The Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas on Thor

Contents > Chapter I: The Beginning

• attestation: Thor alone among the gods never crossed Bifrost, fearing his heavy tread or lightning would destroy it.

  "Of all the gods Thor only, the god of thunder, never passed over the bridge, for fear lest his heavy tread or the heat of his lightnings would destroy it."

Contents > Chapter Iv: Thor

• attestation: Thor (Donar) was son of Jord (Erda) and Odin, remarkably large and strong from birth; his mother sent him to be raised by Vingnir and Hlora (personifications of sheet-lightning) when she couldn't control him.

  "According to some mythologists, Thor, or Donar, is the son of Jörd (Erda) and of Odin, but others state that his mother was Frigga, queen of the gods. This child was very remarkable for his great size and strength, and very soon after his birth amazed the assembled gods by playfully lifting and throwing about ten great bales of bear skins."

• attestation: Thor was admitted to Asgard and given the realm of Thrud-vang where he built Bilskirnir, the most spacious palace in Asgard with five hundred and forty halls.

  "Having attained his full growth and the age of reason, Thor was admitted to Asgard among the other gods, where he occupied one of the twelve seats in the great judgment hall. He was also given the realm of Thrud-vang or Thrud-heim, where he built a wonderful palace called Bilskirnir (lightning), the most spacious in all Asgard. It contained five hundred and forty halls for the accommodation of the thralls"

• attestation: Thor, unable to cross Bifrost because of the heat of his presence, waded the rivers Kormt, Ormt, and the two streams Kerlaug to reach the Urdar fountain for council.

  "when he wished to join his fellow gods by the Urdar fountain, under the shade of the sacred tree Yggdrasil, he was forced to make his way thither on foot, wading through the rivers Kormt and Ormt, and the two streams Kerlaug, to the trysting place."

• attestation: Thor was depicted as tall and well-formed with muscular limbs, bristling red hair and beard, from which sparks flew in anger; he was highest god in Norway.

  "Thor, who was honoured as the highest god in Norway, came second in the trilogy of all the other countries, and was called "old Thor," because he is supposed by some mythologists to have belonged to an older dynasty of gods, and not on account of his actual age, for he was represented and described as a man in his prime, tall and well formed, with muscular limbs and bristling red hair and beard"

• attestation: Thor's hammer Mjolnir (the crusher) always returned to his hand however far he hurled it; the Northern people made the sign of the hammer as Christians later made the sign of the cross.

  "Thor was the proud possessor of a magic hammer called Mjölnir (the crusher) which he hurled at his enemies, the frost-giants, with destructive power, and which possessed the wonderful property of always returning to his hand, however far away he might hurl it."

• attestation: Thor's iron gauntlet Iarn-greiper allowed him to grasp the red-hot hammer Mjolnir, and his magic belt Megin-giord doubled his already remarkable strength.

  "As this huge hammer, the emblem of the thunderbolts, was generally red-hot, the god had an iron gauntlet called Iarn-greiper, which enabled him to grasp it firmly. He could hurl Mjölnir a great distance, and his strength, which was always remarkable, was doubled when he wore his magic belt called Megin-giörd."

• attestation: Thor was twice married: first to the giantess Iarnsaxa who bore him sons Magni and Modi destined to survive Ragnarok; second to Sif the golden-haired who bore him Lorride and Thrud.

  "Thor was twice married; first to the giantess Iarnsaxa (iron stone), who bore him two sons, Magni (strength) and Modi (courage), both destined to survive their father and the twilight of the gods, and rule over the new world which was to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of the first. His second wife was Sif, the golden-haired, who also bore him two children, Lorride, and a daughter named Thrud"

• attestation: The dwarf Alvis sought to marry Thor's daughter Thrud; Thor challenged him to a wisdom contest, prolonging it until sunrise when Alvis was petrified by the first beam of light.

