Anonymous asked:

I dreamt of a wooden bowl washed with seawater that caught the sunlight and was hailed by a chorus that sang “Thor lives!” Was this entirely dream-fiction or are there objects beyond the hammer associated with Thor?

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The first thing that comes to my mind when you describe your dream is a scene from Brennu-Njáls saga, though the scenes do not match perfectly. It occurred when Iceland was being converted to Christianity, and the Icelanders argued which god was best, Christ (Kristr) or Thor (Þórr). A Christian missionary named Thangbrand had come to Iceland, and his ship had been wrecked. Steinunn, a defender of the old faith, challenged him in a battle of words over how his ship was wrecked. These were her verses:

The shaping gods drove ashore
the ship of the keeper of bells (Thangbrand);
the slayer of the son of the giantess (Thor)
smashed Bison on the sea-gull’s rest (sea);
no help came from Christ
when the sea’s horse (ship) was crushed;
I don’t think God was guarding
Gylfi’s (a sea-king) reindeer (ship) at all.

Thor drove Thangbrand’s beast (ship)
of Thvinnil (a sea-king) far from its place;
he shook and shattered
the ship and slammed it ashore;
never will that oak (ship) of Atal’s (a sea-king) field 
be up to sea-faring again;
the storm, sent by him (Thor),
smashed it so hard into bits. (1.)

Of course, these events possibly never actually occurred, very well being the orchestrations of a wise, thirteenth-century author. Yet, the event has some level of reasonable basis and probability, and thus so too would the situation. I bring this up because the wooden bowl of your dream could have symbolized a ship of sorts, reminding us that Thor has survived his battles against other deities; his ship has not been wrecked, for he does the wrecking. Though, I suspect that most of Thor’s association with seafaring comes from saga material, and less so from eddic material. 

Not all of these are relative to the seafaring aspect of Thor, but he does appear in the following (Icelandic family) sagas by name: 

1. The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue (chp. 10) 
2. Eyrbyggja saga (chps. 3, 4, 7, 10, 11) 
3. Eirik the Red’s Saga (chp. 8) 
4. Bard’s Saga (chp. 8) 
5. The Saga of the People of Laxardal (chp. 40) 
6. The Saga of the Sword Brothers (chp. 23) 
7. The Saga of Hallfred the Troublesome Poet (chps. 5, 6)
8. The Tale of Sarcastic Halli (chp. 3)
9. The Saga of the People of Fljotsdal (chp. 26)
10. The Saga of the People of Kjalarnes (chps. 2, 4)
11. Njal’s Saga (chps. 88, 102)
12. The Saga of the People of Floi (chps. 20, 21) (2.) 

You can browse and search a list of these sagas, and locate resources for reading them, on this post: Víkingabók Database: Íslendingasögur og Íslendingaþættir.

On that note, though, I should mention the example of Eyrbyggja saga, because it, too, reminds me of your dream. In this saga there is an man named Hrolf who maintained a temple (hof) to Thor in Norway, yet he was more often called Thorolf because of this close connection he had with Thor. He consults an “oracle” of sorts about whether he should reconcile with the king, Harald Fair-hair (a common historical figure in saga ‘introductions’ like this one),(3.) or leave Norway. He was urged to leave, and so he dismantled his temple so that he could bring it with him. 

Though, I should add that there is apparently no archaeological evidence for heathen temples like this one.(4.) Saga authors have perhaps granted us a glimpse into their imaginations regarding their heathen ancestors, or, perhaps more likely, appropriating their new religious associations and standards with old ones. Yet, it could be that these ‘temples’ were homes to chieftain-priests, or goðar (sg. goði). Such high-ranking men would have lived on large farmsteads, but these would have also functioned as gathering places for heathen practices and festivities, much like a temple would. With that in mind, it is not entirely false to assume that heathen did have temples, though not in the sense that many would imagine today.

Nonetheless, an important aspect of these ‘temples’ were objects called high-seat pillars (öndvegissúlur), which also held important roles in households, denoting the mains eat of the house )reiterating the point that the home of a goði could function as a temple, because the öndvegissúlar had a dual-function role just as they did).(5.) Thorolf’s high-seat pillars had Thor carved on them, and, in the saga, he “declared that he would settle in Iceland in whatever place Thor directed the pillars to land.”(6.) Such practice is not only in sagas, however, but also recounted in Landnámabók, where Ingolf, believed to be the first settler of Iceland,(7.) “made his home at the spot where his high-seat pillars has washed ashore.”(8.)

I mentioned this to point out that Thor was made to be associated with those high-seat pillars, mainly because Thorolf carved Thor onto them. Yet, still, the association remains valid. In this sense, Thor can be connected with an object to assure his guidance. Yet, I cannot emphasize enough the fact that such sagas, although helpful, tend not to be reliable sources for mythological material. Rather, they are helpful to imagine possibilities, and perhaps even acceptabilities. Eyrbyggja saga, after all, was written in the mid-thirteenth century by a Christian.(9.) I would not dismiss the source, though, nor the genre. These people were much closer in time to the ‘Vikings’ than any of us are today, so they still ought to be considered (yet done so with care).

Now, to return to your question regarding other objects that Thor is associated with. Though, I must begin with a bit of another distraction, because I must say that I believe the gods can be associated even with objects that may not be historically attested in our scanty sources. I admire historical documents, but we cannot limit such a vast religion on word of the few historical documents that have managed to survive. By that I mean to say that I find it fairly reasonable to associate Thor with a fishing rod, for example, because of the story he is involved in regarding Hymir, where they went fishing together and caught non-other than the Midgard Serpent, or Miðgarðsormr (also Jörmungandr).(10.) In a similar fashion, I could easily see Thor associated with a ship (or perhaps a wooden bowl with seawater that may symbolize a ship) because of his close ties with seafaring.

