Gods > Thor > Family Tree

Now that we’ve become somewhat familiar with the actions and deeds of Thor (more to come shortly, however) it’s a good time to examine the family tree of of Thor.

Readers may at first be surprised to see Thor’s family – as told by the Poetic Edda – is notably different from our modern idea of Thor (for example, he is not the brother of Loki, nor is he unambiguously the son of the giant). At any rate, the complete familiar relations of Thor revealed in the Poetic Edda are as follows:

Brackets following a name denotes their type – in this case, (A) = Aesir, and (U) = Unknown. The Poetic Edda treats these labels very vaguely, so they don’t completely assist our understanding of the characters, but these types – as well as a few others – will be examined at a later date

Parents

Thor’s father in unambiguously Odin. This is confirmed many, many times (Voluspa, Harbarthsljoth, Hymiskvitha, Lokasenna, Thrymskvitha). Further to this fact, Thor and Odin have almost no meaningful interactions; in fact they only time they are shown to actually talk is in Harbarthsljoth, where Thor argues with a disguised Odin, who does nothing but insult and waylay a travelling Thor.

Jord is Thor’s mother (Voluspa, Harbarthsljoth). In one story, she is said to be waiting for a travelling Thor in Midgard, where she will then show him the gods’ road back to Asgard. Although we can’t be certain, the fact that she’s not present at any of the usual Aesir gatherings (and that fact that she’s said to be in Midgard) may imply that she isn’t an Aesir.

As the wife of Odin, Frigg may be seen as Thor’s step-mother. Further to this, they have no interaction,

Partner

Thor is married to Sif (Lokasenna), although Loki seems to truthfully imply that he has since slept with her. Thor and Sif never meaningfully interact.

Siblings

Thor is said to be the brother of Meili, a figure who receives no further expansion (Harbarthsljoth)

Through his father, Odin, Thor has a number of half-brothers; Baldur, Vithar, and the unnamed son who avenges Baldur on Hoth (these will be expanded upon in the future). Once again, there is no interaction with these half-brothers

Children

Thor is positively identified as having three children, Magni, Mothi, and an unnamed daughter, with no clear mother being identified.

It would be fair to assume that both Magni and Mothi are full-brothers, as they are said to jointly inherit Mjollnir in the paradise that follows Ragnarok (Voluspa). This, however, is not confirmed.

Thor’s unnamed daughter never appears directly, but is desired by a dwarf called Alviss. It can be inferred that Thor may be protective of his daughter (or simply that he disapproves of her abduction by a dwarf) because he distracts Alviss while he turns to stone – more on this at a later point (Alvissmal).

Closing Thoughts

Thor’s family tree is easily among the most complex of the gods’ lineages, and shows us some extremely important points in understanding the nature and structure of the gods’ families and lives:

• Despite obviously engaging in marriages, the gods are largely polyamorous , with Odin certainly and Thor possibly having multiple children with multiple women
• Although unconfirmed, it’s possible that Thor’s mother isn’t an Aesir. Even if this is untrue, there are many examples of gods with mixed heritage (Aesir, Vanir, Giant, etc.)
• The lack of meaningful interaction between family members (e.g. in the Poetic Edda, Thor never even directly speaks to his wife or children) is troubling, and can be seen to display a certain deconstruction of the social order between the gods

Join me next time, where I will continue to look into the Actions, Personality, and Possessions of Thor.