  "Thrud was wooed by the dwarf Alvis, whom she rather favoured; and one evening, when this suitor, who, being a dwarf, could not face the light of day, presented himself in Asgard to sue for her hand, the assembled gods did not refuse their consent. They had scarcely signified their approbation, however, when Thor, who had been absent, suddenly appeared, and casting a glance of contempt upon the puny lover, declared he would have to prove that his knowledge atoned for his small stature, before he could win his bride."

• attestation: Thor journeyed to Jotunheim accompanied by Loki to force the giants to stop sending cold blasts; they stopped at a peasant's hut and Thor slew his goats for a meal.

  "As the giants from Jötun-heim were continually sending out cold blasts of wind to nip the tender buds and hinder the growth of the flowers, Thor once made up his mind to go and force them to behave better. Accompanied by Loki he set out in his chariot, and after riding for a whole day the gods came at nightfall to the confines of the giant-world, where, seeing a peasant's hut, they resolved to stay for rest and refreshment."

• attestation: Thor cautioned the peasant family not to break any goat bones; the son Thialfi broke one and sucked out the marrow at Loki's prompting.

  "The peasant and his family ate heartily, but his son Thialfi, encouraged by mischievous Loki, ventured to break one of the bones and suck out the marrow, thinking his disobedience would not be detected."

• attestation: The peasant offered his children Thialfi and Roskva to serve Thor forever to compensate for Thialfi's bone-breaking offense.

  "The culprit acknowledged his fault, however, and the peasant offered to compensate for the loss by giving the irate god not only his son Thialfi, but also his daughter Roskva, to serve him for ever."

• attestation: Thor and his companions spent the night in what proved to be the giant Skrymir's great mitten; Thor's hammer blows against Skrymir in anger were brushed off as a leaf or twig.

  "They then perceived with amazement that this was nothing more than a huge mitten, and that the wing in which they had all slept was the separate place for the giant's great thumb! Learning that Thor and his companions were on their way to Utgard, as the giants' realm was also called, Skrymir, the giant, proposed to be their guide"

• attestation: At Utgard-loki's hall, Thor tried three times to drain a drinking horn connected with the ocean; he produced a perceptible ebb tide but could not empty it.

  "immediately a horn was brought in, and, Utgard-loki declaring that good drinkers emptied it at one draught, moderately thirsty persons at two, and small drinkers at three, Thor applied his lips to the rim. But, although he drank so deep that he thought he would burst, the liquid still came almost up to the rim when he raised his head."

• attestation: At Thrym's hall, the disguised Thor ate an ox, eight huge salmon, all the sweets for women, and drank two barrels of mead, amazing his host.

  "He quickly led them to the banqueting-hall, where Thor, the bride elect, distinguished himself by eating an ox, eight huge salmon, and all the cakes and sweets provided for the women, washing down these miscellaneous viands with the contents of two barrels of mead."

• attestation: When Thrym brought the hammer to consecrate the wedding, Thor seized it and slew Thrym, his sister, and all the guests.

  "the bridegroom now bade his servants produce the sacred hammer to consecrate the marriage, and as soon as it was brought he himself laid it in the pretended Freya's lap. The next moment a powerful hand closed over the short handle, and soon the giant, his sister, and all the invited guests, were slain by the terrible Thor."

• attestation: Thor waded the swollen river Veimer and discovered Geirrod's daughter Gialp was causing the flood; he threw a boulder at her and the waters abated.

  "Thor now became aware of the presence, up stream, of Geirrod's daughter Gialp, and rightly suspecting that she was the cause of the storm, he picked up a huge boulder and flung it at her, muttering that the best place to dam a river was at its source. The missile had the desired effect, for the giantess fled, the waters abated"

• attestation: Thor escaped drowning in the Veimer river by clinging to a mountain-ash or sorb, which thereafter became known as 'Thor's salvation'.

  "Thor, exhausted but safe, pulled himself up on the opposite bank by a little shrub, the mountain-ash or sorb. This has since been known as "Thor's salvation," and occult powers have been attributed to it."

• attestation: When the people of Norway saw that the offerings placed before Thor's idol had been eaten by mice and vermin, they ceased to revere Thor and accepted Christianity.

