What Marvel's Thor Gets Wrong About Norse Mythology

 What Marvel's Thor Gets Wrong About Norse Mythology

In the era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there's no ancient deity more famous than Thor - Asgardian, Avenger, and God of Thunder. Actual Norsemen of antiquity, however, might be annoyed if they knew how little the Chris Hemsworth version of the character resembles the genuine Thor of Norse mythology. Though not every retelling of the Prose Edda and Poetic Edda agree about the details of Odinson's life, they do make it clear that Jack Kirby and Stan Lee took several liberties when lifting their superheroic creation from Scandinavian lore.

It's true that the popularity of Thor in the pages of Marvel Comics, and later the MCU, has increased global awareness of Thor, Loki, and all Norse gods and myths, but unless one is willing to consult the original texts, they're not going to get the whole picture. After all, there are some pretty strange tales of Thor and the rest of the Aesir out there to peruse - and they sure don't look much like any of the adventures that have made it to the big screen thus far.

Thor Is Not Just The God Of Thunder

Everyone knows Thor is the God of Thunder - in fact, him realizing the implications of that role is one of his most important character arcs in Thor: Ragnarok. And as far as fans of the MCU are concerned, thunder is the only thing he's the god of.
The Thor that hails from the annals of Norse mythology, on the other hand, serves many more functions beyond the creation of lightning and thunder. He's also the god of the tides, fair weather, and good crops - and invoking his name could bring one victory on the battlefield, protection from disease, and even fertility. Curiously, Thor is also listed as being the god of oak trees, and most shrines to him were constructed with oak wood.

Photo: Ólafur Brynjúlfsson / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Thor Is A Redhead

Thor might not be the strongest Avenger, but most would agree he is the dreamiest - particularly when portrayed by the blond-haired, blue-eyed Australian mega-stud known as Chris Hemsworth. But that's not an image of the Odinson that any Norsemen would have been familiar with.
The Thor of antiquity was usually described as having the red hair emblematic of famous Vikings like Erik the Red, and with a long and unkempt beard. One story does reference Thor's blond hair, but that's believed to be a result of the Christian themes that started to bleed into Norse mythology via authors like Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century.

Photo: Max Koch / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Loki Is Not Thor's Brother - He Is Odin's Blood Brother'

No other character is more closely associated with Thor than Loki, his adopted brother, and frequent adversary. The lore of Marvel Comics states that Loki was taken as a child from the Frost Giant Laufey by Odin and raised in Asgard alongside Odin's natural-born son - but that turns out to be a complete fabrication.
There's no reference to a familial relation between Thor and Loki in any of the foundational texts of Norse mythology. The two are friends that frequently travel together, but that's only after meeting sometime later in life through Loki's association with Odin. They certainly didn't grow up together. Loki was indeed born to a giant known as Laufey, but he was not adopted by Odin - the two were just allies. In the Poetic Edda, there's one singular mention of Loki and Odin being blood brothers, but that's as familial as the God of Mischief gets with the royal family of Asgard.

Photo: Ólafur Brynjúlfsson / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Loki Has A Complicated Relationship With Thor, But They're More Allies Than Anything

Loki is often depicted as the "bad guy" of Norse mythology - its answer to the Judeo-Christian Satan - but he's far from a supervillain in the original telling. Though he frequently frustrates the gods with his mischievous nature, he's the only non-Aesir to be invited to live in Asgard alongside them - so they must enjoy his company. In fact, Loki uses his trickery for good more often than he uses it for evil, and some credit him with swiping immortality for Odin and co.
With that being said, the relationship is still fairly complicated. Though Loki is particularly close with Thor, his traveling companion, and Odin, his blood brother, he did also cause the demise of one of Odin's other sons, Balder. For that offense, he was supposedly sentenced to an eternity of being lashed to a rock while a snake's venom dripped onto his face - until he was freed at Ragnarok to take his revenge on Asgard.
Up until that point, however, he was more of a nuisance than a true antagonist.

