Þórr

Old Norse

Alternative forms

Runic

• ᚦᚢᚱ (þur), ᚦᚮᚱ (þor) — nominative

Etymology

From Proto-Norse *ᚦᛟᚾᚨᚱᚨᛉ (*þonaraʀ), from Proto-Germanic *Þunraz, whence also Old English Þunor (English thunder), Old Saxon Thunær, Old High German ᚹᛁᚷᛁᚦᛟᚾᚨᚱ (wigiþonar), Donar (German Donner). In most related languages the theonym (“Thor”) and the natural phenomenon (“thunder”) were identical, but in Old Norse the latter sense was lost outside of compounds (like the ancestor of Swedish tordön (“the sound of thunder”)).

Pronunciation

• The Elfdalian descendant of þórsdagr (“Thursday”) shows that the vowel was nasal.

Proper noun

Þórr m

1. (Norse mythology) Thor (god of thunder)
   • c. 975, Þórbjǫrn dísarskáld, Poem about Þórr, verse 1

     Þórr hefr Yggs með ǫ́rum / Ásgarð af þrek varðan.

     Thor has mightily defended Asgard together with the messengers of Ygg [GODS].

Derived terms

• þórsdagr (“Thursday”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: Þór
• Faroese: Tórur
• Norwegian: Tor
• Old Swedish: Þōr
  • Swedish: Tor
• Old Danish: Thor
  • Danish: Tor (older spelling Thor)
• → Chinese: 索爾 / 索尔 (suǒ'ěr)
• → English: Thor
• → French: Thor
• → Japanese: トール
• → Korean: 토르 (toreu)
• → Russian: Тор (Tor)