Thor (mythology)

Thor (Old Norse: Þórr, Old English: Þunor, runic: Þonar/ᚦᛟᚾᚨᚱ, Þunaraz/ᚦᚢᚾᚫᚱᚫᛉ & Þórr/ᚦᚢᚱ, all of which translate as the word "thunder") was one of the principal deities among the Norse pantheon, member of the Æsir family of gods and revered as one of the three leading gods, alongside his father, Odin, King of Asgard, and the Vanir Freyr, King of the Álfar. He is also the husband of the golden-haired goddess Sif (with whom he fathered the goddess (and possible Valkyrie) Þrúðr), the lover of the Jötunn Járnsaxa (with whom he fathered Magni) and unknown woman (with whom he fathered Móði), and the stepfather of the god Ullr. 
==Biography==
Being one of prominent figure in Norse Mythology, Thor played several important roles in it. Somewhat brawny yet loyal and brave, the Thunder God proved himself a capable protector who fight to protect humanity and his kin from hostile Jötnar/Þurs threats. To carry out such noble mission, Thor carries Megingjǫrð (special belt that doubles his already incredible strength), Mjölnir (his signature short-handled hammer), and Járngreipr (a pair of gauntlets to help him better handle Mjölnir's powers). For means of transportation between both realms, he rode a war chariot said to be pulled by his trusty pair of supernatural goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr (that he eats and resurrects).
===The Fortification of Asgard===
During the construction of Asgard's fortifications, Thor and his fellow Gods of Asgard were anxious over the pact they made with their mysterious benefactor, a builder who accompanied by his supernatural—stallion Svaðilfari, as the price of the deal would be: Sól (sun), Máni (moon), and Freyja. When it became apparent that their said benefactor being a Jötunn and that he possibly had ulterior motives that won't bode well to his clients, Thor confronted the builder as Loki reluctantly distracted his steed with his mare form, culminating to the Thunder God defeating the Jötunn and the Trickster Jötunn conceived Sleipnir with Svaðilfari months later. 
===Thor the Transvestite===
Upon discovering that someone managed to steal Mjölnir one morning, the disgruntled Thor consulted with Freyja and Loki (whom he suspected to have something to do on the incident) about the matter knowing that its disappearance means he won't be able to protect innocent lives at his fullest. This led to Loki borrowing Freya's falcon mantle so he could search the entirety of Jötunheim in enhanced falcon form for the one who's responsible. After a while, Loki returned to convey the ultimatum of the real mastermind, Þrymr, who demanded Freyja as his bride in exchange of the hammer. Of course, the Gods of Asgard didn't take it well, Freyja in particular.
The Gods then held a meeting for the best solution of their dilemma during which Heimdall proposed a ridiculous yet hopefully effective plan: Rather than handing Freyja to their enemies outright, they instead sent the disguised Thor in her place with Loki as his maid-servant. Thor reluctantly agreed with the plan as he'd rather endure potential ridicule from his brethren for the rest of his life if that means he reclaimed his trusty weapon.
And so, the disguised Thor and Loki set out for Þrymr's stronghold. They soon were greeted by the pleased Jötunn king who boasted that the gods had brought him his well-deserved prize. Throughout their would-be marriage ceremony, Thor's embarrassment saw him struggling to remain in character as he ended up voraciously eating and drinking, consuming nine entrees (one ox and eight salmon) and three casks of mead prompting Loki to reason Þrymr that "Freyja" had "neither drank nor eating for eight nights in her excitement over the trip". Loki went so far adding that "Freyja" also didn't sleep throughout such period to explain her fiery red eyes, when Þrymr lifted her bridal veil to kiss her.
When the marriage between Þrymr and "Freyja" finally commenced with the goddess Vár and Mjölnir being brought to sanctify their would-be union, the disguised Thunder God became excited by the presence of his trusty weapon in his reach. So excited that he blew up his cover in order to reclaim it, leading to a commotion that culminated to deaths of Þrymr and his fellow Jötnar who present as the guests. Afterwards, Loki, Thor, and possibly Vár returned to Asgard with the Thunder God ditching his wedding dress in favor of his casual outfit.
