Chapter XLIV: Section I: General Synopsis

THOR (_þórr_, _þunarr_, Anglo-Saxon _þunor_, German _donner_, thunder), after whom Thursday is named (Thor’s-day), is the chief god next after Odin. He is a spring god, subduing the frost-giants.

Thor wears a red beard, his nature is fire, he is girded with the belt of strength, swings a hammer in his hand, rides in a chariot drawn by two goats, from whose hoofs and teeth sparks of fire flash, and the scarlet cloud reflects his fiery eyes, over his head he wears a crown of stars, under his feet rests the earth, and it shows the footprints of his mighty steps. He is called Asathor and also Akethor (from _aka_, to ride), and is the strongest of gods and men. He is enormously strong and terrible when angry, but, as is so frequently the case with very strong men, his great strength is coupled with a thoroughly inoffensive good-nature. His realm is named Thrudvang and his mansion Bilskirner, in which are five hundred and forty halls. It is the largest house ever built. Thus the Elder Edda, in the lay of Grimner:

Five hundred halls
And forty more
Methinks has
Bowed Bilskirner;
Of houses roofed
There is none I know
My son’s[60] surpassing.

Thor’s chariot is drawn by two goats, called Tanngnjost and Tanngrisner. It is from his driving about in this chariot he is called Akethor (charioteer-Thor). He possesses three very precious articles. The first is a mallet called Mjolner, which both the frost and mountain giants know to their cost, when they see it hurled against them in the air; and no wonder, for it has split many a skull of their fathers and kindred. The second rare thing he possesses is called the belt of strength or prowess (Megingjarder). When he girds it about him his divine strength is redoubled. The third precious article which he possesses is his iron gauntlet, which he is obliged to put on whenever he lays hold on the handle of his mallet. No one is so wise as to be able to relate all Thor’s marvelous exploits.

Now the reader will easily comprehend the following beautiful strophes from the pen of Longfellow,[61] who has so ingeniously sprinkled his literature with dews from Ygdrasil:

I am the god Thor,
I am the war god,
I am the Thunderer!
Here in my Northland,
My fastness and fortress,
Reign I forever!

Here amid icebergs
Rule I the nations;
This is my hammer,
Mjolner, the mighty
Giants and sorcerers
Cannot withstand it!

These are the gauntlets
Wherewith I wield it
And hurl it afar off;
This is my girdle,
Whenever I brace it
Strength is redoubled!

The light thou beholdest
Stream through the heavens,
In flashes of crimson,
Is but my red beard
Blown by the night-wind,
Affrighting the nations.

Jove is my brother;
Mine eyes are the lightning;
The wheels of my chariot
Roll in the thunder,
The blows of my hammer
Ring in the earthquake!

Force rules the world still,
Has ruled it, shall rule it;
Meekness is weakness,
Strength is triumphant;
Over the whole earth
Still is Thor’s-day!

Thor is the father of Magne, whose mother is Jarnsaxa, and of Mode. He is the husband of Sif and step-father of Uller; he is the protector of Asgard and Midgard, and is frequently called Midgardsveor; his servants are Thjalfe, and the sister of the latter, Roskva. Among Thor’s several names the most common ones are Vingthor, Vingner, and Hlorride. All this of course has reference to him as the god of thunder. Thor, as has been observed, is þunarr, thunder. Thrudvang, his realm, is the heavy compact cloud, where he reigns; his mansion, Bilskirner (_bil-skirnir_), are the flushes of lightning that for a moment (_bil_[62]) light up the heavens; his goats, Tanngnjost (teeth-gnasher) and Tanngrisner (fire-flashing teeth), symbolize the flashes of lightning, and so does also his red beard. Mjolner, his hammer, is the crusher (compare the English word _mill_[63]); his belt, Megingjarder, is the girdle of strength; his sons, Magne and Mode, symbolize strength and courage. Vingthor is the flying thunderstorm and Hlorride is he who rides in the flaming chariot. His servant Thjalfe is the busy one, and Roskva is the rapid or nimble one. That Thor is the god of thunder is also most clearly shown in the Younger Edda, where it is related that Thor goes on foot and is obliged every day to wade the rivers Kormt and Ormt, and two others called Kerlaung, when he goes to sit in judgment with the other gods at the Urdar-fount, and cannot ride, as do the other gods. If he did not walk as he goes to the doomstead under the ash Ygdrasil, the Asabridge would be in flames and the holy waters would become boiling hot, that is, if Thor should drive over Bifrost in his thunder-chariot.

Thor’s wife, Sif, is another symbol of the earth. She is called the fair-haired. Gold is called Sif’s hair on account of the myth already related, according to which Loke cuts off her hair and gets dwarfs to forge for her golden locks. The interpreters of mythology are not willing to give to Sif the field waving with ripe grain, which belongs to the god Frey, being symbolized by his boar Goldenbristle, but say that Sif is the mountain clad with grass, in contradistinction to Jarnsaxa, who reigns in the barren deserts. Hrungner, that is, the naked rock, tried to win the favor of Sif, but did not succeed.

Uller is the son of Sif and the step-son of Thor. He is so well skilled in the use of the bow, and can go so fast on his snow-skates (_skees_), that in these arts no one can contend with him. He is also very handsome in his person and possesses every quality of a warrior; wherefore it is proper to invoke him in single combats. Uller’s mansion is Ydaler (valleys of rain). From his running on skees we judge that he is a personification of winter, and if the artist chooses him for his theme, he must represent him standing on snow-shoes, clad in winter-suit, with bow and arrow in his hands. We are now prepared to give some of Thor’s adventures.