In the final battle of the last war between good and evil, the Son of the Father-God will defeat evil in the form of a serpent but, in doing so, will give up his own life. Sound familiar?
There are some striking parallels between the Norse myth of Thor at Ragnarok and the Biblical prophesies of the Messiah. Is it possible, since the prophesies of Christ and the Messiah long preceded the Norse myths, that Norse myths were actually informed by Scripture?
Did you watch Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, or Thor: Ragnarok? Check out all the eerie similarities between the myth of Thor and the life and prophesies of Christ below!
Here are some quick answers to some questions you may have about the connections between Thor and Christianity and Norse mythology and the Bible. For fuller explanations of all these, keep reading:
Thor and Christianity Introduction and Quick Answers:
There are so many similarities between Thor and Christianity. Here is just the tip of the iceberg.
- Is Thor mentioned in the Bible? Not exactly, but Jesus is found in the Norse versions of the Bible, the Eddas, as described below.
- Is Odin in the Bible? The relationship between the "All-Father", Odin, and his son, Thor, have strong parallels to the relationship between God the Father and God the Son, Jesus. The Norse Jesus will be especially clear when we talk about Ragnarok.
- Is Ragnarok in the Bible? Ragnarok is basically the Norse version of Armageddon.
- Who is the Viking Jesus? You will see after reading this that Thor was clearly inspired by Jesus and the Biblical prophesies of the Messiah, which long predated Norse mythology.
- Is Loki in the Bible? Is Loki the equivalent of Satan? When people write mythologies based on the Bible, strange similarities crop up. For example, in the Mormon re-telling of the Bible (which is critically different from authentic Scripture), Jesus and Satan are actually described as brothers, like Thor and Loki.
Viking Jesus? There's even an old Saxon poem depicting Jesus as a Viking warrior chieftain.
Why should we expect to find such stunning similarities between Thor and Christianity? The short answer is that Catholic priests and monks translated the Norse texts. Their translation of the Eddas may have been designed to ease the transition from belief in the Norse myths to belief in Christ.
Regardless, Norse myth as we know it is now profoundly affected by the Bible. Not just the New Testament and the Gospels, either, but the prophecies of Jesus the Messiah found in Genesis are strikingly similar to Thor.
Also, Jesus was nailed to the Cross for our sins. Isn't it interesting that the Norse Jesus, Thor, wields a hammer?
A Thor Bible study? Check out all the following connections between Thor and Christianity and the cited Scripture for a Thor-directed Bible study.
Want a Thor Bible Study? Check this out. Here are all the similarities between Jesus and Thor:
1. A Tale of Two Serpents: Is Thor Mentioned in the Bible?
The Bible refers frequently to the ancient serpent, the Devil. He appears in the Garden of Eden in the beginning and reappears at the end, waiting to devour the child of the Virgin Queen in the Book of Revelation. There is also a great serpent in Norse mythology. It is called the Midgard Serpent or Jörmungandr.
Jörmungandr simply means "huge monster" in Old Norse. Jörmungandr is the child of Loki by Angrboda, a giantess of Jotunheim, and it is the sibling of the Fenris-wolf, and Hel, who presides over a realm of the same name. As told in the Younger Edda or Prose Edda, Odin took the serpent and dropped it into the sea. Odin cast Hel into Niflheim, where she was to apportion men dead of sickness or of old age. Hel also had "great possessions" according to the paragraph XXXIV of Edda:
[H]er walls are exceeding high and her gates great. Her hall is called Sleet-Cold; her dish, Hunger; Famine is her knife; Idler, her thrall; Sloven, her maidservant; Pit of Stumbling, her threshold, by which one enters; Disease, her bed; Gleaming Bale, her bed-hangings. She is half blue-black and half flesh-color (by which she is easily recognized), and very lowering and fierce.
The serpent Jörmungandr grew so large in the sea that, after encircling the world, it was able to bite its own tail. Jörmungandr is, therefore, an example of an ouroboros, a snake biting its own tail, which also occur in Egyptian and Greek mythology.
2. Thor & Christianity: Ragnarök is the Norse equivalent of Armageddon
Ragnarök is basically the Armageddon of Norse mythology. These are the final battles between good and evil. The final battle between good and evil in the Book of Revelation occurs in the plains of Megiddo, hence the name "Armageddon". Christ's passion, death, and resurrection occur in the Gospels, but they also reoccur allegorically in the Book of Revelation.
