Thor

Thor's battle against the giantsMårten Eskil Winge, 1872.

Thor (from Old Norse Þórr, pronounced /θɔr/) is the god of thunder and strength in Norse and Germanic mythology. His role is complex since he had influence in very different areas, such as weather, harvests, protection, consecration, justice, fighting, travel and battles.

Once the Christianization process was completed, the figure of Thor was demonized by the growing influence of Christian missionaries. After Christianity took hold, remnants of his faith were kept underground mainly in rural areas, thus surviving into modern times in Germanic folklore and more recently reconstructed in various guises in Germanic Neopaganism.

Etymology and origins

Thor in an illustration of Arthur Rackham in Richard Wagner's written work The Gold of the Rhine and Valkyria (principles of the 20th century).

Etymology

The name of the god is Þórr in Old Norse, Þunor in Anglo-Saxon, Thunaer in Old Saxon, Donar in Old Dutch and Old High German and þunraR in Protonorse.

All these forms derive from the Proto-Germanic *Þunraz. It has the same origin as the English word thunder thunder, (even the same Spanish word "trueno& #34;) as well as German Donner, Dutch donder, Swedish tordön, and Danish and Norwegian torden. At the same time, it is possible to find an interrelation, both descriptive and etymological, with the god of Greek mythology Zeus, Ζεύς, from ancient Greek, which coincides with Thor in general aspects. For example, both Zeus and Thor comprise thunder deities, play a leading role, and both rank as the most revered gods in their respective mythologies. In ancient Greek the name of the god is Ζεύς, (Zeús), in the nominative case and Διός, (God), in the genitive. The same Latin word deus —from which many other words derive, such as dio (Italian), dieu (French), dios (Spanish), déu (Catalan), deus (Galician), etc.— coincides with Zeus and therefore with Thor, although Zeus and deus derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *dyeu-/*dyu, and thunder, Thor and thunder from *(s)tenə.

Indo-European origins and parallels

The Indo-European and later peoples had a god of the sky, lightning and thunder. Thor probably arose by inheriting the main characteristics of the Indo-European religions and developed under the regional cultural and religious idiosyncrasies of the Germanic peoples. According to Georges Dumézil's theory, there were three main gods among the Indo-European peoples, each with a particular function, and among them the god of the sky and thunder was the one who occupied the main position.

Tacitus, in his work Germania, makes an interpretatio romana to the culture of the Germans and identifies Donar with Hercules, from which it can be deduced that its essential characteristics they were very similar. As a personification of power and in terms of their attributes they shared many similarities, Thor with a hammer and Hercules with a club and both given to gluttony. In addition, Tacitus mentions that the Teutons worship Hercules with songs that they call barditus, especially before battles. This can be compared to what happened in ancient Attica, where the Athenians went to the oracle of Delphi for advice. by the Peán singing a mythical victory spell. This song by Peán passed into the myth of Apollo and his victorious combat against the snake Python.

Donar was the chief god of the Batavians with the center of his worship in present-day Nijmegen, Netherlands, where two open-air temples have been found and a third in the nearby town of Elst. In Lower Germania, dating from the first centuries, bracelets, coins and stones with Latin inscriptions indicating that they had been offered to Donar have been found. The inscriptions mostly had the name Hercules Magusanus which was what the Romans called the main god of the Batavians. Inscriptions with this name have been found in various places such as Houten, Tielland, Ubbergen, Westkappelle and Vetera in the Netherlands, Bonn in Germany and Rome in Italy. The reason his name became so widespread is because the Batavians entered the service of the Romans and spread it throughout the empire, and as Donar was a god of battle, he was particularly popular with Batavian warriors.

The idea of a sky and storm god with a thrown weapon such as Thor's war hammer and a chariot is an ancient god image. The Hittite deity Teshub is depicted in a very similar way, except with an ax and the Hindu god Indra also has a chariot and his main weapon is lightning.

In many Scandinavian rock and tombstone paintings there are male figures holding hammers or axes and in some cases also labrys or destras, sometimes in phallic representations (for example, Kivik's tomb), which can be interpreted as a symbol of power and represent a deity. Thor's hammer in the northern area of Germany and Donar's club in the south were during late paganism, after petroglyphs, a fertility amulet, particularly female.

Other parallels to Indus myths is that of the thunder god's fight with serpents or dragons. In the case of Thor fighting the Midgard serpent, for the Greeks there are similar cases such as the fight of Apollo against Python, Heracles against the Hydra of Lerna, in Hittite mythology the god Teshub and the dragon serpent Illuyanka, and in the mythology Hindu the fight of the god Indra with the dragon Vritra as related by the Rig Vedá. The myth of the fight with the serpent is an evident characteristic in all these cultures, as a symbol of fight in the dominant region.

