Marvel vs Norse Mythology: Every Norse God in Thor Explained
Dr. Mathias Nordvig, a professor of Norse mythology, sits down with WIRED to compare and contrast Marvel's interpretations of Norse gods. Dr. Nordvig goes into great detail about everything from Thor's hammer to Odin's eye and Loki's shapeshifting.
Video Transcript
MATHIAS NORDVIG: Hi, my name is Doctor Mathias Nordvig. I'm an expert on Old Norse mythology at the University of Colorado. And today, we're going to talk about every God in "Thor."
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Elements from old Norse mythology have been taken and then used creatively in the Marvel Universe to create a coherent story where all things come together. First up, Thor. Thor is probably one of the most popular gods in Old Norse mythology. He was probably a very popular God in the Viking period, when Scandinavians actually worshipped these gods before they converted to Christianity.
We can see this because there are so many Thors hammers that have been found in the ground from the Viking age. But I would say that the Marvel universe's version of Thor is actually quite true to the Thor that we have in Old Norse mythology. A lot of poking fun of him as well.
- Someone's going to need to amend that and stop saying that.
MATHIAS NORDVIG: Thor was originally a ginger in the mythology. And this, of course, has something to do with the fact that he creates lightning from the sky and such things. The ginger represents the fire in that respect. I'm not sure that they would necessarily have attributed that much importance to the color of his hair.
What we're seeing in the Marvel stories is more in this situation of making fun of Thor by cutting his hair, and he's freaking out and so on.
- Please, kind sir, do not cut my hair.
MATHIAS NORDVIG: Marvel Thor is a little more vain than the mythology Thor. What we have in the mythology is a lot of descriptions of his eyes in particular, and how he's got these very staring eyes that sometimes are bloodshot even. The hammer is called Mjollnir. This means grinder.
That of course, has some kind of connotations. We understand that this is a hammer that is designed to kill and destroy. In the mythology, what we see is that the hammer can be thrown, and then it will return to him. And once it hits its object, it will make lightning.
In the Marvel movie, we see how Thor gets his hammer from his father, Odin. This is not exactly similar in the mythology.
- Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, he should possess the power of Thor.
MATHIAS NORDVIG: The Marvel version of the hammer seems to be very similar to Thor's hammer in the mythology, except in the mythology Thor doesn't fly by using the hammer. He mostly seems to ride a chariot. But in other contexts, it also just seems to be walking.
Next up, Loki. In the mythology, Thor and Loki are not brothers. They are from different parentage. Loki is the son of this very nebulous giant named Farbauti, and a even more nebulous mother named Laufey.
He represents what will eventually become the chaos that destroys the gods. The Marvel representation of Loki actually seems to be more true to the original very complex character.
- I'm not even here. Is this better? Oh, this is much better.
MATHIAS NORDVIG: So what we see in the mythology is that he morphs into different beings. We don't see him taking on the shape of like other gods or humans, but he does take the shape of other animals. Unfortunately, we don't see that Loki has any particular weapon, like we do in the Marvel movies with the spear or scepter. What Loki does have, though, is shoes with wings on that makes him capable of flying.
The mixed up is Odin. What we see is that Odin is a very powerful God in many ways. He is also the father of plenty of gods. What we learn in one story is that Odin and Loki, sometime in the far distant past, actually became blood brothers by mixing their blood. So there is a close relationship between Loki and Odin, but it's not one of being a parent and a child.
The two gods in the mythology are actually quite similar in different ways. They're both very trickster-like, even though Odin is also considered sort of a ruler of the gods. Odin can also change shape into any kind of being.
The portrayal of Odin as a one-eyed God in the Marvel universe seems to accord generally with ideas that also present in Old Norse mythology. We know that Odin gave his eye for wisdom in the myths. He also has multiple names. Some of these names suggest that he's blind. Very thick books could be written about Odin's ability to see, actually.
So when it comes to Odin's spear Gungnir, this is certainly something that is mentioned in the mythology. We also see Odin throwing his spear to sort of mark a army as those who will go join him in Valhalla, this Warrior afterlife that he rules over.
So moving on to Heimdall. Now, he's an interesting character in the mythology. First of all, he is the watchman of the Gods. He lives on this mountaintop called Himinbjorg, which literally means heaven's mountain.