The children of Angrboda and Loki reappear elsewhere in Norse mythology. Jörmungandr and Fenris-wolf are both significant figures at Ragnarök. At Ragnarök, it is prophesied that Fenris-wolf will be pitted against Odin, the Father-god. It is further prophesied that Thor, Odin's son, will battle Jörmungandr.
Check out these parallels between Thor and Christianity: 1) Thor is the son of the father-god, Odin. Similarly, Jesus is the Son of God, the Father. 2) The final battle between good and evil in Norse myth is at Ragnarök and between Thor and the serpent, Jörmungandr. The final battle between good and evil in Christianity is at the Cross between Jesus and the serpent, Satan.
In the Poetic Edda poem, Völuspá, Ragnarök begins with the crowing of three roosters. In the 42nd stanza, the crimson rooster Fjalar (Old Norse for "hider" or "deceiver") crows in the forests of Jotunheim, then the golden rooster Gullinkambi crows to the Aesir gods in Valhalla, and finally the unnamed soot-red rooster crows in Hel.
Another Thor-Gospel parallel: The final battle in Norse myth begins with the crowing of three roosters. Similarly, the rooster crows at the beginning of Christ's Passion. See, for example, at Matthew 26:34, Jesus tells Peter, "this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times."
Next at Ragnarök, according to the Völuspá account, the Norse god Heimdall blows his horn, similar to the trumpet blasts of Revelation, cf. Revelation 8:7. Yggdrasil, the World Tree, then shudders and groans, similar to the hammering of nails into the tree on which Christ is crucified.
The serpent Jörmungandr begins writhing in the sea, creating massive waves like tsunamis. The ship Naglfar breaks free of its moorings due to the thrashing of the serpent in the deep. The ship, made entirely of the fingernails and toenails of the dead, sets sail from the east.
According to the Gylfaginning account of Ragnarök, the Fenris-wolf charges on Odin. The wolf's eyes and nostrils spray flames, and its mouth is wide open. Its upper jaw scrapes the heavens while its lower jaw drags against the earth. At the same time and even beside the Fenris-wolf, Jörmungandr also charges and fills the air and the sea will a spray of venom. The sky is rent in two and the "sons of Muspell" ride forth across the Bifrost wreathed in flames, similar to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse at Rev 6:1-8.
Odin and his son, Thor, together charge out to meet the wolf and the serpent along with the rest of the Æsir. The war god Tyr is also paired with the hound Garmr. Odin rides onto the plains of battle at the head of war party wearing a gold helmet and an intricate coat of mail and carrying his spear Gungnir. Odin advances against the Fenris-wolf. Thor moves to Odin's side, but is unable to assist his father because he engages the serpent in combat.
Odin dies fighting the Fenris-wolf and is swallowed whole. Another of Odin's sons, VÃðarr, avenges his father by tearing the wolf's jaws apart and stabbing it in the heart with his spear.
Jörmungandr opens its giant mouth against the charging god of thunder. Thor kills Jörmungandr, but is poisoned by the serpent. Thor walks nine steps before falling to the earth dead. So ends Ragnarök.
3. The Serpent's Strike: The Last and Most Amazing Parallel between Thor and Jesus
The last parallel between Thor and Jesus is the most significant, but it might take some explaining.The passion, death, and victory of Christ are all foretold in the Book of Genesis. In just a couple short lines of Genesis, the entire Gospel is prophesied. This is called the Proto-evangelium, which translates as "The First Gospel". Here it is, Genesis 3:15:
I will put enmity between [the serpent] and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed;
he shall bruise your head,
and [the serpent] shall bruise his heel.
The Protoevangelium is packed with prophesies, but we will only address those that pertain to Satan, which is the serpent, and Christ, which is the seed of the woman. For more on this, check out these other posts: The Greatest Verse in the Bible & The First Prophesy in Human History.
It is prophesied that Christ will "bruise" the serpent's head, but Satan, the serpent, will "bruise" the heel of Christ. These bruises are wounds, mortal wounds at that. Jesus will crush the serpent's skull and defeat him.
In so doing, however, the serpent will strike Jesus' heel, and Jesus will be poisoned by the serpent's venom. Are you starting to see the connection to Thor and his battle with the serpent???
