Send Thunder From The Sky: Thor, More Than A Northern Hercules?

When it comes to associating Thor with another sky or thunder deity, the likely choices would be Zeus or Jupiter. But through interpretatio romana, Thor, in his original form as Donar, was associated with Hercules (or Herakles to use the Greek name). So, is Thor more than a Northern Hercules?

Hercules in Roman religion

Hercules in the Roman religion appears to be a hero turned god or at least a divinised hero that was venerated. Whilst Herucles was adapted from the Greek Herakles, he developed his own Roman characteristics (Wiseman, 1995). He was also seen as the symbol of masculinity (Simek, 2007).

Hercules was initially worshipped in Rome as a protector or guardian, typically associated with the protection of boundaries and property. He was also shown as being in the company of Apollo. As the cult of Hercules grew, so did his cult titles. These include Hercules Magnus (Hercules the Great), where he was honoured with games, Hercules Musarum (The Muses’ Hercules), which was created when Fulvius Nobilior dedicated statues of the Muses to a temple of Hercules, Hercules Olivarus, in reference to a statue of Hercules dedicated by the guild of olive merchants, and Hercules Triumphalis (Hercules Triumphral), which was represented by a statue in the Forum Boarium when a triumph was held.

Later Roman sources, such as Servius in his Commentary on the Aeneid, made claims that Hercules, when imported from Greece replaced a mythic Italic shepherd known as Recaranus or Garanus, who was famous for his strength.

Of course, the Cult of Hercules wasn’t just confined to Rome.

Hercules in Germania

Tacitus notes the worship of Hercules (or rather in this instance, Donar) in Germania, commenting:

Among the gods Mercury is the one they principally worship. They regard it as a religious duty to offer to him, on fixed days, human as well as other sacrificial victims. Hercules and Mars they appease by animal offerings of the permitted kind

— Germania, Tacitus

Simek (2007) remarks that it is not certain if Hercules is identical to the Germanic Þunaraz. He also notes that veneration of Donar is only indirectly documented for Roman times on the votive inscriptions to Hercules and that it is not always certain that these invoke the Germanic god.

Beyond this, there is evidence of Hercules worship in the Roman speaking parts of Germania (Taggart, 2017). Hercules Deusonianus is one form Hercules, that appears to relate to that of the Germanic Donar. The only record we have of this god is on coins dating from the reign of the Roman Emperor Postumus.

Hercules Magusanus, meaning “the mighty Hercules”, and is a name for Donar/Thor. Ten votive stones, four arm rings, and two coins from the reign of Postumus have been found as concrete evidence for the name of this god (Simek, 2007). Apparently the oldest votive stone dedicated to this god comes from Mumrills on Hadrian’s Wall. The text on the stone is translated as:

Sacred to Hercules Magusanus: Valerius Nigrinus, duplicarius of the Cavalry Regiment of Tungrians, (set this up).

— RIB 2140

Simek (2007) states that although three of the votive stones to this god that have been found bear imagery that corresponds to the Roman Hercules, such as a club, a lion skin, and on one stone, a three headed Cerberus, the evidence has been found on Germanic soil or else can be clearly as Germanic because of the name of the dedicator, however Toorians (2003) makes an argument for this god being Celtic originally.

Hercules Maliator is another name that comes from votive stones. The name was interpretated as “hanmer-swinging Hercules”, referring to Donar or Thor, because of the club’s likeness to Mjolnir, but this has since been rejected as maliator appears to be more related to stone workers. This would imply that Hercules Maliator is either a patron or protector of stone and quarry workers.

Hercules Saxanus is considered to be a Roman god that, like Hercules Maliator, would have been a guardian of quarry workers. Whilst the name is Latin, it is assumed this god was a mix of Roman and Germanic due to the monuments being bearing his name being found around Bonn and Cologne. He would have also being viewed as a “stone-breaking Thor” (Simek, 2007).

