THOR

THOR (ON, Þórr) was presumably the most popular god of the ancient Scandinavian peoples, who conferred upon him such epithets as ástvinr ("dear friend") and fulltrúi ("trusted friend"). The distribution of his cult is abundantly documented by onomastic evidence; his name is found all over present-day Scandinavia in place-names designating either cult sites or places dedicated to him—woods, fields, hills, brooks, and lakes (de Vries, 1957, pp. 116–120).

Equally abundant are the personal names with Thor- as first component. About one-fourth of the immigrants to Iceland had such names, according to the Landnámabók. Viking traders and raiders venerated him as their most powerful god and honored him in their new settlements. Local sources report the worship of Þórr by the Norse invaders of Ireland; Þórr's hammer, Mjǫllnir, appeared on the coinage of the Scandinavian rulers of York in the tenth century; there was apparently a temple dedicated to Þórr by Varangian Northmen in Kiev in 1046; the Danes settling in Normandy are said to have invoked "Tur." Even the Lapps, who were strongly influenced by their Germanic neighbors, took Þórr Karl ("old man") into their pantheon as the hammer god Horagalles. Furthermore, artifacts such as Þórr's-hammer amulets bear witness to the strength and survival of his worship even some time after the conversion to Christianity (eleventh century). In this context the Cross of Gosforth in Cumbria, England, is particularly striking, for this essentially Christian symbol bears a graphic representation of one of Þórr's major myths, namely his fishing expedition with the giant Hymir at the rim of the world ocean to catch the cosmic serpent Miðgarðsormr: the scene represents the god "digging his heels so hard into the bottom of the boat" to draw the serpent on board "that both his legs went through it" (Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning 48).

Adam of Bremen, writing about 1080 and relying on the report of a Christian who had traveled to Sweden, described the temple of Uppsala as having a triad of divine statues: Óðinn, Þórr, and Freyr were worshiped there, but Þórr occupied the central position "because he was the most powerful of them all." This statement, which contradicts Snorri's ranking of Þórr in the second place, after Óðinn, presumably points to the fact that his closeness both to warriors and to peasants gave him more prominence in popular circles than the more "aristocratic" Óðinn. A satirical allusion to the social distribution of the cults of the two gods is recognizable in an exchange between plain, honest Þórr and Óðinn disguised as a ferryman in the Eddic poem Hárbarzljóð : "Óðinn gets all the jarls slain by edge of swords, but Þórr gets the breed of thralls." The tradition represented by Adam, however, may also be found in the Old English homily De falsis diis (Concerning false gods), commonly ascribed to Ælfric, where Þórr is identified with Jupiter and is "arwurðost ealra ðæra goda" ("the most venerable of all gods"). Several minor sources suggest that Þórr was also able to raise and use winds. For Snorri Sturluson (Gylfaginning 21), Þórr s the strongest of the Æsir and the most important among them (after Óðinn); his domain is Þrúðvangar ("fields of force"), and his home, Bilskirnir (presumably "shining in flashes," a reference to his connection with lightning). He has two goats, Tanngnjóstr ("tooth gnasher") and Tanngrisnir ("grinner"), which pull his chariot; therefore, Þórr is called Ǫkuϸórr ("Þórr the charioteer"). He also has three precious objects: his hammer Mjǫllnir, which all giants fear; his "power belt," which doubles his strength; and his iron gauntlets, which he needs to manipulate his hammer. His adventures are so numerous that no one is able to tell them all.