And from there, he can see everything. He guards this rainbow bridge, Bifrost. And he has this horn that he will blow when the evil forces, the jotnar, or Giants, They are attacking the gods.
I think Marvel does a great job at sort of portraying Heimdall as very close to what he is in the mythology. He stands watch over the bridge, which in the Marvel Universe is some kind of technology that makes you capable of moving between worlds in the vast realm of space.
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Next up is Frigga. So, in the Marvel stories, Frigga is this mother of Thor, and adoptive mother of Loki, and Odin's wife. Now, this is not exactly the same in the mythology. In the mythology, she is Odin's wife, but she is the mother of Baldr and Hodr. She's not the mother of Thor.
In the mythology, Frigg plays a very minor role, as do all the other goddesses. I think in the Marvel Universe what they have essentially done is that they have combined a little bit of Frigg from the mythology and a little bit of Freya from the mythology. Freya, as a goddess, seems to have had a relationship to war and battle. So there's like a fierce element to her. And then on the other hand, you have Frigg as this loving mother. And combined, this becomes a loving mother who fights to protect the people she loves.
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So let's talk about Sif. In the Marvel Universe, she plays a important role as a friend of Thor, and someone who also has a crush on him, whereas in the mythology she is actually Thor's wife. And that's really all we get about her.
Moving on to Malekith and the dark elves. Now, the interesting thing about Malekith is that there's no mention of this figure in Old Norse mythology, and the name does not appear particularly Nordic either. The dark elves, on the other hand, are mentioned in Nordic mythology. Mostly, they are conflated with the dwarfs, or consider some kind of underworldly beings.
So those who have created the Marvel Universe, they have sort of gone with that idea that there are these dark elves, and they are very evil in many ways.
Moving to Eitri, one of these dwarf characters in the Marvel Universe, he does have some background in Old Norse mythology. We an Eitri from one of the versions of the story about how the dwarfs create Thor's hammer and Odin's spear, Gungnir, and a bunch of other really important items that belong to the gods.
In the Marvel Universe, he's created the glove that Thanos has. The situation where Thanos melts Eitri's hands, there's nothing similar in the Old Norse mythology. What we do have is that Eitri, on the other hand, punishes Loki when Loki loses his bet with him. The gods say, look you can't take his head, but you can sew his mouth shut.
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Next character is Hela. Now, in Old Norse mythology her name is just Hel. And she's probably more a place than a person or God. When she was born, Odin, in this context called all father, then gave her the realm called Niflheim. Now, that means the mist world.
So in the Marvel Universe, on the other hand, what she seems to be is sort of like the unwanted daughter of Odin. He's banished her to another realm. The banishment seems to accord pretty well with the mythology, but the personal relationship does not.
Next up is Laufey. In the Old Norse, the name will be pronounced Laufey. And this literally means sort of like a leaf Island. Now, in Old Norse mythology, [INAUDIBLE] is a female name. So this is assumed that this is a goddess that we're talking about actually.
It appears to me that the Marvel giant, ice giant, has essentially been modeled over several different concepts. In the creation of the world, in Old Norse mythology, there is this giant called Ymir, who creates [OLD NORSE]. Then that means something to the effect of frost ogres.
The mythology in the original language, in which it is written, the word that they're using for giant is [OLD NORSE], and that means something like cannibal and not really giant.
Talking about Surtur. Now again, he's one of the few Giants who's actually a giant. He's huge in Old Norse mythology, and he wields fire. We know him from the end of the world, Ragnarok. He comes out of the ground. There's a precipice that opens, and all kinds of evil things come out of it. And with it, also, this fire giant, who has a flaming sword, that he uses to basically cut the sky apart and make everything burn.
So the role that Surtur has in the Marvel Universe, I think, is actually quite similar to the role that he has in the Old Norse mythology. Ragnarok is not going to happen without him. But the difference is that you can't really trick fate. So when we see that Thor prevents Ragnarok by stealing his crown, and all that stuff, that's not something that you could expect happening in this fated universe that is the Old Norse mythology. That's just not possible.
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If we interpret the Marvel universe from the perspective of Old Norse mythology, it falls in line in the sense that the Marvel Universe is telling us that, well, if you mismanage your family, if you don't make sure to make your children feel loved, for instance, well then you do end up with the Ragnarok situation.
