DONAR

People of the North know me as THOR, those on the British Isles call me THUNOR, and the Romans refer to me as JUPITER TONANS. My oldest and truest title is DONAR, the ancient German form of my name.
I am the Thunderer, and I rule over clouds and sky. My coming is announced through rolling thunder and flashes of lightning, and I bring rain to the earth.
MY FAMILY
I am Wotan's mightiest son, and my mother Erda is the Earth herself. My wife is Sive, goddess of the harvest. My daughter is Thrud, a giantess renowned for her size and strength. My son is Holler, god of winter and of the hunt.
After my father, Wotan, I am the mightiest and strongest of all the gods. Once, while fishing with the giant Hymir, I baited a line with the head of a bull and brought to the surface the Midgardworm, the Midgard Serpent--the snake that encircles the world.
MY PEOPLE
Reapers pay me homage, for I guide the events of war and receive my share of the spoils. My own battles are with the giants who threaten both gods and men.
Farmers pay me homage, for I purify the weather and send down fruitful rain. My sacred tree, the oak, supplies the nutritious acorn. My minni, the drink of remembrance, is drunk to the prosperity of cornfields.
Adam of Bremen writes of me: "Donar, inquiunt, praesidet in aëre, qui tonitrua et fulmina, ventos imbresque, serena et fruges gubernat." ["Donar, they say, rules in the air, governing the thunder and lightning, the winds and rains, fair weather and crops."]
German mountains such as Donnersberg are named for my worship. Donnersberg was orginally (in the year 869) known as Thoneresberg. Later, it was known as Donarsberg, Thorsberg, Dornsberg, and other names--all of which reflect its sacredness to me.
Through the Middle Ages, the great court held at Thuneresberg was linked to the sacredness of my mountsain. On the Knüllberg in Hessen is found a Donnerkaute, in Bernerland a Donnerbühel.
My anger is quick to rise, but just as quick to dissipate. When I am angry, I blow in my red beard and thunder resounds. Prayers, oaths and curses have preserved my memory more often and longer than any other god. Men in need of help call on my red beard, which is not forgotten in curses of Christian times. Even today the North Frisians exclaim, "Diis ruadhiiret donner regiir!" ["This is red-haired Donar's work!"].
MY THUNDERBOLT
The thunderbolt is my weapon and my missile. When lightning flashes from a cloud, I simultaneously throw a black bolt of stone down to earth. The force of my throw embeds the stone in the ground as deep as the highest church tower. Whenever there is renewed thunder, the stone begins to rise towards the surface. After seven years, the stone can be found on the surface of the earth.
Every house in which one of my stones is kept is safe from storm damage. As a storm approaches, the stone begins to sweat. Such stones are known as thunder axes, thunderstones, thunder hammers, Albdonar, Alpgeschosse, Donnerkeile, and ray stones. Stone hammers and stone measures found in graves also bear the same name.
MY HAMMER
I hurl my wonderful hammer Miölnir (the Crusher) against the giants. It was forged by the dwarves and has the quality of returning by itself into my hand after throwing. As my hammer flies through the air, the giants know of its flight, for its throwing is preceded by thunder and lightning.
My hammer is red-hot with the heat of the thunderbolt, and I wear the iron glove known as Iarn-greiper to grasp it firmly. I can throw it great distances, since my already remarkable strength is doubled when I wear the belt Magin-giörd.
My hammer is a sacred tool. Just as it knocks hostile giants to the ground, so it hallows the sealing of marriage bonds, consecrates the funeral pyre, and makes sacred land and boundaries. My flash of lightning is the lucky consecrating omen of an enterprise.
My hammer measures land. To denote boundaries, the Hamarsmark is hammered in--a stake driven into the ground with the sacred hammer. These boundary stakes are considered sacred among the people of the North. Crossed oaks are used as a boundaries, called Mälbaume ("marking trees" in the Sachsenspiegel).
My hammer brings protection. Its sign is inscribed above the front door of houses in Unterinn, in the South Tyrolian Alps, to call on my protection against evils of all kinds, but especially from storms.
MY THUNDER-WAGON
I, of all the gods, ride no horse. I walk to hold court, to pass judgement. The Asen ride their steeds down Bifröst, the rainbow bridge, to their meeting by the Urdar fountain, under the shade of the sacred tree Yggdrasil. I must walk a different path, for my gait and my hammer are so heavy that I might break the bridge or set it aflame with the heat of my lightnings. I wade through the rivers Kormt and Ormt, and the two streams of Kerlaug.
My thunder wagon is drawn by two goats--Tanngniostr (Tooth-cracker) and Tanngrisnr (Tooth-gnasher). In Southern Germany, they know that my brazen chariot is loaded with copper kettles, which rattle and clash to create the noise of the thunderstorm. They knew of my chariot over 3000 years ago in Tanum, in the south of Sweden, as visible in this ancient rock carving.
MY WORSHIP
The observance Donnerstag/Donars Tag (Thursday/Thor's Day) comes from my worship. On Thursday evening there must be no sawing or cutting of wood. This practice was not extinguished among my people until recent times and is revealed in early traditions of the Middle Ages. The celebration of Yule-tide is my principal festival, and is marked by the burning of a great log of oak, my sacred tree, as an emblem of the warmth and light of summer, to drive away the darkness and cold of winter.
All heroes ascend to Wotan's heaven, ordinary folk return to me, for I am the patron god of peasants and lower classes. In my realm of Thrudheim, my palace Bilskirnir (Lightning) is the most spacious in all Asgard. It contains five hundred and forty halls for those who are welcomed to my home after death and receive equal treatment with the warriors in Valhalla.