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Norse

Thor

The God of Thunder

Domain: Thunder & Strength
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Element: Thunder
Relics of Power: Hammer Mjölnir

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5 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.

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The People

People

Norse & Germanic peoples

Region

Scandinavia & northern Europe

Period

Viking Age, 8th–11th c.

The gods of Asgard were worshipped by the Norse peoples of Scandinavia and by the Germanic tribes, especially during the Viking Age. Warriors sought to die in battle to reach Odin's Valhalla, and the myths were preserved in the Icelandic Eddas. The cult declined with the region's Christianization around the year 1000.

The Norse celebrated blóts, seasonal sacrifices with feasts of meat and mead, such as the Yule of the winter solstice. The great temple at Uppsala, in Sweden, hosted every nine years one of the largest sacrificial festivals of the Viking world.

At a glance

Thor is the Norse god of thunder and is described among the strongest of the Æsir in Gylfaginning §21. Son of Odin and Earth, called Jörð, he drives a chariot drawn by two goats and carries the hammer Mjöllnir. His encounters with giants appear in Eddic poems and Snorri Sturluson's prose. Adam of Bremen records an image of Thor at the centre of Uppsala's temple and attributes to him thunder, rain, and crops. In Völuspá, Thor's final fight with the Midgard serpent takes place at Ragnarök.

15 min read · Reviewed on October 2, 2026 · How we research

Sacred symbols

Hammer Mjölnir, belt of strength Megingjörð, goats and the oak

Family

Parents

OdinJörð (Earth Personified)

Siblings

Baldur Vidar Váli

Thor

Unions

SifJárnsaxa (Iron Giantess)

Children

Magni (The Strong)Modi (The Courageous)Thrud (Strength)

Genealogy according to Edda em Prosa, A Ilusão de Gylfi, capítulos 21-48; Edda Poética, O Canto de Thrym, estrofes 1-32; O Canto de Hymir

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

Anonymous, The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson (Translated by Benjamin Thorpe). read
Snorri Sturluson, Edda, translated and edited by Anthony Faulkes. translation: Anthony Faulkes, Everyman. read
Adam of Bremen / Adam of Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Book 4, chs. 26–27). translation: Allan A. Lund (ed./Danish) and Birgitta Wallace (English), Wormianum, 1978. read
Anonymous, Eyrbyggja saga / The Saga of the Ere-Dwellers. translation: William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson, 1892. read

Studies

Nationalmuseet, Runer bekræfter: Thors hammer er en hammer. 2014. open
Online Etymology Dictionary, Thor. open
Matthew Colbert, Freeman/Lozier Library, 1st Appearance: Thor. 2018. open

Name and epithets

The Old Norse name Þórr is related to Proto-Germanic þunraz, 'thunder'. Its cognates include Old English Þunor and Old High German Donar; the wider etymological family includes Latin tonare, 'to thunder'.

In the ancient sources

Poetic Edda, composition date uncertain. Poem on Thor’s bridal disguise and recovery of the hammer; Thorpe’s edition ends at stanza 33. Prose Edda, 13th century CE.

The myths

The Retrieval of Mjöllnir and Thrym's Wedding Feast. On waking, Thor discovered that his hammer Mjöllnir had vanished.

Worship and archaeology

Adam of Bremen (Gesta Hammaburgensis 4.26–27) describes Thor between Odin and Frey in Uppsala’s temple. According to this Christian author, Thor governs thunder, rain, good weather, and crops; sacrifices are offered to…

How the god was depicted

Gylfaginning §21 lists the chariot drawn by Tanngnjóstr and Tanngrisnir, the hammer Mjöllnir, the belt Megingjörð, and iron gloves Járngreipr.

What scholars debate

Different witnesses to worship. Adam of Bremen describes collective sacrifices at Uppsala and places Thor’s image at the temple’s centre.

After antiquity

The god’s name survives in English Thursday and German Donnerstag, forms related to Germanic names for thunder. In comics, Marvel introduced a version of Thor in Journey into Mystery no. 83, published in 1962.

Did you know?

In Gylfaginning §44 Thor slaughters his two goats for one evening meal. He instructs the household to place the bones on the skins and consecrates the animals with Mjöllnir at dawn.

Codex relic

Hammer Mjölnir. A titanic hammer capable of crushing mountains and channeling lightning.

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