Symbol reference · Galdrastafir

Thor

/θɔːr/Old Norse Þórr, masculine noun; from Proto-Germanic *Þunraz, 'thunder'

The short answer

The thunder god of Norse myth, son of Odin and Jörð, 'Earth', and the strongest of the Æsir. He guards gods and people against the giants with the hammer Mjölnir, and he is the god who appears most often in Viking-Age evidence: on runestones, on amulets and in personal names.

Compiled by VikingsBrandLast reviewed 24 September 20265 cited sourcesCC BY 4.0: free to cite & reuse
Snorri Sturluson calls Thor the foremost of the Æsir after Odin and the strongest of all gods and men. His father is Odin and his mother is Jörð, whose name means 'Earth' and whom Snorri counts among the goddesses; his wife is Sif, his sons are Magni and Móði, and his daughter is Þrúðr. He rules Þrúðvangar, 'fields of strength', where his hall Bilskirnir has five hundred and forty rooms. Two goats, Tanngnjóstr and Tanngrisnir, draw his chariot, which is why he is also called Öku-Þórr, 'Driving Thor'.
He owns three treasures. The hammer Mjölnir, forged by the dwarves Brokkr and Eitri, never misses and returns to his hand when thrown. The belt of strength, megingjarðar, increases his divine strength by half when he buckles it on. He cannot do without the iron gloves when he grips the hammer's shaft. Most of his myths are fights with giants: he recovers the stolen hammer by going to the giant Þrymr dressed as Freyja, fishes up the World Serpent with an ox head for bait, and at Ragnarök kills the serpent, walks nine steps and falls dead from its venom.
No other Norse god is as well attested outside the manuscripts. Runestones in Denmark and Sweden ask him to hallow them: the Glavendrup stone on Funen, carved around 900 to 950, reads 'May Thor hallow these runes', and the Velanda stone in Västergötland ends with the same prayer. The Kvinneby amulet from Öland, usually dated to the eleventh century, is generally read as asking Thor to protect its owner with his hammer, and hammer pendants are among the commonest Viking-Age amulets. Personal names built on his, such as Þorsteinn, Þórólfr and Þórdís, outnumber those formed from any other god's name, both in Landnámabók and in the runic inscriptions. Around 1075 Adam of Bremen described Thor, 'the mightiest of them', enthroned in the middle of the temple at Uppsala between Wodan and Fricco, ruling the air, thunder and lightning, wind and rain, fair weather and crops. Thursday is still his day.
The sources say little about how he looked. Snorri's Prologue gives Tror, whom it identifies with Thor, hair fairer than gold, while Icelandic sagas of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, among them Eiríks saga rauða, the sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and Flóamanna saga, picture him as a big, red-bearded man. No source gives him a horned helmet, and no Viking-Age battle helmet yet found has horns.

Primary source Verbatim

Þórr er þeira framast, sá er kallaðr er Ása-Þórr eða Öku-Þórr. Hann er sterkastr allra goðanna ok manna. [...] Annan grip á hann beztan, megingjarðar, ok er hann spennir þeim um sik, þá vex honum ásmegin hálfu.

Thor is the foremost of them, the one called Ása-Thor or Öku-Thor. He is the strongest of all gods and men. [...] His second treasure is a most precious one, his belt of strength: when he buckles it round himself, his divine strength grows by half.

GYLFAGINNING, ch. 21 · translation editorial ↗
Manuscript
Codex Regius of Snorra Edda (GKS 2367 4to)
Compiler
Snorri Sturluson
Place & date
Iceland, c. 1220 (manuscript early 14th c.)
Held at
Árni Magnússon Institute, Reykjavík

Etymology

Þórr Old Norse from Proto-Germanic *Þunraz, 'thunder'; the same word gives Old English Þunor and Old High German Donar
Þórsdagr Old Norse 'Thor's day', Thursday; Old English Þunresdæg, a rendering of the Latin dies Iovis, 'Jupiter's day'

The god's name is the Germanic word for thunder, still the everyday word in Old English þunor. When Germanic speakers adopted the Roman week, they matched Jupiter, lord of the thunderbolt, with their own thunder god, and the equation survives in Thursday.

