Prayer of Gratitude to Thor

You love us so much.

There are so many stories about
How you are a great defender
And how you constantly sacrifice yourself
And risk your life in order to protect others.
The magnitude of your generosity is boundless.
Strongest son of Odin, born of fertile Jord
You embody honor and kindness.
Knowing you is a great privilege.
I don’t tell you often enough
How much I love and appreciate you.

You offer strength to those
Who cannot defend themselves.
You take care of humans,
Helping us to be safe from harm.
You inspire us to look for courage within ourselves.
You lend us power.
 

Perhaps the one story about you
That inspires me the most
In whatever undefined minute role
I play in the Nine Worlds
Is the story about your visit to Utgard.
You are asked to take a drink from a horn,
You drink much, but you fail to drain it.
You are then asked to wrestle an old woman,
You fight hard, and she defeats you.
Finally, you are asked to pick up a housecat,
And it is too heavy to lift above your head
But you manage to pick it up off of the ground.
At that time, you doubted your strength.
Utgard-Loki later reveals to you
That magic and glamour was involved,
That the horn contained the ocean,
That the old woman was old age,
That the cat was the Midgard Serpent,
That indeed each of these seemingly petty deeds
Were extremely impressive feats.<
By sharing this story with us,
You teach us that we never really know
The impact of what we do,
And that without knowing it,
By trying as hard as we can,
We are capable of achieving great things.
We can never truly know the impact of our deeds.
You inspire us to be good.
 

Red bearded atheling, wielder of Mjolnir,
Guardian among the Aesir
Father of Thrudh, Modi, and Magni
Consort of Jarnsaxa, Husband of Sif
High born one ennobled of spirit
Keeper of Gnashtooth and Cracktooth
Who provide the poor with sustenance
Giving wholly of himself to humans,
Protecting the land so that we may flourish
Provider, giver, warder fearless and true to himself
He of unmatchable vitality
Both inside and out, Fearless one
I thank you for the endless gifts
And for the intensity of love that you give to us.
Hail Tor!

 

Artwork by Kay Steele.