Thor Chasing the Dwarfs – Richard Doyle
The God Thor Chasing the Dwarfs – Richard Doyle
The God Thor Chasing the Dwarfs by Richard Doyle – 1878 – Richard Doyle illustrates a powerful Thor emerging from the clouds to rid the Scandinavian landscape of the mischievous dwarfs. Odin, Thor’s father, had seen that the dwarfs were wreaking havoc on mankind by uprooting crops and turning seeds into stone, and decreed that they be sent en masse underground to work in the mines.
Doyle contributed frequently to Punch magazine, and is most celebrated for illustrations of the grotesque and fantastic. Faeries, elves, pixies and other mythical creatures populate his imaginative landscapes, and the present lot is an excellent example of his work and an icon of the genre.
In 1846 Doyle’s illustrations for The Fairy Ring (a new translation of Grimm’s tales), first made his name as a fairytale illustrator. Following this in 1849 he produced Fairy Tales from All Nations (compiled by ‘Anthony R. Montalba’, which proved a tremendous success. Doyle was able to fully explore his love of fairy mythology with his many illustrations and borders filled with elves, pixies and other mythical creatures.
About Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor (/θɔːr/; from Old Norse Þórr) is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing and fertility. The cognate deity in wider Germanic mythology and paganism was known in Old English as Þunor and in Old High German as Donar (runic þonar ᚦᛟᚾᚨᚱ), stemming from a Common Germanic *Þunraz (meaning “thunder”).
Ultimately stemming from Proto-Indo-European religion, Thor is a prominently mentioned god throughout the recorded history of the Germanic peoples, from the Roman occupation of regions of Germania, to the tribal expansions of the Migration Period, to his high popularity during the Viking Age, when, in the face of the process of the Christianization of Scandinavia, emblems of his hammer, Mjölnir, were worn and Norse pagan personal names containing the name of the god bear witness to his popularity.
Into the modern period, Thor continued to be acknowledged in rural folklore throughout Germanic regions. He is frequently referred to in place names, the day of the week Thursday (“Thor’s day” from Old English Thunresdæg, ‘Thunor’s day’) bears his name, and names stemming from the pagan period containing his own continue to be used today.
In Norse mythology, largely recorded in Iceland from traditional material stemming from Scandinavia, numerous tales and information about Thor are provided. In these sources, he bears at least fourteen names, is the husband of the golden-haired goddess Sif, is the lover of the jötunn Járnsaxa, and is generally described as fierce-eyed, red-haired and red-bearded. With Sif, Thor fathered the goddess (and possible valkyrie) Þrúðr; with Járnsaxa, he fathered Magni; with a mother whose name is not recorded, he fathered Móði, and he is the stepfather of the god Ullr. The same sources list him as the son of the god Odin and the personified earth, Jörð, and by way of Odin, he has numerous brothers. Thor has two servants, Þjálfi and Röskva, rides in a cart or chariot pulled by two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr (that he eats and resurrects), and is ascribed three dwellings (Bilskirnir, Þrúðheimr, and Þrúðvangr). Thor wields the mountain-crushing hammer, Mjölnir, wears the belt Megingjörð and the iron gloves Járngreipr, and owns the staff Gríðarvölr. Thor’s exploits, including his relentless slaughter of his foes and fierce battles with the monstrous serpent Jörmungandr—and their foretold mutual deaths during the events of Ragnarök—are recorded throughout sources for Norse mythology.
Thor has inspired numerous works of art and references to him appear in modern popular culture. Like other Germanic deities, veneration of he is revived in the modern period in Heathenry.