Jupiter in Roman religion

Jupiter was seen by the Romans as their sky god, the most powerful of the gods, and King of the Roman gods. Jupiter was also part of the Archaic Triad, which I touched on briefly in my Mars Þingsus post, but later on two members of the Archaic Triad were replaced with Juno and Minerva, leaving Jupiter in this new triad that became known as the Capitoline Triad.

Jupiter was associated with kingship and sovereignty as Rome was ruled by King’s but as the Roman government changed, so did Jupiter’s roles, with Jupiter being associated with the power of the magistrates and other highly ranking offices in Rome. Jupiter was also seen as the guardian of Rome, protector of Roman laws, and the state.

Jupiter had a number of titles and names given to him, which included but aren’t limited to: Jupiter Caelus, referring to Jupiter as a god or personification of the sky, Jupiter Elicius, meaning “sender of rain”, Jupiter Optimus Maximus, meaning Jupiter the best and greatest, Jupiter Terminalus, referring to Jupiter’s roles in defending boundaries, and Jupiter Victor, referring to “he who has the power to conquer everything”.

Jupiter in Germania

In Roman-occupied Germania, around 800 fragments from Jupiter Columns have been found so far. These were cultic monuments that consisted of a pedestal with the reliefs of gods on it. Standing on top of these columns is Jupiter or at least a Jupiter-like figure who is riding over a snake or serpent-like monster. Interestingly, the Jupiter figure upon these columns was identified as the Germanic Zio or Týr, as opposed to Thor or Donar although it appears that these cultic monuments are Gallo-Roman as opposed to Germanic-Roman (Simek, 2007).

Following the Roman period, Jupiter’s name begins to get replaced in the days of the week, through a process called “interpretatio germanica”. Similarly, any mention of Thor, or Donar, in some Old English texts is replaced by the use of Jupiter. In the text, Vita Bonifaci, which tells of how Donar’s oak was felled by the Saint Boniface, the Oak tree is clearly stated as being dedicated to Jupiter:

Now at that time many of the Hessians, brought under the Catholic faith and confirmed by the grace of the sevenfold spirit, received the laying on of hands; others indeed, not yet strengthened in soul, refused to accept in their entirety the lessons of the inviolate faith. Moreover some were wont secretly, some openly to sacrifice to trees and springs; some in secret, others openly practiced inspections of victims and divinations, legerdemain and incantations; some turned their attention to auguries and auspices and various sacrificial rites; while others, with sounder minds, abandoned all the profanations of heathenism, and committed none of these things. With the advice and counsel of these last, the saint attempted, in the place called Gaesmere, while the servants of God stood by his side, to fell a certain oak of extraordinary size, which is called, by an old name of the pagans, the Oak of Jupiter. And when in the strength of his steadfast heart he had cut the lower notch, there was present a great multitude of pagans, who in their souls were earnestly cursing the enemy of their gods. But when the fore side of the tree was notched only a little, suddenly the oak’s vast bulk, driven by a blast from above, crashed to the ground, shivering its crown of branches as it fell; and, as if by the gracious compensation of the Most High, it was also burst into four parts, and four trunks of huge size, equal in length, were seen, unwrought by the brethren who stood by. At this sight the pagans who before had cursed now, on the contrary, believed, and blessed the Lord, and put away their former reviling. Then moreover the most holy bishop, after taking counsel with the brethren, built from the timber of the tree wooden oratory, and dedicated it in honor of Saint Peter the apostle.

— Vita Bonifaci (Robinson translation, 1916)

Saxon also uses Jupiter’s name in place of Thor’s when discussing the sacking of a pagan temple by Magnus Nilsson:

He made sure that he brought home some hammers of an unusual weight, which they call Jupiter’s, used by the people of the island in the ancient religion. For the men of old, seeking to understand the causes of thunder and lightning through the equation of things, took huge heavy hammers of bronze, by which they thought the crashing in the sky might have been caused, reckoning that the mighty and powerful noise might (at it were) very possibly be imitated by the labour of a smith. But Magnus, in his zeal for Christian doctrine and his hatred of paganism, determined to rob the temple of its accoutrements, and Jupiter of his symbols in his very sanctuary. As a result, to this day the Swedes reckon him guilty of sacrilege, and a plunderer of sacred property.

