God of Thunder, Defender of Gods and Men
Thor, son of Odin, is the strongest of the Aesir: red-haired, red-bearded, quick to fury. His chariot is drawn by the goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr, and its wheels rolling across the sky are the thunder. The goats may be slaughtered and eaten at night; if their bones are left unbroken, a blessing from the hammer restores them by morning. He owns three treasures: the hammer Mjolnir, the belt Megingjord that doubles his strength, and iron gloves to grip the hammer's haft.
His most famous exploit is the fishing trip in the Hymiskvida and the Prose Edda: baiting his line with an ox's head, he drew the Midgard Serpent up from the world-encircling sea, and only the terrified giant Hymir, cutting the line, saved the monster from the hammer. In the Thrymskvida the giant Thrym steals Mjolnir and demands Freyja as ransom; Thor must travel to the wedding disguised as the bride, devours an ox and eight salmon at the feast, and slaughters the whole hall of giants the moment the hammer is laid in his lap.
Thor was the most widely loved god of the Viking Age; farmers and seafarers prayed to him for fair weather. Hundreds of hammer-shaped amulets survive from Scandinavian graves, and Thursday is 'Thor's day'. At Ragnarok he is fated to slay the Midgard Serpent and die of its venom nine paces later.
