Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

[ vii ] The cult of Thor was very popular in the V iking age, particularly in western Scandinavia, and many people and places were named after him. Like the G ermanic Donar (Anglo-Saxon Thunor), he was a sky-god, controlling winds and storms, and was associated with the oak. Thursday was his day. His hammer represented lightning and he guarded the A esir from attack. He protected his worshippers, and presided over the Law Assembly; oaths were sworn on his sacred ring. He was pictured as a red-bearded figure with fiery eyes and a huge appetite, drawn by goats in a wagon which rattled across the sky, causing thunder [3: iii ]. Small hammers were worn as A mulets in the late Viking age, and hammer and swastika were carved on memorial stones as his symbols. Many tales, serious and comic, were told of his encounters with F rost-giants and his fishing for the World-Serpent [3a: 79–84]. He was to perish when he slew the serpent at R agnarok. ... log in or subscribe to read full text