There is also a certain parallelism between the forms of dialogue between Thor and Odin in Hárbardsljód, with those recorded between Indra and Varuna according to the Rig Veda. According to Dumézil these dialogues do not show an aggressive tone of conflicts between different cults, but rather an ancient form of dialogue based on the different nature of the gods and their function in different areas.

Most of Thor's anthropomorphic features are comparable to Indra's in terms of hair and beard. Indra has blond hair and beard as described in the Rig Veda, while Thor has red hair and both are essentially philanthropic gods.

There are similarities in the veneration of trees consecrated to the god of thunder. The Germans venerated sacred forests and the tree of the god of thunder was the oak. For the Greeks Zeus also ruled over thunder, lightning and rain and was sometimes known by the nickname of "Thundering" or "Thundering". The oaks were the trees sacred to Zeus and they even had an oracular oak in Dodona, his Roman parallel Jupiter, who was also worshiped as a god of rain and thunder was equally associated with them. The Slavs venerated these trees that were consecrated to the god of thunder Perun of which images of the god with an ax with lightning bolts in his hand have been found in Novgorod. The Lithuanians had Perkunas as their main deity, the god of thunder and lightning to whom, like the previous ones, they consecrated the oaks.

Late Paganism

The idea of Thor among the Germanic peoples was uniform, but there were many developments and changes, e.g. eg in his position and rank, particularly between the Roman period, the period of the great migrations and the Viking age. Odin occupies the highest position within the Norse pantheon, replacing the ancient sky god Tyr, so Thor is at a lower level of the hierarchy, at least according to what skaldic poetry relates. However Thor was the main god revered by the peasants. He had temples, sacred groves, and many place names still present mostly in Norway, Sweden, Iceland and England refer to his name. The image of Odin as the elder god was common mainly among the nobles and was consequently reflected in the poems of the skalds, which had a great impact later on in the Eddas, written in the XIII. As the process of Christianization of the Germanic peoples and tribes was linked to the destruction of everything pagan, very little information about the god was preserved. The greatest source of information about Thor is found in the Icelandic sagas and the Eddas, however many of these works were not spared from Christian influences.

Features

Thor with his hammer, Mjolnir, and his belt of strength, Megingjörð, in an Icelandic manuscript of the centuryXVIII.

Thor had a wide area of influence from controlling the weather and crops to consecration, justice, protection and battles. For this reason, he was often considered a supreme deity. The most obvious attribute of the god is his warrior aspect, many myths describe him hacking his way through hordes of giants with his warhammer. However Thor in the role of warrior fulfills a protective role, unlike Odin who called his followers to battle for death and glory, for this reason Thor had a more widespread cult among the more peaceful communities of peasants and artisans. For the Icelanders Thor was the patron of the law, and the þing opened on Thursdays in his honor and was invoked in most oaths.

In Haustlöng one of the kenningars for the god is a "deep thinker," and although in most cases he prefers direct action to strategy, numerous myths illustrate his wisdom, as is the case in the Eddic poem Alvíssmál where Thor deceives the wise dwarf Alvíss, his daughter's suitor, with a riddle contest that Thor is responsible for extending until morning so that the The first rays of the sun turn the dwarf to stone. In the Gautrek saga it is related that Thor challenges Odin about the fate of the grandson of giants, Starkad, with a series of curses that counteract many of the blessings that Odin bestows on him. In addition, Thor is associated with runes and consecration, he is also the possessor of magical abilities, the resurrection of his goats, the change in size and shape of him.

As the sky god, he also has a fertility role. Lightning from summer storms was believed to ripen crops. Thor's hammer on the bride's lap, as recounted in Þrymskviða, suggests a fertility ritual and a symbolic interplay between heaven and Earth.

Genealogy

Thor is the son of the elder god Odin and the goddess Jörð, personification of the Earth. His wife is Sif, with whom he had a daughter named Þrúðr, who is a Valkyrie whose name means "strength" 3. 4; or "power". With the giant Járnsaxa he had another son named Magni, which means "strong". He is also the father of Móði, whose name means "anger", but there is no information in the myths about who his mother is.The names of his children seem to be personifications of all the attributes that They characterized Thor. In addition, the god also has a stepson named Ullr, son of Sif whose father is not mentioned.

In the euhemerist prologue to the Prose Edda it is also indicated that he has a son with Sif named Lóriði, and some seventeen generations of descendants are mentioned; but this prologue is apocryphal and was intended to give a possible explanation for how the Æsir came to be worshiped from a Christian perspective.

Possessions

Mjolnir

Illustration of a gold-plated silver hammer found in Bredsätra, Öland, Sweden.

Thor's most iconic item is his short-handled warhammer, called Mjolnir, created by the dwarves Sindri and Brokk. It has the property of never missing its target and after being thrown it always returns to the hands of its owner, it can also shrink and be carried concealed in clothing and can also be used to throw lightning. To raise his hammer, Thor uses a belt that increases his strength, called Megingjörð, and a pair of special iron gloves. Mjolnir is his main weapon when fighting giants, being described by the gods as the most precious of all the labors of the dwarves and the most powerful weapon possessed by the gods in their defense against the forces of Jötunheim. The hammer became a symbol of the god and a very popular amulet and piece of ornament during the Viking age and icon of Nordic and Germanic paganism.