This describes rather well the personality and function of Þórr: he is a characteristic second-function god in the Dumézilian tripartite system, the typical representative of the warrior class, the champion of the gods, the bulwark of the Æsir against the onslaughts of the giants. His whole career illustrates this functional role. Perhaps one of the best examples is the story of his combat with Hrungnir (Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál 3). The sequence of events can be summarized as follows. Having followed Óðinn in a wild gallop into Àsgarðr, the giant Hrungnir is invited by the Æsir to drink with them. His obstreperous behavior soon compels the Æsir to call upon Þórr to put an end to his drunken boasts and threats, but the laws of hospitality prevent the champion of the gods from sealing the giant's fate then and there. As a result, Þórr is challenged to a single combat with Hrungnir at the boundary between the realm of the Æsir and Jǫtunheimr (the land of the giants). To back up Hrungnir in his fight, the giants build the monstrous Mǫkkurkálfi, a huge clay warrior equipped with a mare's heart. Þjálfi, Þórr's astute attendant, persuades Hrungnir that he will be attacked from below, and makes him stand on his shield, exposing him to a fulgurant assault from the sky. Þórr's hammer clashes in midair with the hurled hone of the giant; Mjǫllnir smashes Hrungnir's skull while fragments of whetstone are scattered all around. One lodges in Þórr's head as Hrungnir drops dead over him and has to be removed by Þórr's fantastically strong three-year-old son, Magni. Meanwhile, Mökkurkálfi has ingloriously collapsed under Þjálfi's strokes. A last episode shows how the witch Gróa attempts to remove the piece of Hrungnir's whetstone from Þórr's head but forgets her spells and incantations in the joy of learning that her husband, Aurvandill, has been safely brought home out of the icy North by Þórr.

Snorri's narrative illustrates important features of the ethics and usages of the warrior class: respect for the laws of hospitality (e.g., in spite of Hrungnir's outrageous behavior, Þórr cannot touch him as long as he is a guest in Àsgarðr); taboo on striking down an unarmed adversary (killing him would be an act of cowardice); moral obligation to accept a challenge to a duel; single combat, to be waged in the no-man's-land between two enemy territories. The significance of the dummy (Mǫkkurkálfi) that the giants erect at the location of the duel has been ingeniously explained by Georges Dumézil: Þórr faces and defeats the "stone-hearted" monster, and his "second," Þjálfi, duplicates his exploit by destroying Mǫkkurkálfi. Dumézil sees a warrior initiation pattern in this two-level account, in which Þjálfi reproduces in a realistic terrestrial way the almost cosmic martial exploit of Þórr (Dumézil, 1970, pp 158–159).

His interpretation is supported by a comic episode in Hrólfs saga kraka (chapter 23), in which the hero Bǫðvarr Bjarki initiates the coward Hǫttr, making a proper warrior of him. On the eve of the midwinter festival (Yule), King Hrólfr forbids his men to leave his stronghold because an enormous winged troll will appear and kill any champion who challenges him. Bǫðvarr, however, goes out secretly to face the troll, dragging the fearful Hǫttr along. The monster arrives, and while Hǫttr shrinks in the mud in terror, Bǫðvarr dispatches the beast with one thrust of his sword. Picking up Hǫttr, he forces him to drink two gulps of the troll's blood and eat a piece of his heart, after which he engages in a wrestling match with the young man. Hǫttr comes out of this test a truly strong and courageous fighter. They then stand the monster on its feet, as if it were still alive, and return to the king's castle. The following morning, much to the king's surprise, Hǫttr volunteers to go out and "kill" the monster. Ultimately, Hrólfr is not fooled, but he accepts Hǫttr's overnight transformation into a real champion and renames him Hjalti, after the king's sword Gullinhjalti ("golden hilt").

Another well-known adventure of Þórr is narrated in the Eddic Þrymskviða. One day Þórr wakes up and realizes to his dismay that Mjǫllnir has been stolen. He dispatches Loki, equipped with Freyja's falcon coat, to Jǫtunheimr to look for it. Loki soon finds out that the giant Þrymr has gotten hold of Þórr's mighty weapon and refuses to return it unless he gets Freyja as a bride in exchange. Freyja does not want to hear anything about marrying the uncouth giant, and the gods assemble in council to look for a solution to Þórr's dilemma. On Heimdallr's advice, they decide that Þórr himself must go to Þrymr, disguised as a bride and escorted by Loki. After their arrival in Þrymr's hall, a lavish meal is served to the travelers from Ásgarðr, but Þórr almost betrays himself by his gluttony. Loki, however, saves the day by stating that "Freyja yearned so much for Jǫtunheimr that she fasted for eight full nights." The situation threatens to deteriorate again when Þrymr attempts to kiss his "bride" and discovers the murderous flames in "her" eyes. Again, Loki finds the proper excuse: "So much did Freyja long to be in Jǫtunheimr that she did not sleep for eight full nights." Then, Þrymr's sister comes to claim her bridal gift, and Þrymr has the hammer Mjǫllnir brought in and placed on his alleged bride's knees, whereupon Þórr grabs his weapon and ruthlessly crushes the skulls of all the giants around him.

