The island of Lésbos, in the Aegean Sea, is now part of Greece, but between 1462 and 1912, it lay under Turkish dominion. During the 1470s Lésbos was the birthplace of one of the Ottoman Empire’s greatest heroes. The Mediterranean pirate who would ultimately be remembered as Barbarossa (Italian for “Redbeard”) went by many names during his career: Khiḍr, Hayreddin Pasha, the “Pirate of Algiers,” and even the “King of the Sea,” but the name Barbarossa began as an appellation for him and his brother ʿArūj (or Oruç)—the Barbarossa brothers.
The Barbarossa brothers were already experienced pirates in the Mediterranean when Spain completed its conquest of Granada in 1492, defeating the last vestige of Islamic rule in the Iberian Peninsula, and Muslim immigrants from the region took refuge in North Africa. By 1505 the Spanish and the Portuguese were looking to make territorial gains in North Africa, and they began to attack coastal cities. Enraged by these attacks on fellow Muslims, Khiḍr and ʿArūj served as privateers under the direction of Korkud (one of the sons of the Ottoman sultan Bayezid II) to disrupt Spanish and Portuguese shipping in the western Mediterranean. The sultan’s death in 1512, however, spawned a succession fight between his sons Ahmed and Selim. Selim defeated Ahmed and began a purge of Ahmed’s supporters. Selim was also distrustful of Korkud, and he executed him. In response, the Barbarossa brothers fled to North Africa to separate themselves from a government that likely would have been hostile to them, and they joined the region’s various kingdoms in their struggles against Spain.
Over the next three years, the Barbarossa brothers rose in prominence among the North African communities and preyed on Spanish and Portuguese shipping as independent corsairs. In 1516, forces under the brothers’ command attacked Algiers, and the city fell to ʿArūj. The Ottomans recognized this development as an opportunity to expand their influence in North Africa, and they offered their funding and political support to the brothers (which allowed ʿArūj and Khiḍr to consolidate their gains). The Ottomans then offered the nominal titles of governor of Algiers to ʿArūj and chief sea governor of the western Mediterranean to Khiḍr, but the brothers were not yet full-fledged subjects of the Ottoman Empire.
ʿArūj died battling the Spanish in 1518, and the Spanish recaptured Algiers the following year. During this period, Khiḍr (now known as Hayreddin) assumed the title Barbarossa and stepped up to continue the fight, for which he sought help from the Ottomans. Although Algiers changed hands several times over the next decade, the region it controlled became known as the Regency of Algiers, the first corsair state, which was autonomous but grew more and more dependent upon the Ottoman military for protection over time. The Ottomans would later use Algiers as their primary base of operations in the western Mediterranean.
Barbarossa’s formal association with the Ottomans grew over the same period. Süleyman the Magnificent, who had become sultan after Selim’s death, captured Rhodes in 1522 and installed Barbarossa as the beylerbeyi(governor). After Barbarossa and his forces captured Tunis in 1531, Süleyman made him the grand admiral (kapudan pasha) of the Ottoman Empire, and he served as admiral in chief of the Ottoman navy.
Perhaps Barbarossa’s most famous battle was his victory at Preveza (in Greece) in 1538 over a combined fleet with elements from Venice, Genoa, Spain, Portugal, Malta, and the Papal States. The key to his victory was his use of galleys instead of sailing ships. Because galleys were driven by oars and thus did not depend on the wind, they were more maneuverable and reliable on the sides of bays and islands shielded from the wind than sailing ships were. Barbarossa defeated the combined force by using only 122 galleys against 300 sailing ships. His victory opened Tripoli and the eastern Mediterranean to Ottoman rule. After Barbarossa led additional military campaigns, including one in which he assisted the French against the Habsburgs in 1543 and 1544, he died in Constantinople in 1546.
How does one learn about history? In my case, I have learned about the histories of the United States and other countries through history classes and lectures, history books, novels, period dramas, museums, monuments, and visiting historical landmarks. People also learn about history from family stories passed down from generation to generation, from oral histories, online discussion threads, documentaries, television shows, and videos posted on platforms like YouTube.
Congolese painter Tshibumba Kanda Matulu envisioned creating the history of Zaïre (present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) in a series of one hundred paintings in an effort to educate his people about the history of their country. While his series starts with life before European contact in the 15th century, it focuses largely on Belgian colonization and the decade following independence from Belgium in 1960. He realized his vision after befriending the expatriateanthropologist, Johannes Fabian, who provided financial support and encouragement to the artist to paint this series. In 1973–74, Tshibumba brought to Fabian paintings that portrayed his version of the country’s history. After Tshibumba laid down the paintings in Fabian’s living room, he narrated each scene, and then conversed with Fabian.
The paintings from Tshibumba’s History of Zaïrewere published in 1996 by Fabian in the book, Remembering the Present: Painting and Popular History in Zaire. Each painting is accompanied by Tshibumba’s narration, fragments of conversations between Tshibumba and Fabian, and clarifying information from Fabian. Sadly, Tshibumba likely did not live to see the publication of the book. In the preface, Fabian notes that the two kept in contact after he left Zaïre in 1974. However, after 1981, Tshibumba’s whereabouts were unknown and he has not been heard from since. Fabian and one of his colleagues attempted to locate him in the 1980s, but with no success.
