Odin had many children but the most widely known was Thor the strongest of all the Aesir gods and almighty protector of humanity who wielded a magical, mountain-crushing hammer named Mjolnir. The son of the Giantess Fjörgyn, Thor is the god of thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, hallowing and fertility. Among the Norse gods, he was known for his bravery, strength, healing powers and righteousness. Like Odin he went by many names, and Thor’s day is our “Thursday” or Donnerstag which means thunder day in German. In the Viking age, emblems of his hammer were worn as necklaces and marked precious armbands, and children were given personal names containing his name to curry his favor, such as Thorfinn Agneson in my Forerunner series.
Thor’s hair and beard are bright, fiery red, and he wears the magic belt Megingjörð and fabulous iron gauntlets Járngreipr and owns the battle staff Gríðarvölr. Thor was a favorite of poets and skalds, with both serious and humorous exploits, including his relentless slaughter of foes and fierce battles with the monstrous serpent Jörmungandr—and their prophesized deaths at the end of the world—all chronicled throughout Norse literature. While Thor is the strongest of the Gods, he is not overly smart or wise, and many trick or tease him. Giants in particular poke fun at him, triggering his short temper, most times resulting in wielding his magical hammer to smash heads! The Thunder god lives to fight giants, and with his hammer Mjolnir, he is always the victor.
Thor lives in Asgard together with his wife Sif of the silver hair at a place called Thrudheim, the name meaning “Place of Might.” With 540 rooms, it’s the most enormous building in Asgard. Thor and Sif live with their two children Trud and Modi and a stepson Ullr who Thor adopted. Outside of his marriage, Thor has a son named Magni from a tryst with a giantess called Jarnsaxa. The god of the sky, Thor rides from Asgard in his chariot that is pulled by two goats, named Tanngniost or “Teeth barer” and Tanngrisnir or “Teeth grinder.” If Thor is going to be away from home for more than a day, he will cook his two goats, and revive them with his magic hammer Mjölnir the next day—the hammer can raise any wounded beast or man. This awesome magical weapon was forged by the dwarfs and it casts lightning bolts, reduces mountains to rubble and will automatically hit any target and return to Thor’s right hand all by itself. Mjolnir can also be magically shrunken to be hidden inside Thor’s shirt.
Thor and Sif have two human servants, siblings actually, the children of a Midgard peasant farmer. One night, Thor and Loki stayed at their farm, and Thor generously shared his goat meat with the family. Late that night, despite Thor’s warnings, the boy Thialfi broke one of the bones and sucked out its marrow. When Thor resurrected the goats the next morning, he found out that one of the goats limped and furious, Thor demanded that Thialfi and his sister Röskva become his servants, and he dragged them back to Asgard.
Tales of Thor continue today, particularly in Scandinavia. References include calling lightning “Thor’s warmth” and the word for thunder, tordon, which means Thor’s rumble. Thor remains pictured as a red-bearded figure, as evident by the Danish rhyme that refers to him as Thor med sit lange skæg or “Thor with the long beard” and the curse diis ruadhiiret donner regiir! or “let red-haired thunder see to that!” A Scandinavian folk belief that lightning frightens away trolls appears in many folktales, and may be a reflection of Thor’s role in fighting such monsters. By association, the lack of trolls and ettins in modern Scandinavia is explained as a result of the “accuracy and efficiency of the lightning strokes,” and so attributed to Thor’s protection as well.