Marvel's Thor has been around since the Silver Age of comics, debuting in 1962 and now Kenneth Branagh is directing a live-action Thor film with a release date of 2011. Marvel's use and transformation of Thor and his fellow Gods has turned them into their own right, fictional characters, but the original myths of the Gods of Asgard, while many and varied, are all extremely intriguing and worth learning to understand any artistic changes made by Marvel.
Thor – The God of Thunder
Thor was the son of the All-Father, Odin and Jord the giantess. Thor married the Goddess, Sif, who is known for her beautiful, golden hair. The two had a daughter together named, Thrud, Thor had two sons in an affair with Jarnsaxa the giantess, Modi and Magni, while Sif had a son Ullr, although his true father remains unknown.
Thor is known to always have his great hammer, Mjollnir in hand and one popular belief of how Thor came to acquire this gift is that Loki bet against two brother dwarves that they could not make a golden boar, ring and hammer as perfectly as they had previously made Sif's hair, Freyr's ship and Odin's spear. The dwarves won the bet, despite a fly, thought to be Loki, constantly biting the brother Brokkr in order to spoil the items. Mjollnir was said to have a handle slightly shorter than what was desired, because of Loki's harassment, which is why Thor wields it with a single hand.
Thor's other priceless possessions include his belt, Megingjoro, that is said to double his godly power, and his iron gloves, Jarngreipr, which help him use his hammer. Thor travels by a wagon led by his two goats and whenever he is hungry, Thor can feast on them and then to continue, bless their remains with Mjollnir and the goats will manifest and continue pulling the wagon.
Odin – The All-Father
Odin is seen as the principal member of the Aesir and is often referred to as the All-Father. He is associated with not just one aspect of life, but many, including, wisdom, war, battle, poetry, magic, prophecy, victory, and the hunt. Odin is often said to appear as a wandering traveler, usually wearing a cloak and hood or wide brimmed hat and carrying a walking stick.
The All-Father's mother is Bestla, his brothers Vili and Ve. Odin is married to the Goddess, Frigg and their most famous child is Baldr, God of Light and Beauty. Odin is accompanied by several animal companions, his most famous being his ravens, Huginn and Muninn. Odin also has an eight-legged horse, Sleipnir, that his blood-brother Loki gave birth to and two wolves, Geri and Freki.
Perhaps one of Odin's most famous stories is that of how he lost one of his eyes. It is said he traveled to the tree, Yggdrasil and went to the well underneath it, which is watched by the giant, Mimir. There, he gave up his eye to drink the water and gain knowledge. Odin also scarified himself to himself by hanging from Yggdrasil in order to gain the gift of runes.
Loki – The Trickster
Known also as The Sly One, The Fraud and The Shape Changer, Loki is the son of the giant and giantess, Farbauti and Laufey. Due to his sharing of blood with Odin to become blood brothers, he is often regarded as one of the Aesir. Loki's wife is Sigyn, who bore their child, Narfi (also known as Nari or Narvi) and Loki's affair with the giantess, Angrboda caused the birth of three monsters, Hel, Fenrir and Jormundgand.
Loki is most famous for playing tricks and harassing the Gods, but one day orchestrates the murder of Baldr, Odin's most beloved son. Upon hearing of the prophetic dream Baldr had of his own death, his mother asked every creature in the world to do him no harm. Frigg never bothered to ask mistletoe and when the jealous Loki discovered this, he tricked Baldr's twin, blind brother Hod into throwing mistletoe at Baldr, as the other Gods were using him for target practice and enjoying the fact he could not be killed. Odin's other son, Hermod, went to retrieve Baldr from the underworld after the mistletoe peirced his heart, under the condition that every creature cry for him, but Loki did not and Baldr was forever locked away from the rest of the Gods.
Loki suffered the wrath of the Gods afterward and was tied to a rock with the entrails of his own son and a snake dripped venom onto him from the ceiling. His still faithful wife would keep a bowl over him to collect the poison, but every time she removed it to pour the contents out, Loki is struck and his pain is so great he is said to cause earthquakes.
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