Official Congo government portrait of the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, 1960
A prime minister and a king
One of the most reproduced paintings from Tshibumba’s History of Zaïre is Le 30 juin 1960, Zaïre indépendant (June 30, 1960, Independent Zaïre). The painting portrays a significant historical event: in the capital city of Kinshasa (formerly called Léopoldville), the first democratically elected prime minister, Patrice Émery Lumumba, delivered a speech in front of a crowd and in front of the Belgian king, Baudouin (who is to the right), during the celebration of Zaïre’s independence from Belgium. In his speech, Lumumba openly condemned and criticized the Belgians for the atrocities they committed under their colonial authority. The title of the painting appears in the upper right corner as a banner. The choice to include the name “Zaïre” for the title is anachronistic, as the country was still known as the Belgian Congo. In 1971, Mobutu Sese Sekochanged the names of the country and its largest river to Zaïre in an effort to replace names given by the colonizers with indigenous names.
In the center we see Lumumba, addressing the smiling crowd of men and women. Deep in the background, a blue flag with a large, central yellow star and six smaller stars on the left represents the flag of Zaïre from independence day in 1960 to 1963. Outfitted in a striped suit, white button-down shirt, patterned tie, and handkerchief in his chest pocket, Lumumba raises his right arm and points towards the sky with his index finger. His left hand touches a globe that depicts a stylized image of the African continent. At the bottom of the globe, and to the left, a chain is represented. Since the subject of the painting is about independence from Belgium, it is likely that the broken chain (cropped by the edge of the painting) signifies the break with Belgium.
To the right and behind Lumumba is King Baudouin of Belgium, outfitted in a khaki suit, red sash, white button-down shirt, black tie, and other accessories. Holding a hat and sword in his hands, the king smiles widely and tilts his head slightly forward. Tshibumba points out that in reality, Baudouin was angry as he listened to Lumumba. He notes, “A king has to smile when it is difficult. He must put on a little smile.” Behind him is a cloth backdrop reminiscent of the national flag at the time Tshibumba painted this work in the early 1970s: a background of blue and two vertical bands of red outlined in yellow. In the bottom right corner of the painting, we see the painter’s signature, Tshibumba K.M.
Tshibumba’s history: fact or fiction?
Tshibumba noted that the point of his history series “is to help one another so that we learn the history of our country correctly.” While the majority of his paintings in his history series are based on historical events, Fabian points out that Tshibumba is “an interpreter of his country,” and what he “shows and tells is impressive; it is often amusing, shocking, incredible, and plainly erroneous. Above all, his History is not just a story but an argument and a plea.” Fabian notes that there are discrepancies between the histories portrayed in Tshibumba’s paintings and histories produced by Congolese and outsider journalists and scholars, but Tshibumba’s voice is valuable and should not be dismissed. Indeed, his perspective is evident in many of his paintings.
For example, in La Mort historique de Lumumba, Mpolo et Okito (The historical Death of Lumumba, Mpolo and Okito), Tshibumba depicts the assassinations of Lumumba and his associates, Maurice Mpolo, and Joseph Okito. They were murdered on January 17, 1961, but their deaths were only announced publicly three weeks later (on February 13). At the time, the details of their assassinations were disputed. For La Mort historique, Tshibumba takes creative license and imagines their deaths in his painting. We see Lumumba wearing a white tank top, striped dress pants, a gold watch, and belt, lying on the ground. His eyes are closed, his arms are outstretched in front of him (with untied rope, perhaps showing that he was bound). Behind him are Mpolo and Okito, who are obscured by Lumumba’s body.
Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, La Mort historique de Lumumba, Mpolo et Okito(detail), c. 1970–73, acrylic on flour sack, 44.93 x 71.12 cm
Tshibumba clearly saw Lumumba as a martyr and national hero. In the painting, he draws a connection between the deaths of Lumumba and Jesus Christ. In the background to the right, we see Golgotha, where Jesus and two thieves were crucified. Golgotha is represented by three crucifixes encircled by a crown of thorns (which was placed on Jesus’ head), and an eye floating above them. Tshibumba depicts Lumumba with a bleeding wound on the right side of his torso, paralleling the wound on Jesus’ side, where he was pierced during his crucifixion. The presence of Mpolo and Okito echoes the presence of the two thieves that are crucified alongside Jesus. Tshibumba said, “…in my view, Lumumba was the Lord Jesus of Zaïre. Above, I painted six [small] stars, because he died for unity [of Zaïre].” In the upper left of the background, we see the national flag from 1960–63: a large yellow star with six small stars arranged vertically to the left.
Tshibumba’s view that Lumumba was a national hero was not uncommon at the time he painted his series. Although Mobutu led a coup d’état against Lumumba in September 1960, ordered Lumumba’s arrest in December 1960, and was involved in his assassination, Mobutu declared in a speech that Lumumba was a national hero. This was a strategic move meant to unify the country’s people and to legitimize Mobutu as the rightful successor of Lumumba.
Tshibumba’s work is often regarded as exemplary of Congolese popular painting, which emerged during the 1960s and 1970s in urban cities (such as Lubumbashi, where Tshibumba was born) following Belgian colonial rule. Congolese popular painting is “generally understood to refer to nonacademic paintings produced for both local and international audiences … comprising mostly figurative paintings that provide some form of social and/or political commentary on past and present.” The phrase “nonacademic paintings” points to the training of their creators—mainly, painters who have not had formal training in school and produce and sell their paintings on the street, as opposed to galleries or museums. These painters tend to create paintings with the same themes repeatedly (with modifications) and make their living selling these works to local clients, expatriate patrons, or tourists. The themes and subject matter (such as landscapes and flora and fauna) that painters portray vary and depend on the expectations or tastes of their clients. Generally, buyers would have a preference for certain subjects and would buy one or two works from one particular painter. These paintings would be hung in domestic spaces and act as conversation pieces.
While Tshibumba’s History of Zaïre stems from Congolese popular painting, it is exceptional because he was at liberty to paint what he believed to be the significant events in his country’s history thus far. Moreover, due to the publication of Remembering the Present, Tshibumba’s paintings were not just viewed locally; they were made available to international audiences.
