a belt 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 indulged in his favourite sport of killing giants.

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 favourite deity of ancient Scandinavians.

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 his daughters, Gjalp and Greip).

Thor's daughter, Thrud, was promised to Alvis, a dwarf, in exchange for which Alvis made weapons for the gods. 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.

Thunor gave his name to Thunresdaeg, the day of Thunor, better known as Thursday, and is also the source of the modern word, thunder.

Thor in Norse literature

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

• Thorsdrapa (summarised by Snorri Sturluson in Skaldskaparmal)
• 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:

• Grimnismál
• Hymiskviða
• Þrymskviða
• Alvismal

Other names

• Óku-Thór (driver-Thor), a reference to the chariot, drawn by the (magic) goats Tanngrísnir and Tanngnjóstr, in which he travels the earth and skies
• Tor (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian)
• þór (Icelandic, pronounced Thorr)
• Donar or Donner (German)

Homologues

• Tiermes, Tordöm or Torum, the golden light, (Finno-Ugric).
• Xolotl

See also

Homologues in related Indo-European religions

• Indra
• Perkunas
• Perun

Thor in modern popular culture

• Marvel Comics publishes a comic book series called The Mighty Thor, in which modernized versions of the Asgardian gods inhabit the Marvel Universe.
• Thor is the hero, along with Odin and Loki in the Valhalla comic book or graphic novel series published in Denmark by Interpresse. Originally published in Danish, translations were made into Dutch, German, French, Swedish, and Finnish. Several animated movies were also produced from the series.
• Thor was the hero of the computer game God of Thunder by Epic Megagames, in which he battles Jormungand, Loki, and Nognir, the god of the underworld.
• In K.A. Applegate's novel series Everworld, in which four American teenagers wander through a world created by mythological gods, Thor has long since been captured and frozen by Hel. In the final book, the teenagers, David, Jalil, Christopher and April release him from captivity, and he helps them fight against the evil alien god Ka Anor.
• In Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods, Mr. Wednesday (Odin) tells the protagonist that Thor committed suicide in the 1930s.
• In Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently novel The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul, Thor finds himself wandering 20th century England and causes considerable mayhem.
• Thor makes an appearance in the television series Hercules: the Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess.
• In the television series Stargate SG-1, Thor leads the fleet of ships for the Asgard, an alien race of beings who have been revered by various humanoid cultures as gods.
• The free online game GunBound: Thor's Hammer has adaptations of Thor in it.
• Thor has a role in the 1987 movie Adventures in Babysitting.