===Fishing for Jörmungandr===
The gods instigated a fancy feast with the jotuns Aegir and Ran. The giants offered to host the banquet, but only if the gods could provide them with enough kettle to brew mead for all of the invited guests. Unfortunately, only the giant Hymir possessed a cauldron large enough for this purpose. Thor volunteered to obtain this cauldron from Hymir. When the god’s arrived at his abode, Hymir slaughtered three bulls for provisions for the two during Thor’s stay. The giant was shocked and furious when Thor ate two of the bulls in one sitting to assuage his legendary hunger. Because of this, the wrothed giant asserted that they must go fishing in the morning for the next day’s food. At dawn Hymir sent Thor to obtain bait for their hooks. Thor slaughtered the last bull to use the head as bait. Hymir was more irritated at the Lightning god, but hoped his strength would be enough for the fishing trip. On the boat with Thor in the stern the god rowed them out to Hymir’s usual fishing grounds, where the giant caught two whales. However, as Thor rowed them farther from land Hymir grows fearful due to Jörmungandr inhabiting the waters. Thor refused to leave. Thor casted his line into the water, after an ominous silence the god felt a tug. As he reeled it in, Jörmungandr's violent rumbling shook the boat and whipped the waves. Hymir grew pale with terror, but Thor persisted. The gods feet were planted so firmly in the bottom of the boat that water began pouring in. When the serpent's head, with the hook in his venom-dripping mouth, emerged from the water, Thor reached for his hammer. But, before he can slay the serpent, Hymir panicked and cut the line. Jörmungandr retreated back into the ocean. Thor, outraged for missing his opportunity to end his greatest foe, heaved Hymir overboard. Thor, with the two whales slung over his shoulders, waded back to land, picked up Hymir’s cauldron, and returned home to Asgard.
===Duel Against Hrungnir===
to be added
===Encounter with Útgarða-Loki===
to be added
===Baldr's Death===
===The Binding of Loki===
===Ragnarök===
to be added
== Personality and Traits ==
While definitely an ideal benevolent protector, Thor's overall personality is best described as mercurial. He usually presents himself as hot-headed yet jovial man who enjoys eating and drinking as much as combating threats in addition of boasting his achievements, yet at the same time relentless and fierce towards those who dare to threaten the peace in The Nine Realms. So fierce that he is not above breaking his kind's code such as against women or breaking code of conduct between hosts and their guests just to carry out his duty. Thor is also protective to his family as much as with humanity in general, he once tricked the dwarf/dvergr—Alvíss, who sought to marry his daughter by force into talking until dawn and subsequently turned into stone.
In mythical accounts, Thor appeared as a man with fierce-looking eyes along with red hair and matching beard as fiery as his temper, a contrast to Marvel comics take of the Thunder God. While interpretation of his trademark outfit vary apart from Járngreipr and Megingjörð, he is commonly clad in armor not unlike Viking warriors of the old given to his duty as one of Gods of Asgard's champion. He also has a piece (or pieces) of stone in his forehead resulted from the fight against Hrungnir. Another difference being his stature which supposedly is barrel-chested as opposed of well-built, an image that is consistent to his incarnation in the Magnus Chase series and villainous take in God of War: Ragnarök.
==Powers and Abilities==
Thor is one of the most prominent Gods of Asgard for both his devotion to his role as God of the Common Folk and great physiology endowed by his lineage, being the son of Odin (a very powerful Æsir) and Fjörgyn aka. Jörð (a powerful Jötunn) which is confusingly not to be confused with Thor's alternative name: Fjörgynn).
* Supernatural Strength: True to one of his ephitets: 'God of Strength', Thor possesses immense almost conceptual strength, able to lift part of Jörmungandr's body which was disguised by Útgarða-Loki into a cat, grab Loki in the form of a salmon, which then makes every salmon go slim by the tail when you grab it, and tackle the toughest of Jötnar, Trolls & Þurs easily. His strength is further enhanced by his equipment. 
* Near-Invulnerability: Though possibly not to the same extent as Odin given that he was slightly scarred from the duel against Hrungnir and had a piece of the Jötunn's stone weapon permanently stuck in his forehead. Thor can take considerable punishments with the only being that can significantly injure him being his alleged bane: Jörmungandr aka. Midgard Serpent.
* Supernatural Reflexes: Though not attested, as one of Gods of Asgard's best champions, Thor must've honed his reflexes in order to better anticipate his opponent's blows.
* Biological Immortality: Like his fellow Gods of Asgard, Thor can live forever where this was backed by mystical golden apples supplied by Iðunn to maintain his prime condition. Only beings with sufficient power like Jörmungandr that can kill him, however.
* Magical Abilities via. Mjölnir: Thor possesses a great deal of magical powers which primarily manifest through his hammer Mjölnir. It must be stressed however, that he can perform them without Mjölnir just fine as the hammer is never their source.
