Thor
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Thor (/θɔːr/; from Old Norse: Þórr [ˈθoːrː]) is an important god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of mankind, sanctification, and fertility. Alongside the Old Norse Þórr, the deity also appears in Old English as Þunor, in Old Frisian as Thuner, in Old Saxon as Thunar, and in Old High German as Donar, all ultimately deriving from the Proto-Germanic theonym *Þun(a)raz, which means "thunder."
Thor is prominently mentioned throughout the recorded history of the Germanic peoples, from the Roman occupation of territories in Germania to the Germanic expansions during the Migration Period, and his widespread popularity during the Viking Age, when, in the face of the Christianisation of Scandinavia, emblems of his hammer Mjölnir were worn, and pagan Norse personal names containing the name of the god were common, bearing testimony to his popularity.
Due to the nature of the Germanic corpus, stories featuring Thor are only attested in Old Norse, where Thor appears throughout Norse mythology. In Old Norse mythology, which was mostly recorded in Iceland based on traditions originating from Scandinavia, there are numerous tales about the god. In these sources, Thor has at least fifteen names, is the husband of the golden-haired goddess Sif, the lover of the Jötunn Járnsaxa, and is generally described as having a grim expression, with red hair and a red beard.
With Sif, Thor fathered the goddess (and possible Valkyrie) Þrúðr; with Járnsaxa, he fathered Magni; with a mother whose name is not preserved, he fathered Móði, and he is the stepfather of the god Ullr. Through Odin, Thor has numerous brothers, including Baldr. Thor has two servants, Þjálfi and Röskva, rides in a chariot drawn by two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr (whom he eats and revives), and he is attributed three residences (Bilskirnir, Þrúðheimr, and Þrúðvangr). Thor wields the hammer Mjölnir, wears the belt Megingjörð and the iron gloves Járngreipr, and possesses the staff Gríðarvölr. Thor’s heroic deeds, including his relentless slaying of his enemies and his fierce battles with the monstrous serpent Jörmungandr – and their prophesied mutual death during the events of Ragnarök – are recorded in all sources of Norse mythology.
Up until modern times, Thor was honoured in rural folklore throughout Germanic-speaking Europe. Thor is frequently mentioned in place names, and the weekday Thursday bears his name (the modern English Thursday is derived from Old English þunresdæġ, "Þunor's Day"), and names from the pagan era that contain his name are still used today, especially in Scandinavia. Thor has inspired numerous works of art, and references to Thor can be found in modern popular culture. Like other Germanic deities, Thor is also revered in modern-day paganism.
Name
The medieval Germanic forms Þórr (Old Norse), Donar (Old High German), Þunor (Old English), Thuner (Old Frisian), and Thunar (Old Saxon) are cognates – linguistic siblings of the same origin. They are derived from the Proto-Germanic reconstructed theonym *Þun(a)raz ("thunder"), which is identical to the name of the Celtic god Taranus (by metathesis – a swapping of sounds – from an earlier *Tonaros, which is attested in the dative as tanaro or in the Gaulish river name Tanarus) and is related to the common Proto-Indo-European root for "thunder" *(s)tenh₂- with the Latin epithet Tonans (Jupiter). According to scholar Peter Jackson, these theonyms may have originally arisen as a result of the fossilisation of an original epithet (or epiclesis, i.e. a name of invocation) for the Proto-Indo-European thunder god *Perkwunos, as the Vedic weather god Parjanya is also called stanayitnú- ("thunderer").
The perfect match between the thunder gods *Tonaros and *Þun(a)raz, both of which go back to a common form *ton(a)ros ~ *tṇros, is remarkable in the context of early Celtic-Germanic language contacts, especially when adding other inherited terms with thunder-related attributes, such as *Meldunjaz-*meldo- (from *meldh- 'lightning, hammer', i.e. *Perkwunos). i.e. *Perkwunos' weapon) or *Fergunja-*Fercunyā (from *perkwun-iyā 'wooded mountains', i.e. *Perkwunos' domain).
The English weekday name Thursday comes from Old English Þunresdæg, meaning "day of Þunor." It is related to the Old Norse Þórsdagr and the Old High German Donarestag. All these terms derive from the late Proto-Germanic weekday *Þonaresdag ("day of *Þun(a)raz"), a pun on the Latin Iovis dies ("day of Jove"; cf. modern Italian giovedì, French jeudi, Spanish jueves). During the Roman era, the ancient Germans adopted the Latin week calendar and replaced the names of Roman gods with their own, using a practice known as interpretatio germanica.
From the Viking Age, personal names containing the theonym Thórr are frequently attested, whereas no examples from before this period are known. Names based on Thórr could have emerged in the Viking Age as a defiant response to Christianisation efforts, similar to the widespread Viking practice of wearing pendants of Thor's hammer.
Historical Evidence
Roman Era
The earliest records of the Germanic peoples come from the Romans, and in these works, Thor is frequently – through a process known as interpretatio romana (where the Romans identify a non-Roman god with a similar Roman deity) – either referred to as the Roman god Jupiter (also known as Jove) or the Greco-Roman god Hercules.
The first clear example of this is found in the work Germania by the Roman historian Tacitus from the late first century, in which he writes about the religion of the Suebi (a confederation of Germanic peoples), stating that "among the gods, Mercury is the one they worship most. They regard it as a religious duty to offer him human and other sacrifices on certain days. Hercules and Mars they appease with animal sacrifices of the permitted kind" and adds that some of the Suebi also worship Isis. In this case, Tacitus identifies the god Odin as "Mercury," Thor as "Hercules," and the god Týr as "Mars," and the identity of the Suebi's Isis is disputed. In the case of Thor, the identification with Hercules is likely partly due to the similarities between Thor’s hammer and Hercules' club. In his Annals, Tacitus again mentions the worship of "Hercules" by the Germans; he reports a forest beyond the Weser (in present-day north-west Germany) that was dedicated to him. In Lower Germania, a deity called Hercules Magusanus was worshipped; because of the Roman identification of Thor with Hercules, Rudolf Simek has speculated that Magusanus was originally an epithet of the Proto-Germanic god *Þunraz.
Post-Roman Era
The name of the god is first mentioned on the Nordendorf Fibula, a piece of jewellery from the Migration Period found in Bavaria. The item bears an inscription in Elder Futhark with the name Þonar (i.e. Donar), the south Germanic form of the name Thor.
In the second half of the 8th century, Thor is mentioned in Old English texts as Thunor (Þunor), which likely refers to a Saxon version of the god. In this context, Thunor is sometimes used in Old English texts as a designation for Jupiter, the god can be mentioned in the poem Solomon and Saturn, where thunder strikes the devil with a "fiery axe," and the Old English expression þunorrād ("thunder ride") may refer to the thunderous, goat-drawn chariot of the god.
In a 9th-century manuscript known as the Old Saxon baptismal vow, the names of the three Old Saxon gods UUôden (Old Saxon "Wodan"), Saxnôte, and Thunaer are cited as demons in a formula that must be repeated by Germanic pagans officially converting to Christianity.
A contemporary report notes that the Christian missionary Boniface, in the 8th century, felled an oak tree dedicated to "Jove," the Donar Oak in Hesse, Germany.
The royal legend of Kent, likely from the 11th century, contains the story of a rogue bailiff of Ecgberht of Kent named Thunor, who was swallowed by the earth at a place thereafter known as þunores hlæwe (Old English "Thunor’s mound"). Gabriel Turville-Petre considered this an invented origin of the place name, showing the loss of memory of Thunor as the name of a god.
Viking Age
In the 11th century, the chronicler Adam of Bremen, in his Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum, reported that a statue of Thor, whom he describes as the "mightiest," stood in the temple of Uppsala, in the middle of a triple throne (flanked by Woden and "Fricco") in Gamla Uppsala, Sweden. Adam reports that "Thor rules the sky, he governs thunder and lightning, winds and storms, fine weather and fertility" and that "Thor with his club looks like Jupiter." Adam further reports that the people of Uppsala had appointed priests for each of the gods who were to offer sacrifices to them. In the case of Thor, he continues, these sacrifices were made when plague or famine threatened. In 1030, an English preacher named Wulfred was lynched by gathered Germanic pagans for "desecrating" an image of Thor, Adam reports.
From the 11th century, two items with runic inscriptions invoking Thor are known, one from England and one from Sweden. The first, the Canterbury Charm from Canterbury, England, asks Thor to heal a wound by driving away a Thur. The second, the Kvinneby Amulet, invokes the protection of Thor and his hammer.