Jesus literally strikes the serpent's skull. Sometimes, as in The Passion of the Christ, Jesus is depicted as crushing the serpent's skull with his heel in the Garden of Gethsemane. But there's still a more literal moment. Christ is crucified at Golgotha, which, in Hebrew, is called "the place of the skull." The Cross of Christ, therefore, is stabbed into the skull.
If Golgotha was the "place of the skull"? Whose skull was it? Read more about Golgotha here.
Lastly, Christ's defeat of Satan, the ancient serpent, on the Cross requires his own death, as the sacrificial Lamb of God. In this way, the prophesy of Christ being killed by the serpent is fulfilled. Christ's heels are actually pierced by nails, as well. Jesus dies on the cross and the serpent claims his victim.
Let's go over that one more time.
The Final Parallel of the Viking Jesus:
Here is the most striking part of these connections between Thor and Jesus. They both die. They both offer themselves as willing sacrifices.- In the final battle, Thor kills the serpent, Jörmungandr, but is nevertheless killed by the serpent's venom.
- In the final defeat of evil, Jesus kills the serpent, Satan, but is nevertheless killed by serpent striking his heel.
I'll leave you with this question: Since Norse mythology developed long after the Crucifixion, is it possible that the origins of Norse mythology were, in part, Christian?
Don't forget to comment about all the connections between Thor and Christianity
What did you think about all the similarities between Thor and Christianity? Did you find answers to all the following?- Is Thor mentioned in the Bible?
- Is Odin in the Bible?
- Is Ragnarok in the Bible?
- Who is the Viking Jesus?
- Is Loki in the Bible?
- Is there a Viking Jesus?
Do you have more questions? Let me know!
Share your thoughts and comments in the comments section below. And don't forget to share the article, as well. Thanks for reading!
39 Comments
I'm not 'anti-' Christianity here, I assure you...
To the traditional Unitarian Jesus was A prophet, a true one. We Unitarians will tend to admit we may well be Jacks of all trades but masters of none when it comes to religious matters. Catholic Bibles have 6 books the Reformed Churches regard as, not heretical, but less than Divinely inspired. And another 6 in Orthoxox Bibles.
If mainstream Christianity is the religion most on track then non-Christian societies will mirror Christianity to a significant extent.
To the orthodox Christian Socrates must surely seem very Christ-like in his life and mission and not just a jolly nice chap.
What's the problem with catholic and reformed bibles? It's about what we need and what is useful to receive the word of God. If a boy 4 year old is using 20 words about his father, and his older brother using 200 words, is the solution believing none of them?
Immanuel Kant was putting Reason in one box and Faith in another box. Well, we have one unique life, a very short one, and we can't doing schizophrenia about how it appear to us. We are responsible in one — not multiple — person with both our reason and our faith.
If...Jesus is the true prophet, the Son of God, our savior, I think He will help us with reason and faith. He could also confirm much of the wisdom of Socrates and all the others, but not being replaced.
But...but...I feel sad about all these alternatives, parallells, seeking without really finding.
This post started with parallells between the Gospel about Christ and the Norse myths.
I'm living in Norway, near the coast. My ancestors was the Vikings seeking the truth with the god Thor. Although there is good parallells with the Gospel, the fruit av the Norse mythology was evil, like what IS is doing in our time. As Irish(?) you have heard about the Vikings and their raid on Lindisfarne. I'm not proud of that!
Thanks to God, my Lord Jesus, and thanks to the Irishmen who sent missionaries to the coast of Norway, telling us about Jesus Christ! After some years my ancestors stopped doing evil things in other countries, taking many wifes as the husband wanted, leaving unwanted children in the forrest, pushing old people from a ledge in the mountains, revenging killing with new killing, sacrificing human beings if the earth not yielded its harvest.
Many years later norwegian missionaries arrived Madagascar and gave them the Gospel, the good news. And the natives asked: "For how long have you known this? Why didn't you told us before?"
May the good news about Jesus, The Lord, again arrive Ireland! :) With greetings from a friend, with Google translate..., in Norway.
A few years ago my wife (the Legion Sister) and I holidayed in Copenhagen. We entered a pub to get a meal. "Tourists?" the local asked. "Yes, from Ireland. We've come for our chalices and manuscripts." Smiles all around.
Also a good introduction in the interview on Wordonfire. Thanks!