** Weather Manipulation: Thor possesses the power to control weather storms and elements associate with it such as lightning.
*** Lightning Manipulation: Thor possesses absolute power over electrical energy which more than enough to cripple and even slay higher beings in same calibre as him such as Jötnar.
** Blessing Inducement: With Mjölnir as the focus, Thor can grant blessings to anyone or anything he wishes. He performed this to sanctify the boring ship Baldr and his wife Nanna during their funeral. 
** Limited Resurrection: Thor has used his hammer to resurrect deceased lesser beings such as his beloved supernatural goats Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. This ability has some limitations such as bones and skin of those he wishes to bring back to life must not excessively damaged; due to Þjálfi broke one of the goats' ham-bones and even sucked the marrow, the goat in question ended up return to life with a lame hind leg. 
** Healing Magic: Through the power of Mjolnir, Thor also possess the power to heal emotional and physical wounds. He used this ability to heal the damage done to the lame hind leg of one of his goats.
** Earth Manipulation: Being the son of Jǫrð aka: Fjörgyn, the personification of earth and a female Jötunn/goddess, Thor inherited the latter's power over her namesake element.
* Divine Combatant: Being the very champion of the Gods of Asgard, Thor has greatly honed his self-defense and physical combat skills to the point of only a few that can match him, be it in armed or hand-to-hand.
** Master Martial Artist: Thor has (arguably) rigorously trained himself in hand-to-hand combat skills in order to be able to protect innocent lives across Midgard to its fullest even while unarmed, though he prefers to wield his trusty Mjölnir to carry out such task.
** Hammer Mastery: When it comes about armed combat, Thor displayed best affinity with war hammer through his proficiency with Mjölnir.
** Staff Mastery: Thor is no slouch when utilizing staff in combat as shown through his use of his secondary weapon Gríðarvöllr.
==Appearance in Popular Media==
Due to his influential nature in folklore, legends and human psychology, Thor evolved into one of the most widely used Norse gods in adapted fiction. He has appeared in various assorted books (novels and short stories), comic books, television programs, animated series, video games, toys (relating to several franchises) and trinkets popularized in modern Norway and Sweden.
*One of the most widely known adaptations of the character is the Marvel Comics character Thor Odinson, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby in August 1962, first appearance being in the anthology book Journey Into Mystery number 83. This interpretation has mostly been beardless, and instead of a red-head was made blond. Mjolnir had likewise become a staple of his eponymous comic series, at first resembling its mythical counterpart, but in time it became closer in shape with a sledgehammer.
*Because of the similarity with the Greek Hero Herakles (Latin "Hercules"), media adaptations of Thor have him on occasion meeting with the Hercules, usually to do battle, but later to befriend him:
**Marvel Comics' Thor had had several crossovers with the same company's own iteration of Hercules, in time the two becoming allies but with a friendly rivalry.
**Disney's Hercules animated series also had an episode "Twilight of the Gods", wherein the titular demigod met up with the Norse pantheon and fought Thor, for a time, then later saved the world from Loki.
**Thor also appeared in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, episodes "Norse by Norsevest" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bridge" where he battled that show's version of Hercules, then later teamed up to stop Loki from bringing about the Ragnarok.
*Thor appears as a character in the 2015 Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard book "The Sword of Summer" where he has a demigod daughter named Gunilla, who is one of the thanes at Hotel Valhalla.
*Thor is featured as one of Legends in 2D platform fighting game Brawhalla. He is depicted as a muscular, Mjölnir-wielding veteran warrior Æsir not unlike Marvel comics iteration albeit with red hair and facial hair as with in myths. His war hammer also received an upgrade in form of longer handle by Ulgrim, fixing the crafting error made by its original creators.
*In Netflix's TV Series Ragnarok, Magne Seier, the hero of the series, is the reincarnation of Thor who, alongside his fellow reincarnated Gods of Asgard, must fight Jutul, a Jötnar clan/family who posed as affluential family who owned Jutul Industries as the front in their destructive quest to destroy their home town Edda.
==Gallery==
Mårten Eskil Winge - Tor's Fight with the Giants - Google Art Project.jpg
Thor in Erik Evensen's Gods of Asgard.jpg|Thor in Erik Evensen's Gods of Asgard
File:IMG 5670.webp
Thor competes against Thea Brawlhalla.jpg|Thor competes against Thea as seen in New Legend Thea Launch Trailer of Brawlhalla
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