Car

Thor rides in a chariot that is drawn by magical he-goats called Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. They had the peculiarity that Thor could cook them and then if he needed to continue his journey, he would cover the bones with the skin and use the regenerative power of his hammer to bring them back to life. On one occasion when he requested lodging in the cabin of some peasants for the night, he cooked the goats and one of the sons of the family, named Þjálfi, broke one of the bones, so that when Thor brought them back to life the next morning, he noticed that one of them was limping. Thor's anger was enormous and to remedy the problem Þjálfi and his sister Röskva became his servants and accompanied him on many of his journeys. The skaldic poem Haustlöng relates that the earth was devastated and the mountains crack when Thor was riding in his chariot.

Bilskirnir

Thor lives in Asgard, in the realm of Þrúðheimr or Þrúðvangr, which means "Home of the Force". There he lives with his wife Síf and their children in the palace called Bilskirnir, which according to what is related in Grímnismál, is the largest of all the buildings and has 540 rooms. >Hárbarðsljóð, although it is the only source to mention it, Thor would receive dead peasants and slaves there.

Myths

Poetic Age

Völuspá

Völuspá is the first poem of the Poetic Edda and one of the best known. In this text Odin consults a völva who tells him all her knowledge about the past and the future of the world and Thor is mentioned on several occasions.

The god is first mentioned when it is told how he killed the disguised giant who had rebuilt part of the walls of Asgard and had asked for Freyja in return. Loki, who had devised that plan, in the end manages to prevent the giant from complying with the total construction and therefore cannot take Freyja away, however, the giant takes off his disguise and, full of anger, threatens the gods, but Thor does not take long to appear and kill him with his hammer.

In addition, at the end of the poem, the events that will take place during the battle of the end of the world, Ragnarök, are recounted. The future-knowing völva describes the events of this battle and among them, the death of Thor that would occur as soon as he killed the giant Midgard serpent, Jörmundgander, which when dying expels its venom on Thor, who retreats nine steps and falls dead.

Hárbarðsljóð

In Hárbarðsljóð a dispute between a rude boatman named Hárbardr and Thor who was returning to Asgard, after fighting giants in Jotunheim, is related. The ferryman appears to be Odin in disguise, although some commentators such as Vyktor Rydberg argue that the role seems more suited to the deceitful god Loki.

Thor identifies himself and mentions his lineage while the boatman says his name is Hárbardr. In the verbal dispute, the boatman turns out to be more cunning than Thor since he knows a lot about his adventures and minimizes them. He finally refuses to go near the shoreline and help him out of the land of his giant enemies, prolonging the dialogue and taunting the god with sly and irritating remarks.

Grímnismál

In the poem Grímnismál a list of the dwelling places of the gods is made and among them a brief mention is made of Thor, citing the place where the god lived in his palace called Bilskirnir in Thrudheim. Later there is a rather cryptic stanza that refers to the god crossing the Bifrost Bridge as it burns in flames.

Hymiskviða

Thor and Hymir fishing. Illustration of 1893 for the Swedish edition of the Poetry Edda Fredrik Sander.

Hymiskviða is a poem made up of fragments of myths with very little structure, where the scenes follow each other in an unnatural way. Ægir's concern for not having a cauldron big enough to prepare beer for all the Æsir who come to visit him is related. Tyr remembers a large cauldron in the possession of the giant Hymir and together with Thor they go to his abode. After Thor arrives, he eats so much that there is nothing left for the others, so they must go fishing. Then it is related that using the head of an ox as bait, Thor fishes for the Midgard Serpent, but the frightened giant cuts the line and the god, seeing that his prey escapes, throws his hammer at him, causing the serpent to fall. sink into the depths causing tremors in the earth. After returning, the giant challenges Thor in his strength, challenging him to break a magic cup. Thor knew that this cup could only break if it was thrown at the giant's head, so he threw it at him and smashed it to pieces. After this the giant gives them the huge cauldron, and after his departure he makes his way through hordes of giants. He finally returns to Ægir's abode and hands her the cauldron to brew.

Similar but less developed versions of this tale are preserved in the skaldic poems Húsdrápa and Ragnarsdrápa, both of which are preserved in the Prose Edda.

