Artz of Thor

Thor has inspired this week’s Artz.  It could be the legend. It could be Chris Hemsworth. It could just be the awesome blonde hair. It could be the stirring of Viking blood coursing through my brain.  Whatever it is Thor is our focus.

Thor is a god in Norse Mythology his name meaning Thunder. He wields a hammer and is associated with storms, oak trees, strength, fertility and the protection of mankind.

From Thor we get Thunresdaeg,  Thunor’s Day,  Thor’s Day, and finally Thursday. 

He is described as having flowing red hair, a red beard and fierce eyes. He is a son of Odin and usually travels in a chariot pulled by two goats. Not only does he carry the hammer Mjölnir, a staff named Gríðarvölr he wears gloves made of iron and they are named Járngreip.

Thor and the legends that surround him have inspired poets such as Wir und Sie an ode to Thor written in 1776 by F. J. Klopstock.  He appears in the writings of Rudyard Kipling, 

and Hans Friedrich Blunck; drawings and paintings by artists Mårten Eskil Winge and E. Doepler, statues by sculptor B. E. Fogelberg.

                                                                         Bengt Erland Fogelberg, Thor, 1844

The chemical element thorium is named for Thor as is Scutisorex thori, an extinct species of shrew that was found in the Congo, one of only two mammals known to have interlocking vertebrae.

In 1962 Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby

 crated the Marvel Super Hero Thor the inspiration  that we see in the movie Thor: The Dark World.

This week the Artz of Thor.