Thor's role as the major deity of warriors and military might among Viking people as well as his popularity at major life events remained consistent from the Bronze Age to the Viking Age. The adoration of Thor can be traced back to the Bronze Age by archaeological evidence, and his cult has undergone countless transformations through time and place. The sexual union of sky and earth is responsible for the land's fertility and, by extension, the people's wealth. Their union is thus an example of what religion historians refer to as "hierogamy", a divine marriage, which typically occurs between a sky god and an earth goddess, especially among Indo-European peoples. Sif, his rarely mentioned wife, is known for her golden hair, which is unmistakably a sign for grain fields. "Thor, they say, presides over the air, which rules thunder and lightning, winds and rains, fair weather and crops," writes Adam of Bremen, an eleventh-century German historian. This was another aspect of his job as a sky god, and one that was particularly linked to the rain that allows crops to thrive. Thor played an important part in the development of agriculture and fertility, in addition to his duty as a model warrior and defender of society's order and objectives. In one story, Thor is said to kill and consume the goats that pull his chariot, gather their bones in their hides, bless the hides with the hammer, and bring the animals back to life, as healthy and vibrant as before. Wedding blessings, for example, were performed with his hammer. Thor's hammer could be used to purify as well as destroy and, in effect, these two abilities were one and the same, because any purification entails the expulsion of evil forces or giants. Also, before they erected structures or grew crops, the earliest Icelandic settlers begged him to hallow their plot of land. Evidence of this can be found in the story of Thor Disguised as a Bride. Many surviving runic inscriptions ask him to hallow the words and their intended meanings, and it was he who was asked to bless weddings, births and other major events in Viking life. Thor’s feats of strength and destruction were mirrored by his human activities in Midgard, where he was sought out by persons seeking protection, consolation, and the blessing or hallowing of places, things, and events. However, such a lineage is widespread among the gods, demonstrating that the tense and tumultuous relationship between the gods and the giants cannot be reduced to mere animosity. Odin, his father, is half-giant, while Jord (Old Norse "Earth"), Hlöyn, or Fjörgyn, his mother, is wholly of giant blood. Thor is three-quarters giant, which is ironic given his ever-vigilant guardianship of the ordered cosmos of pre-Christian northern Europe against the forces of chaos, destruction, and entropy symbolized by the giants. However, at Ragnarok, Thor and Jormungandr finally meet, and the two put an end to each other in an epic battle at the end of time. In one legend, while on a fishing excursion, he tries to drag Jormungandr out of the sea, but is only stopped when his huge partner cuts the fishing line out of fear. Jormungandr, the giant sea snake that encircles Midgard, the world of human civilization, is Thor's main foe. Thunder was the essence of Thor for the pagan Vikings, and lightning was the manifestation of his hammer slaughtering giants as he rode across the sky in his goat-drawn chariot. The Hammer of the Thunder God was forged by the great dwarf blacksmiths at the request of Loki who was trying to appease Thor after cutting off his wife’s beautiful golden hair. He even has an unnamed strength belt that increases his power by double when he wears it, but his hammer, Mjöllnir ("Lightning"), is his most famous possession. His sense of responsibility and courage are unwavering, and his physical power is unrivaled. Thor is the only one who is capable of performing these great feats of strength and prowess. He is the unflappable guardian of the Aesir gods and their realm from the encroachments of the giants, who are usually (but not always) the gods' foes. Thor, the God of Thunder, is the model of a trustworthy and honorable warrior, the ideal to whom the average Viking warrior and shield maiden aspired. Thor's Hammer was the symbol worn by his followers. He was an important god among all branches of the Germanic peoples prior to their conversion to Christianity, however his popularity peaked among Norsemen and women in the late Viking age. Thor was a powerful and popular Norse god in Viking life and culture.
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