On four (or possibly five) runestones, there appears an invocation to Thor which reads: "May Thor sanctify (these runes/this monument)!" The invocation appears three times in Denmark (DR 110, DR 209, and DR 220) and once in Västergötland (VG 150), Sweden. A fifth possible occurrence appears on a runestone in Södermanland, Sweden (Sö 140), but the interpretation is disputed.
Illustrative depictions of Thor's hammer are found on a total of five runestones, located in Denmark (DR 26 and DR 120) as well as the Swedish provinces of Västergötland (VG 113) and Södermanland (Sö 86 and Sö 111), along with runestone DR 48. It is suggested that the design is a pagan response to Christian runestones, which often have a cross in the centre. One of the stones, Sö 86, shows a face or mask above the hammer. Anders Hultgård has argued that this is the face of Thor. At least three stones show Thor fishing for the serpent Jörmungandr: the Hørdum stone in Thy, Denmark, the Altuna runestone in Altuna, Sweden, and the Gosforth Cross in Gosforth, England. Sune Lindqvist claimed in the 1930s that the Bildstone Ardre VIII in Gotland depicts two scenes from the story: Thor beheading Hymir’s ox, and Thor and Hymir in the boat, but this is disputed.
Post-Viking Age
In the 12th century, more than a century after the "official" Christianisation of Norway, Thor was still invoked by the population, as evidenced by a staff with a runic inscription found among the Bryggen inscriptions in Bergen, Norway. The staff calls on both Thor and Odin for help; Thor is asked to "receive" the reader, and Odin, to "possess" him.
Poetic Edda
In the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from preserved source material dating back to pagan times, Thor appears in the poems Völuspá, Grímnismál, Skírnismál, Hárbarðsljóð, Hymiskviða, Lokasenna, Þrymskviða, Alvíssmál, and Hyndluljóð (or is mentioned in them).
In the poem Völuspá, a dead Völva tells the story of the universe and prophesies the future to the disguised god Odin, including the death of Thor. She predicts that Thor will fight the great serpent during the great mythical battle of Ragnarök and will slay the monstrous snake, but afterwards he will only take nine steps before succumbing to the serpent's poison:
Benjamin Thorpe Translation:
Then comes the mighty son of Hlôdyn:
(Odin's son goes to battle with the monster);
Midgard's Protector will slay the worm in his rage.
Nine feet will Fjörgyn's son go,
Bent by the serpent, who feared no foe.
All men will leave their homes.
Henry Adams Bellows Translation:
Here comes the son of Hlothyn,
The bright serpent rises to the sky;
...
The son of Odin goes against the serpent.
In his rage, he strikes down the earth's guardian;
From their homes, all must flee.
Nine steps goes Fjörgyn's son,
And struck by the serpent, he falls fearless.
Afterward, says the Völva, the sky will turn black before fire swallows the world, the stars will vanish, flames will dance before the sky, steam will rise, the world will be covered with water, and then it will rise again, green and fertile.
In Grímnismál, the disguised god Odin, suffering from hunger and thirst, imparts cosmological knowledge to the young Agnar, including the fact that Thor resides in Þrúðheimr and wades daily through the rivers Körmt and Örmt as well as the two Kerlaugar. There, Grímnir says, Thor sits as a judge at the giant cosmic World Tree Yggdrasil.
In Skírnismál, the messenger of the god Freyr, Skírnir, threatens the beautiful Gerðr, whom Freyr loves, with numerous threats and curses, including that Thor, Freyr, and Odin will be angry with her, and that she risks their "mighty wrath."
Thor is the main figure in Hárbarðsljóð, where he arrives at a fjord after a journey "from the east," where he meets a ferryman who claims to be Hárbarðr (Odin in disguise) and tries to be taken across. The ferryman, who shouts from the bay, is immediately rude and intolerable to Thor and refuses to take him across. Thor initially remains silent, but Hárbarðr grows more aggressive, and the poem soon turns into a verbal duel between Thor and Hárbarðr, with the entire time revealing tales about the two, including Thor’s slaying of several Jötnar in the "east" and berserk women on Hlesey (now the Danish island Læsø). In the end, Thor walks instead.
Thor is also the main figure in Hymiskviða. After the gods have been hunting and consumed their prey, they feel the need to drink. They "shake the branches" and hint at what they say. The gods decide to find suitable cauldrons in Ægir's house. Thor arrives at Ægir’s house and finds him cheerfully ready, looks him in the eye, and tells him that he must prepare a feast for the gods. Annoyed, Ægir tells Thor that the gods must first bring him a suitable cauldron to brew beer in. The gods search but find no such cauldron. However, Týr tells Thor that he might have a solution; east of Élivágar lives Hymir, and he possesses a cauldron deep enough to brew beer for all.