Þrymskviða

In the poem Þrymskviða it is related that the giant Þrymr had stolen Thor's hammer Mjölnir and claimed Freyja as his wife as payment to return it. Instead of Freyja, the Æsir managed to convince Thor to dress as a bride and Loki as his servant and both disguised in this way travel to Jötunheim for the "wedding". Thor's identity is comically pointed out since in the reception ceremony the god eats a whole ox, while Loki tries to give barely credible explanations for this strange behavior of a lady saying that her hunger is the result of the long journey and anxiety for Wedding. The giants somehow accept these arguments and when they plan to consecrate the union, the giant places the hammer Mjölnir on the skirt of the supposed bride, whereupon Thor immediately takes it, tears off his bride costume and kills him, doing the same. with the rest of the giant's relatives invited to the meeting.

Alvíssmál

In Alvíssmál it is related that Thor's daughter, Þrúðr, was betrothed to the wise dwarf Alvíss, a fact that occurred during her father's absence. The god devised a plan to derail the dwarf's marriage plans. He told Alvíss that since he was very short in stature, he should then demonstrate his wisdom. The dwarf accepted the challenge and Thor began a test of questions and answers that he took it upon himself to extend until dawn, so that when the first rays of the sun came out they turned him into stone, as happened to all dwarves in contact with the earth. sunlight.

Lokasenna

In Lokasenna the gods insult Loki during a gathering held in Ægir's dwelling, to which Loki, uninvited, comes, kills one of the servants, and insults the other servants. gods. In Lee M. Hollander's translation of the poem, he clarifies that not all of Loki's accusations were accepted by popular tradition and in many cases it seems that the gods do not bother to refute them.

Thor makes his appearance near the end of the play after the gods in turn try to appease Loki and avoid disputes in the host's house, as established by the rules of hospitality. Thor, ready for direct action, threatens him with his hammer. Loki continues to mock him, recounting the occasion when during an earthquake he took refuge in what turned out to be the finger of a giant's glove, and his gluttony, but faced with a new threat to silence him with his hammer, Loki decides to withdraw, acknowledging that only Thor caused him fear since he was a great warrior.

Prose Edda

Gylfaginning

Gylfaginning is the first part of the Prose Edda and it recounts Gylfi's journey to Asgard, and her description of the gods, among which Thor is mentioned.

XXI.... Thor is the noblest of them [the Æsir], is called Thor of the Æsir, or Öku-Thor; he is the strongest of the gods and men. It has its kingdom in the place called Thrúdvangar, and its palace is called Bliskirnir; there are 540 rooms. It's the biggest abode men know...
Thor has two male goats, which are called "dients scattered" and "throwing teeth", and a chariot that drives, and is pulled by them; so it is called Öku-Thor. It also has three things of great value: first it is the Mjolnir hammer, that the giants of the frost know, when it rises they know that there is no hope; it has crushed many skulls among those of his race. It has a second thing of great value: its belt of power, and when its strength of deity is doubled. It also has a third object of great value: its iron gloves; it cannot without them take the handle of its hammer. But no one is as wise as to count all his great exploits...

Gylfaginning, chapter 21

Thor and his companions traveling in his car. Illustration of 1893 for the Swedish edition of the Poetry Edda Fredrik Sander.

Later on, the occasion in which Thor embarks on a journey with Loki to the land of the giants, Jotunheim, to fight them is told. Traveling in his car, at nightfall they stop at the house of some peasants requesting hospitality. Thor kills his goats and prepares them for dinner along with the peasant families. However their son, named Þjálfi breaks one of the bones and when the next morning the god places the leather over the bones and invokes the power of his hammer to bring the goats back to life, he notices that one of his animals limp The god is filled with anger and flashes come out of his eyes, so the peasant's son, frightened, confesses that he was the one who broke him. To appease the god's wrath he and his sister Röskva become his servants or thralls . From that moment they accompany him on many of his days in combat with the frost giants.

After that incident, he leaves the farmer's house with Loki and the two servants, leaving their goats behind and travels east, in the land of the giants and crossing the sea they arrive at an unknown land.

As soon as night falls they seek refuge and find a very large room where they decide to spend the night. At midnight a violent earthquake occurs and then Thor and his companions take refuge in a side room, leaving Thor at the entrance ready to defend himself with his hammer. At dawn they find a giant of enormous dimensions, sleeping near them, and discover that they had spent the night in the thumb of the giant's glove. Thor approaches and asks the giant his name and he says his name is Skyrmir and recognizes the god immediately, proposing to share the food, although he immediately walks away from him. He returns at night and tells Thor to take groceries from his bag while he goes to sleep. However, the god is unable to undo the knot on the giant's bag and, suspecting the giant's mockery, decides to hit him with the hammer, which is unsuccessful as the giant barely wakes up and asks if a leaf has fallen on him.

