Thor

Also known as: Asa-Thor / Hlorridi / Oku-Thor / Veor / Vingthor · Family: Æsir · Role: god · First appears: Elder Edda · The Lay of Grimnir · Part 2

In the Lay of Grimnir, Odin calls Thor his son; the Lay of Alvis also names Sidgrani as Thor’s father. In the Lay of Hymir, Thor goes with Ty to Hymir’s home for a cauldron, catches the Midgard serpent, breaks Hymir’s cup against his head, and carries the kettle away. He kills the mountain-giants pursuing him and Hymir, then brings the kettle to the gods’ council. The poem also says Loki caused one of Thor’s goats to become half-dead. In the Lay of Thrym, after discovering his hammer has been stolen, Thor goes with Loki to Thrym’s wedding feast in bridal disguise. He recovers the hammer and kills Thrym and Thrym’s sister. In the Lay of Alvis, he refuses to let Alvis marry the maiden; in the Lay of Harbard, Harbard refuses to ferry him across the sound and taunts him about his mother.

In the Fooling of Gylfe, Jord is named as Thor’s mother and Hlodyn as his mother in a verse; the text also calls Jord Odin’s daughter and wife, and daughter of Night and Annar. Sif is Thor’s wife, and Ullr, her son, is his step-son. The text names Modi, Magni and Thrud as Thor’s children, and calls Meili his brother; the Poetical Diction calls Balder his brother. On a journey with Loki, Thor takes Thjalfe and Roskva as ransom after a goat is injured, and they become his servants. In his adventures with Skrymer and Utgard-Loke, Thor fails to lift a cat and is brought down on one knee by Elle; Utgard-Loke later reveals that he deceived Thor with illusions. Thor then resolves to seek the Midgard serpent. When he fishes with Hymir, Hymir cuts the line and the serpent sinks back into the sea; Thor strikes Hymir, knocking him into the water. Har foretells that Thor will slay the serpent at Ragnarok and die from its venom.

In the Poetical Diction, Thor accepts Hrungnir’s challenge and kills him in their duel. Magni removes Hrungnir’s foot from Thor’s neck, and Thor gives Magni Hrungnir’s horse, Goldfax. Groa sings magic songs to loosen the flint-stone in Thor’s head, while Thor tells her he carried Orvandel home. Thor also accepts help from Grid, who warns him about Geirrod and lends him her belt, gloves and staff; Thor breaks the backs of Geirrod’s daughters Gjalp and Greip, then kills Geirrod with a red-hot wedge. After Loki cuts Sif’s hair, Thor seizes him; when Loki escapes Brok, Thor seizes him for the dwarf. Thor receives the hammer from Brok, and the gods judge it the best treasure.