Thor

Thor carries his hammer and wears his belt of strength (MS SÁM 66, 18th century).

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 Thrúdvangar.

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, second only to Odin, and protects Asgard and Midgard.

Family

Thor is the son of Odin (Wotan or Woden) and the giantess Jörd (Jord). 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 sons Magni and Modi, and with Sif he had his daughter Thrud. The prologue of the Prose Edda also indicates he has a son by Sif named Lóriði, along with an additional 17 generations of descendants. He also has a stepson called Ull who is a son of Sif.

Possessions

Thor travels 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 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 this formidable weapon, even a deity like Thor needs special iron gloves and the belt Megingjord that doubles 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 performes his giant-killing duties.

Surviving representations

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, 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 raced Thought itself against Thor's fast servant, Þjálfi(nothing being faster than thought, which can leap from land to land, and from time to time, in an instant). 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, to one knee. It was only later that Thor was told that he had in fact performed impressively doing as well as he did with those challenges. One of the most famous stories dealing with Thor is his rendezvous with Robonad, in which he reforged his blessed spear only to be amazed by the weapon he held; the great spear Cresalion; Cresalion's beauty made Thor cry.

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 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.

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:

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:

Archaeological finds

File:ThorStatue.jpg

A 10th century bronze statue of Thor, found in Iceland.

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 and is a featured display at the National Museum of Iceland. Thor is holding Mjolnir, sculptured in the typically Icelandic cross-like shape.

Named after Thor

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.
The placename 'Tórshavn' (Faeroe Islands) is derived from the name of Thor.

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), Torstai in Finnish, 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.
Manowar, a heavy metal band made an album called ""Sign of the Hammer" which included songs about Thor, including a song called "Thor (The Powerhead)". You can find its lyrics online.

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, Norwegian & 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)

Homologues

Homologues in related religions

These are homologues that were created in religions of other speakers of Indo-European languages.

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 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.)

Modern popular culture

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.