Notes:
[1] While it is conventional to refer to an artist by their last name, I refer to Tshibumba Kanda Matulu by his first name in this essay. This follows the scholarship on Tshibumba produced by the main expatriate anthropologists who worked with him: Johannes Fabian and Bogumil Jewsiewicki. Other scholarship on Congolese popular painting generally refers to Tshibumba by his first name.
[2] It should be noted that the version of this painting reproduced in this essay is slightly different from the version reproduced in Johannes Fabian’s Remembering the Present: Painting and Popular History in Zaire. Instead of the 1960–63 national flag, the version reprinted in Remembering the Present is replaced with the building of Kinshasa’s post office. According to Tshibumba, people organized in the square in front of the post office for public gatherings. See Fabian, Remembering the Present, p. 92.
[3] Ironically, the name “Zaïre” came from the Portuguese misunderstanding of the KiKongo word for river, which is N’zadi. Kevin Dunn points out that the choice to use Zaïre instead of N’zadi is not clear. See Dunn, Imagining the Congo: The International Relations of Identity, pp. 110–111.
[4] Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, quoted in Johannes Fabian, Remembering the Present, p. 92.
[5] Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, quoted in Johannes Fabian, Remembering the Present, p. 15.
[6] Johannes Fabian, Remembering the Present, p. xi.
[7] Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, quoted in Johannes Fabian, Remembering the Present, p. 122.
[8] Kevin Dunn, Imagining the Congo, p. 114. For a succinct retelling of Lumumba’s arrest and assassination, see Gabriella Nugent, “From camera to canvas: The case of Patrice Lumumba and Congolese popular painting,” p. 84.
[9] Sarah Van Beurden, “Congo Art Works: Popular Painting ed. by Bambi Ceuppens and Sammy Baloji (review),” p. 94.
An intricate statue, carved out of steatite more than four thousand years ago, Priest-King (as the figure has come to be known) is among the most recognizable artifacts from the Indus Valley Civilization, one of the oldest and largest Bronze Age civilizations in the world.
Depicted with half-closed eyes, curved ears, a beard, and thick lips, the figure in this sculpture wears a garment draped over his left shoulder and tucked under his (now-broken) right arm. The surface of the garment has raised trefoilmotifs and circles carved in shallow relief. The figure’s hair is parted in the middle and held together by a diadem set with a circular ornament, matching the one he wears on his right upper arm.
While it’s difficult to know the original appearance of the sculpture, a fragment of shell inlay was recovered from one of its eyes, and traces of red pigment remain in the garment’s design, indicating that it might originally have been colored with dye and embellished with other materials. The incised lines carved to represent his beard extend into the area of the cheeks and were never polished, suggesting that the sculpture remained unfinished.
The small, 18 cm tall bust dates back to the Mature Harappan Period. It was excavated at the site of Mohenjo-daro in the present-day Sindh province of Pakistan by the archaeologist Kashinath Narayan Dikshit during a 1925–26 excavation by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Reading the material remains of an ancient civilization
Mohenjo-daro was an important prehistoric city from the Indus Valley civilization (sometimes referred to as the Harappan Civilization), known for its well-planned cities, large-scale architecture, and one of the earliest urban sanitation systems in the world. Named after the Indus River, along whose banks the civilization developed, the Indus Valley Civilization encompassed a vast swath of present-day eastern Pakistan and northwestern India. Although there have been multiple excavations, archaeological explorations, and studies of sites associated with the civilization, information about this ancient culture is still limited because their script remains undeciphered.
Our knowledge of the Indus Valley Civilization is mainly premised on the scholarly analysis of its material remains. The predominant objects found in most Indus Valley sites are seals and terracotta figurines of animals and humans. The seals, which depict animals, and have lines of script, are understood to have been used primarily in trade as a designatory device.
Stamp seal and modern impression: unicorn and incense burner (?), c. 2600–1900 B.C.E. (Mature Harappan), burnt steatite, 3.8 x 3.8 x 1 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Typically, the front of the seal is carved in intaglioso that a positive imprint is produced on the material on which it is impressed. The seals were used to stamp clay insignia on ropes, to seal and secure packages during transportation, and by traders and merchants to designate their goods by name, place of origin and so on.
Their discovery from sites beyond the known Indus Valley region—such as Kish and Umma in present-day Iraq—is indicative of an early system of trade with other societies such as the Mesopotamian Civilization of Western Asia. On the other hand, the purpose of the terracotta figurines remains unclear, as do their stylistic origins. In the absence of textual sources, scholars look for answers by comparing them to contemporaneous Mesopotamian examples and later South Asian art.
Priest King, Mohenjo-daro, white, low fired steatite, 17.5 x 11 cm (photo: Harappa.com; National Museum, Karachi)
Stone sculptures such as the Priest-King are relatively rare and possibly only represent a small fraction of the stone objects that might have been produced by the Indus Valley Civilization. The sculpture is made of steatite, an easy-to-carve stone used extensively by the Indus Valley inhabitants to make seals, beads, tablets, as well as statues such as this one, although the latter are much rarer. The civilization also attained a high level of technical sophistication in manufacturing steatite objects starting from the Neolithic period, employing the controlled use of fire to whiten and harden the stone. The Priest-King, too, is made in this manner.
Let’s take a closer look at the sculpture to understand whom it may represent and how we might interpret it.
Priest King, Mohenjo-daro, white, low fired steatite, 17.5 x 11 cm (photo: Harappa.com; National Museum, Karachi)
Who was the Priest-King?