— Gesta Danorum, Saxo Grammaticus

Taking A Brief Look At Thor

Thor is best known as a thunder god although the Eddas rarely associate him with thunder (Taggart, 2017) but the imagery of Thor hurling lightning and controlling thunder persists. Thor is also seen as a fighter or enemy of the jotnar, slaying them in a similar way to how Hercules slays monsters.

Looking past the most common depictions of Thor, he is a fertility god through his connection to Mjolnir and Sif, as well as having a function as a guardian or protector, and travelling companion to Loki (Simek, 2007; Orchard, 1996). Thor also has connections to the dead and the afterlife, which I wrote about here.

Adam of Bremen in his Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum describes Thor as the mightiest of the gods, and that with his “mace looks like Jupiter”. He also states that Thor rules over the sky, thunder, rain, wind, and fertility. There are various runestones as well that call upon Thor to hallow the runes or the monuments.

Looking at Thor’s various names and titles, we see that he was very much a god of many different roles and domains. These names include Vingthor, meaning “Battle-Thor”, which would imply a war god role, Veur, meaning “hallower” or “guardian of the shrine”, and Hardveur, meaning “the strong archer”.

Final Thoughts

Thor appears to have more in common with Hercules than he does Jupiter. Both Thor and Hercules are renowned for their slaying of “monsters” or “giants” and both are seen as having associations with protections, as well as sharing an attribute in terms of incredible strength.

However, the similarities between Jupiter and Thor shouldn’t be ignored either. They are both protective deities to some degree with dominion over thunder and lightning. Both are depicted as slaying a snake or serpent like monster as well — Jupiter atop his columns, riding over the serpent and Thor at Ragnarok, when he kills Jormungandr before succumbing to poison himself.

A triad between these three figures could be easily established within modern Heathenry due to their shared domains, and how each has a history of being worshipped amongst the pre-Christian Heathens. Alternatively, Jupiter and Hercules could be worshipped or venerated separately from Thor within a Heathen context.

All three could be merged into one single deity or as different aspects of the same deity as well though a dual god of Thor and Hercules would be more appropriate and possibly less confusing than merging the triad into one.

There is also another God that could be syncretised with Thor from the Gallic-Brythonic traditions, but that’s a discussion for another time.

Sources and References

Remus: A Roman Myth, T. P. Wiseman, 1995

Dictionary of Northern Mythology, Rudolf Simek (Angela Hall translation), 2007

https://imperiumromanum.pl/en/roman-religion/gods-of-ancient-rome/list-of-roman-gods/hercules/amp/

Commentary on the Aeneid, Servius

Germania, Tacitus

How Thor Lost His Thunder: The Changing Faces of an Old Norse God, Declan Taggart, 2017

https://de.unionpedia.org/i/Hercules_Deusoniensis

RIB 2140
https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/2140

Magusanus and the “Old Lad”: A Case of Germanicised Celtic, Lauran Toorians, 2003

http://www.museen-mainlimes.de/content/2-museen/fund.en.php?id=7

http://www.deomercurio.be/en/herculi.html

https://www.worldhistory.org/jupiter/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Jupiter-Roman-god

https://mythopedia.com/topics/jupiter

https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/gods/jupiter/

Vita Bonifaci, Willibald (George W. Robinson translation), 1916

Stealing His Thunder: An Investigation of Old Norse Images of Þórr, Declan Taggart, 2017

Gesta Danorum, Saxo Grammaticus

Dictionary of Norse Myth And Legend, Andy Orchard, 1996

Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum, Adam of Bremen

Poetic Edda

Prose Edda