Do Thor and Odin Have Bodies? Superperception and Divine Intervention among the Old Norse Gods

Abstract

In Old Norse mythology, gods like Freyja, Odin, and Thor are usually characterized as human-like creatures: they walk and ride animals, eat, grow old, and even die. Was there more to conceptions of Old Norse gods than those anthropomorphic representations? This article presents evidence that the gods of early Scandinavia were sometimes thought of as superperceiving and able to act in ways that defied the limitations of a physical body. It engages with and challenges theological correctness, a prominent theory in the Cognitive Science of Religion, to elucidate the sources of Old Norse religion and the cognitive and contextual foundations of the representations of gods encountered there. Following an examination of the mechanisms through which Old Norse gods’ superperception and disembodied action were narrativized and rationalized, the article concludes with a discussion of the consequences of non-anthropomorphic representations of the gods for understanding Scandinavian worshippers’ everyday religious life.

De Þórr Da Mitologia Escandinava Ao Thor Da Marvel Nos Cinemas

“…Temos conhecimento de que essas produções cinematográficas são produtos derivados de histórias em quadrinhos (HQ's) da Marvel e que pode haver diferenças entre um material e outro (LANGER, 2006, p. 50-54) mas, por questões de espaço, não levaremos em conta as representações do deus nos quadrinhos. Pela mesma razão, tampouco poderemos levar em conta as aparições de Thor em outras produções da franquia, como em Os Vingadores (2012;2015;2019), ou em seus outros dois filmes: Thor: o mundo sombrio (2013) e Thor: Ragnarok (2017).…”