Kitty's Corner

Thor is a very powerful God. He is the son of Odin and the giantess Jörd (the Earth). He is married to Sif. With his mistress, the giantess Járnsaxa, Thor has a son Magni and with Sif he has his daughter Thrud. There is nothing in the myths that states the identity of the mother of his son Modi.

Thor owns a short-handled hammer, Mjolnir, which, when thrown at a target, returns magically to him. Mjolnir also has the power to throw lightning bolts - making Thor the God of Thunder. Many people think that Thor was the God of War, but he wasn't. Odin and Tyr was the War Gods of Norse Mythology.

He travels in a chariot drawn by the goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr and with his servant and messenger Þjálfi and with Þjálfi's sister Röskva. When Thor is hungry he can roast the goats for a meal. When he wants to continue his travels, he only needs to touch the remains of the goats and they will be instantly restored to full health to resume their duties, assuming that the bones have not been broken.

A funny story about Thor was the time when Þrymr, King of the Giants, stole his hammer. Thor went to Loki (more about Loki in a post to come) in hopes to find the culprit responsible for the theft. Loki and Thor went to Freja (there'll also be a post about her later) for council. She gave Loki a feather-robe so he could travel to the land of the giants to speak to their king. The king admitted to stealing the hammer and would not give it back unless Freja gave her hand in marriage.

Freja refused when she heard the plan so the gods decided to think of a way to trick the King. Heimdall (maybe a post for him also - not sure yet) suggested dressing up Thor in a bridal gown and let him take Freja's place. Thor at first refused to do such a thing as it would portray him as a coward and womanish, but Loki insisted that he do so or the Giants would attack Asgard and win it over if he were not to retrieve the hammer in time. Thor reluctantly agreed in the end and dressed up to take Freja's place.

Odin rode Thor to the land of the Giants and a celebration ensued. The king noticed a few odd things that his bride was committing. He noted that she ate and drank more than what he would expect from a bride. Loki, who was in disguise as the false Freja's servant, commented that she rode for 8 full nights without food eager to take his hand. He then asked why his bride's eyes are so terrifying, they seemed to be aglow with fire, again Loki responded with a lie that she did not sleep for 8 full nights eager for his hand. Then the giant commanded that the hammer be brought to his wife and placed on her lap as a token of his love. Once it was in Thor's possession he threw off his disguise and attacked all the giants in the room.


Another story is about when Thor was outwitted by a giant king, Útgarða-Loki. The king, using his magic, tricked Thor. The king raced Thought itself against Thor's fast servant, Þjálfi (nothing being faster than thought, which can leap from land to land, and from time to time, in an instant). Then, Loki was challenged by Útgarða-Loki to an eating contest with one of his servants, Logi. Loki lost, eventually. The servant even ate up the trough containing the food. The servant was an illusion of "Wild-Fire", no living thing being able to equal the consumption rate of fire. Then the king called Thor weak when he only lifted the paw of a cat, the cat being the illusion of the Midgard Serpent (Maybe I'll write a post about that one as well, since it plays a great role in these stories). Thor was challenged to a drinking contest, and could not empty a horn which was filled not with mead but was connected to the ocean. This action started tidal changes. And here, Thor wrestled an old woman, Útgarða-Loki's mom, who was Old Age, something no one could beat, to one knee. Thor left humiliated, but was heartened later when he met a messager who told him that he had in fact performed great feats worthy of a powerful god for doing as well as he did with those challenges.