The next morning the giant rushes the travelers and tells them that they must meet the lord of those lands, the giant Útgarða-Loki. They arrive at a huge castle in the middle of a plain belonging to King Útgarða-Loki, who receives them in his huge hall. He then invites the newcomers to participate in the competitions that they propose and the first to accept the challenge is Loki, who says that no one can eat at the speed of him. However, the king calls Logi who eats the meat, bones and the table on which they serve him. Then the young Þjálfi declares that he is capable of running very fast, and the king invites Hugi to the challenge, who in the competition doubles the speed of the servant. Finally comes the challenge for Thor who was very thirsty and says that no one drinks like him. Immediately a servant of the king brings him a horn and tells him that heavy drinkers empty it in one gulp; The god doesn't see it as too big and he drinks until he's out of breath, but the level of drink remains almost constant, he tries it twice more and barely manages to lower it a bit. The king says he is disappointed since he had heard great stories about him and invites him to lift the big cat from him, but the god can barely lift it a foot off the ground. The god gets angry and tells him to present someone to fight, who dares to defeat him, to which the king calls an old woman named Elli who, according to what he says, has defeated many men. Finally the struggle lasts for a while until the old woman defeats the god.

After spending the night the travelers are ready to leave amazed at the way they had been humiliated, but the next morning Útgarða-Loki escorts them to the outskirts of the castle and tells Thor that he had never met anyone so strong and tells him that he had been afraid of his power. He confesses that everything had been done with magic tricks and had been optical illusions, that the knot in the giant's bag was sealed with iron and that the giant was him using magic tricks, and that the hammer blow he had given had split into three a mountain He also confessed that all the things they had competed against were magic tricks, Logi who devoured everything, was actually a personification of fire and Hugi the speedy, was his thought. He tells her that it caused him great astonishment that he managed to lower the horn a bit with the drink since it was connected to the ocean and that when they reached the coast they would see how much the water had dropped, this being the origin of the tides. The cat that he had barely been able to lift was an illusion of the Midgard Serpent, which surrounds the world and had managed to lift it almost to the sky. Finally, the old woman with whom he struggles and ends up falling on one of his knees, was a personification of death.

The giant asks them never to return and the god, with great anger for having been deceived, decides to hit him with his hammer, but instantly the giant and the castle disappear, and they start back again.

Later, the fishing of the Midgard Serpent is recounted, in a similar way to Hymiskviða in the Poetic Edda and at the end Thor is mentioned hallowing the funeral pyre of Baldr.

Skáldskaparmál

In Skáldskaparmál among the lists of kenningars for the gods there are references on how Thor can be designated.

XI. What figures should be used to perphrase Thor's name? Then one could call it the son of Odin and Jörd, the father of Magini and Módi and Thrúdr, the husband of Sif, the stepfather of Ullr, the one who is the possessor of Mjöllnir and the belt of strength, and of Bilskirnir; defender of the Asgard and of the Midgard, adversary and subjecter of giants and thunder

Skáldskaparmálchapter 11

Later in the text tells the story of the death of the giant Hrungnir at the hands of Thor. The giant had challenged Odin in a competition between his horse & # 34; Golden Mane & # 34; and that of the god, Sleipnir. Odin wins the race, but the giant continues to the gates of Asgard, where the god invites him to come in and drink beer. However, the giant gets drunk and begins to offend the gods and defy them, until Thor arrives and forces him to retire. Yet the giant challenges Thor to fight when he returns to Jotunhëim by his weapons.

The word spread among the giants who realized the stakes were high and planned how to hurt Thor even if Hrungnir perished. So in Grjótúnagard they created a huge clay giant called Mökkurkálfi, to whom, given his size, they must have placed the heart of a mare. Hrungnir had a heart of stone, with three points, his head and shield were also made of stone and his weapon was a whetstone and next to him was the clay giant.

Thor went with Þjálfi, and the latter in agreement with the god ran to the giant and told him that he should stand on the shield since Thor would appear from under the earth, to which the giant paid attention. The god appeared brandishing his hammer, to which the giant hurled his stone at him, but the blow of the hammer split the stone and continued until it hit the giant's head, which shattered to pieces. While Þjálfi struck the clay giant, who, terrified at the sight of the god, died without fighting.

In the skaldic poem Haustlöng from the Prose Edda, written by the Norwegian skald Þjóðólfur úr Hvini, the death of the giant Hrungnir at the hands of Thor is also described, but not mention is made of Þjálfi.

In Skáldskaparmál it is also related when Loki cut off the golden hair of Sif, the wife of Thor. When the god found out what had happened, he threatened Loki with breaking all his bones if he did not find a solution for his mischief. Faced with this threat, Loki went to where the sons of Ivaldi lived, some famous artisans, and they made him a hair of thin golden threads that when Sif placed it on, she recovered from her as her natural hair.

Þórsdrápa

Þórsdrápa narrates how Loki incited Thor to go against the giants, without his hammer and without his belt of power. In reality it was a trap planned by Loki, who had been trapped by the giant Geirröd and had made him swear that he would lead Thor into battle under these conditions. On the way they stop at the abode of the giant Gríðr who, aware of the deception, assists Thor by giving him iron gloves, a magical belt and a staff, as related in Skáldskaparmál.

