Myths and Legends: Thor's LEGENDARY Battles Against Evil Forces (S1)

Thor, Norse god of thunder. A fearless warrior who protects his people from monstrous giants. He was the idol of Vikings and barbarians, in the darkest age ever known to man. But few know the reality behind his myth. He battled the ancient world's most colossal sea monster. And he was the last hope for Europe's pagans as they defied the armies of Christendom. Fact and fiction collide in the myth of the mighty Thor. In the myth, two of Thor's weapons help him conquer evil forces. A belt that doubles his strength, and a hammer that shoots lethal bolts of lightning. No matter how far Thor throws his trusty hammer, it will return to him like a boomerang. And each time, thunder roars. It means Thor's hammer has struck a giant. Thor is the master of lightning. And this is not uncommon in other mythologies. The obvious parallel here is Zeus in classical mythology, who is the thunder god. The thunder and lightning god is the protector god. He's the strongest fighter. So he has that capability that Zeus has, the thunderbolt, the hammer for Thor, that can destroy the bad guys. Thor's myth begins with his birth to two all-powerful parents. His father is Odin, the god of the heavens. And his mother is Yord, which is Earth. And so in a sense, he is of the sky and of the Earth, which makes him the perfect god for Middle Earth, for Midgard, where humans are. In one pivotal story, the thunder god loses his prize weapon. Without it, he is powerless to take on the giants that threaten the Earth. And the fate of humankind hangs in the balance. In the palace of Valhalla, sanctuary of the Norse gods, a ghastly ogre king quietly invades Thor's bedchamber and steals his hammer. The ogre knows that without it, Thor is helpless. And he plans to use it as blackmail. When his hammer gets stolen, that's a stripping away of that human level of culture and technology that separates you out from the animals. So Thor wakes up one morning, gropes around, discovers that he is missing his hammer. So who does he go to first? Strangely enough, he goes to Loki. Loki is Thor's servant, but he is also a god. He is crafty, conniving, and says he knows exactly who stole the hammer. He sets out for the land of the ogres to get it back. There, Loki meets with the ogre king, Thrym, and the king names his price. And Thrym, the giant, says, I have taken Thor's hammer, and I've hidden it, and no one will find it. Unless they give me Freya as a bride. Freya, of course, is this beautiful, sensuous goddess of love, fertility, and sex. And the giants, the dwarves, everybody wants her. Freya is also Thor's sister. When she hears what the ogre wants, she refuses to surrender. But something must be done to get Thor's hammer back. Well, his hammer is one of his identifying features. His hammer is what he uses in order to kill the giants. Without his hammer, the gods are in trouble. The people are in trouble. Everyone's in trouble without Thor's hammer. The gods call a special meeting to discuss the crisis. They agree on a risky strategy, to dress Thor up as his sister and send him as the bride instead. We'll put the bridal gown on him, put the veil over him, and we will send him down disguised as Freya. And then perhaps he can get the hammer and come back. Thor is very upset at this. Thor is the super macho, uber masculine god and was not about to, you know, go in drag. But Thor has no other choice. He gives in and puts on Freya's bridal outfit. Only his red eyes are visible beneath the veil. With Loki at his side, Thor heads for the land of the giants. The thunder god is not the most radiant bride. But to get back his precious hammer, he must swallow his pride. Thrym sees them coming and says, ah, Freya, the only thing lacking in my world is Freya, and here she comes. So the first thing they do is have a party, and Thor eats all the food. And then, of course, she drinks all of the beer. Thor's binge immediately raises suspicions. How can a blushing bride be such a drinker? And Loki says, oh, no, don't worry about it. The bride just traveled for eight days and nights. She's really, really thirsty. But when Thrym takes a closer look at his bride-to-be, he notices that her eyes are red and fiery. Thrym jumps back and says, what's going on with Freya's eyes? And Loki, again, quick with the answer, says, oh, well, she hasn't slept in a week either. She was so excited to get here. She so much wanted to get here. OK, says Thrym. Finally, the king is convinced and hands the magic hammer to his bride. In an instant, the hammer fully restores Thor's power. The thunder god is back with a vengeance. According to Norse belief, Thor would battle nature's evil ogres until the end of time. Then one final epic clash would unfold between the forces of order and chaos. It would be called Ragnarok, the Viking Armageddon. Ragnarok is the great battle between the giants and the gods, and really, all the bad guys and all the good guys. Everything is brought into disarray. Everything is brought into chaos. And every god meets his antithesis in his opposite. It is a cataclysmic battle. Everything that would be normative in the world will be turned upside down. This seismic clash will culminate in a long-awaited showdown. The thunder god, Thor, against his arch nemesis, the Midgard Serpent. Thor's been itching to fight this Midgard Serpent ever since it was created, and finally, he gets his chance. After a vicious back and forth struggle, Thor lands a fatal blow. But in a cruel twist of fate, he is exposed to the lethal venom that drips from the serpent's wound. Thor will pay the ultimate price for his victory, his life. According to the myth, when Ragnarok unfolds, the world as we know it will come to a terrifying end. All the gods, giants, and most of mankind will die along with Thor. In the aftermath of this, the only thing that survives is the World Tree. And within it, a man and a woman have hidden. The grass grows again, and they meet on the plane where Asgard had been, and they set about creating a new cosmos. A Viking Adam and Eve.