Many scholars have attempted to establish the figure’s identity and status. Some have studied its physiognomic type, concluding that its treatment of the beard, which differs from later examples of South Asian art, might mean that the figure depicts a foreigner. Additionally, garments covering only the left shoulder were also commonly seen in art from the Mesopotamian Civilization, which was situated around 3000 kilometers away from the Indus Valley Civilization but had trade links with it.
Similarly, the trefoil motifs have also been compared to the cloud motif seen in ajrakh block-printed fabrics which were being produced for export around the time the statuette was made.The trace of red pigment found on the shawl gives us early evidence of the use of madder, a type of natural red colorant extracted from the roots of the Indian madder plant, used by the Indus Valley dyers to produce ajrakh cloth with red patterns. However, some scholars argue that what we see on the shawl is not a patterned cloth, but evidence of early embroidery, as the trefoil forms are raised.
The sculpture’s half-open eyes have led to speculation that the figure is engaged in yogic meditation, although scholars cannot confirm that yoga and its associated rituals were practiced in that period in the same way that it is practiced today. The extended arm may have been meant to rest on the knee, with the body arranged in a seated posture.
Holes pierced under the ears suggest that a headdress might have been attached to the sculpture. This could have been a horned headdress, similar to that worn by the figure on the famous Pashupati Seal, who is thought to possibly depict a prototype of the Hindu god, Shiva.
Pashupati Seal, 2500–2400 B.C.E. (Mohenjo-daro, Indus Valley Civilization), steatite, coated with alkali, and baked (National Museum New Delhi)
Archaeologist John Marshallconsidered these factors when he dubbed the statuette a “king-priest,” which archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler later inverted to “priest-king.” Wheeler’s name for the figure was based on his assumption that the Indus Valley Civilization had socio-cultural affinities with Mesopotamia, with a social structure that was governed by authority figures that were akin to the priest-kings or governors of Sumer.
However, until we have a better understanding of the cultures of the Indus Valley, it is not possible to confirm whether the sculpture is a portrait of a deity, a historical figure, or a representation of an abstract concept. In spite of that, this small object exudes a sense of quiet authority and offers us an important insight into the mastery Indus Valley craftspeople had over sculpting steatite.
Artifacts from Mohenjo-daro were initially kept at the Lahore Museum and later moved to the Central Imperial Museum in Delhi (now the National Museum, New Delhi). In 1972, the statuette was officially handed over to the Government of Pakistan as per a clause in the Shimla Agreement, a peace treaty signed by India and Pakistan in July 1972. At the time of writing, the sculpture is housed in the National Museum at Karachi.
Due to the nature of the Germanic corpus, narratives featuring Thor are only attested in Old Norse, where Thor appears throughout Norse mythology. Norse mythology, largely recorded in Iceland from traditional material stemming from Scandinavia, provides numerous tales featuring the god. In these sources, Thor bears at least fifteen names, and is the husband of the golden-haired goddess Sif and the lover of the jötunnJárnsaxa. With Sif, Thor fathered the goddess (and possible valkyrie) Þrúðr; with Járnsaxa, he fathered Magni; with a mother whose name is not recorded, he fathered Móði, and he is the stepfather of the god Ullr. Thor is the son of Odin and Jörð, by way of his father Odin, he has numerous brothers, including Baldr. Thor has two servants, Þjálfi and Röskva, rides in a cart or chariot pulled by two goats, Tanngrisnirand Tanngnjóstr (whom he eats and resurrects), and is ascribed three dwellings (Bilskirnir, Þrúðheimr, and Þrúðvangr). Thor wields the hammer Mjölnir, wears the belt Megingjörð and the iron gloves Járngreipr, and owns the staff Gríðarvölr. Thor's exploits, including his relentless slaughter of his foes and fierce battles with the monstrous serpent Jörmungandr—and their foretold mutual deaths during the events of Ragnarök—are recorded throughout sources for Norse mythology.
Into the modern period, Thor continued to be acknowledged in rural folklore throughout Germanic-speaking Europe. Thor is frequently referred to in place names, the day of the week Thursday bears his name (modern English Thursday derives from Old English þunresdæġ, 'Þunor's day'), and names stemming from the pagan period containing his own continue to be used today, particularly in Scandinavia. Thor has inspired numerous works of art and references to Thor appear in modern popular culture. Like other Germanic deities, veneration of Thor is revived in the modern period in Heathenry.
Roman era
Altar stone for Hercules Magusanus from Bonn, dated 226 AD.[11]
The earliest records of the Germanic peoples were recorded by the Romans, and in these works Thor is frequently referred to – via a process known as interpretatio romana (where characteristics perceived to be similar by Romans result in identification of a non-Roman god as a Roman deity) – as either the Roman god Jupiter (also known as Jove) or the Greco-RomangodHercules.
The first clear example of this occurs in the Roman historian Tacitus's late first-century work Germania, where, writing about the religion of the Suebi (a confederation of Germanic peoples), he comments that "among the gods Mercury is the one they principally worship. They regard it as a religious duty to offer to him, on fixed days, human as well as other sacrificial victims. Hercules and Mars they appease by animal offerings of the permitted kind" and adds that a portion of the Suebi also venerate "Isis". In this instance, Tacitus refers to the god Odin as "Mercury", Thor as "Hercules", and the god Týr as "Mars", and the identity of the Isis of the Suebi has been debated. In Thor's case, the identification with the god Hercules is likely at least in part due to similarities between Thor's hammer and Hercules' club. In his Annals, Tacitus again refers to the veneration of "Hercules" by the Germanic peoples; he records a wood beyond the river Weser (in what is now northwestern Germany) as dedicated to him.A deity known as Hercules Magusanus was venerated in Germania Inferior; due to the Roman identification of Thor with Hercules, Rudolf Simek has suggested that Magusanus was originally an epithet attached to the Proto-Germanic deity *Þunraz.