After securing his goats in Egil’s house, Thor and Týr head to Hymir’s hall to find a cauldron large enough to brew beer for everyone. When they arrive, Týr sees his grandmother with nine hundred heads and his mother dressed in gold, who greets them with a horn. After Hymir – who is displeased to see Thor – comes inside from the cold, Týr's mother helps them find a strong cauldron. Thor eats a large meal of two oxen (while everyone else eats only one) and then falls asleep. In the morning, he wakes and tells Hymir that he plans to go fishing the next evening and will have much to catch but needs bait. Hymir tells him to get bait from his field, which should not be a problem for Thor. Thor goes out, finds Hymir's best ox, and tears off its head.
After a gap in the manuscript of the poem, Hymiskviða abruptly continues with Thor and Hymir in a boat on the sea. Hymir catches several whales, and Thor baits his line with the head of the ox. Thor throws his line, and the monstrous serpent Jörmungandr bites. Thor drags the serpent aboard and strikes it hard on the head with his hammer. Jörmungandr screeches, and a loud uproar is heard underwater, before another gap in the manuscript appears.
After the second gap, Hymir sits silently and unhappily in the boat as they row back to shore. On the shore, Hymir suggests that Thor help him carry a whale to his farm. Thor lifts both the boat and the whales and carries everything back to Hymir's farm. After Thor, following Týr's mother's advice, successfully smashes a crystal chalice by throwing it at Hymir's head, Thor and Týr receive the cauldron. Týr cannot lift it, but Thor manages to roll it, and so they set off with it. Not far from Hymir's house, an army of many-headed beings led by Hymir attacks the two, but they are slain by Thor’s hammer. Despite one of his goats having a lame leg, the two manage to return with the cauldron, drink plenty of beer, and from then on, return every winter to Týr for more.
In Lokasenna, the demigod Loki angrily argues with the gods in the hall of the sea-being Ægir. Thor, however, does not participate in the event, as he is travelling east for unspecified reasons. Towards the end of the poem, Loki turns to Sif, Thor’s wife, claiming that he has slept with her. The servant of the god Frey, Beyla, intervenes, saying that since all the mountains are shaking, she believes Thor is on his way back. Beyla adds that Thor will bring peace to the quarrel, to which Loki responds with insults.
**Thor arrives and tells Loki to be silent, threatening to tear off his head with his hammer. Loki asks Thor why he is so angry and remarks that Thor would not dare to fight "the Wolf" (Fenrir) if he were to devour Odin (a reference to the prophesied events of Ragnarök). Thor tells him again to be quiet and threatens to throw him into the sky, where he will never be seen again. Loki tells Thor not to boast about his time in the East, as he once crouched in the thumb of a glove out of fear (a story involving deception by the magic of Útgarða-Loki, as told in the Prose Edda in the book Gylfaginning) – which, as Loki comments, "was hardly like Thor." Thor tells him again to be quiet and threatens to break every bone in his body. Loki replies that he intends to live a while longer and insults Thor again by making references to his encounter with Útgarða-Loki. Thor responds with a fourth request for silence and threatens to send Loki to Helheim. At Thor’s final threat, Loki gives in and says that he will leave the hall only for Thor, for "I alone know that you strike," and the poem continues.
In the comedic poem Þrymskviða, Thor again plays a central role. In the poem, Thor wakes up and finds that his mighty hammer, Mjölnir, is missing. Thor turns to Loki and tells him that no one knows the hammer has been stolen. The two go to the house of the goddess Freyja, and to try and find Mjölnir, Thor asks her if he may borrow her feathered cloak. Freyja agrees and says she would lend it to Thor even if it were made of silver or gold, and Loki flies off with the whistling cloak.
In Jötunheimr, the Jötunn Þrymr sits on a cart, weaving golden necklaces for his hounds and trimming the manes of his horses. Þrymr sees Loki and asks what is happening with the Æsir and the Elves; why is Loki alone in Jötunheimr? Loki answers that he has bad news for both the Æsir and the Elves – Thor's hammer, Mjölnir, is gone. Þrymr says that he has hidden Mjölnir eight miles beneath the earth, from where it can only be retrieved if he is given Freyja as his wife. Loki flies away with the whistling cloak from Jötunheimr and back to the gods' hall.
