No god was so beloved by ordinary people as Thor. With hammer, belt and thunder-chariot he keeps the powers of chaos in check.
Thor (Old Norse Þórr) is the god of thunder and the foremost protector of gods and humans. Son of Odin and the earth goddess Jörð, he embodies strength, reliability and the tireless struggle against the giants, the powers of chaos.
His most important weapon is the hammer Mjölnir, which never misses its mark and returns to his hand. Thor also wears the power-belt Megingjörð, which doubles his strength, and iron gloves. His chariot is drawn by two goats – Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr – whose hooves thunder across the sky.
Thor’s great adversary is Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent that coils around the whole world. At Ragnarök the two will kill each other: Thor slays the serpent, staggers nine paces and then falls himself from its venom. Famous too is the tale from the Þrymskviða, in which his hammer is stolen and he must disguise himself as a bride to get it back.
While Odin was the god of chieftains and poets, Thor was close to ordinary farmers and seafarers. Archaeology shows this impressively: more than a thousand Thor’s-hammer amulets have been found – no other divine symbol is so frequently attested. To this day Thursday recalls him (English Thursday, from Thor; in the south he was called Donar).
You will find the hammer and other Norse motifs laser-engraved in our shop – and in our post on real and invented symbols you will learn which signs are genuinely of the Viking Age.