Boniface bears his crucifix after felling Thor's Oak in Bonifacius(1905) by Emil Doepler
The first recorded instance of the name of the god appears upon the Nordendorf fibulae, a piece of jewelry created during the Migration Period and found in Bavaria. The item bears an Elder Futhark inscribed with the name Þonar(i.e. Donar), the southern Germanic form of Thor's name.
Around the second half of the 8th century, Old English texts mention Thunor (Þunor), which likely refers to a Saxon version of the god. In relation, Thunor is sometimes used in Old English texts to gloss Jupiter, the god may be referenced in the poem Solomon and Saturn, where the thunder strikes the devil with a "fiery axe", and the Old English expression þunorrād("thunder ride") may refer to the god's thunderous, goat-led chariot.
According to a near-contemporary account, the Christian missionary Saint Boniface felled an oak tree dedicated to "Jove" in the 8th century, the Donar's Oak in the region of Hesse, Germany.
The Kentish royal legend, probably 11th-century, contains the story of a villainous reeve of Ecgberht of Kent called Thunor, who is swallowed up by the earth at a place from then on known as þunores hlæwe (Old English 'Thunor's mound'). Gabriel Turville-Petre saw this as an invented origin for the placename demonstrating loss of memory that Thunor had been a god's name.
In the 11th century, chronicler Adam of Bremenrecords in his Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum that a statue of Thor, who Adam describes as "mightiest", sits in the Temple at Uppsala in the center of a triple throne (flanked by Woden and "Fricco") located in Gamla Uppsala, Sweden. Adam details that "Thor, they reckon, rules the sky; he governs thunder and lightning, winds and storms, fine weather and fertility" and that "Thor, with his mace, looks like Jupiter". Adam details that the people of Uppsala had appointed priests to each of the gods, and that the priests were to offer up sacrifices. In Thor's case, he continues, these sacrifices were done when plague or famine threatened.Earlier in the same work, Adam relays that in 1030 an English preacher, Wulfred, was lynched by assembled Germanic pagans for "profaning" a representation of Thor.
Two objects with runic inscriptions invoking Thor date from the 11th century, one from England and one from Sweden. The first, the Canterbury Charm from Canterbury, England, calls upon Thor to heal a wound by banishing a thurs.The second, the Kvinneby amulet, invokes protection by both Thor and his hammer.On four (or possibly five) runestones, an invocation to Thor appears that reads "May Thor hallow (these runes/this monument)!" The invocation appears thrice in Denmark (DR 110, DR 209, and DR 220), and a single time in Västergötland (VG 150), Sweden. A fifth appearance may possibly occur on a runestone found in Södermanland, Sweden (Sö 140), but the reading is contested.
Pictorial representations of Thor's hammer appear on a total of five runestones found in Denmark (DR 26 and DR 120) and in the Swedish counties of Västergötland (VG 113) and Södermanland (Sö 86 and Sö 111).It is also seen on runestone DR 48.The design is believed to be a heathen response to Christian runestones, which often have a cross at the centre. One of the stones, Sö 86, shows a face or mask above the hammer. Anders Hultgård has argued that this is the face of Thor.At least three stones depict Thor fishing for the serpent Jörmungandr: the Hørdum stone in Thy, Denmark, the Altuna Runestone in Altuna, Sweden and the Gosforth Cross in Gosforth, England. Sune Lindqvist argued in the 1930s that the image stone Ardre VIII on Gotlanddepicts two scenes from the story: Thor ripping the head of Hymir's ox and Thor and Hymir in the boat, but this has been disputed.
Image gallery
The Sønder Kirkeby Runestone (DR 220), a runestone from Denmark bearing the "May Thor hallow these runes!" inscription
A runestone from Södermanland, Sweden bearing a depiction of Thor's hammer
The Altuna stone from Sweden, one of four stones depicting Thor's fishing trip
Closeup of Thor with Mjölnir depicted on the Altuna stone.
The Gosforth depiction, one of four stones depicting Thor's fishing trip
Runes (᛭ᚦᚢᚱ᛬ᚢᛁᚴᛁ᛭) × þur : uiki × on the Velanda Runestone, Sweden, meaning "may Þórrhallow".
Thor and Jörmungandr by Lorenz Frølich
Post-Viking age
In the 12th century, more than a century after Norway was "officially" Christianized, Thor was still being invoked by the population, as evidenced by a stick bearing a runic message found among the Bryggen inscriptions in Bergen, Norway. On the stick, both Thor and Odin are called upon for help; Thor is asked to "receive" the reader, and Odin to "own" them.
The foretold death of Thor as depicted by Lorenz Frølich (1895)Thor and the Midgard Serpent (by Emil Doepler, 1905)
In the poem Völuspá, a dead völva recounts the history of the universe and foretells the future to the disguised god Odin, including the death of Thor. Thor, she foretells, will do battle with the great serpent during the immense mythic war waged at Ragnarök, and there he will slay the monstrous snake, yet after he will only be able to take nine steps before succumbing to the venom of the beast:
Benjamin Thorpetranslation: Then comes the mighty son of Hlôdyn: (Odin's son goes with the monster to fight); Midgârd's Veor in his rage will slay the worm. Nine feet will go Fiörgyn's son, bowed by the serpent, who feared no foe. All men will their homes forsake.
Henry Adams Bellowstranslation: Hither there comes the son of Hlothyn, The bright snake gapes to heaven above; ... Against the serpent goes Othin's son. In anger smites the warder of earth,— Forth from their homes must all men flee;— Nine paces fares the son of Fjorgyn, And, slain by the serpent, fearless he sinks.