Thor asks Loki if his efforts were successful, and Loki is told to tell him while still in the air, as "stories often escape a sitting man, and the man who lies down often barks lies out." Loki explains that it was indeed an effort and also a success, as he has discovered that Þrymr has the hammer but can only return it if Freyja is brought to him as his wife. The two return to Freyja and tell her she must put on a bridal gown, as they are taking her to Jötunheimr. Freyja, outraged and furious, goes into a tantrum that shakes all the halls of the Æsir in her wrath, and her necklace, the famous Brísingamen, falls from her. Freyja refuses.
The gods and goddesses then meet and hold a Thing to discuss the matter. The god Heimdallr suggests that Thor should be dressed as the bride instead of Freyja, wearing jewels, women's clothes down to the knee, a bridal headpiece, and the Brísingamen necklace. Thor refuses the idea, but Loki insists this is the only way to retrieve Mjölnir. Loki points out that the Jötnar could invade Asgard without Mjölnir and settle there. The gods dress Thor as a bride, and Loki says he will accompany Thor as his maid, and the two will travel together to Jötunheimr.
After they have travelled together in Thor's chariot drawn by a goat, they arrive disguised in Jötunheimr. Þrymr orders the Jötnar in his hall to spread straw on the benches, for Freyja has come to be his wife. Þrymr tells of his valuable animals and belongings and explains that Freyja is all that is lacking in his wealth.
In the early evening, the disguised Loki and Thor meet Þrymr and the gathered Jötnar. Thor eats and drinks wildly, devouring whole animals and three barrels of mead. Þrymr finds that this behaviour does not match his impression of Freyja, and Loki, sitting before Þrymr and acting as "a very clever maid," excuses "Freya's" behaviour by saying she had not drunk anything for eight days because she had been so eager to arrive. Þrymr then lifts "Freya's" veil and attempts to kiss her. Terrible eyes glare at him, seemingly burning with fire. Loki says that this is because "Freya" has not slept for eight nights in her eagerness.
The "unfortunate sister" of the Jötnar appears and asks for a bridal gift from "Freya," and the Jötunn brings forth Mjölnir to "sanctify the bride," laying it on her lap and joining them through the "hand" of the goddess Vár. Thor laughs inwardly when he sees the hammer, grabs it, strikes Þrymr, defeats all the Jötnar, kills their "older sister," and thus retrieves his hammer.
In the poem Alvíssmál, Thor tricks the dwarf Alvíss into his doom when he learns that the dwarf wants to marry his daughter (unnamed, possibly Þrúðr). At the beginning of the poem, Thor meets a dwarf who speaks of a marriage. Thor finds the dwarf repulsive and evidently realises that the bride is his daughter. Thor comments that the marriage contract was made among the gods while he was away, and that the dwarf must obtain his consent. To do this, Thor tells Alvíss that he must tell him what he knows about all the worlds the dwarf has visited. In a long question-and-answer session, Alvíss describes the natural features as they are known in the languages of various peoples around the world, providing many cosmological traditions.
However, the questioning turns out to be a trick by Thor, for although Thor remarks that he has truly never met anyone with more wisdom in their breast, he manages to delay the dwarf long enough for the sun to turn him to stone: "Now the day is dawning for you, dwarf, now the sun shines on the hall."
In the poem Hyndluljóð, Freyja offers to sacrifice Thor to protect the Jötunn woman Hyndla and remarks that Thor does not care much for Jötunn women.
Prose Edda, Heimskringla, and Sagas
In the prologue of the Prose Edda, Thor is introduced as the prince of Troy and the son of Menon and Troana, a daughter of Priam. Thor, also known as Tror, is said to have married the prophetess Sibyl (identified with Sif). Thor is said to have been raised in Thrace by a chieftain named Lorikus, whom he later killed to take the title "King of Thrace." He is described as having hair "more beautiful than gold" and being strong enough to lift ten bear skins.
The name of the Æsir is explained as "men from Asia," with Asgard being the "Asian city" (i.e., Troy). Alternatively, Troy is in Tyrkland (Turkey, i.e., Asia Minor), and Asia is Scythia, where Thor founded a new city named Asgard. Odin is a descendant of Thor, twelve generations removed, who led an expedition through Germany, Denmark, and Sweden to Norway.
