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Thor

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Divinities

   Thor's battle against the giants, by Mårten Eskil Winge, 1872
   Thor's battle against the giants, by Mårten Eskil Winge, 1872

   Thor ( Old Norse: Þórr) is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder in
   Norse Mythology and more generally Germanic mythology (Old English:
   Þunor, Old Dutch and Old High German: Donar, from Proto-Germanic
   *Þunraz).

   Thor is the son of Odin and Jörd. During Ragnarök, Thor and Jörmungandr
   kill each other.

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 Norse god. He uses his superior power
   to protect Asgard and Midgard.

Family

   Thor is the son of Odin and the giantess Jörd (Jord, the Earth). His
   wife is called Sif, and little is known of her except that she has
   golden hair, which was made for her by the dwarves after Loki had cut
   off her hair. With his mistress, the giantess Járnsaxa, Thor had his
   sons Magni and Modi, and with Sif he had his daughter Þrúðr (anglicized
   as Thrud). The euhemeristic prologue of the Prose Edda also indicates
   he has a son by Sif named Lóriði, along with an additional 17
   generations of descendants but the prologue is apocryphal and was meant
   to give a plausible explanation on how the Aesir came to be worshipped
   even though they were not gods in order to appease the church. Thor
   also has a stepson called Ullr who is a son of Sif. Skáldskaparmál
   mentions a figure named Hlóra who was Thor's foster mother,
   corresponding to Lora or Glora from Snorre's prologue, although no
   additional information concerning her is provided in the poem.

Possessions

   Thor travels in a chariot drawn by the goats Tanngrisnir and
   Tanngnjóstr and with his servant and messenger Þjálfi 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. His Mjolnir also has the power
   to throw lighting bolts. To wield Mjölnir, Thor wears the belt
   Megingjord, which boosts the wearer's strength and a pair of special
   iron gloves, Jarn Griepr, to lift the hammer.

   The old germanic tribes knew Thor as Donner and the german word for
   thunder is Donnerschlag. It is the strike of the hammer that causes
   thunderclaps, schlagen meaning to hit in German. Mjolnir is also his
   main weapon when fighting giants.

   Thor lives in the palace Bilskirnir in the kingdom Þrúðheimr or
   Þrúðvangr.

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 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.

   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). Then, Loki
   (who was with Thor) was challenged by Útgarða-Loki to an eating contest
   with one of his servants, Logi. Loki lost, eventually. The servant even
   ate up the trough containing the food. The servant was an illusion of
   "Wild-Fire", no living thing being able to equal the consumption rate
   of fire. 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.

   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, Snorre
   Sturlason, Ælfric of Eynsham) 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.

   Another noted story of Thor was the time when Thrym, King of the Thurse
   (Giants), stole his hammer, Mjölnir. Thor went to Loki in hopes to find
   the culprit responsible for the theft. Loki and Thor went to Freyja for
   council. She gave Loki the Feather-robe so he could travel to the land
   of the giants to speak to their king. The king admitted to stealing the
   hammer and would not give it back unless Freyja gave her hand in
   marriage.

   Freyja refused when she heard the plan so the gods decided to think of
   a way to trick the King. Heimdall, the fairest of the gods and one of
   the prophetic Vanir, suggested dressing up Thor in a bridal gown so he
   can take Freyja's place. Thor at first refused to do such a thing as it
   would portray him as a coward and womanish, but Loki insisted that he
   does so or the Giants would attack Asgard and win it over if he does
   not retrieve the hammer in time. Thor reluctantly agreed in the end and
   took Freyja's place.

   Odin rode Thor to the land of the Giants and a celebration ensued. The
   king noticed a few odd things that his bride was committing. He noted
   that she ate and drank more than what he would expect from a bride.
   Loki whom was in disguise as the false Freyja's servant commented that
   she rode for 8 full nights without food eager to take his hand. He then
   asked why his bride's eyes so terrifying, they seemed to be aglow with
   fire, again Loki responded with the fact that she did not sleep for 8
   full nights eager for his hand. Then the giant commanded that the
   hammer be brought to his wife and placed on her lap. Once it was in
   Thor's possession he threw off his disguise and attacked all the giants
   in the room. Due to this ruse the giants were careful not to do the
   same mistake again.

Norse literature

   The two biggest works are the Elder Edda (or Poetic Edda) and the
   Younger Edda (also Snorre's Edda, Prose Edda). Thor is a very common
   figure, probably more common than Odin.

   Thor appears as the central figure in the following works of Norse
   literature:
     * Þórsdrápa (summarised by Snorre Sturlason 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:
     * Gylfaginning
     * Grímnismál
     * Hymiskviða
     * Þrymskviða
     * Alvíssmál
     * Lokasenna
     * Völuspá
     * Njáls saga
     * Gautreks saga
     * Eiríksmál
     * Ragnarsdrápa
     * Eyrbyggja saga
     * Húsdrápa
     * Kjalnesinga saga
     * Haustlöng
     * Fóstbrœðra saga
     * Fljótsdæla saga
     * Hallfreðar saga
     * Heimskringla
     * Landnámabók
     * Flateyjarbók
     * Gesta Danorum
     * Nordendorf fibula
     * Saxon baptismal vow
     * Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum

Archaeological finds

   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.

Personal names

   The name of the god Thor is the first element in many Scandinavian
   names:
     * Norwegian male names: Toralv, Torbjørn, Torfinn, Torgeir, Torgils,
       Torgny, Torgrim, Torkjell, Torlak, Torleif, Tormod, Torodd, Torolv,
       Torstein and Torvald.
     * Norwegian female names: Torbjørg, Tordis, Torfrid (Turid), Torgerd,
       Torgunn, Torhild (Toril), Torlaug, Torunn and Torveig.
     * Icelandic male names: Þór, Þórhallur, Þorbergur, Þorbjörn,
       Þorfinnur, Þorgeir, Þorgils, Þorgrímur, þorkell, Þorlákur,
       þorleifur, Þorsteinn, Þorvaldur, Þórarinn, Þórður and Þórólfur
     * Icelandic female names: Þorbjörg, Þorgerður, Þóra, Þórdís,
       Þórhildur, Þórunn and Þórgunnur
     * Danish male names: Tor, Torben, Torkil/Terkel, Torleif, Torsten,
       Torvald
     * Danish female names: Tora, Tove
     * Swedish male names: Tor, Torbjörn, Tord, Tore, Torgny, Torkel,
       Torleif, Torsten, Torvald
     * Swedish female names: Tora, Torunn, Tove
     * It is a compound found in the Scottish Christian name Torquil, and
       the English surname, Thurkettle.

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 nebula NGC2359 is 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.

Homologues

Homologues in related religions

   These are homologues that were created in religions of other speakers
   of Indo-European languages.
     * Taranis
     * Indra
     * Perkūnas
     * Perun
     * Heracles
     * Jupiter

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

   Donner calls upon the storm clouds in this illustration by Arthur
   Rackham to Wagner's Das Rheingold.
   Donner calls upon the storm clouds in this illustration by Arthur
   Rackham to Wagner's Das Rheingold.

   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. Since Wagner's time, Thor has appeared, either as
   himself or as the namesake of characters, in comic books, on
   television, in literature and in song lyrics.

Modern symbolism

     * The City of Sheffield's coat of arms's supporters are the Roman god
       Vulcan and the Germanic god Thor, to represent heating and
       hammering of iron and steel in the area's heavy industry.

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