Maybe you’ve read the comic books or seen some of the Marvel movies that feature a big blond guy named Thor,聽founding member of the Avengers and brother of Loki. But,聽Thursday is a bigger tribute to the Norse god of thunder than any movie or comic book upon which it’s based. After all, it is 鈥淭hor鈥檚 day.鈥�
Who is Thor?
In Norse mythology, the original Thor is the oldest son of Odin and Earth鈥檚 goddess incarnate. As the strongest of the Norse gods, he is the god of thunder (the Swedish word for thunder, 迟辞谤诲枚苍, literally means 鈥淭hor鈥檚 din鈥�), but he is also associated with wind, lightning, and oak trees. Early variations of his name include donar, thonor, and thunaraz. His magic hammer 惭箩枚濒苍颈谤 is a fierce mountain-flattening weapon. 惭箩枚濒苍颈谤, which means 鈥渃rusher,鈥� is the root for the Russian and Welsh words for lightning.
Let’s not forget to mention this wonderfully vivid attribute of Thor: his chariot pulled by two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnj贸str, that Thor can slaughter, eat, then resurrect as good as new.
Roman scholars looked for commonalities between the Greco-Roman pantheon of gods and the deities of lands occupied by the Roman Empire. Roman documents going back to the first century intermix Thor鈥檚 strength and hammer with 贬别谤肠耻濒别蝉鈥� bronze and club, but also with Jupiter, the Roman god of thunder and the sky.
WATCH: Where Did The Days Of The Week Get Their Names?
Why is Thursday named for a comic book character?
In the Roman calendar, the fourth day of the week was named for Jupiter (lovis Dies). During Roman occupation of Germanic territories, the calendar was borrowed and the association of Jupiter with Thor led to the naming convention for Thunor鈥檚 Day, eventually shortened to Thor鈥檚 Day. Germanic languages all use Thor as a root for the fourth day of the week: Torstai (Finnish), Torsdag (Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish),聽Donnerstag (骋别谤尘补苍),听Donderdag (Dutch). Meanwhile, Romance languages (those based on Latin) all originate from Jupiter: giovedi (Italian), jeudi (French), joi (Romanian).
Thor鈥檚 role in daily life became more prominent as Christianity spread through Germanic-speaking areas. Thor as a personal or place name was common through the 10th century, a channel for people to assert their original culture in a changing society.