Photo: H.L.M. / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Thor's Actual Brothers Include Balder, Heimdall, And Tyr

Thor and Loki's close relationship in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is explained by the fact that they're one another's only sibling - that they know about, anyway. As it turns out, they're not even related to each other in the actual Norse mythology - but that doesn't mean that Thor is without brothers.
Most sources agree that Odin had at least four sons with various mothers - Thor, Balder, Vali, and Vidarr. Some other tellings mention a much longer list that includes names like Tyr, Hermod, and Heimdall, though it's possible that these individuals were only "sons of Odin" in the metaphorical sense.

Photo: Emil Doepler / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

You Don't Have To Be Worthy To Wield Mjölnir

If there’s one trait that defines Thor in both Marvel Comics and the MCU, it's worthiness. In order to wield the mighty hammer Mjölnir, one must prove oneself worthy of the power of Thor - and the list of individuals to have qualified is not very long. Even the God of Thunder himself struggled for a millennium before he had what it takes.
The Mjölnir (or Mjöllnir) of antiquity, however, had no such requirements. It was indeed a magic mallet, but anyone could pick it up - though actually using it involved skill and some additional equipment. On at least one occasion, Thor had his hammer taken by a giant, which is not something the MCU version has ever had to worry about. To be fair, the real Mjölnir did also come with some additional abilities - like the power to shrink down and fit inside Thor's pocket.

Photo: Mårten Eskil Winge / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Mjölnir Is Only One Piece In Thor's Ensemble Of Magical Accessories

The Thor most of the world is familiar with doesn't need much to save the world - just his trusty hammer, Mjölnir. The God of Thunder that actual Norseman prayed to, however, had a significantly larger arsenal of magical wares.
In order to properly wield Mjölnir and have it return to his hand when he threw it, Thor had to wear a special pair of gloves called Jarnglofar. This was a result of another classic Loki prank that ended in the hammer being crafted with too short a handle.
To reach his peak effectiveness as a protector god, Thor also had to strap on a mystical belt known as Megingjörd, which was said to double his strength. It's an item that was briefly referenced by Happy Hogan in Spider-Man: Homecoming, but only as a throwaway gag.

Photo: Mårten Eskil Winge / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Frost Giants Aren't All Actually Giant

Whether one is watching Thor on the big screen or reading about his adventures in the pages of Marvel Comics, they’re sure to run into a scene in which the God of Thunder takes on a horde of towering Frost Giants. Clashes between Thor and the Jotnar were certainly frequent occurrences in Norse mythology - but it's the height difference that the source material doesn't support.
Some of the more infamous Jotnar - like Ymir and Skrymir - were indeed excessively large, but most of them were the same size as Thor and his compatriots. This confusion has led to the translated word "giant" being understood as a skyscraper-sized individual when it was originally meant to describe a diverse cadre of Earth gods closely interrelated with the denizens of Asgard.

Photo: Louis Huard / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Thor Is Half-Giant, And Freyja Isn't His Mother

The Frost Giants, or Jotnar, that Thor usually fights with were not actually gigantic in the annals of Norse mythology, which is important to know when deciphering the truth of the God of Thunder's parentage.
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor is the son of Odin and Freyja. Indeed, the Vanir goddess did provide Odin with many sons in the ancient Norse texts - just not Thor. He is instead the result of an affair between Odin and a regular-sized giant known as Jörd, who would be best described as an Earth goddess.
In some tellings, including the lore of Marvel Comics, Thor's mother is the literal embodiment of the Earth itself, Gaea.

Photo: Carl Emil Doepler / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Thor Is Married To Sif

In the MCU, Thor only has eyes for a particular mortal, Doctor Jane Foster. The real Thor, however, would have already been taken long before he met with Jane or any other contemporary Midgardians because he was married to the Lady Sif.
The MCU portrays Sif's love for Thor as unrequited, but the Prose and Poetic Edda depict them as a committed couple from prehistory right on through to Ragnarok - though Thor certainly isn't shy about having the odd affair. After all, he was himself the result of an extramarital affair between Odin and a giant, so it's a habit he would have learned at a young age.

