MODERN MYTHOLOGICAL REFERENCES Thor's Hammer
compiled by Scott Trimble



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  • "The Hobbit" (1937) and "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy" ("The Fellowship of the Ring", 1954; "The Two Towers", 1954; and "The Return of the King", 1955), by J.R.R. Tolkien — Many of the places, characters, and creatures were based on Norse mythology, as well as Germanic and Celtic mythology. From 1978-79 three animated movies were released and in the next few years there will be live-action versions produced by Saul Zaentz and directed by Peter Jackson.

  • "The Vikings" (1958) — There were many references to Odin and Thor in this Kirk Douglas movie about two Viking half-brothers who compete for a British princess.

  • "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" (1981) — This is stretching it, but, in our solar system the planets are mostly named after old Greek or Roman gods, so perhaps in this movie the planet Hoth was named for the Nordic god, Hoð who accidentally killed Baldr. The planet Hoth is indeed a planet of ice, snow, and glaciers, somewhat like Scandinavia.

  • "Gauntlet" and "Gauntlet II" — Three of the characters that one could choose to play in these classic 1980s video games were Thor, a Valkyrie, or an Elf. The fourth was Merlin from the Arthurian legends.

  • "Adventures in Babysitting" (1987) — One of the little kids in this movie was obsessed with Thor and went around wearing a Viking helmet. Unfortunately, this is often the only acquaintance that many people have with the character Thor. I mention him and people will reply, "Oh, you mean like that girl in that Elizabeth Shue movie?"

  • "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul" (1988), by Douglas Adams — Odin and Thor are still alive in the 1980s. This is the second Dirk Gentley novel.

  • "Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers" (1989) and "Red Dwarf: Better Than Life" (1990), by Grant Naylor (Rob Grant and Doug Naylor) — In the Cat's perfect world, he is constantly grooming and admiring himself in the mirror, while always being served by the Valkyries at an ancient Hall.

  • "Jurassic Park" (1993) and "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" (1997) — This is not a real Norse reference, but it was interesting to note that the character Lewis Dodgson is played by an actor named Cameron Thor.

  • "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993-1997) — There is an alien barfly who always hangs out in the background of Quark's Bar on the Station. His name is Morn, just like the name of the giant son of Thiassi. Probably a coincidence, since Morn is actually an anagram for Norm from Cheers.

  • "The Mask" (1994) — Jim Carrey finds out that the Mask might be a representation of the Norse god Loki.

  • "Aladdin and the King of Thieves" (1996) — Acting as an announcer, Genie interviewed several bystanders at Aladdin and Jasmine's wedding, one of them being Thor. Genie made a pun as if Thor spoke with a lisp, so that "I am Thor" became "I am sore".

  • "Hercules" (1997) — There was a brief shot in this Disney movie of Hercules (instead of Thor) fighting with the Midgard Serpent.



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