Seiðr Loom

Æsir

Thor

Þórr

The thunder god, strongest of the Æsir: son of Odin and Earth, husband of Sif, and with his hammer Mjöllnir the gods' defender against the giants, until he dies killing the World Serpent.

Thor, Hymir and the Midgard Serpent
Thor, Hymir and the Midgard Serpent, Lorenz Frølich (1906). Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Thor is the god of thunder and the strongest of the Æsir. Snorri calls him "strongest of all the gods and men" Gylfaginning 21, and almost every story about him is about that strength: what he can lift, drink, eat and break, and the giants he kills. Bellows's translation also calls him Hlorrithi, Vingthor and Veur; Brodeur's calls him Ása-Thor and Öku-Thor, "Driving-Thor", after his chariot.

Family

Thor is the son of Odin. In Hárbarðsljóð he introduces himself as "Othin's son, Meili's brother, and Magni's father" Hárbarðsljóð 9. His mother is the Earth, Jörð: Snorri says Odin begot "the first son, which is Ása-Thor" on her Gylfaginning 9, and the poems call Thor "the son of Jorth" Þrymskviða 1, "the son of Hlothyn" and "the son of Fjorgyn" Völuspá 55 Völuspá 56.

His wife is Sif Lokasenna, prose 1, whose hair of gold the dwarfs made after Loki cut off her own Skáldskaparmál 35, and her son Ullr is Thor's stepson Gylfaginning 31. Snorri's list of Thor's kennings names his children: "Father of Magni and Módi and Thrúdr" Skáldskaparmál 4. Magni's mother was the giantess Járnsaxa Skáldskaparmál 17. His servants are the farmer's children Þjálfi and Röskva, whom he took in payment after one of them broke a goat's leg bone Gylfaginning 44.

Hammer, goats and hall

Thor's hall is Bilskirnir, with five hundred and forty rooms, "the greatest house that men know of" Gylfaginning 21. Two goats, Tanngnjóstr and Tanngrisnir, pull his chariot; he can kill and eat them and raise them again with his hammer Gylfaginning 44. He has three treasures: the hammer Mjöllnir, the girdle of might Megingjörð that doubles his strength, and iron gloves for gripping the hammer's shaft Gylfaginning 21.

The hammer was forged by dwarfs for a wager with Loki. It never misses, always returns to his hand, and can shrink to fit inside his shirt; its only flaw is a short handle Skáldskaparmál 35. The gods judged it the best of all their treasures, "the greatest defence against the Rime-Giants" Skáldskaparmál 35.

Against the giants

Thor's work is killing giants. When the giant who built Ásgarð's wall was about to win the sun, the moon and Freyja as his wages, the gods called on Thor, who "paid the wright's wage" with one blow Gylfaginning 42; Völuspá adds that "seldom he sits when he such things hears" Völuspá 26. He faced Hrungnir, the strongest giant, in a duel. Hrungnir's whetstone shattered against the hammer, and a fragment lodged in Thor's head for good Skáldskaparmál 17. He waded a flooding river to reach Geirröðr, and killed him with a glowing iron bar thrown back through a pillar Skáldskaparmál 18.

The best-known poem about him is a comedy. In Þrymskviða the giant Þrymr steals the hammer and demands Freyja as his bride. Thor is dressed in a bridal veil and sent instead.

Thor alone ate an ox, and eight salmon,All the dainties as well that were set for the women;And drank Sif's mate three tuns of mead.Þrymskviða 24

When the hammer is laid in the "bride's" lap to bless the marriage, Thor's heart laughs, and he kills the whole wedding party Þrymskviða 31.

The World Serpent

Thor's great enemy is Jörmungandr, the serpent coiled around the world. At Útgarða-Loki's hall he fails to lift a grey cat off the floor; afterwards he learns that the cat was the serpent, and that the giants were terrified when he raised one of its feet Gylfaginning 47. Later, fishing with the giant Hymir with an ox-head for bait, he hauls the serpent to the gunwale Hymiskviða 24. The sources disagree about the outcome. Hymiskviða says he struck its head with the hammer Hymiskviða 24; Snorri says Hymir cut the line, and though some claim Thor struck off its head, "the Midgard Serpent yet lives" Gylfaginning 48.