Photo: A. Chase / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Thor Had Two Sons, Magni, And Modi, And A Daughter Named Thrud

Hollywood’s Thor is a superheroic bachelor whose most important familial ties are to his parents and adopted brother - but the Thor of Norse mythology was far more of a family guy. His marriage to Sif produced at least two children, a son named Modi and a daughter named Thrud.
The motherhood of Thor's other son, Magni, is more ambiguous. Most versions of the story list a giant that Thor had an affair with, Jarnsaxa, as Magni's mother - and some even name her as Modi's mom, too. It seems, at the very least, safe to say that Thor had multiple children with multiple partners, though he doesn't seem to have been the most attentive of fathers.

Photo: Louis Moe / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Hela Is The Daughter Of Loki, And Not Related To Thor

In Thor: Ragnarok, the title character and his brother Loki discover they've had an older sister kept in captivity all this time - Hela, the Goddess of Death. Hela does indeed rule over Hel in the original telling of the Norse afterlife, but she's the daughter of Loki, not Odin. And given that Thor and Loki share no relation in the actual mythology, that means Thor and Hela aren't related to one another at all.
Hela isn’t Loki's only offspring, either - not by a longshot. She was the result of an affair between Loki and the giant Angrboda, along with Jormungandr the World Serpent, and Fenrir the enormous wolf. At another point, he fathered an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir that came to be owned by Odin. To top it all off, he had a comparatively normal son named Nari with his wife, Sigyn.

Photo: John Charles Dollman / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Thor Can't Fly - He's Pulled Through The Air By Magical Goats

Like many other superheroes, Marvel’s Thor can fly - and he can do it in a couple of different ways. When he wants to, he can simply levitate at will, but he usually prefers to travel by hurling his hammer through the air and being dragged along by the handle.
The Thor of yesteryear, however, could not fly. He did, however, possess a chariot that could be pulled through the skies by his two trusty goats, Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder. Not only were the beasts useful in getting the God of Thunder from place to place, but they also had a remarkable ability - they could be eaten by night and resurrect themselves by the morning, thus providing Thor with unlimited meals on the road. They were also quite handy in a brawl.

Photo: Unknown / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Thor Doesn't Live In Asgard

If there’s one thing that has remained consistent in the portrayal of Thor across multiple Marvel mediums, it's that he hails from the shining metropolis of Asgard, where he lives with Odin and most of the other Norse gods. However, even that isn't an accurate representation of Thor's living situation in the actual mythology.
In mythical reality, Asgard is more of a country than a kingdom. The fancy castle so often depicted as housing the throne of the Aesir is actually Valhalla - a great hall where Odin hangs out with the glorious dead. The rest of the Norse gods have their own homelands within the realm of Asgard, including Thor's own Thrudheim, where he lives with his family.
In other words, Thor doesn't really live in Asgard - he lives in the suburbs.

Photo: Max Brückner / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain

Many Of The Most Famous Marvel Asgardians Don't Exist In The Mythology

Anyone who goes looking for all of Thor's allies and enemies in the historical lore are going to be disappointed with the results. While much of the God of Thunder's comic book history was adapted straight from Norse mythology, other aspects of his story were invented whole-cloth by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and others over the years - including some of Asgard's most colorful characters.
Thor's most trusted companions are Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg - the Warriors Three! But they're solely the creation of Marvel Comics and do not exist in any form of ancient mythology. The same is true for a host of antagonists, including Malekith the Accursed, Skurge the Executioner, and even the enchanted Destroyer armor that proves central to Thor's first adventure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Photo: Thor / Paramount Pictures

Thor And His Friends Aren't Even Called Asgardians - They're The Aesir

Ask any fan of the MCU to describe Thor, and they'll almost certainly use the word "Asgardian," which seems like a fitting title for someone hailing from Asgard. However, that moniker is entirely the invention of the folks at Marvel.
In the ancient tellings of Norse tales, Thor and his fellow "sky gods" are referred to as the Aesir - not to be confused with the Vanir, a rival populace of sky gods that the Aesir occasionally face off against. Not everyone who lives in Asgard is a member of the Aesir - Loki isn't, for example - nor do all of the Aesir live in Asgard, which makes the whole "Asgardian" thing a little problematic when applied to the actual lore.

Photo: Friedrich Wilhelm Heine / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain