m., gen. Þórs, dat. and acc. Þór, but Þóri dat., Bragi; in Runic inscriptions spelt Þur; [A. S. þunor; Engl. thunder; North. E. thunner; Dutch donder; O. H. G. donar; Germ. donner; Hel. thunar; Dan. Tor, in tor-den; cp. Lat. tŏno and tonitrus; the word Þór-r is therefore formed by absorption of the middle n, and contraction of an older dissyllabic Þonor into one syllable, and is a purely Scandinavian form; hence in A. S. charters or diplomas it is a sure sign of forgery when names compd with þur- appear in deeds pretending to be of a time earlier than the Danish invasion in the 9th century; although in later times they abound; the Engl. Thurs-day is a later form, in which the phonetic rule of the Scandin. tongue has been followed; perh. it is a North. E. form. There is a short essay by Jacob Grimm on the etymology of this word.]

A. The god Thor, the god of thunder, keeper of the hammer, the ever-fighting slayer of trolls and destroyer of evil spirits, the friend of mankind, the defender of the earth, the heavens, and the gods, for without Thor and his hammer the earth would become the helpless prey of the giants. He was the consecrator, the hammer being the cross or holy sign of the ancient heathen, hence the expressive phrase on a heathen Danish Runic stone, Þurr vigi þassi runar, ‘Thor, consecrate these Runes!’ Rafn 193. Thor was the son of mother Earth; blunt, hot-tempered, without fraud or guile, of few words and ready stroke,—such was Thor, the favourite deity of the ancients. The finest legends of the Edda, - and the best lays (the lays of Hymir, Thrym, and Harbard) refer to Thor, see the Edda passim, Eb. the first chapters—hann varðveitti þar í eyinni Þórs-hof, ok var mikill vin Þórs, … hann gékk til fréttar við Þór ástvin sinn …, Eb.; Helgi var blandinn í trú, hann trúði á Krist, en hét á Þór til sjófara ok harðræða, Landn. 206. For a head of Thor carved on the high-seat pillars, see Eb., Fbr.: or on a talisman, Fs. 97.

B. COMPDS OF PROPER NAMES.—The name of Thor has always been thought to sound well, and is much used in pr. names; (hann átti) son er Steinn hét, þann svein gaf Þórólfr Þór vin símim ok kallaði Þorstein, Eb.; uncompd only in the form Þórir of a man, Þóra of a woman, but common in compds, where in mod. usage the vowel is sounded long before a vowel, and before b and d, elsewhere short, but in old times it was no doubt ó throughout;—thus, as a prefix, Þór-álfr, Þórólfr, Þórarr, Þór-arinn, Þór-oddr, Þór-haddr, Þór-halli, Þór-hallr; but Þor-bergr, Þor-björn, Þor-brandr, Þor-finnr, Þor-gautr, Þor-geirr, Þor-gestr (Þórgestlingar, the family of Th., Eb.), Þor-grímr, Þor-gils, Þor-gnýr, Þor-kell (qs. Þorketill), Þor-lákr (sounded Þollákr, Bs. i. 356, l. 18, and so in mod. usage), Þor-leifr, Þor-leikr, Þor-ljótr, Þor-móðr, Þor-mundr (Dan. Runic stone), Þor-steinn (sounded Þosteinn, and often, spelt so in later vellums), Þor-valdr, Þor-varðr, Þór-viðr; of women, Þór-ey, Þór-arna, Þor-finna, Þor-gríma, Þor-gunna, Þór-halla, Þór-hildr, Þór-unn, Þór-dís, Þor-gerðr, Þor-björg, Þor-katla, Þór-ný, Þor-veig, Þór-vör. 2. as a suffix. -Þórr, -Þóra, -dórr, -dóra; Arn-órr, qs. Arn-þórr and Arn-óra, Stein-dórr, Hall-dórr and Hall-dóra, Berg-þórr and Berg-þóra, Ey-þórr and Ey-þóra, Haf-þórr. Of all these names, three demand special mention, viz. Þórðr, being a contr. qs. Þór-røðr (as Bárðr = Bár-röðr), the old uncontr. form occurs in poems of the 10th century, e. g. Þórröðr vinon óra, Korm. 132; so Sighvat calls his own father Þórröðr (dissyll.). yet he makes it rhyme as if contracted (Þorröðr er var forðum), so Þorðr skorðu, Bjarn. (in a verse): the other name is Þuríðr, a fem. name, a weakened form for Þóríðr, Íb. 363 (qs. Þór-ríðr, like Sig-ríðr); thirdly, Þyri, a fem. name, weakened from Þór-vé, or still older Þór-veig, mod. Dan. Thyra, see Landn. 309; Þurvi (Þiurvi), gen. Þurviar, on Runic stones.

II. in local names, Þórs-mörk, Þórs-nes, Þórs-á, Landn., Eb.; whence Þórs-nes-ingar, the men from Th., Landn.; and Þórs-ness-lönd, -þing, Eb., Landn., Korm.: Þórsnesinga-goðord, Landn., Eb., Sturl.: Þórs-engi, n., i. e. Þórs-vengi, = Thaasinge in Fünen, Denmark.

C. COMPDS: Þórsdagr, Þórshani, Þórshof.