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The God Thor, who is also called Asa-Thor or Driver-Thor,
is one of the
foremost of the Aesir. He is strongest of all Gods and men. He
rules over a
kingdom called Thrudhvangar¹, and his hall is called Bilskirnir².
In that
building are six hundred and forty floors; it is the largest
house known. In
the Lay of Grimnir Odhinn says:
Bilskirnir with its winding ways
I know has more
than six hundred forty floors,
Of those buildings to be roofed
I know my son's is the largest.
Thor has two goats known as Tooth-gnasher and Tooth-grinder,
and they pull His
chariot. This is why He is known as Thor the Driver. He also
owns three
precious things. One is the hammer Mjolnir³, which the frost
ogres and cliff
giants know when it is raised aloft, and that is not surprising
since He has
cracked the skulls of many of their kith and kin. His second
great treasure
is a belt of strength, and when He buckles that on his divine
might is
doubled.
And he owns a third thing of great value, which are his iron
gloves: He cannot
do without them when he grips His hammer.
¹ "Plains of Power"
² "Strong"
³ "Crusher"
Gylfaginning The Prose Edda |