A god with limits

The poems are not always respectful. At Útgarða-Loki's court Thor is beaten by illusions: he cannot drain a horn whose end lies in the sea, and an old woman, Old Age herself, forces him to one knee Gylfaginning 46 Gylfaginning 47. Loki taunts him with hiding "in the thumb of a glove" Lokasenna 60. In Hárbarðsljóð Odin, as a ferryman, refuses to row him across and sneers that Thor gets the thralls while Odin gets the nobles Hárbarðsljóð 24. In Alvíssmál it is Thor who wins by cunning, keeping a dwarf who wants his daughter answering questions all night until "the day has caught thee, dwarf!" Alvíssmál 35.

Ragnarök

At Ragnarök Thor meets the serpent for the last time. He kills it, walks nine paces and falls dead from its venom Völuspá 56 Gylfaginning 51. His sons Móði and Magni survive and inherit Mjöllnir Vafþrúðnismál 51.

Outside the Eddas

Thor was among the most widely worshipped gods of the Viking Age. Adam of Bremen describes his image at the centre of the temple at Uppsala, between Odin and Freyr. Snorri's Prologue, by contrast, turns him into Trór, a grandson of King Priam of Troy who fought giants and a dragon and married a prophetess called Sif Prose Edda, Prologue.

In the sources

Quoted from the hosted translations; each line is checked against the text when the site is built. Select a reference to read it in context.

Thor is the foremost of them, he that is called Thor of the Æsir, or Öku-Thor; he is strongest of all the gods and men.
Gylfaginning 21 Snorri introduces Thor first among the gods after Odin.
He has also three things of great price: one is the hammer Mjöllnir, which the Rime-Giants and the Hill-Giants know, when it is raised on high
Gylfaginning 21 His three treasures: the hammer, the girdle of might and the iron gloves.
Wild was Vingthor when he awoke, And when his mighty hammer he missed
Þrymskviða 1 The opening of the comic poem in which Thor must dress as a bride to recover his stolen hammer.
The venomous serpent swiftly up To the boat did Thor, the bold one, pull
Hymiskviða 24 Thor hooks the Midgard Serpent while fishing with the giant Hymir.
the hammer Mjöllnir struck Hrungnir in the middle of the head, and smashed his skull into small crumbs
Skáldskaparmál 17 Thor's duel with Hrungnir, strongest of the giants, which leaves a piece of whetstone in his head.
Nine paces fares the son of Fjorgyn, And, slain by the serpent, fearless he sinks.
Völuspá 56 At Ragnarök Thor kills the serpent and dies of its venom.
The noble who fall in the fight hath Othin, And Thor hath the race of the thralls.
Hárbarðsljóð 24 Odin, disguised as a ferryman, mocks Thor as the god of common people.

Where the sources disagree or fall silent

  • Thor's descent: Gylfaginning makes him Odin's eldest son by the Earth (Gylfaginning 9), but the Prologue makes him Trór, grandson of King Priam of Troy and a distant ancestor of Odin (Prose Edda, Prologue).
  • Whether Thor killed the Midgard Serpent on the fishing trip: Hymiskvída says he struck its head (Hymiskviða 24); Snorri reports that some say so but believes it still lives in the sea (Gylfaginning 48).
  • Who threw Thjazi's eyes into the sky: Thor claims it in Hárbarðsljóð (Hárbarðsljóð 19); Snorri says Odin did it to atone to Skaði (Skáldskaparmál 1).
  • His mother is named Jörð by Snorri and in Þrymskviða (Þrymskviða 1), Hlóðyn and Fjörgyn in Völuspá (Völuspá 55-56). These are usually taken as names of the same earth-goddess, but the poems do not say so.

In modern culture

Not from the medieval sources.

Thursday is 'Thor's day' (Old English Thunresdæg), and many Scandinavian place-names and personal names begin with Thor-. Small hammer pendants were worn in the Viking Age and are worn again today, including in modern heathen religion. Marvel's Thor first appeared in Journey into Mystery #83 (1962) and later in films from 2011: there he is blond, Loki is his adopted brother and the hammer can be lifted only by the worthy, none of which comes from the Eddas.