He is not the only god, though, who has ties to seafaring, and this should not be surprising, given that Scandinavia has always placed the sea with high regard. Njord (Njörðr), for example, is often invoked for both seafaring and fishing, but also in regards to wind, which was also important in matters of seafaring.(11.) Yet, that does not mean that Thor cannot be associated with such things as well. Njord might support a ship with good winds, but it might be Thor protecting that ship.

To return to the original question at hand, though, Thor is primarily associated with his hammer, mjöllnir, but that most definitely is not all that he is associated with. In fact, he has two other objects that a vital to his strength: Megingjard, or Megingjarðar (his belt of strength) and also his gloves of iron, which are required when gripping his hammer’s shaft.(12.) Furthermore, Thor is often called Ökuþórr in the Prose Edda, for example, which means “Thor the Charioteer” or “Thor the Driver.”(13.) He is even associated with goats (because two goats, named Tanngnióstr and Tanngrisnir, drive his chariot), although I would not exactly call animals ‘objects’. 

He is also associated with thunder, and one could extend that to certain instruments or objects that mimic thunder. Also, the Midgard Serpent is often referred to as a “ring,” though not in the sense of one you would wear, perhaps.(14.) This is interesting because Thor is often referred to through the Midgard Serpent, and therefore one could associate Thor, in a way, with something in a ring shape (so long as it reflects a serpent). That may be a bit of a stretch to make, though. 

There is even a river Thor is associated with called Vimur, which he must wade through on his way to Geirrod’s courts.(15.) Again, that is not an ‘object’, but an example of the many associations that a god can have. Some also associated Thor with oak, though I personally have not come across a source for that in medieval texts quite yet (not to say that there are none, just that I have yet to read it from a primary source for myself).

More directly helpful (being both historical and relatively concise) may be the many kennings (poetic, round-about ways of referring to a figure) that are used for Thor. They can be a bit tricky, often requiring a good depth of knowledge regarding norse mythology to understand. Still, they are a good place to consider in matters such as this. They, too, come from the tales associated with a given deity. That being said, there are many more than what is listed below, but these are listed in part of the Skáldskarpamál:

“How shall Thor be referred to? 
By calling him son of Odin and lord, 
father of Magni and Modi and Thrud, 
husband of Sif, 
stepfather of Ull, 
ruler and owner of Miollnir and the girdle of night, 
of Bilskirnir, 
defender of Asgard, Midgard, 
enemy and slayer of giants and troll-wives, 
killer of Hrungnir, 
Geirrod, Thrivaldi, 
lord of Thialfi and Roskva, 
enemy of the Midgard Serpent, 
foster-son of Vingnir and Hlora.” (16.)

Now, I do want to point out that I have starting to wander, at certain points, away from historical material and into reasonable possibilities. There is no reason to completely bound yourself to historical information, although it must be known and ought to be used as a foundation to work off of. In other words, I see no harm in straying from the path of ‘factual’, so long as you always stay within sight of that path.

I have, by no means, covered all things associated with Thor. I may also be wrong in a few of my speculations. Though, I do believe that I have answered your question at least, which is to say that your dream is not entirely “dream-fiction.” On the contrary, it is perfectly acceptable. More satisfying, perhaps, is that I do find the dream that you have described to be very symbolic and meaningful. If you seek to associate Thor with objects other than mjöllnir, you have many options. Use the historical material we have to inspire you, and then get creative. No one ought to shun you for doing that. 

Anyway, I hope that the information I have dug up guides you well. I may not have answered this to its full justice, but I have, at least, given you some things to think about. Best of luck, and thank you kindly for asking.

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FOOTNOTES:

1. Robert Cook trans., Brennu-Njáls saga, in The Complete Sags of Icelanders, vol. 3, edited by Viðar Hreinsson, Robert Cook, Terry Gunnell, Keneva Kunz, and Bernard Scudder. (Reykjavík: Leifur Eiríksson Publishing, 1997), 125.

2. Viðar Hreinsson, Robert Cook, Terry Gunnell, Keneva Kunz, and Bernard Scudder ed., The Complete Sagas of Icelanders, vol. 5. (Reykjavík: Leifur Eiríksson Publishing, 1997), 441.

3. Gunnar Karlsson, The History of Iceland. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press), 15.

4. Hreinsson, 416.

5. Ibid., 411.

6. Judy Quinn trans., Eyrbyggja saga, in The Complete Sags of Icelanders, vol. 5, edited by Viðar Hreinsson, Robert Cook, Terry Gunnell, Keneva Kunz, and Bernard Scudder. (Reykjavík: Leifur Eiríksson Publishing, 1997), 133.

7. Karlsson, 12.

8. Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards trans., The Book of Settlements: Landnámabók. (repr., 1972; Manitoba: University of Manitoba Press, 2012), 21.

9. Hreinsson, vol 5., 131.

10. For the full story, see Lee M. Hollander, The Poetic Edda. (repr., 1962; Austin: University of Texas Press, 2014), 83-89. For prose, see Snorri Sturluson, The Prose Edda, translated by Jesse L. Byock. (London: Penguin Books, 2005), 63-65.

11. Sturluson, Byock trans., 33.

12. Ibid., 32-33.

13. Ibid., 172.

14. Snorri Sturluson, Edda, translated by Anthony Faulkes. (repr., 1987; J.M. Dent Orion Publishing Group, 1995), 73. Many of the poets listed on this page of the Skáldskaparmál called the Midgard Serpent a “ring.”

15. Sturluson, Byock trans., 90-91.

16. Sturluson, Faulkes’ trans., 72.