Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 1

 Thor

Our heritage does not just come from Greece and Rome.  Western culture has many roots, though some have been celebrated in art and literature more than others.  Who hasn't heard of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the epic poems about Greek gods and heroes?  On the other hand, how many people have ever heard of the Elder Edda, the epic poem about Norse gods and heroes?  The poems in the Elder Edda were transmitted orally for centuries and finally written down in Iceland in the 13th century.

Our months of July and August may be named after Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar, but our days are named after the Germanic and Norse gods.  For example, Thursday is Thor's day.

Thor was reintroduced to modern audiences in the movie Thor and its sequels, although secondhand via a comic book character.  You probably picture Thor as Chris Hemsworth (above, from the movie Thor, 2011).  That's actually not a bad image.  Thor was the god of thunder, but he was also the god of strength and a protector of mankind, and his weapon was his famous hammer.

The Norse and Germanic gods were not usually depicted nude like the Greek and Roman gods were, perhaps because it's colder in Northern Europe.  But there have been some nude representations.  This is an 1880s image of Thor by Hans Thoma from a calendar called Fest Kalender.

Thor is in many of the Norse myths.  Today we tell the story of Thor and the Midgard Serpent from the Elder Edda.  The Midgard Serpent, also called Jörmungandr, was a sea serpent that lived in the ocean that encircled the world.  The serpent was so long that it stretched all around the world and bit its own tail.

This illustration for the Elder Edda shows Thor and the serpent.  Thor is depicted as being suitably muscular, but the we don't get a feel for the size of the serpent.

The story begins with Thor visiting the land of the giants, where he meets the giant Hymir (above, by Lorenz Frølich in the Statens Museum for Kunst, Denmark).  They decide to go fishing.

Thor asks for bait, but Hymir tells him to find his own bait.  So Thor cuts off the head of Hymir's finest ox to use as bait (above, by William Collingwood, 1908).

They go out to sea, and Thor tells Hymir to row farther and farther out.  Hymir is afraid, because the Midgard Serpent lives below.  Thor casts out his ox-head bait, and sure enough, the serpent takes the bait.  Thor begins to haul in the serpent.  The serpent spits poison, and Thor goes after it with his hammer (painting above by Johann Heinrich Füssli, 1790).  Thor's crotch is blurred in the painting, perhaps the 1790 equivalent of pixellation.

Thor fights the serpent in this sculpture by Anne Marie Carl-Neilsen, 1887.  No crotch-blurring here.

The story ends when Hymir, afraid for his life, cuts Thor's fishing line (above, by William Collingwood, 1908)).  The Midgard Serpent escapes back to the bottom of the sea, where it waits for the battle of Ragnarök at the end of the world.

We have many more stories of gods, myths and heroes.  Stay tuned.