Myths with Thor

Baldr's dreams and death Baldr dreams of his own death; Odin rides to Hel to question a dead seeress; and, in Snorri's telling, Loki puts a sprig of mistletoe into blind Höðr's hand. The gods lose their brightest member and the slide toward Ragnarök begins. Loki's flyting at Ægir's feast Thrown out of the sea-giant Ægir's feast for killing a servant, Loki walks back in and insults every god and goddess in turn, until Thor comes home and threatens him with the hammer. Odin as Grímnir between the fires To win a wager with Frigg, Odin visits his foster-son King Geirröðr in disguise and is tortured between two fires for eight nights. Given a drink by the king's young son, he pours out a vision of the gods' halls and the world-tree, then reveals himself, and the king falls on his own sword. Ragnarök: the doom of the gods The end of the Norse world as told in Völuspá, Vafþrúðnismál and Snorri's Gylfaginning: winter and war, the wolf and the serpent loose, the gods killed one by one, and Surtr's fire over the earth. The binding of Loki After Baldr's death Loki hides as a salmon in a waterfall. The gods catch him in a net, bind him on three stones with his own son's entrails, and hang a serpent over his face. Sigyn catches the venom in a bowl until Ragnarök. The giant builder and the wall of Asgard A stranger offers to wall the gods' stronghold in a single winter, for the price of Freyja, the sun and the moon. When he is about to win, Loki saves the gods by turning himself into a mare — and gives birth to Sleipnir. The treasures of the gods: Sif's hair and Brokkr's wager Loki shaves Sif's head, and to save his own skin sets two families of dwarf-smiths competing. The result is six treasures — golden hair, a folding ship, a spear, a ring, a golden boar and Thor's hammer — and Loki's lips sewn shut. The world reborn After Ragnarök a green earth rises from the sea. Surviving gods meet on Iðavöllr, Baldr returns from Hel, two humans come out of hiding, and a new sun rides the sky. The sources do not agree on who survives. Thor and the dwarf Alvíss A dwarf named Alvíss, 'All-Wise', comes to claim Thor's daughter as his promised bride. Thor agrees, if the dwarf can tell him what everything is called in every world, and keeps him answering until the sun comes up. Thor fishes for the World Serpent Sent to fetch a giant's brewing kettle, Thor goes fishing with the giant Hymir, baits his hook with an ox-head and hauls the Midgard Serpent up to the gunwale. The poem Hymiskvíða and Snorri tell it differently, and disagree on how it ended. Thor in the hall of Geirröðr To save his own life Loki promises to bring Thor, unarmed, to the giant Geirröðr. A friendly giantess lends Thor a belt, gloves and staff; he survives a flooding river, a rising chair and a red-hot iron bar, and kills Geirröðr and his daughters. Thor's duel with Hrungnir A horse race with Odin brings the stone-headed giant Hrungnir drunk and boasting into Asgard. Thor challenges him to the first single combat of his life, kills him with Mjölnir, and carries a piece of the giant's whetstone in his skull for ever after. Thor's journey to Útgarða-Loki Thor travels east with Loki, Þjálfi and Röskva, sleeps in a giant's glove, and loses every contest in the hall of Útgarða-Loki: to fire, to thought, to the sea, to the World Serpent and to old age. Only at parting does he learn he was tricked. Thrym steals Thor's hammer Thor wakes to find Mjölnir gone. The giant Þrymr will return it only for Freyja as his bride, so Thor goes to the wedding himself, in a veil, with Loki as his bridesmaid.

Related

Mjölnir Mjöllnir Thor's short-handled hammer, forged by the dwarf brothers Brokkr and Sindri: it never misses, always returns to his hand, kills giants, and hallows brides, pyres and the dead goats it brings back to life. Megingjörð and Járngreipr Megingjörð Thor's belt of strength, which doubles his power when he buckles it on, and the iron gloves he needs to wield his hammer. Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr Tanngrisnir ok Tanngnjóstr The two he-goats that pull Thor's chariot. He can kill and eat them and raise them again with his hammer, if their bones are left whole. Bilskirnir and Þrúðvangr Bilskirnir Thor's hall, with five hundred and forty rooms, the greatest house ever built; it stands in his land of Þrúðvangr, 'strength-field'. Þjálfi and Röskva Þjálfi ok Röskva A farmer's son and daughter whom Thor takes as servants after Þjálfi cracks a goat's bone. Þjálfi, swiftest of men, goes with Thor against Útgarða-Loki, Hrungnir and Geirröðr. Jörmungandr Loki's serpent son, thrown by Odin into the ocean, where it grew to encircle the whole earth; Thor's great enemy, whom he hooks once and kills at Ragnarök. Hrungnir The strongest of the giants, with a head, heart and shield of stone. He races Odin into Ásgard, gets drunk there, and dies when Thor's hammer shatters his whetstone and his skull. Sif Thor's wife, mother of Ullr and Þrúðr, famous for the golden hair the dwarfs made for her after Loki cut off her own. Ullr Sif's son and Thor's stepson, a god of the bow and the snowshoe whose many place-names hint at an importance the surviving myths no longer show. Loki The giant-born trickster counted among the Æsir: father of Fenrir, the Midgard Serpent and Hel, contriver of Baldr's death, bound until Ragnarök.