No other source duplicates the contents of this remarkable Eddic lay, which achieves its effect with an admirable economy of means and a robust sense of humor, paired with a well-structured scenario and marvelous characterization of the actors in this little drama. Although the poet undoubtedly took his material from older mythological sources, the ballad style of the text and the jocular presentation of the argument clearly indicate that the Þrymskviða is one of the more recent poems of the Edda. The ludicrous disguise of the champion of the gods is unthinkable in the older tradition, where it would have been completely excluded by the explicit abhorrence of the Æsir for transvestism and other forms of ergi ("unmanly behavior"), as illustrated by the Lokasenna (23–24), for example.

The text, however, indicates the importance of Þórr's hammer, Mjǫllnir, which is not only associated with the thunderbolt, as its name perhaps indicates (it has been etymologically connected with Russian molniia and with Welsh mellt, "lightning," but it can also be cognate with Old Norse mala, "grind," mølva, "crush") and appears to be used to hallow the bride (Þrymskviða 30: "brúði at vígja"). This latter function has sometimes been associated with fertility, as the hammer can be considered a phallic symbol, but there is obviously more to the consecration with Þórr's hammer, as the description of Baldr's funeral indicates (Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning 49): "Þórr vígði bálit með Mjǫllni" ("Þórr hallowed the pyre with Mjǫllnir"). This would be done either to restore the god to life or to protect him from danger on his journey to the world of the dead. Since Baldr does not come back until after Ragnarǫk, the second hypothesis presumably prevails. It is furthermore confirmed by the repeated mention of Þórr as protector of the dead in memorial inscriptions on rune stones, especially in Denmark and southern Sweden, the earliest being found in Rök, East Götland, in the mid-ninth century. Thus, the inscription of Glavendrup (which is found on the Danish island of Fyn and dates to about 900–925) reads: "Þur uiki pas runar" ("May Þórr hallow these runes").

The control of Þórr's hammer over life and death is also illustrated by the following tale about Þórr's goats (Gylfaginning 44): One day, while on a journey with Loki, Þórr decided to ask a farmer for hospitality for the night. For the evening meal, Þórr slaughtered his own goats, and after skinning them, cooked them in a cauldron. When the stew was ready, he invited the farmer and his family to share it with him and his travel companion. The next morning, Þórr rose at daybreak and went to the goatskins with the leftover bones. Raising his hammer, Mjǫllnir, he consecrated them, and the goats stood up as if nothing had happened to them. However, one of them was found to be lame in a hind leg. When he noticed it, Þórr realized that a thigh-bone had been split for marrow, and he was angry with the farmer and his household for doing such a stupid thing. The farmer was terrified, and Þórr's angry reproach sounded like a death knell to him. As his frightened family screamed, he begged his dangerous guest for mercy and offered him all he had in compensation. Þórr relented and specified that he would take along the farmer's two children—his son, Þjalfi, and his daughter, Rǫskva—as bond servants.

The association of Þórr with goats is abundantly documented. They pull his chariot; the Húsdrapá (st. 3) calls him hafra njótr ("user of goats"), and the Hymiskviða (st. 31) describes him as hafra dróttinn ("lord of goats"). The picture of Þórr riding a vehicle drawn by goats appears repeatedly in the literature (e.g., in Hauslǫng 15), and according to a story, perhaps from the late twelfth or early fourteenth century but preserved in Flateyjarbók (1387–1390), when king Óláfr Tryggvason entered the pagan temple at Mærin in the Trondheim district, he found a statue of Þórr, adorned with gold and silver, seated on a splendid carriage drawn by finely carved wooden goats (Turville-Petre, 1964, p. 82).

Bibliography

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Turville-Petre, E. O. G. Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. New York, 1964.

Edgar C. PolomÉ (1987)

Joseph Harris (2005)