If you’ve heard much about Norse mythology before reading this, Thor is probably the name you’re most familiar with. After all, he’s strong, handsome, intelligent - everything the main character of Norse mythology should be...right?
Wrong, actually! Well, alright, you were right about the handsome part. But Thor’s strength actually comes from some gloves and a belt he has. As my father might say, Thor is not the brightest torch in the sconce. And outside of his own tales, Thor isn’t even the main character - Odin is!
Most of the stories that Thor appears in involve the setup of some outrageous event centering around Thor. Loki is often a part of this event, and Thor inevitably storms after him with a thundering temper - ok, sorry, puns are done for now. But it’s appropriate, since stories centering on Thor are generally comedic. It’s normally only in the stories in which Thor is presented as a secondary character that the god of thunder is shown to be serious and mature.
Given our dark topic of Hel last post, and with a post about Ragnarok approaching soon, I thought you guys deserved a more light-hearted topic. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few of the more comical stories about Thor.
First of all, Thor has a chariot pulled by two billy goats. Yes. Goats. These goats are called Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder, and they haul his chariot into battle. I guess that’s one way to strike terror into the hearts of your enemies? Interestingly, Thor is not the only god to have a chariot pulled by strange animals. Freya, a goddess of love and of battle, has a chariot that is pulled by two giant cats.
Last post I talked a little about Jormungand, the giant serpent who was imprisoned after a prophecy of his role in Ragnarok. Jormungand makes an appearance in one of Thor’s silly stories, where the god of thunder goes fishing. Thor deliberately tries to fish up Jormungand in order to fight him, using the head of a steer as bait. Thor succeeds in baiting Jormungand and pulling him to the surface. Luckily for the world, Thor’s fishing companion cuts the line before the apocalyptic fight can ensue, sending Jormungand back to the depths.
Not silly enough for you? Don’t worry, I think this one will be. While there are many other stories, this is my favorite.
Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, was used to defend Asgard’s borders against any giants that sought to attack the gods. One morning he woke up to discover it was missing. For once Loki was not to blame, and helped find the person responsible for the theft - Thrym, king of the frost giants. Thrym agreed to give Mjolnir back to Thor in exchange for marrying the goddess Freya. Freya refused to wed him, so the gods gathered in council to figure out what to do. One of the gods suggested sending Thor to Thrym...disguised as Freya in a wedding gown.
Somehow Thor was talked into this (and out of murdering the god who voiced the idea). He was garbed in a wedding dress and veil, and draped in jewelry. Loki was disguised as his bridesmaid. The duo then went to Thrym, fooled him into thinking Thor was Freya, and were given back Mjolnir...which Thor then used to slay every giant he could find.
Just in case you can’t quite visualize this, picture Chris Hemsworth, with a really bushy beard, wearing drag.
Assuming you’re still able to read through the laughter, I’m going to leave you with that. I hope you had a thundering good time (sorry, sorry)! Feel free to comment, email me, or petition Marvel to include Thor’s cross-dressing adventures in a future Avengers. Stay tuned! Next post I’ll be talking about the curious beings called the Norns.
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