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Thor was the son of Woden, and Jörd, goddess of the Earth,
and married to Sif, another Earth goddess.
He was also a god of marriage and fire.
The fifth day of the week, Thursday, is named after him.
Thor was a warrior and always fighting giants. His constant companion
was a hammer which, when thrown, always returned to his hand. The peasants
believed Thor used this hammer to hurl thunderbolts at them as the wheels
of his goat drawn chariot drummed on the roof of Heaven to make thunder.
Thor's hammer was stolen by the giant Thryum and, for its return the
thief demanded that Freyja, goddess of love, marry him. Freyja was so
angry at the suggestion that her neck swelled with rage and shattered
her precious necklace, so the gods decided that Thor should dress as
a woman and take her place.
He reluctantly agreed and took his close friend, the evil and cunning
god Loki with him to the land of the giants.
Thor’s great appetite amazed the giants. Loki explained that this
goddess had been so anxious to reach their land she had not eaten for
eight days. Thryum noticed the lightning flash in Thor’s eyes
from beneath the woman’s headdress. Loki insisted it was because
she had been unable to sleep with the excitement of her forthcoming
marriage to him. Unable to wait, the giant produced Thor’s hammer
to seal the contract of marriage. As soon as his new ‘wife’
grasped the handle of the weapon he struck down the gathering of giants.
Thor had a long red beard, wore a belt that doubles his strength when
tightened, and iron gloves.
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