Odin always had a desire for knowledge and wisdom, and he consulted all living things to obtain them. He gained most from his uncle Mimir, who guarded the Well of Knowledge, but he had to sacrifice an eye to drink from the Well. Odin also went to great lengths to acquire the art off poetry, which was contained in a magic potion that was kept in a Giant’s underground caldron. Having determined to obtain the potion, Odin put himself in bondage to a Giant, whom he persuaded to blast a hole to the underground dwelling where the substance was kept. Odin then entered the dwelling as a snake, changed back into human shape, made friends with Suttung the Giant, who owned the potion, he then bribed the giant’s daughter to pass the potion over to him. Then he flew back to Asgard as an eagle, destroying Suttung in the process, and dispensed the potion to human poets.
The god of storm and thunder, Thor was a mighty fighter. He had iron gloves, a girdle that doubled his power, and an invincible flying hammer. Thor traveled in a chariot drawn by male goats. When he was hungry he killed and ate them, but he simply laid his hammer on their hides to revive them. One day Thor discovered that his hammer was missing, and Loki found that the Giant Thrym had stolen it. Thrym wanted to marry Freya in return for the hammer, but the goddess Freya loathed the idea. So it was decided that Thor would go to Thrym’s hall disguised as Freya. Thor took Loki with him. Thrym was astonished at how much the bride ate and drank, but Loki told him “she” had not eaten or drunk for nine days in her anxiousness to join the Giants. Thrym then went to kiss his bride and was amazed that she had a red complexion and eyes that flashed fire. Again Loki explained she was feverish from lack of sleep in her joy at joining Thrym. In a hurry to get the marriage over with, Thrym ordered that the hammer be placed on the bride’s knees according to custom. Thor laughed in his heart, and having regained his hammer he struck all the Giants in the hall dead.
This also shows a little bit of Thor’s humour which is an unusual trait for a hero even more a god, usually they will be like Aeneas strong and mean which Thor is and can be, but on occasion his humour will come out.
I feel like this was actually very interesting because I did not know the real story about Thor only knowing him from the Marvel movies and comics. What I also found fascinating is that the Marvel movies rendition of Thor has a very similar personality to what the books about Norse Gods described him as this witty, strong, funny type of character. Overall i would recommend you read this story as I it is very fun learning about Norse gods and other works like that.