In the Prose Edda, Thor is mentioned in all four books:
- Prologue
- Gylfaginning
- Skáldskaparmál
- Háttatal
In the Heimskringla, written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century, Thor or Thor statues are mentioned in the Ynglinga saga, Hákonar saga góða, Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar, and Óláfs saga helga. In chapter 5 of the Ynglinga saga, there is a heavily washed-out depiction of the gods, in which Thor is described as a Gothi – a pagan priest – to whom Odin (himself explained as an extremely powerful, magic-wielding chieftain from the East) gave a home at the mythical place Þrúðvangr in present-day Sweden. The saga adds that numerous names, common at the time of the narration, were derived from Thor.
The Holy Olaf
By the 12th century, the popular traditions and iconography of the Christianising king Olaf II of Norway (Saint Olaf; c. 995 – 1030) incorporated elements from both Thor and Frey. After Olaf's death, his cult spread rapidly across Scandinavia, where many churches were dedicated to him, and also to other parts of Northern Europe. In his cult, church and folk elements merged in a unique way. He inherited from Thor the quick temper, physical strength, and deeds as a giant-slayer. Early depictions show Olaf clean-shaven, but after 1200, he appears with a red beard. For centuries, Olaf was venerated in folk tradition as a troll- and giant-slayer, as well as a protector against evil powers.
Modern Folklore
Stories about Thor, influenced by local traditions, have continued into modern times, particularly in Scandinavia. In the 19th century, the scholar Jacob Grimm noted various sayings that had survived in the Germanic languages referring to the god, such as the Norwegian Thorsvarme ("Thor's warmth") for lightning and the Swedish godgubben åfar ("The good old fellow makes a trip"), as well as the word tordön ("Thor's rumble" or "Thor's thunder") when it thunders. Grimm observes that the Scandinavians occasionally "no longer wished to speak the real name of the god or praise his fatherly goodness." In Sweden, thunder was likely euphemistically referred to as the "ride of the god" – ās-ækia (OWN: *áss-ekja), from which the modern Swedish word for thunder, åska, derives.
Thor continued to be depicted as a red-haired figure, as shown in the Danish rhyme that still referred to him as Thor med sit lange skæg ("Thor with the long beard") and the North Frisian curse diis ruadhiiret donner regiir! ("Let the red-haired thunder cause this!").
The Scandinavian folk belief that lightning drives away trolls and Jötnar appears in numerous Scandinavian folktales and may be a late reflection of Thor's role in combating such creatures. In this context, the absence of trolls and Ettins in modern Scandinavia is explained by the "accuracy and efficiency of the lightning."
In the Netherlands, there is a story from the Sagas of Veluwe called Ontstaan van het Uddeler- en Bleeke meer in which Thor fights giants.
Archaeological Finds
Hammer Pendants, Hammer Coins, and Eyrarland Statue
In the present-day Nordic countries, England, northern Germany, the Baltic countries, and Russia, about 1,000 pendants with characteristic shapes representing Thor’s hammer have been excavated. Most are very simply designed and made of iron or silver. Around 100 have more advanced designs with ornaments. These pendants were found in various contexts (e.g., urban sites and in hoards) and come in a variety of forms. Similarly, coins depicting the hammer have also been discovered.
The Eyrarland Statue, a figure found near Akureyri (Iceland) made of a copper alloy, dating to around the 11th century, may represent Thor seated with his hammer in hand.
Swastikas
The swastika symbol has been identified as a symbol for Thor's hammer or lightning. The scholar Hilda Ellis Davidson (1965) commented on the use of the swastika as a symbol for Thor:
"The protective sign of the hammer was worn by women, as we know from the fact that it was found in women's graves. In the form of the swastika, it also seems to have been used by warriors. ... Primarily, it seems to have been associated with light and fire, and with the solar wheel. It may have been used as an alternative to the hammer because of Thor’s association with lightning, as in Scandinavia, it is found alongside inscriptions to Thor on memorial stones. If we find it on a warrior's sword pommel and on his sword belt, it is assumed that the warrior places himself under the protection of the thunder god."
Swastikas can be found on various Germanic objects from the Migration Period to the Viking Age, such as on the Værløse Fibula from the 3rd century (DR EM85;123) from Zealand, Denmark; the Gothic spearhead from Brest-Litovsk, Belarus; numerous bracteates from the Migration Period; cremation urns from early Anglo-Saxon England; the Sæbø sword from Sogn, Norway, from the 8th century; and the Snoldelev stone (DR 248) from Ramsø, Denmark, from the 9th century.
Eponymy and Toponymy
Numerous place names in Scandinavia include the Old Norse name Þórr. The identification of these place names as referring to religious significance is complicated by the frequent use of Þórr as a personal name element. Only place names containing the elements -vé (for the location of a vé, a type of pagan-Germanic sanctuary), -hóf (a structure used for religious purposes, see pagan temples), and -lundr (a sacred grove) can be considered to have cultic significance. The place name Þórslundr is particularly common in Denmark (and has direct equivalents in Nordic settlements in Ireland, such as Coill Tomair), while Þórshof is especially common in southern Norway. Torsö (Thor's island) appears on the Swedish west coast. Thor also appears in many place names in Uppland.
In English place names, the Old English Thunor (in contrast to the Old Norse form of the name, which was later introduced in Danelaw) has left comparatively few traces. Examples include Thundersley, from Thunores hlæw, and Thurstable (Old English "Thunor’s pillar"). F. M. Stenton noted that such place names appear to be restricted to Saxon and Jutish areas and do not occur in Anglian areas.
In modern Germany, places named after Thor are sparsely recorded, but several places named Donnersberg (Mount Thunder) could derive their name from the god Donner, the southern Germanic form of the god's name. As late as the 19th century, a specific breed of fox in Iceland was known as holtaþórr ("Thor of the Holt"), probably due to the red fur of this breed. In Sweden, smooth, wedge-shaped stones found in the earth were called Thorwiggar ("Thor's wedges") in the 19th century, based on the folk belief that they had once been thrown by Thor at a troll. (Compare thunderstones.) Meteorites could also be considered memorial stones for Thor in folk tradition due to their sheer weight. On the Swedish island of Gotland, a species of beetle (Scarabæus stercorarius) was named after the god: the Thorbagge. If the beetle was found upside down and turned over, it was believed that Thor’s favour would be gained. In other regions of Sweden, the beetle’s name seems to have been demonised with Christianisation, where the insect was known as Thordedjefvul or Thordyfvel (both meaning "Thor-devil").
In north-western Spain, there is a river named Torío in the municipality of Cármenes (León), which is named after the god Thor.
Origin, Theories, and Interpretations
Thor resembles other Indo-European deities associated with thunder: the Celtic Taranis, the Estonian Taara (or Tharapita), the Baltic Perkūnas, the Slavic Perun, and especially the Hindu Indra, whose red hair and thunderbolt weapon, the Vajra, are obvious parallels noted by Max Müller. Scholars have compared Indra's slaying of Vritra with Thor's battle with Jörmungandr. While it was once believed that Thor was a native sky god or a Viking Age import to Scandinavia, he is now generally considered to be derived from a Proto-Indo-European deity due to these Indo-European parallels.
In Georges Dumézil’s trifunctional hypothesis of Indo-European religion, Thor represents the second function, that of strength. Dumézil notes that as a result of shifts, he does not lead armies; most of Indra's functions were actually taken over by Odin. Many scholars have noted Thor's connection to fertility, particularly in later folklore, and in the reflection of samisk Hora galles ("Good man Thor"). For Dumézil, this represents the preservation of the atmospheric effects of the god's battles by the farmers: the fertilising rain. Others have emphasised Thor’s close connection to humanity in all its affairs. The scholar Hilda Ellis Davidson summarises:
"The Thor cult was connected with the habitation and possession of humans, as well as with the wellbeing of the family and community. This included the fertility of the fields, and although Thor is portrayed in the myths primarily as the god of storms, he was also concerned with fertility and the preservation of the seasons. In our time, small stone axes from the distant past are used as fertility symbols and are placed by farmers in the holes dug by the seed drill to receive the first seed of spring. Thor's marriage to Sif with golden hair, which we hear little of in the myths, seems to be a reminder of the old symbol of the divine marriage between the sky god and the earth goddess when he comes to the earth in a thunderstorm and the storm brings the rain that makes the fields fertile. In this way, Thor and Odin continue the cult of the sky god that was already known in the Bronze Age."
