God of Thunder
Acts of nature often leave me completely awestruck. An image like the one I’ve used in this post makes it easy for me to understand how something so powerful and majestic as a severe thunderstorm could make people look for a divine explanation. In Norse mythology, Thor is portrayed is a large man with flowing red hair and eyes that flashed with lightning. A pretty impressive image. He was considered a protector against evil.
The thunder that is heard during a storm was believed to be caused by Thor throwing his magical hammer while riding through the heavens on his chariot. The end of his story is both joyous and tragic. He is to fight his nemesis, whom he will defeat. However, the price of victory will be his own life.
He was immensely popular and his symbol, the hammer, was often worn. People today are still paying homage to Thor, albeit in a diluted way. Every Thursday is Thor’s day. In some language it translates to Thunder day, also appropriate for the popular and powerful god.
Sometimes it makes me sad that the magic has gone out of the world. The belief in the old gods made personal interaction an immediate experience. I’ll be thinking about that during the next thunderstorm.
Photo Credit: Phatman
August 24th, 2009 by birdievogel | Posted in Gods | (0)
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