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T anngniost (Tooth
Gnasher) One of the two
fierce billy goats that drew the cart of the god Thor.
The other goat was Tanngrisnir (Tooth Grinder).
To people on Earth, the rumble of the cart was heard
as thunder. Thor’s goats could be killed and eaten and
then revived again the next day.
T anngrisnir (Tooth Grinder) One of the two
fierce billy goats that drew the cart of the god Thor.
The other goat was Tanngniost (Tooth Gnasher).
Thor’s goats could be killed and eaten and then
revived again the next day.
T hjalfi (Þ jalfi ) Son of the farmer Egil and
brother of Roskva. He became Thor’s servant
because he had disobeyed Thor’s command not to
break any of the bones of the goats on which he
and his family were feasting in “Thor’s Journey to
Utgard.” Thjalfi was long-legged and fleet of foot,
but he was outrun in a race with Hugi (Thought)
in Utgard. Thjalfi was also Thor’s companion
in the duel with the giant Hrungnir. He easily
vanquished the clay giant, Mokkurkalfi, which the
stone-headed giants had created in an attempt to
frighten Thor.
T hjazzi (Þ jazi , T hiazzi )
A powerful storm
giant. He was the son of Olvaldi, brother of Gang
and Idi, and father of Skade. He lived in Thrymheim.
Disguised as an eagle, Thjazzi tricked Loki into
helping him kidnap Idunn, the goddess in charge of
the magic apples of youth. In turn, Loki tricked the
giant and returned Idunn to Asgard. Thjazzi was
killed at the gates of Asgard. His daughter, Skade,
was given as a husband the Vanir god Njord as
compensation for her father’s death. The great god
Odin threw Thjazzi’s eyes into the heavens to stay
there forever as gleaming stars.
T hokk (Coal)
The giantess who refused to weep
for Balder, thus ensuring that he would remain in
Hel’s (1) realm until Ragnarok. Some mythologists
believe that Thokk was Loki, the trickster god,
in disguise. Thokk personifies the darkness of the
underground (where coal is formed) that will not
weep for the light of the Sun (Balder).
T hor (Thunderer)
The god of thunder and
storms. His father was Odin, his mother Jord (Earth).
Thor had two wives: Jarnsaxa (Ironstone), who bore
him two sons, Modi and Magni; and golden-haired
Sif, who gave him two daughters, Lora and Thrud.
His realm was Thrudheim. His hall was Bilskirnir
(Lightning), which had 540 rooms, fittingly large for
this giant of a god who loved to feast and entertain.
Thor was strong and fiery of temper, but he was
well loved by the gods, respected by the giants, and
worshipped by the ordinary people.
Thor did not ride a horse; instead he had a chariot
pulled by two enormous billy goats, Tanngniost and
Tanngrisnir. The wheels of the chariot made a noise
like thunder when Thor raced across the heavens.
Thor’s greatest possession was his hammer,
Mjollnir. When he hurled it, the hammer always hit
its mark and then returned to Thor like a boomerang.
Mjollnir was not only a weapon but a symbol of
fertility, used at weddings, and of resurrection, used
at burials. Thor also had iron gloves with which he
could crush rocks, and a belt, Megingjardir, which
doubled his mighty strength.
At Ragnarok, the end of the world, Thor killed
Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent, his ancient
enemy, but himself was killed by the poisonous
venom of the dying serpent.
Worship of Thor continued for centuries after
the coming of Christianity to Scandinavia in the late
900s a.d. The great oak trees of central and western
Europe were sacred to the god. Worshippers of Thor
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