Modern Influence
Thor continues to be mentioned in art and literature. Beginning with F. J. Klopstock's Ode to Thor (1776), Thor has been the subject of poems in several languages, including Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger’s epic poem Thors Reise til Jotunheim (Thor's Journey to Jotunheim) from 1807, and three other poems by the same author (Hammeren Hentes, Thors Fiskeri, and Thor Besøger Hymir) collected in his Nordens Guder of 1819; Thors Trunk (1859) by Wilhelm Hertz; the satirical poem Mythologierne eller Gudatvisten (1820) by J. M. Stiernstolpe; Nordens Mythologie eller Sinnbilled-Sprog (1832) by N. F. S. Grundtvig; the poem Harmen von Thor by Thorild; Der Mythus von Thor (1836) by Ludwig Uhland; Der Hammer Thors (1915) by W. Schulte v. Brühl; Hans Friedrich Blunck's Herr Dunnar und die Bauern (published in Märchen und Sagen, 1937); and Die Heimholung des Hammers (1977) by H. C. Artmann. In English, Thor appears in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The Challenge of Thor (1863) and in two works by Rudyard Kipling: Letters of Travel: 1892-1913 and Cold Iron in Rewards and Fairies. Harold Shea by L. Sprague de Camp encountered Thor, like other Nordic gods, in the first of Shea's many fantasy adventures.
Artists have also depicted Thor in paintings and sculptures, including Henry Fuseli's Thor Battering the Midgard Serpent (1780), H. E. Freund's statue Thor (1821–1822), B. E. Fogelberg's marble statue Thor (1844), Mårten Eskil Winge's painting Thor's Fight with the Giants (1872), K. Ehrenberg’s drawing Odin, Thor and Magni (1883), several illustrations by E. Doepler published in Wilhelm Ranisch's Walhall (1901), J. C. Dollman’s drawings Thor and the Mountain and Sif and Thor (1909), G. Poppe's painting Thor, E. Pottners' drawing Thor's Shadow (1914), H. Natter’s marble statue Thor, and U. Brember’s illustrations for Die Heimholung des Hammers (1977) by H. C. Artmann.
In science and technology, Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius (1779–1848) discovered a chemical element which he named after Thor – Thorium. Thor is also the namesake of the PGM-17 Thor missile.
In 1962, American comic book artist Jack Kirby, Marvel Comics editor Stan Lee, and his brother Larry Lieber created a comic series Journey Into Mystery, in which Thor appeared as a superhero. This version of Thor is depicted as a smooth-shaven blonde, rather than red-haired and bearded. Soon, the magazine included a supplement Tales of Asgard, where Kirby illustrated stories from Norse mythology; the magazine was eventually renamed Thor. Lee and Kirby made Thor a founding member of their superhero team, the Avengers. Thor was portrayed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, appearing in Thor, The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Doctor Strange, Team Thor, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. Thor also appears in comics from other publishers. In the Savage Dragon comics, Thor is depicted as a villain. In Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comic, Thor is portrayed as a trickster wielding a tiny toffee hammer.
In 2013, the Thor hero shrew (Scutisorex thori), a species native to the Democratic Republic of Congo, was described. This species and its sister species, the hero shrew (Scutisorex somereni), are the only mammals known to have interlocking vertebrae. The team named the shrew after Thor because the god is associated with strength.
From 2015 to 2017, a fictionalised version of Thor was a supporting character in Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, a trilogy of fantasy novels by American author Rick Riordan, published by Disney-Hyperion. The series takes place in the same fictional universe as Riordan's Camp Half-Blood Chronicles and Kane Chronicles series. Thor also appears in Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Norse Mythology books.
In January 2020, Netflix produced the series Ragnarok. In the series, high school student Magne Seier gains the powers and abilities of Thor to fight the giants who pollute Norway and murder people. Netflix released the second season on May 27, 2021. Thor/Magne is portrayed by David Stakston.
Thor is also featured in a range of video games. In the 2002 game Age of Mythology by Ensemble Studios, Thor is one of the three main Norse gods that the player can worship. In the 2018 video game God of War by Santa Monica Studio, Thor is mentioned throughout, and his sons Magni and Modi are side characters. Thor appears at the end of the main storyline when certain difficulty conditions are met. He also appears in the sequel God of War Ragnarök (2022) as an antagonist, played by Ryan Hurst. Thor is also mentioned in Ubisoft’s 2019 game Assassin's Creed Valhalla, where the player can find and use items associated with him, such as Mjölnir, in combat. Thor is also one of the playable gods in the multiplayer online battle arena game Smite, which is played from a third-person perspective.