Thor crosses the oceans towards Jotunheim, with Þjálfi hanging from his belt and when he reaches land the giants of the Geirröd cave await him, but the god along with his servant manage to easily defeat them.

Finally Thor is received in the giant's abode, and sees how his chair begins to rise in order to crush him against the ceiling, to which the god uses the staff given by the giant to stop his ascent and fall on two daughters of the giant, called Gjálp and Greip, killing them. Then the giant throws a red-hot piece of iron at him, which the god catches with the iron gloves and although the giant hides behind a column, Thor throws it at him with such force that it goes through the column and Geirröd himself, killing him..

Saga

Landnámabók

Landnámabók is a 12th century lowercase Icelandic manuscript recounting the history of early settlement in Iceland. The vast majority were fervent Thor-worshipping men who fled Norway from the reign of Haraldr Hárfagri. The prefix Thor is present in many of the colonizers' names, some even being mentioned as changing their names to show devotion to the god.

One of the stories is about Thorolf, a Norwegian tribal chief who, while sailing west of the island, threw overboard the wooden pillars of his throne on which an image of the god was carved and begged him to the logs appeared on the beach where he was to settle and he swore to dedicate the land of his settlement to him. He found the logs in a fjord and called his land Thorsnes. He then built a great temple in honor of the god in a bay he called Hofsvag and placed a stone carved in his honor, where sacrifices were made and assemblies met to hold judgments.

The custom of throwing logs with images of the god into the sea to decide where to settle is mentioned as a custom of many colonizers, and some considered that if their boat was damaged it was a sign from the god to disembark and take those lands, being mentioned with Often vows or sacrifices were made to be guided and then those lands were consecrated to the god.

The text shows the religious syncretism between some colonizers from the British Isles, who professed the Christian faith, and the Norwegians, who mostly worshiped Thor; it is mentioned that one of the colonists with an Icelandic father and an Irish mother, was a Christian but during the trips he made vows to Thor.

Eyrbyggja Saga

The Eyrbyggja saga is closely related to the Landnámabók and additional details are given about Thorolf and his devotion to Thor. The saga says that his name was Rolf and he was a powerful chief who was in charge of guarding the temple of Thor and that because of his devotion he was called Thorolf. A detailed description of the temple is given in the text. It is described as being of great size, with a door in one side wall, and in front of the door stood the pillars of the throne. Inside the temple there was another small roofed construction and in the middle of it there was an altar on which was a large ring that was used to make oaths. Also on the altar there could be a bowl with blood from the sacrificed animals and a branch for splashing. Around were the figures of the gods and it was the most sacred place.

It is also mentioned that in western Iceland there was a Thing on a promontory on which was a stone on which human sacrifices were made in honor of the god.

Saga of Njál

The saga of Njál was written in the context of Scandinavia converting to Christianity and contains many allusions to native gods.

Thor is mentioned by the mother of a pagan skald who praises the might of the native god compared to that of the Christian god, reciting verses in which he argues that the storms unleashed by Thor cannot be appeased by the deity of the new faith Christian and debate with a new convert.

"I have heard," says Thangbrand, "that Thor would be nothing, just dust and ashes, if God did not wish him to live."

To which the pagan woman responds by reciting two verses.

...

Of little use was Christ, I believe,

When Thor made the ship shatter

The deer [bark] of Gylfi God could not help.

Again he sang another song:

He opened the ship of Thangbrand from their moorings,

The War Horse of the King of the Sea [bark], Thor with anger destroyed,

Wicked and shattered, all her cloaks,

Thrown your side to the beach;

Never again the Viking Racket [bark],

In the salt waves will slide,

For a storm awakened by Thor,

Slash the bark in small splinters

Saga de Njál, chapter 98

Gautrek's Saga

The Gautrek saga deals with a dispute between Odin and Thor who find themselves in the role of judges on an island and alternately grant blessings and curses to the grandson of a giant, named Starkad. Thor, who had been an enemy of his grandfather and had killed him, skilfully responds with curses that neutralize all the blessings that Odin gives him.

Then Thor spoke: 'The mother of Starkad, Alfhild, preferred a giant before Thor himself as the father of his son. For this reason he ordered that Starkad himself never have a son or a daughter and his family end with him.'

Odin: "I pray that I may live for three lapses of life."

Thor: "He shall eat the most vile acts in each of them."

Odin: "I command you to have the best weapons and clothes."

Thor: "I command that I never have land or states."

Odin: "I give you this, that you have vast sums of money."

Thor: "I curse you, that you are never satisfied with what you have."

Odin: "I give you victory and fame in all battles."

Thor: "I curse him, that in every battle he is seriously wounded."

Odin: "I give you the art of poetry, so that you make verses as fast as you can speak."

Thor: "He will never remember what he composes."

Odin: "I pray that it may be of the highest esteem for the nobles and the best of them."

Thor: "Common people will hate you."