Afterwards, says the völva, the sky will turn black before fire engulfs the world, the stars will disappear, flames will dance before the sky, steam will rise, the world will be covered in water and then it will be raised again, green and fertile.
Thor wades through a river while the Æsir ride across the bridge Bifröst, by Frølich (1895)
In the poem Grímnismál, the god Odin, in disguise as Grímnir, and tortured, starved and thirsty, imparts in the young Agnarcosmological lore, including that Thor resides in Þrúðheimr, and that, every day, Thor wades through the rivers Körmt and Örmt, and the two Kerlaugar. There, Grímnir says, Thor sits as judge at the immense cosmological world tree, Yggdrasil.
In Skírnismál, the god Freyr's messenger, Skírnir, threatens the fair Gerðr, with whom Freyr is smitten, with numerous threats and curses, including that Thor, Freyr, and Odin will be angry with her, and that she risks their "potent wrath".
Thor is the main character of Hárbarðsljóð, where, after traveling "from the east", he comes to an inlet where he encounters a ferryman who gives his name as Hárbarðr(Odin, again in disguise), and attempts to hail a ride from him. The ferryman, shouting from the inlet, is immediately rude and obnoxious to Thor and refuses to ferry him. At first, Thor holds his tongue, but Hárbarðr only becomes more aggressive, and the poem soon becomes a flyting match between Thor and Hárbarðr, all the while revealing lore about the two, including Thor's killing of several jötnar in "the east" and women on Hlesey (now the Danish island of Læsø). In the end, Thor ends up walking instead.
Týr looks on as Thor discovers that one of his goats is lame, by Frølich (1895)
Thor is again the main character in the poem Hymiskviða, where, after the gods have been hunting and have eaten their prey, they have an urge to drink. They "sh[ake] the twigs" and interpret what they say. The gods decide that they would find suitable cauldrons at Ægir's home. Thor arrives at Ægir's home and finds him to be cheerful, looks into his eyes, and tells him that he must prepare feasts for the gods. Annoyed, Ægir tells Thor that the gods must first bring to him a suitable cauldron to brew ale in. The gods search but find no such cauldron anywhere. However, Týr tells Thor that he may have a solution; east of Élivágarlives Hymir, and he owns such a deep kettle.
So, after Thor secures his goats at Egil's home, Thor and Týr go to Hymir's hall in search of a cauldron large enough to brew ale for them all. They arrive, and Týr sees his nine-hundred-headed grandmother and his gold-clad mother, the latter of which welcomes them with a horn. After Hymir—who is not happy to see Thor—comes in from the cold outdoors, Týr's mother helps them find a properly strong cauldron. Thor eats a big meal of two oxen (all the rest eat but one), and then goes to sleep. In the morning, he awakes and informs Hymir that he wants to go fishing the following evening, and that he will catch plenty of food, but that he needs bait. Hymir tells him to go get some bait from his pasture, which he expects should not be a problem for Thor. Thor goes out, finds Hymir's best ox, and rips its head off.
After a lacuna in the manuscript of the poem, Hymiskviða abruptly picks up again with Thor and Hymir in a boat, out at sea. Hymir catches a few whales at once, and Thor baits his line with the head of the ox. Thor casts his line and the monstrous serpent Jörmungandr bites. Thor pulls the serpent on board, and violently slams him in the head with his hammer. Jörmungandr shrieks, and a noisy commotion is heard from underwater before another lacuna appears in the manuscript.
After the second lacuna, Hymir is sitting in the boat, unhappy and totally silent, as they row back to shore. On shore, Hymir suggests that Thor should help him carry a whale back to his farm. Thor picks both the boat and the whales up, and carries it all back to Hymir's farm. After Thor successfully smashes a crystal goblet by throwing it at Hymir's head on Týr's mother's suggestion, Thor and Týr are given the cauldron. Týr cannot lift it, but Thor manages to roll it, and so with it they leave. Some distance from Hymir's home, an army of many-headed beings led by Hymir attacks the two, but are killed by the hammer of Thor. Although one of his goats is lame in the leg, the two manage to bring the cauldron back, have plenty of ale, and so, from then on, return to Týr's for more every winter.
Thor raises his hammer as Loki leaves Ægir's hall, by Frølich(1895)
In the poem Lokasenna, the half-god Lokiangrily flites with the gods in the sea entity Ægir's hall. Thor does not attend the event, however, as he is away in the east for unspecified purposes. Towards the end of the poem, the flyting turns to Sif, Thor's wife, whom Loki then claims to have slept with. The god Freyr's servant Beyla interjects, and says that, since all of the mountains are shaking, she thinks that Thor is on his way home. Beylaadds that Thor will bring peace to the quarrel, to which Loki responds with insults.
Thor arrives and tells Loki to be silent, and threatens to rip Loki's head from his body with his hammer. Loki asks Thor why he is so angry, and comments that Thor will not be so daring to fight "the wolf" (Fenrir) when it eats Odin (a reference to the foretold events of Ragnarök). Thor again tells him to be silent, and threatens to throw him into the sky, where he will never be seen again. Loki says that Thor should not brag of his time in the east, as he once crouched in fear in the thumb of a glove (a story involving deception by the magic of Útgarða-Loki, recounted in the Prose Eddabook Gylfaginning)—which, he comments, "was hardly like Thor". Thor again tells him to be silent, threatening to break every bone in Loki's body. Loki responds that he intends to live a while yet, and again insults Thor with references to his encounter with Útgarða-Loki. Thor responds with a fourth call to be silent, and threatens to send Loki to Hel. At Thor's final threat, Loki gives in, commenting that only for Thor will he leave the hall, for "I know alone that you do strike", and the poem continues.