  "Seeing now that the food placed before their god had been devoured by noxious animals only, the people ceased to revere Thor, and definitely accepted the faith which King Olaf had so long and vainly pressed upon them."

Contents > Chapter X: Freya

• attestation: Thor wore Freya's necklace Brisingamen when he disguised himself as Freya in Jotunheim; Loki attempted to steal it but was thwarted by Heimdall's watchfulness.

  "Thor, however, wore this necklace when he personated Freya in Jótun-heim, and Loki coveted and would have stolen it, had it not been for the watchfulness of Heimdall."

Contents > Chapter Xx: Ægir

• attestation: Thor and Tyr journeyed east of the Elivagar to ask the giant Hymir for his enormous brewing kettle (one mile deep) so Aegir could brew enough mead for the Aesir.

  "Thor immediately volunteered to procure a suitable kettle, and set out with Tyr to obtain it. The two gods journeyed east of the Elivagar in Thor's goat chariot, and leaving this at the house of the peasant Egil, Thialfi's father, they wended their way on foot to the dwelling of the giant Hymir, who was known to own a kettle one mile deep and proportionately wide."

• attestation: Thor slew Hymir's largest ox Himinbrioter to use its head as bait for deep-sea fishing; the sea was calm far out beyond Hymir's usual fishing ground.

  "Thor coolly slew his host's largest ox, Himinbrioter (heaven-breaker), and cutting off its head, he embarked with it and proceeded to row far out to sea."

Contents > Chapter Xxi: Balder

• attestation: Thor consecrated Balder's funeral pyre with his sacred hammer Mjolnir; when the dwarf Lit stumbled in his way, Thor kicked him into the fire where he burned.

  "he now boarded the vessel once more to consecrate the funeral pyre with his sacred hammer. As he was performing this ceremony, the dwarf Lit provokingly stumbled into his way, whereupon Thor, who had not entirely recovered his equanimity, kicked him into the fire, which he had just kindled with a thorn, and the dwarf was burned to ashes"

Contents > Chapter Xxii: Loki

• attestation: Thor and Loki were closely associated as companions: Thor embodied Northern activity and earnestness, while Loki represented recreation and playful mischief.

  "While Thor is the embodiment of Northern activity, Loki represents recreation, and the close companionship early established between these two gods shows very plainly how soon our ancestors realised that both were necessary to the welfare of mankind."

• attestation: Thor caught Loki in mid-leap as a salmon on the third casting of the net; the salmon's slim tail is attributed by Norsemen to Thor's tight grip.

  "as he once more tried to get away by a sudden leap, Thor caught him in mid-air and held him so fast, that he could not escape. The salmon, whose slipperiness is proverbial in the North, is noted for its remarkably slim tail, and Norsemen attribute this to Thor's tight grasp upon his foe."

Contents > Chapter Xxix: Greek And Northern Mythologies

• comparison: The fly that stung the dwarf Brock and spoiled the handle of Thor's hammer parallels the gadfly in Greek myth that hindered Jupiter's recovery of Io.

  "The gadfly which hinders Jupiter from recovering possession of Io, after Mercury has slain Argus, reappears in the Northern myth to sting Brock and to endeavour to prevent the manufacture of the magic ring Draupnir"

• comparison: The Norse ship Skidbladnir (made by dwarfs, large enough for all gods) is parallel to the Greek Argo (a cloud personification large enough for all heroes).

  "The magic ship Skidbladnir, also made by the dwarfs, is like the swift-sailing Argo, which was a personification of the clouds sailing overhead; and just as the former was said to be large enough to accommodate all the gods, so the latter bore all the Greek heroes off to the distant land of Colchis."

• attestation: Thursday (Thor's day) was named after Thor as the Germanic equivalent of Jove's day (Jupiter's day) in the Roman week.

  "The Germans, wishing to name the days of the week after their gods, as the Romans had done, gave the name of Thor to Jove's day, and thus made it the present Thursday."