Gautrek Saga, chapter 8

Gesta Danorum

In the 12th century, the Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus, in the service of Archbishop Absalon in Denmark, wrote a work in Latin called Gesta Danorum where an euhemerist vision of the pagan gods was given with the aim of praising the growing Christianity. In this text Thor is mentioned as a rogue sorcerer who deceives the people of Norway, Sweden and Denmark posing as a god, asking for worship and thus turning them away from the Christian faith.

Names

Thor is mentioned by different names in Old Norse poetry, as was the custom according to the use of kenningars by the skalds.

In Nafnaþulur, a collection of kenningars, there is a stanza containing a list of names for the god.

Of these names Atli means "The Terrible One", Ásabragr "Prince of Gods", Ennilangr "The Broad-browed One", Björn "Bear", Harðvéorr "The Strong Archer", Sönnungr "The True One", Véoðr "The Protector of the Sacred" and Rymr "The Loud One".

Some of these names appear in Eddic and Skaldic poetry. For example the names of Vingþórr "Thor of battle" and Hlórriði "The Noisy Rider" they also appear in Þrymskviða. Others are not mentioned in sources other than Nafnaþulur. In Gylfaginning he is introduced as Öku-Thor, "Thor the charioteer".

Symbols

Thor's Oak

Tala del Roble de Thor, 1737 painting in Schliersee.

Thor's Oak was an ancient tree sacred to the Germanic tribe of the Chatti, ancestors of the Hessian people, and one of the most important sacred sites of the Germanic pagans. Its felling in 723 marked the beginning of the Christianization of non-Frankish tribes in northern Germany.

The tree was located in the town of Geismar, today part of the town of Fritzlar in northern Hesse, and was the main point of worship for Thor, known to the West German tribes as Donar.

Boniface came to the area with the goal of converting the northern Germanic tribes to Christianity, using the Frankish fortified camp of Büraburg on the opposite side of the Eder River as a base. He cut down the oak venerated by the local inhabitants in an attempt to convince the population of the superiority of the Christian god over Thor and thus convince them to be baptized and convert to Christianity. Boniface used the wood from the oak to build a chapel at Fritzlar, founding a Benedictine monastery and thus establishing the first diocese outside the borders of the old Roman Empire.

Uppsala Temple

Between 1072 and 1076, Adam of Bremen recorded in his Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum that there was a statue of Thor in the Temple of Uppsala, reporting that:

Thor takes a central position, with Wotan and Frey on each side. Thor, according to his beliefs, rules the air with his thunders, lightning, wind, rain, and good weather. It is represented by holding a sceptre, as many of our people describe Jove.

A priest (Goði) guide people in a sacrifice to Thor. Painting of J. L. Lund.

Saxon Baptismal Vow

Thor is mentioned in an Old Saxon baptismal vow in the Vatican Codex pal. 577 along with Woden and Saxnot. The vow is from the VIII or IX century and its purpose was to Christianize the pagans:

ec forsacho allum diobols uuercum and uuordum, Thunaer ende Uuöden ende Saxnote ende allum them unholdum the hira genötas sint

The translation would be:

I renounce all the words and works of the devil, Thunear, Woden and Saxnôt, and all those demons that are their associates.

Day of Thor

Þunor, its Anglo-Saxon name gave rise to the name of the day Þunresdæg, which means Þunor's day, which in modern English is thursday (Thursday). Þunor is also the origin of the English word thunder (thunder).

The "Day of Thor" Old Norse is Þórsdagr, Faroese Hósdagur, English Thursday, German Donnerstag (meaning "day of thunder"), in Dutch Donderdag (meaning "day of thunder"), in Finnish Torstai and in Swedish, Danish and Norwegian Torsdag.

The day was considered extremely important in the week, so much so that even as late as the VII century, where Eligio reproached his congregation in Flanders for continuing their native practices of recognizing Thursday as a holy day even after its Christianization.

Archaeological record

Thor statuette from Eyrarland at the National Museum of Iceland in Reikiavik.

Thor was a very popular deity among the Germanic peoples and numerous representations of the god and his exploits survived many years of natural and intentional destruction.

Icelandic statue

In Iceland, a seated bronze statue of Thor popularly known as the Eyrarland Statue (about 6.4 cm) was found on a farmhouse near Akureyri, dating to around the X century, on display at the National Museum of Iceland. Thor is found holding his hammer, Mjolnir, sculpted in the typical Icelandic cross shape.

Nordendorf fibula

The Nordendorf fibula is a carved human bone, of German origin, dating from the VIIth century. It was found in Nordendorf near Augsburg, Bavaria and bears an Old Futhark inscription mentioning Donar, the West Germanic name for Thor. It bears the inscription logaþore wodan wigiþonar. The first word logaþore was originally thought to be the name of a god, but most likely means "wizards" or "sorcerers", the second, wodan is one of the names of the god Odin and the third wigiþonar is a compound word, where wigi means "fighter" and þonar is Donate. As it was carved during the Christianization process, its purpose was probably to abjure the pagan gods, describing them as sorcerers.

