Thor is the god of thunder and the strongest of the Norse gods. Where his father Odin is subtle and dangerous to know, Thor is straightforward. He is hot tempered, enormously hungry, loyal to his friends and always ready to deal with a giant by hitting it very hard. He was also, by a wide margin, the god that ordinary Vikings loved best.
What Thor is the god of
Thunder is the sound of Thor's chariot rolling across the sky, and lightning is his hammer striking. Beyond the weather, he is the guardian of Asgard and of Midgard, the world of people, and he spends most of his time in the east fighting giants. Farmers looked to him for rain and good crops, and his hammer was used to bless weddings and to hallow the dead.
Mjolnir and the rest of his gear
Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, was forged by two dwarf brothers as part of a wager with Loki. Loki turned himself into a fly and stung the dwarf working the bellows, which is why the handle came out short. Even so, the gods judged it the finest treasure ever made, because it never misses, always returns to the hand and can be shrunk small enough to tuck inside a shirt.
Thor also owns a belt that doubles his strength and a pair of iron gloves that he needs in order to grip the hammer. He travels in a chariot pulled by two goats with the splendid names Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr, Teeth Barer and Teeth Grinder. When he is hungry on the road he cooks and eats them, then lays the bones on the skins and brings them back to life with his hammer the next morning.
Thor's family
Thor is the son of Odin and of Jord, whose name means Earth. His wife is Sif, famous for her golden hair, and his children are his sons Magni and Modi, Strength and Wrath, and his daughter Thrud. The sagas describe him with a red beard and a fierce stare.
The best stories about Thor
The day Thor dressed as a bride
Thor wakes one morning to find his hammer gone. A giant named Thrym has stolen it and will only give it back in exchange for the goddess Freya as his wife. Freya refuses in fury, so the gods dress Thor in a wedding gown and veil and send him instead, with Loki as his bridesmaid. At the feast the bride eats an ox and eight salmon and drinks three barrels of mead, which Loki explains away as best he can. When the hammer is brought out to bless the marriage, Thor seizes it and the wedding ends badly for the giants.
Fishing for the world serpent
Thor goes out in a boat with the giant Hymir, baits a hook with the head of an ox and catches Jormungand, the serpent that circles the world. He hauls so hard that his feet go through the bottom of the boat. Just as he raises his hammer, the terrified giant cuts the line. The scene is carved on a stone at Gosforth in Cumbria.
The contests in the giant's hall
In the hall of the giant Utgard-Loki, Thor is challenged to three simple tasks. He fails to drain a drinking horn, fails to lift a cat off the floor and is wrestled to one knee by an old woman. Only afterwards does he learn that he was tricked. The horn was connected to the sea, and he drank enough to create the tides. The cat was the world serpent, and the old woman was old age itself, which nobody defeats.
Thor at Ragnarok
Thor and the world serpent are destined to meet one last time. At Ragnarok he kills it at last, then takes nine steps back and falls dead, poisoned by its venom. His sons survive him and inherit the hammer.
The people's god
Hundreds of small hammer pendants have been found across the Viking world, far more than any other religious symbol of the time. Thor's name was also the most common element in Viking personal names, giving us Thorstein, Thorkel, Thora and many more, some of which are in our lists of male and female Viking names. He survives in English in the word Thursday.
Thor in the myths and Thor in the films
The modern film version keeps the hammer and the strength and changes a good deal else. The original Thor is red bearded, not blond and clean shaven. Loki is his father's blood brother and not his own adopted brother. He drives goats and does not fly by swinging his hammer. He is also less of a prince and more of a working god, the one you called on when something large and hostile needed to be stopped.
Common questions
What is Thor the god of?
Thor is the Norse god of thunder, storms and strength, and the defender of both gods and people against the giants. He was also called on to bless marriages, crops and journeys.
What is Thor's hammer called?
Mjolnir. It was made by two dwarf brothers, never misses its target and always returns to his hand. Its handle is a little short because Loki, in the form of a fly, stung one of the dwarves while it was being forged.
Is Loki Thor's brother?
No. That comes from modern comics and films. In the myths Loki is the blood brother of Thor's father Odin, and he and Thor are travelling companions who are often at odds.
Did Thor have blond hair?
No. The sagas describe Thor as red bearded, with fierce eyes.
How does Thor die?
At Ragnarok he kills Jormungand, the world serpent, then walks nine steps and falls dead from its venom.
Last reviewed 12 November 2026