Thor- Norse GodDeity"God of Thunder"

The Earth's Son

Þórr's mother was Jörð, the living earth itself, and from her he drew his strength. His father Óðinn gave him authority among the gods, but it was his mother's gift that set him apart: a raw, physical might no other god could match. He dwelt in Þrúðvangr, the "Strength-field," where his hall Bilskirnir rose with its 540 rooms.

His wife Sif was known for golden hair that shone like ripe wheat. When Loki cut it off while she slept, Þórr's rage sent the trickster fleeing to the dwarves, desperate to replace what he had ruined. That desperate errand would, through a chain of wagers and consequences, produce the gods' greatest treasures.

Mjölnir the Hammer

Loki first obtained new hair for Sif, the spear Gungnir for Óðinn, and Freyr's ship Skíðblaðnir from the sons of Ívaldi. Then he wagered his own head with the dwarven brothers Sindri and Brokkr that they could not craft anything finer. As Sindri worked the forge, Loki turned himself into a fly and bit Brokkr to disrupt his bellows-work. Brokkr paused at a crucial moment, and the hammer they were forging came out with a handle too short. But the gods judged it the finest treasure of all: a hammer that never misses, always returns, and can shrink small enough to hide inside a shirt.

To wield Mjölnir, Þórr needs two other possessions: Járngreipr, iron gloves to grip the short handle, and Megingjorð, a belt that doubles his strength.

The Goats

Þórr's chariot is drawn by two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. He can slaughter and eat them, then raise them whole the next morning by hallowing their bones with Mjölnir, so long as the bones are unbroken.

Once, lodging with a peasant family, Þórr killed the goats for supper. A peasant boy cracked a thighbone to suck out the marrow. The next morning, when Þórr hallowed the bones, one goat rose lame. His knuckles went white on Mjölnir's handle. The family saw his eyes and threw themselves on the ground. He took the boy, Þjálfi, and his sister Röskva as his servants instead of payment.

The Journey to Útgarða-Loki

In Gylfaginning, Þórr travels to Útgarðr, the stronghold of the giant Útgarða-Loki. There his hosts challenged him to simple contests. Þórr tried to drain a drinking horn and could not empty it. He tried to lift a grey cat off the floor and could barely raise one paw. He wrestled an old woman named Elli and was brought to one knee.

The humiliation was complete. Only when Þórr was leaving did Útgarða-Loki reveal the truth. The drinking horn had been connected to the sea, and Þórr had lowered the ocean's level, creating the tides. The cat was Jörmungandr in disguise, and Þórr had nearly lifted the World Serpent from the ocean floor. The old woman was Old Age herself. No one defeats her, yet Þórr had only fallen to one knee. Útgarða-Loki confessed he would never let Þórr through his gates again.

The Theft of Mjölnir

The Þrymskvida tells how the giant Þrymr stole Mjölnir while Þórr slept and demanded Freyja as his bride in exchange. Freyja refused with such fury that the Bísingamen necklace burst from her neck. The gods devised another plan: Þórr would go to the wedding dressed as Freyja, with Loki as his handmaid.

At the feast, the bride ate an entire ox and eight salmon, washing them down with three barrels of mead. When Þrymr marveled at the appetite, Loki explained that Freyja had been too excited to eat for eight days. When Þrymr lifted the veil to kiss his bride and recoiled from the burning eyes behind it, Loki said she had not slept for eight nights from anticipation. When the hammer was brought to hallow the bride's lap, as was custom, Þórr seized it. He killed every giant in the hall.

The Duel with Hrungnir

The Skáldskaparmál recounts Þórr's duel with Hrungnir, who had a head of stone and a heart of stone and wielded a massive whetstone as his weapon. They faced each other in single combat. Þórr threw Mjölnir; Hrungnir threw his whetstone. The hammer shattered Hrungnir's skull. But the whetstone struck Þórr in the head and lodged deep.

Þórr fell with Hrungnir's leg pinning him down. None of the gods could move it until Þórr's three-day-old son Magni arrived and lifted it with one hand, declaring he would have killed the giant bare-handed had he been there. The völva Gróa attempted to sing the whetstone out of Þórr's skull, and as the stone loosened, Þórr grew so grateful that he told her a secret: her lost husband was coming home. Her excitement broke her concentration. The spell failed. The whetstone remains in Þórr's skull to this day.

Thor and Jörmungandr

The Hymiskviða describes Þórr's fishing expedition with the giant Hymir. Þórr baited his hook with an ox head and cast it past every fish in the sea. What took the bait was Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent, Loki's child, grown so vast it encircled the world with its tail in its mouth.

Þórr hauled the serpent's head above the waves. God and monster stared at each other. Þórr raised Mjölnir to strike. Hymir, white-faced, cut the line. The serpent sank back into the deep. The duel was postponed, not prevented.

Ragnarök

The Völuspá prophesies Þórr's fate at the end of the world. When the giants assault Ásgarðr and the battle begins on the plain of Vígríðr, Þórr will face Jörmungandr at last. He will kill the serpent, striking it with Mjölnir and ending its threat forever.

But the serpent's venom will poison him. He will walk nine steps from his slain foe and fall dead. His sons Magni and Móði will inherit the hammer and carry it into the new world that rises after Ragnarök.

The Thunder God's Reach

Adam of Bremen, writing around 1075, placed Þórr at the center of the great temple at Uppsala, the seat of honor, with Óðinn and Freyr flanking him. Small hammer-shaped pendants of silver and bronze survive from across Scandinavia; the Bredsatra pendant from Öland is among the finest, its surface carved with a bearded face. Thursday preserves his name in English. Place-names compounding Þórr with words for grove, field, and shrine are scattered across Norway and Sweden, concentrated in farming country where the god who brought rain was most needed.