Ancient history

Thorr

This name literally means "Thunder" (thundaraz). Also called Vingthôrr or Hlôrridi or, more surprisingly, Asa-Thôrr, Thôrr of the Ases. Perhaps the âss inn allmâttki, the all-powerful Ase, of texts with a visibly Christian resonance. Continental version of his name:Donar.

Thor (Þórr in Old Norse) or Donar in Old High German is the Germanic god of thunder.

Mythology

In Norse mythology, Thor is a son of Odin and the earth incarnation, Jord. He is the husband of Sif and the father of Modi (fury) and Thrúd (vigor). He is the father of Magni (strength) with the giantess Járnsaxa (equivalent to Sif according to Snorri Sturluson).

Thor's house is called Thrudhvangr (Field of Vigor). He resides there in a huge hall, named Bilskirnir (Glittering Shard).

Thor is a very powerful warrior of colossal strength. His magic belt (Megingjord) further increases his strength:the tighter he tightens it, the more powerful he becomes. He possesses a warhammer called Mjöllnir, made by two dwarves named Eitri and Brokk under Loki's orders. This hammer always returns to his hand after striking. To manipulate his burning handle, he uses special iron gloves (Járngreip).

He crosses the sky with the help of his chariot drawn by two magic goats named Tanngnjóst (Grinding Teeth) and Tanngrísnir (Sparkling Teeth).

He is the strongest of men and gods. He is thus the defender of Midgard and the guardian of gods and men against the giants. In this, he is one of the most venerated gods. Thor is the god of the storm, but unlike Týr, the god of justice, he is also the god of hand-to-hand combat and martial arts. Odin completes the warrior trinity as the god of war and victory.

In the tale of Ragnarök, he confronts Jörmungand, the Serpent-World, son of Loki. The snake dies first. Thor, poisoned, only has time to take nine steps before joining him.

Influence

Thor was the most popular of the Norse gods. He was the favorite god of the humble and it was also to him that the newlyweds asked for blessing.

His influence was so strong that Christians had to deck out Saint Olaf with an ax as a reminder of the god Thor.

Nowadays

In Danish, as well as Norwegian and Swedish, Torsdag (Thursday) is Thor's day, and Torden means thunder in Danish.

Similarly, in English, his name has been used for Thursday (Thursday), and Thunder (thunder). It is called Donner in German, which gave Donnerstag (Thursday) and Donner (thunder, dunder in Swedish, and donder in Dutch, where Thursday is called donderdag). Note that in French, Thursday is the day of Jupiter, the equivalent of Thor in Roman mythology.

Equivalences

* The Gallic gods Taranis (at Esses) and Sucellos (at Maillet)
* The Indian god Indra (at Vazra)


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