Red-Headed Thor and His Hammer

A noted scholar of the Norse, H. R.E. Davidson, here describes Odin's famous son, Thor:

In the myths, Thor appears as a burly, red-headed man, immensely strong, with a huge appetite, blazing eyes, and a beard, full of enormous vitality and power. He could increase his strength by wearing a special belt of might. Other prize possessions of his were his great gloves, enabling him to grasp and shatter rocks, the chariot drawn by goats which took him across the sky, and his hammer. This last was regarded as the greatest of all the treasures of Asgard [the heavenly home of the Norse gods], for

Thor and his hammer formed a protection against the giants and the monsters, the enemies of gods and men.

H. R.E. Davidson, Scandinavian Mythology. New York: Peter Bedrick,

1986, pp. 59-60.

Unlike the chariots of ancient Greek gods, which were drawn by horses, Thor's chariot was pulled by goats, as captured in this dynamic early modern wood-cut.

Hell" derives from "go to Hel," meaning to die in Old Norse.)

One unique attribute of the Norse gods was that the ultimate future both they and their human counterparts faced was terribly hopeless and bleak. Eventually, the Norse myths foretold, there would ensue an enormous battle called Ragnarok, or the "Twilight of the Gods." In this bloody fight, the Aesir and their allies, the humans, would square off against the forces of evil, and the evil ones would win. Both the gods and humanity would be destroyed. Yet in spite of knowing about this grim reality in advance, the gods and humans would refuse to surrender and instead fight on to the bitter end.