Ah, what a lovely maid it is! (1902) by Elmer Boyd Smith: Thor is unhappily dressed by the goddess Freyja and her attendants as herself
In the comedic poem Þrymskviða, Thor again plays a central role. In the poem, Thor wakes and finds that his powerful hammer, Mjölnir, is missing. Thor turns to Loki, and tells him that nobody knows that the hammer has been stolen. The two go to the dwelling of the goddess Freyja, and so that he may attempt to find Mjölnir, Thor asks her if he may borrow her feather cloak. Freyja agrees, and says she would lend it to Thor even if it were made of silver or gold, and Loki flies off, the feather cloak whistling.
In Jötunheimr, the jötunnÞrymr sits on a barrow, plaiting golden collars for his female dogs, and trimming the manes of his horses. Þrymr sees Loki, and asks what could be amiss among the Æsir and the elves; why is Loki alone in Jötunheimr? Loki responds that he has bad news for both the elves and the Æsir—that Thor's hammer, Mjölnir, is gone. Þrymr says that he has hidden Mjölnir eight leagues beneath the earth, from which it will be retrieved, but only if Freyja is brought to him as his wife. Loki flies off, the feather cloak whistling, away from Jötunheimr and back to the court of the gods.
Thor asks Loki if his efforts were successful, and that Loki should tell him while he is still in the air as "tales often escape a sitting man, and the man lying down often barks out lies." Loki states that it was indeed an effort, and also a success, for he has discovered that Þrymr has the hammer, but that it cannot be retrieved unless Freyja is brought to Þrymr as his wife. The two return to Freyja and tell her to put on a bridal head dress, as they will drive her to Jötunheimr. Freyja, indignant and angry, goes into a rage, causing all of the halls of the Æsir to tremble in her anger, and her necklace, the famed Brísingamen, falls from her. Freyjapointedly refuses.
As a result, the gods and goddesses meet and hold a thing to discuss and debate the matter. At the thing, the god Heimdallr puts forth the suggestion that, in place of Freyja, Thor should be dressed as the bride, complete with jewels, women's clothing down to his knees, a bridal head-dress, and the necklace Brísingamen. Thor rejects the idea, yet Loki interjects that this will be the only way to get back Mjölnir. Loki points out that, without Mjölnir, the jötnarwill be able to invade and settle in Asgard. The gods dress Thor as a bride, and Loki states that he will go with Thor as his maid, and that the two shall drive to Jötunheimr together.
After riding together in Thor's goat-driven chariot, the two, disguised, arrive in Jötunheimr. Þrymr commands the jötnar in his hall to spread straw on the benches, for Freyjahas arrived to be his wife. Þrymr recounts his treasured animals and objects, stating that Freyja was all that he was missing in his wealth.
Early in the evening, the disguised Loki and Thor meet with Þrymr and the assembled jötnar. Thor eats and drinks ferociously, consuming entire animals and three casks of mead. Þrymr finds the behavior at odds with his impression of Freyja, and Loki, sitting before Þrymr and appearing as a "very shrewd maid", makes the excuse that "Freyja's" behaviour is due to her having not consumed anything for eight entire days before arriving due to her eagerness to arrive. Þrymr then lifts "Freyja's" veil and wants to kiss "her". Terrifying eyes stare back at him, seemingly burning with fire. Loki says that this is because "Freyja" has not slept for eight nights in her eagerness.
The "wretched sister" of the jötnar appears, asks for a bridal gift from "Freyja", and the jötnar bring out Mjölnir to "sanctify the bride", to lay it on her lap, and marry the two by "the hand" of the goddess Vár. Thor laughs internally when he sees the hammer, takes hold of it, strikes Þrymr, beats all of the jötnar, kills their "older sister", and so gets his hammer back.
Sun Shines in the Hall (1908) by W.G. Collingwood: Thor clasps his daughter's hand and chuckles at the "all-wise" dwarf, whom he has outwitted
In the poem Alvíssmál, Thor tricks a dwarf, Alvíss, to his doom upon finding that he seeks to wed his daughter (unnamed, possibly Þrúðr). As the poem starts, Thor meets a dwarf who talks about getting married. Thor finds the dwarf repulsive and, apparently, realizes that the bride is his daughter. Thor comments that the wedding agreement was made among the gods while Thor was gone, and that the dwarf must seek his consent. To do so, Thor says, Alvíss must tell him what he wants to know about all of the worlds that the dwarf has visited. In a long question and answer session, Alvíss does exactly that; he describes natural features as they are known in the languages of various races of beings in the world, and gives an amount of cosmological lore.
However, the question and answer session turns out to be a ploy by Thor, as, although Thor comments that he has truly never seen anyone with more wisdom in their breast, Thor has managed to delay the dwarf enough for the Sun to turn him to stone; "day dawns on you now, dwarf, now sun shines on the hall".
In the poem Hyndluljóð, Freyja offers to the jötunn woman Hyndla to blót (sacrifice) to Thor so that she may be protected, and comments that Thor does not care much for jötunnwomen.
Prose Edda, Heimskringla, and sagas
The prologue to the Prose EddaeuhemerisesThor as a prince of Troy, and the son of Menonby Troana, a daughter of Priam. Thor, also known as Tror, is said to have married the prophetess Sibyl (identified with Sif). Thor is further said here to have been raised in Thraceby a chieftain named Lorikus, whom he later slew to assume the title of "King of Thrace", to have had a pale complexion and hair "fairer than gold", and to have been strong enough to lift ten bearskins. In later sagas he is described as red-bearded,but there is no evidence for a red beard in the Eddas.
