Hot-headed and fiery-bearded god of the Norse. Wielder of Mjolnir and protector of mankind. Is the legendary god of thunder and son of Odin just a hero of Norse Mythology or could there be actual history hidden in these tales?We all know of the mythological hero, or we're at least familiar with the hunky guy from the movie, but where did the story originate? Our quest began with a lengthy article about the origin of the Swedes which led to the lineage of a man named Tiras. The deeper we dug, the more information and common themes were found, not only in Norse mythology, but in biblical and secular history. Follow along as we retrace the path that led to our discovery that Thor may have been a real man after all.
Like so many tales, our story starts with Noah...
You don't have to be a believer in the Holy Scriptures to know that Noah has his place in world history. Just read this article on the origin of human etymology to see the lasting impression he has made on mankind.
Now, how is it that we are discussing Noah when our hunky hero, Thor, is the theme? If, as we learn from the writings of Herodotus, Josephus and ancient king lists, we are all descended from Noah, Thor would be from the line of one of his three sons.
Japheth, father of the Indo-European peoples and the more scientific of Noah's children, had seven sons of his own (that we know of...these ancestors bred like the Duggers). The youngest of these was Tiras (Thiras) from whom the Thracians (or Tirasians as they were originally known) were descended. Tiras was born somewhere in Turkey (Asia Minor) around 2500 B.C. While there is very little information about him specifically, his namesake was left throughout the lands of the Middle East and Europe. Examples of this are the Athyras river, Taunrus mountains and the ancient city of Troas, known to most of us as Troy.
The Thracian peoples inhabited an area known as Thrace. It stretched from southeastern Bulgaria to northeastern Greece over to the western part of Turkey. They were known to be blue-eyed and blonde or red-haired, their tombstones often engraved with the word "ryan", uh hem..."rufus", meaning "red-headed", and dressed in tunics and furs. They carried spears and shields, living in the rugged regions of Eastern Europe and were a savage and barbaric lot, "given to tipsy excess".
According to Herodotus, they fought continually among themselves (like these guys I knew in high school that would always show up to a party together, but would then get drunk and beat each other up). Unable to create a unified kingdom they inevitably fractured into many different tribes that spread from Northern Italy to Scandanavia. Herodotus also believed that, had the Thracians been able to unify their many tribes, they could have been the most powerful of all people. Unfortunately, they never achieved anything beyond short, dynastic rules at the height of the Greek classical period.
City building was not one of their strong suits, either, with most tribes living in villages. The creation of a "polis" of any sort was rare with the most notable exception being Troy. The Trajans, or Tojans, were thought to be a Thracian tribe that established themleves near the northwestern shores of Turkey around 2500 B.C. The name of the city, which was originally called Troas, is a varient of the name Tiras.
As the Thracian people, from the scattered and ragged tribal bands to the citizens of Troy, began to spread out and establish themselves they began to develop their own cultures and mythologies. According to the work of Osterholm Genealogy, Tiras, father of the Thracian people, became a legend and was worshiped as Thuras (also known as Thor). We will try and piece together how this man, the son of Japheth and grandson of Noah, may have became known as the god of thunder and how the story could have found it's way into Norse mythology. First lets follow the Thracians as they make their way into the land of bratwurst and lederhosen, shall we?
Now, according to every description of the Thracians they bore striking similarities to the vikings. Their physical appearance, the way they dressed and their excessive and violent nature. There are even accounts of Thracian tribes raiding coastal settlements in ships and violently slaughtering the inhabitants. At what point did these sea-faring people start the migration north?There is evidence that it was the fall of Troy, around 1184 B.C., that set them in motion. Over half were thought to have headed up the Danube River, led by Aeneas, a member of the royal family, and crossed over to Italy and established the Estruscan culture. The remaining Trojans were Thracian chieftans and warriors, about 12,000 in all, that went north across the Black Sea to the Mare Moetis at the mouth of the Don River.
They established a "kingdom" in southern Russia known as Sicambria, around 1150 B.C. The local nomads referred to them as the Aes, or iron people, because of their iron weapons and not their rock hard abs . The Aes (Aesar or Asir) established the famous city of Asegard, or Asgard, which was thought of as the "Troy of the North" because they sought to maintain the same traditions as the city they had fled. Much like Tiras, historians believe there was a king named Odin that ruled over Asgard around the first century B.C., who was eventually worshiped by his descendants as a god.
According to 13th century Nordic historian, Snorri Sturluson, the Aesir began their exodus north from Asgard to escape invasion at the hands of the pesky Romans. It was King Odin that was thought to have led the migration around 70 B.C. from the north eastern shores of the Black Sea to Scandinavia. Another Thracian tribe, known as the Vanir or Vaner, joined them in the trek and eventually settled in what is now modern day Denmark. They established the city of Odense, which translates to Odin's Shrine or Odin's Sanctuary, and is now the oldest city in Denmark. It was a well known destination for religious pilgrimages during the Middle Ages.
Whew! We made it to Scandinavia. As the Viking era began some 800 years later, Odin, the Aesir and Vanir, were exalted as gods. Asgard was their home, though some historians contend that "Asgard" was actually the city of Troy, perhaps the confusion could simply be a result of Asgard being esdtablished as a "New Troy". But where does Thor fit in? Since, etymologically, the name Thiras has been rendered as Thor down through the ages, and since he was the progenitor of the Thracian people, we can then assume that he was a very ancient king who started a "kingdom" that venerated him as a god along with his father, Odin (Japheth?). As his descendants traveled north, from Thrace to southern Russia and eventually to Scandinavia, so to did the legend of this man, Thor, changing with the passage of time from the story of a king to a mighty god. As it went it picked up bits of Greek and Roman mythology (Thor is thought to be analogous with Ares and Mars) and had Biblical stories wove in as well (the story of Thor battling the Midgard serpent could be a parallel to Genesis 3:15).
What is even more interesting, the Roman mythologies and king lists almost directly relate to the Norse prechristian king lists. Now, remember that after the fall of Troy, a band of Trojans, led by Aeneas (if you are familiar with Homer's Iliad, you will recognize him as a cousin of Hector), started the Etruscan (Tuscany) culture in the north of Italy. Odin is most likely the Jupiter of Roman myth. Is it starting to come together yet?
These kind of historical and mythological connections can be made from seemingly unrelated cultures around the world as separated as the island of Fatu Hiva and Chengdu, China. Somewhere, these tales must have an original source, sayyyyy.....stored by Noah and carried onto the ark among many other papyrus treasures? And then again, where did he come into possession of already ancient scrolls...hmmmm? Then told and retold by son of son of son before the earth was as populated and scattered and, therefore, tales changed and forgotten or better yet, becoming myth?
So...what do you think, Thor, myth or history?
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