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Mythos Atlas

Norse Pantheon

Thor

Þórr(Thorr)

Also known as Donar, Thunder God

Illustration of Thor, a deity of the Norse Pantheon
Illustrative imageIllustration of Thor. Generated with an AI image model; not a historical artifact. About our images
  • thunder
  • lightning
  • strength
  • protection
  • storms

Son of Odin and the earth goddess Jord. God of thunder, lightning, and storms. Protector of mankind and the gods, wielding the mighty hammer Mjolnir.

About Thor

The Thunderer

Thor is the defender of Asgard and Midgard, wielding the mighty hammer Mjolnir. Unlike the cunning Odin, Thor is straightforward, strong, and short-tempered, but fiercely loyal.

Battles with Giants

Most of Thor's myths involve his expeditions into Jotunheim to slay giants who threaten the gods. His greatest enemy is Jormungandr, the World Serpent, whom he is destined to slay (and be slain by) at Ragnarok.

Origin story

Thor was born to Odin, the Allfather, and Jord, the personification of the earth itself. This union of sky and earth made Thor one of the mightiest beings in existence. From birth, he displayed incredible strength - as an infant, he could lift ten loads of bearskins. He grew quickly into the powerful protector of both gods and mortals. He married Sif, the golden-haired goddess, and with her had a daughter named Thrud. With the giantess Jarnsaxa, he fathered Magni and Modi, who will inherit Mjolnir after Ragnarok.

Across traditions

Parallel figures

Figures who play a role like Thor's in other traditions.

Worship and cult

Temples, festivals, and practices recorded for Thor

The most popular of the North's gods in the settlement period. Miniature hammers, Thursday, and oak. He fights giants and blesses the farm. Adam puts him in the high seat at Uppsala; farmers put him over the door.

Sacred sites

  • Uppsala temple beside Odin and Freyr
  • Wayside hammers and holy oaks more than a single great fane

Festivals

  • Thursday observances
  • Hammer-blessings of marriages and land

Family

Parents
Odin
with
Sif
Thor
Rivals
Fenrir

Relationship sources

  1. Prose Edda — Odin parent of Thor

    Snorri Sturluson · Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur, The Prose Edda (1916), American-Scandinavian Foundation; Internet Sacred Text Archive transcription · Gylfaginning IX (9)

  2. Prose Edda — Thor spouse of Sif

    Snorri Sturluson · Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur, The Prose Edda (1916), American-Scandinavian Foundation; Internet Sacred Text Archive transcription · Skáldskaparmál IV (4)

Questions about Thor's family
Who are Thor's parents?
The atlas's kinship records name one parent of Thor: Odin. Ancient accounts do not always agree on divine parentage.
Who were Thor's spouses and consorts?
Spouses and consorts of Thor recorded in the atlas: Sif.

In the atlas

Where Thor appears

Sources and further reading

Ancient sources

Quotations, paraphrases and verification notes. Each passage states what has been checked.

Editorial paraphrase

Heimdall proposes disguising Thor as a bride to recover his hammer; Thor objects that the gods would call him unmanly.

Poetic Edda, Þrymskviða (adapted paraphrase) · Stanzas 14–16

Reference translation: Editorial paraphrase; not a Bellows quotation

Editorial paraphrase, 2026

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Source notes

These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.

  • Prose Edda, Gylfaginning (trans. Anderson)

    Catalog date: c. 1220 CE

Appears in

Ancient and classical works featuring this figure.

  • Poetic EddaAnonymous

    protector of gods and men against giants (Thrymskvida and other poems)

  • Prose EddaSnorri Sturluson

    central figure of several retold myths (Gylfaginning)

About this entry

By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. . Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.

Parallels are editorial comparisons across traditions: a shared role does not, by itself, establish a shared origin.

Family relationships come from the atlas's kinship records. Ancient sources often disagree on divine genealogy.

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Genealogy

Family tree

Thor's parents, consorts, children and rivals, as recorded in the atlas.

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