Iconic Mjolnir Replicas

Replicas of Mjolnir were widely popular in Scandinavia and were used in blóts and other sacred ceremonies such as weddings. Many of these replicas are also found in tombs and have a loop so they can be used as pendants around the neck. They were discovered mostly in areas with a strong Christian influence including southern Norway, southeastern Sweden, and in Denmark. By the end of the century X, these replicas appear with a greater uniformity in the design of Mjolnir over previous centuries, suggesting that it was used as an accessory in defiance of the Christian cross.

Runes and images

Altuna's stone describes Thor breaking the boat in his fight with Jörmungandr.

Most of the runestones were erected during the 11th century and thus coincided with the Christianization of Scandinavia. Except for the Altuna runestone which describes a myth concerning Thor, there are only six runic inscriptions that appear to refer to it, and five of them do so invoking him to consecrate the stones. Three of the inscriptions are found in Sweden (the Rök stone, Sö 140 and the Velanda stone) and three in Denmark (Dr 110, Dr 220 and the Glavendrup stone).

Thor's fight with the Midgard Serpent is recorded at Hymiskviða and can be found depicted in numerous images on runestones and stelae located in England, Denmark and Sweden.

In the English town of Gosforth, Cumbria, are the remains of a carved stone from the X century representing Thor and Hymir fishing along with numerous Nordic representations.

In Denmark, a church in the small Norse town of Hørdum houses the remains of a stone depicting Thor and Hymir on their Midgard Serpent fishing trip. Thor is wearing a distinctive spiked helmet which has also been found in other depictions and has caught the Midgard Serpent while Hymir is sitting next to him.

In Sweden there are two stones that describe this legend. Created sometime between the 8th and 11th centuries, the lower left of the Ardre stone on Gotland has sometimes been interpreted as describing not only the fishing trip but also references to the previous slaying of the ox that was used as a bait, probably as part of an earlier version of the tale. The Altuna Stone in Uppland depicts Thor fishing for the Midgard Serpent. Although Hymir is absent, he noticeably highlights Thor's foot breaking the boat's floor during the intense fight.

The Skog church upholstery shows from the left to Odin, Thor with his hammer and Freyr.

Skog Church Tapestry

A part of the Swedish tapestry from the 12th century century, from the church of Skog depicts three figures sometimes interpreted as allusions to Odin, Thor, and Freyr. The figures match the 11th century lowercase descriptions of the arrangement of statues recorded by Adam of Bremen at the Uppsala Temple and Written Records of the Gods during the Late Viking Age. The tapestry is originally from Hälsingland, Sweden and is in the Swedish National Museum of Antiquities.

Kvinneby's Amulet

The Kvinneby amulet includes runic inscriptions. There are different theories about the exact words of the inscription but all agree that Thor is invoked to protect with his hammer. According to Rundata, the inscription reads:

Here I drilled protection for you, Bofi, with...... you're safe. And let the lightning keep all the evil away from Bofi. May He protect you with his hammer that came from the sea. Get away from evil! You'll get nothing from Bofi. The gods are under him and upon him.

The amulet was found in the mid-1950s, buried in the ground in the village of Södra Kvinneby on Öland, Sweden. The amulet is a copper square measuring approximately 5 cm on a side. Near one of the edges there is a hole, so it can be presumed that it was used as a neck pendant.

Eponyms

Toponymy

Signal for Thursley village in Surrey, England.

Tors fiske, statue on the struggle of Thor with Jörmundgander, in Mariatorget, Stockholm, Sweden.

Being a very popular god among the different Germanic tribes, many towns were named after Thor:

• Thorsberg Paraamo, Germany (Thor's Hill) is an old location with a lot of ritual objects deposited there between the years 1 and 4 BC by the Angloes.
• Tórshavn, Faroe IslandsPort of ThorIt's the capital.
• The name of Thor appears in connection with sacred groves (Lundr) in places of Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
• There are a number of places with Anglo-Saxon names associated with Thor in England, such as Τunre leah (meaning "Thundersley Thundersley" in Essex, England.
• A "Thor Bank" existed in the northern banks of Liffey, Ireland on the outskirts of Dublin until the year 1000 when it was destroyed in the course of a month by Brian Boru, who was particularly interested in drilling oaks.
• The word Thursday (snows in Spanish) would come from Thor's day (in Spanish, Thor Day).
• The river Torío, northwest of Spain, whose birth is located in the municipality of Cármenes (Leon), finds the origin of its name in the god Thor.
• The Spanish municipality of Tordoya in the province of La Coruña has its origin in the Danish word Torden and Swedish Tordonwhich means thunder and which finds its origin also in the god Thor.

Astronomy

An asteroid (299) Thora is named for Thor.