The name of the æsir is explained as "men from Asia", Asgard being the "Asian city" (i.e., Troy). Alternatively, Troy is in Tyrkland (Turkey, i.e., Asia Minor), and Asialand is Scythia, where Thor founded a new city named Asgard. Odin is a remote descendant of Thor, removed by twelve generations, who led an expedition across Germany, Denmark and Sweden to Norway.
In Heimskringla, composed in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, Thor or statues of Thor are mentioned in Ynglinga saga, Hákonar saga góða, Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar, and Óláfs saga helga. In Ynglinga saga chapter 5, a heavily euhemerized account of the gods is provided, where Thor is described as having been a gothi—a pagan priest—who was given by Odin (who himself is explained away as having been an exceedingly powerful magic-wielding chieftain from the east) a dwelling in the mythical location of Þrúðvangr, in what is now Sweden. The saga narrative adds that numerous names—at the time of the narrative, popularly in use—were derived from Thor.
Saint Olaf
Medieval depictions of Saint Olaf adopted features from Thor. This wooden statue is from Sankt Olofs kyrka in Scania.
Around the 12th century, folk traditions and iconography of the Christianizing king Olaf II of Norway (Saint Olaf; c. 995 – 1030) absorbed elements of both Thor and Freyr.After Olaf's death, his cult had spread quickly all over Scandinavia, where many churches were dedicated to him, as well as to other parts of Northern Europe. His cult distinctively mixed both ecclesiastical and folk elements. From Thor, he inherited the quick temper, physical strength and merits as a giant-slayer. Early depictions portray Olaf as clean-shaven, but after 1200 he appears with a red beard.For centuries, Olaf figured in folk traditions as a slayer of trolls and giants, and as a protector against malicious forces.
Modern folklore
Tales about Thor, or influenced by native traditions regarding Thor, continued into the modern period, particularly in Scandinavia. Writing in the 19th century, scholar Jacob Grimm records various phrases surviving into Germanic languages that refer to the god, such as the Norwegian Thorsvarme ("Thor's warmth") for lightning and the Swedish godgubben åfar ("The good old (fellow) is taking a ride") as well as the word tordön("Thor's rumble" or "Thor's thunder") when it thunders. Grimm comments that, at times, Scandinavians often "no longer liked to utter the god's real name, or they wished to extol his fatherly goodness".In Sweden, it was probably as a euphemism that people referred to thunder as "the ride of the god" – *ās-ækia(OWN: *áss-ekja) resulting in the modern Swedish word for thunder – åska.
Thor remained pictured as a red-bearded figure, as evident by the Danish rhyme that yet referred to him as Thor med sit lange skæg("Thor with his long beard") and the North-Frisian curse diis ruadhiiret donner regiir! ("let red-haired thunder see to that!").
A Scandinavian folk belief that lightning frightens away trolls and jötnar appears in numerous Scandinavian folktales, and may be a late reflection of Thor's role in fighting such beings. In connection, the lack of trolls and ettins in modern Scandinavia is explained as a result of the "accuracy and efficiency of the lightning strokes".
In the Netherlands, The Sagas of Veluwe has a story called Ontstaan van het Uddeler- en Bleeke meer which features Thor and his fight with the Winter Giants.
Origin, theories, and interpretations
Thor closely resembles other Indo-European deities associated with the thunder: the CelticTaranis, the EstonianTaara (or Tharapita), the BalticPerkūnas, the SlavicPerun, and particularly the HinduIndra, whose thunderbolt weapon the vajra is an obvious parallels noted already by Max Müller.Scholars have compared Indra's slaying of Vritra with Thor's battle with Jörmungandr.Although in the past it was suggested that Thor was an indigenous sky god or a Viking Age import into Scandinavia, these Indo-European parallels make him generally accepted today as ultimately derived from a Proto-Indo-European deity.
In Georges Dumézil's trifunctional hypothesisof Indo-European religion, Thor represents the second function, that of strength. Dumézilnotes that as a result of displacements, he does not lead armies; most of the functions of Indra have been in effect taken over by Odin.Many scholars have noted the association of Thor with fertility, particularly in later folklore and in the reflex of him represented by the Sami Hora galles ("Good-man Thor"). For Dumézil, this is the preservation by peasants of only the side-effect of the god's atmospheric battles: the fertilizing rain.Others have emphasized Thor's close connection to humanity, in all its concerns.Scholar Hilda Ellis Davidsonsummarizes:
The cult of Thor was linked with men's habitation and possessions, and with the well-being of the family and community. This included the fruitfulness of the fields, and Thor, although pictured primarily as a storm god in the myths, was also concerned with the fertility and preservation of the seasonal round. In our own times, little stone axes from the distant past have been used as fertility symbols and placed by the farmer in the holes made by the drill to receive the first seed of spring. Thor's marriage with Sif of the golden hair, about which we hear little in the myths, seems to be a memory of the ancient symbol of divine marriage between sky godand earth goddess, when he comes to earth in the thunderstorm and the storm brings the rain which makes the fields fertile. In this way Thor, as well as Odin, may be seen to continue the cult of the sky god which was known in the Bronze Age.
Meulengracht Sørensen, Preben (1986). "Thor's Fishing Expedition". In Steinsland, Gro (ed.). Words and Objects: Towards a Dialogue Between Archeology and History of Religion. Oslo: Norwegian University Press. ISBN82-00-07751-9.
Turville-Petre, E. O. G. (1964). Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. OCLC460550410.
De Vries, Jan (1957). Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte Volume 2. 2nd ed. (repr. 1970). Grundriß der germanischen Philologie, Volume 12/II. De Gruyter. (in German)
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