Common misconceptions

Common claim What the record says
“Loki is Thor's brother.” That comes from Marvel. No medieval source makes them brothers: Loki is the son of the giant Farbauti and travels with Thor as a companion, sometimes a helpful one and sometimes the cause of his troubles.
“Thor's mother is Frigg.” Snorri names Jörð, 'Earth', as Thor's mother, with Odin as his father. Frigg is Odin's wife and the mother of Baldr.
“Only the worthy can lift Mjölnir.” That rule belongs to Marvel. In Snorri the hammer's gifts are that it never fails to strike, always returns to Thor's hand when thrown and can shrink small enough to carry inside his shirt. Its one flaw is a short handle.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Thor in Norse mythology?
The thunder god, son of Odin and Jord (Earth), and the strongest of the Aesir. He defends gods and people against the giants with his hammer Mjolnir, and at Ragnarok he kills the World Serpent Jormungandr before falling dead from its venom.
Who are Thor's parents?
His father is Odin and his mother is Jord, whose name means Earth. Snorri says Odin made his first son with her. Frigg, Odin's wife, is the mother of Baldr, not of Thor.
Is Thor Loki's brother?
No. That comes from Marvel. Loki is the son of the giant Farbauti and travels with Thor in several myths as a companion, sometimes a helpful one and sometimes the cause of his troubles.
What are Thor's weapons?
Snorri lists three treasures: the hammer Mjolnir, which never misses and returns to his hand; the belt of strength, which increases his divine strength by half; and a pair of iron gloves he needs for gripping the hammer's shaft.
Was Thor really worshipped by the Vikings?
Yes, and he is the best attested of the Norse gods. Runestones such as Glavendrup in Denmark ask him to hallow them, the Kvinneby amulet asks him to protect its owner with his hammer, names built on his outnumber those formed from any other god's, and Adam of Bremen placed him enthroned in the middle of the temple at Uppsala. The fuller story is in our Thor article.
Did Thor have red hair?
The Eddic poems do not give his hair colour. Snorri's Prologue says the hair of Tror, whom it identifies with Thor, was fairer than gold. Later Icelandic sagas, among them Eiriks saga rauda, the sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and Floamanna saga, picture him as a big red-bearded man, and that is where the red-bearded image comes from.

Bibliography

  1. 1. Snorri Sturluson, Edda (Prologue; Gylfaginning 9, 21, 36, 51; Skáldskaparmál 4 and 35, the forging of Mjölnir), c. 1220. Trans. Anthony Faulkes, Everyman, 1987. heimskringla.no ↗
  2. 2. The Poetic Edda (Þrymskviða, Hymiskviða, Grímnismál, Hárbarðsljóð, Lokasenna, Völuspá), Codex Regius, GKS 2365 4to, c. 1270. Trans. Carolyne Larrington, rev. ed., Oxford World's Classics, 2014. handrit.is ↗
  3. 3. Glavendrup runestone, DR 209 (Fyn 26), Funen, Denmark, c. 900–950: þur : uiki : þasi : runaR, 'May Thor hallow these runes'. Danske Runeindskrifter, University of Copenhagen. runer.ku.dk ↗
  4. 4. Adam of Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum IV.26–27, c. 1075, ed. Bernhard Schmeidler, MGH SS rer. Germ. 2, 1917. dmgh.de ↗
  5. 5. Rudolf Simek, Dictionary of Northern Mythology, trans. Angela Hall, D. S. Brewer, 1993, s.v. 'Thor'.

Cite this entry

VikingsBrand. “Thor.” VikingsBrand Library, reviewed 24 September 2026, vikingsbrand.co/pages/library/thor.