Thor

in Scandinavian mythology, the thunderer. He was the son of Odin and Jordh, Earth, and, among the gods, was next in importance to his father. Thor was the friend of gods and men. When the gods were in difficulty they called on Thor, and when trolls and evil spirits played tricks on mankind Thor was the one to whom mortals looked for deliverance. Thor's hammer was named Mjolnir, the Smasher. When he had hurled it, it would fly back to his hand of its one accord. He had a girdle which doubled his strength whenever he put it on. He possessed also four goats, Crack, Crash, Grind, and Chase. Thialfi, the swift runner, was his servant.

Many stories are told of Thor. One of the most interesting is of his journey with the mischievous Loki through the giant's country. This occurred while Thor was still young and knew little of giants. It was on this expedition that they slept all night in the mitten of Skrymir, mistaking it for an enormous cave. In the morning Skrymir came along, hunting his mitten. He was a friendly fellow and they traveled in company, though the gods had hard work to keep up with the giant's long legs. When they parted Skrymir directed Thor to the city of Utgard. Here they met the giant king, Utgard-Loki. He challenged the gods to enter contests with his men. So Loki tried an eating match with Logi, each beginning at one end of a wooden trough filled with meat. When Loki had eaten the meat to the middle of the trough, he looked up and found that his rival had eaten meat and bones and trough besides. Thialfi tried a running race with Hugi. Hugi ran to the goal, and returning, met Thialfi soon after he started.

Thor thought he would like to try a drinking match. Utgard-Loki had a horn of mead brought, which he said the most puny drinker would empty in three draughts. But when Thor had drunk three times--and he was very thirsty and long of breath--he had only lowered the liquid a little in the horn, so that it "might be carried without spilling." Thor was some-what abashed, but offered to try some test of strength. "Well, then, lift my cat," said the king, "a child could do that." Thor tried his best, but could only get one of the cat's feet off the floor. Thor was pretty well roused by this time and offered to wrestle. "Nobody here would wrestle with a little fellow like you," said Utgard-Loki, "unless it be my old nurse Elli." So Thor wrestled with Elli, who brought him to his knees in short order. Thor went to bed much chagrined. In the morning, when he and his companions were about to take leave, Utgard-Loki accompanied them to the gate of the city and there confessed to Thor that he had made use of illusions. He said: "You saw your Loki eat with Logi. Logi is in reality Fire. Hugi is Thought, and is, of course, swifter than your fleet Thialfi. As for you, know that one end of the drinking horn was in the sea, which you caused to sink by your marvelous drinking. What I called my cat is the Mitgard serpent, which encircles the earth. You so stretched him that his head and tail could scarcely meet. Elli, with whom you wrestled, is Old Age, who will sometime lay low both gods and men." Then Utgard-Loki disappeared and when Thor in anger turned to reenter the city and avenge himself for the tricks played on him, he saw no city at all, only a green plain.

Thor is represented as a man in the prime of life, with a long red beard. Sacrifices were offered to him beneath oak trees. Thursday, the fifth day of the week, is named for him. In Tales of a Wayside Inn, Longfellow has a poem entitled The Challenge of Thor. It begins: