Praise the Gods

Look up information on Thor and you will see “the god of thunder” written somewhere.  Who said he is the god of thunder?  Not the Poetic Edda, the main source of Norse mythology.  In fact, apart from his name, which means “thunder”, I could find no evidence that he is a thunder god.

That is a risky business anyway…saying that a Norse god is “god of X”.  It is misleading and a gross oversimplification of the nature of the gods.  I suppose a person could say, he is not the god OF thunder, he IS thunder.  But this too is misleading.

How would the people of Iceland have seen Thor, since thunder is rare in Iceland?  How would they have seen him as a  “god of fertility” of the crops when crops were extremely difficult to grow in Iceland back then?  Perhaps, his nature changed depending on the location.

So what does the Poetic Edda say about him?  A good bit actually.  He swells with anger when oaths are broken (Voluspa 26); resides in Thrudheimr, which means “power-home” (Grimnir 4); carries food on his back (Harbard 3); sometimes dressed as a beggar and doesn’t have breeches (Harbard 6); called lord of goats (Hymir 20); friend of mankind (Hymir 11); griever of giants (Hymir 14); one who saves man and snake’s lone slayer (Hymir 22); and one of great strength (Hymir 105) These are just a few descriptions of him in the Poetic Edda.

There is no mention of him riding on storm clouds, carrying a lightning bolt, or having darkness (of the clouds) surrounding him.  Even if I say that the sound of thunder is from the wheels of his chariot as he crosses the sky, that still does not make him “the god of thunder”.

Adam of Bremen might have associated him with thunder but he is not really a reliable source.  Just as “Raysdottir” doesn’t really tell much about me other than I am the daughter of someone named “Ray”, “thunder” doesn’t really say that much about Thor, other than he is associated with thunder somehow.  

For me, the best way to get to know a god is to read the lore and then to work with that god.  Over and over and over.  For me, he is a protector, who encourages me to carry my own Mjollnir inside.  He reminds me that I have the power within to overcome the forces of chaos and to find my own inner stillness.  And what could be better than to find stillness within my own darkness?

-Raysdottir