Höðr

The Blind God’s Tragedy

Thor is the son of Odin and the earth figure Jord. His wife is Sif, famous for her golden hair, and his children include Modi, Thrud and Magni. His hall is Bilskirnir in the realm Thrudvangr. When he travels, two goats called Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr pull his chariot. Thor can cook the goats for supper and restore them with his hammer, provided their bones have not been damaged. That rule causes trouble when Thor stays with a human family. Loki encourages a boy named Thjalfi to crack a goat bone for its marrow. The resurrected goat is lame, and Thor’s anger terrifies everyone. He accepts Thjalfi and his sister Roskva as servants in compensation. They then join adventures that carry Thor beyond the safe human world.

In the tale of Utgard-Loki, Thor and his companions face contests inside a giant’s hall. Thor tries to drink from a horn but cannot empty it, lift a cat but raises only one paw, and wrestle an old woman who forces him to one knee. These failures are actually astonishing achievements. The horn is connected to the sea, so Thor’s drinking lowers its level. The cat is really Jormungandr, the serpent encircling the world. The old woman is Old Age, whom nobody can defeat. Thor meets Jormungandr again while fishing with the giant Hymir. He uses an ox head as bait and hauls the serpent towards the boat. Thor raises his hammer, but in Snorri’s version Hymir cuts the line and the monster sinks away.

Poetic versions differ about exactly what happens. The final meeting is foretold for Ragnarok. Thor kills the serpent, then walks only nine steps before dying from its venom. Not every adventure is grim. When the giant Thrym steals Mjolnir, he demands Freyja as his bride. Thor disguises himself as Freyja and attends the wedding with Loki acting as his maid. The “bride” eats an ox, eight salmon and huge amounts of drink, while Loki invents excuses. When the hammer is placed in Thor’s lap to bless the marriage, he grabs it and defeats the giants. Thor was worshipped across the Viking world. Small hammer pendants have been found in graves and settlements, and place names preserve his name.

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