This was a most informative COMMENT thread. I grew up in northern NJ and was flanked by Norwegian and Jewish neighbors (along with the Italian, Irish and German big three). Absolute truth is really the key that unlocks the mysteries that were being discussed. Without it (HIM) the door is only opened wide enough to get a fleeting glimpse of what lies on the other side. This observation is tainted by our own near sightedness---the effects of original sin. My blog at http://eucharist-emc2.blogspot.com has as its goal the Fullness of this Truth.
God bless you and your work.
Parallels between Jesus and other myths exist because the bible, which was put together by Romans (Constantine ruled at that time), mixes the historical person Jesus with popular myths:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_in_comparative_mythology
An honest person would understand: Myths got exchanged by word of mouth and give no reason, neither historically, nor logically or morally (many religions, incl. Christianity, lack moral and ethics, if you think about the flood, diseases, rapist priests and other atrocities the supposed "almighty" allows to happen) to believe in anything. People just LIKE to believe in anything. This is the reason religions continue to exist, to get put into kids' heads and to divide people in "good" ("true" believers that are heterosexual and submit to books put together by foreign people in dark times as tools to control people) and "bad" (non-believers, non-heterosexual people, people who use evidence, reason and logic to understand the world).
One last thing: The earth is not made for humans. Humans tell themselves this myth in order to push away the evidences that humans HARM the earth. It is not our property. It is the only home for lots of lifeforms. But "holy" books say: Reproduce, it's all yours. Why? Because these books were written in dark ages by simple minds. Long before the Renaissance. Long before the Age of Enlightenment. Long before the Age of Information. Should we use evidence, reason and logic? Yes. The Age of Enlightenment brought lots of good things, pro humans, against the chokehold of the church.
Religions, especially Christianity, likes to claim that things from other sources were Christian. No, human rights, equality, democracy and other great things are not Christian. Christianity is just another patriarchic religion which reduces women to the mother role. Christianity did not come up with the "Christmas" tree. The "Christmas" tree is something people put in front of or in their houses because it's what these people who believed in the Norse religion did. Once Christianity arrived in the Norse religion countries, the church commanded people to stop putting trees in and in front of their houses. But people did not stop. So the church dubbed the tree "Christmas tree." You have access to the internet, information from reliable, NON-religiously biased sources is easy to find. Look up what the Romans made into "Christmas". You will find out that it's based on Jul (Norse religion which adores nature instead of exploiting it) and Saturnalia (Roman stuff, people were equal for one day).
Please check your information and don't spread lies, thanks in advance.
Right, Norse myth predates Jesus. Norse myth does not predate the prophesies of the Jesus as written in the Book of Genesis 2000 years before the birth of Jesus, prophesies which also significantly predate the writing of Genesis. Much of what I'm comparing to the Thor myth is based the prophesies of Christ contained at Genesis 3:15.
Also, ask yourself this: where does our knowledge of Norse myth come from? Mostly from the Eddas. Okay, who wrote the Eddas? That is, who preserved and translated the Eddas as we know them today? Christian missionaries. These Christians shaped the myths in some way, large or small. Therefore, Thor, as we know the myth today, was based on Jesus.
Does that help you understand?
"James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder);"
Genesis starts with. In the beginning was the word and the word was with god and was God. John confirms Jesus was The Word and dwelled among us a short time in the form of Human flesh. Jesus says I am the way the truth and light no one comes to God except through me
Multiple confirmations throughout Bible Jesus was God and claimed to be God. Which gives you 3 choices. Jesus was God a Lunatic of most successful liar every. He was just a great man great teacher of role model as you claim I’d not an option
Unknown where does all you anger towards God come from, it is so Obvious
Also your claim the Bible stole Ragnarok is not even in the realm of possibility. Revelations detailing Armageddon was written between 60-95 AD in the 1st Century. Ragnarok was an Epic Poems from 12th to 13th Century AD. How would a book written in the 1st Century steal from a book written over a 1000 years later?
(A) Ragnarok echoes the Old Testament, not the New Testament. Specifically, the Protoevangelium of Genesis 3:15, which comes from the 2nd century BC at the latest. Thousands and thousands of years before the Norse people even existed.
(B) The translators of the Norse myths in the 12th-13th centuries were all Christian monks, who Christianized the Norse myths.
(B) The prophecies of the Messiah, later fulfilled by Christ, date back to when? You guessed it ... the Stone Age.