Editing Thor (section)

==Name==
The name ''Thor'' is derived from Norse mythology. Its medieval Germanic equivalents or cognates are ''{{lang|goh|Donar}}'' ([[Old High German]]), ''{{lang|ang|Þunor}}'' ([[Old English]]), ''{{lang|ofs|Thuner}}'' ([[Old Frisian]]), ''{{lang|osx|Thunar}}'' ([[Old Saxon]]), and ''{{lang|non|Þórr}}'' ([[Old Norse]]),<ref>{{harvnb|de Vries|1962|p=618}}; {{harvnb|Orel|2003|p=429}}</ref> the latter of which inspired the modern English form ''Thor''.<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', s.v. ''Thor''.</ref>

=== Etymology ===
Though Old Norse ''{{lang|non|Þórr}}'' has only one syllable, it comes from an earlier [[Proto-Norse]] two-syllable form which can be [[Linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]] as *''{{lang|non|Þonarr}}'' (from an earlier *''{{lang|non|Þunaraz}}'') and/or *''{{lang|non|Þunurr}}'' (from *''{{lang|non|Þunuraz}}''), evidenced by the poems ''[[Hymiskviða]]'' and ''[[Þórsdrápa]]'', and modern [[Elfdalian]] {{lang|ovd|tųosdag}} 'Thursday', through the common Old Norse development of the sequence ''-unr-'' to ''-ór-''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Þorgeirsson |first=Haukur |date=1 December 2023 |title=The Name of Thor and the Transmission of Old Norse poetry |journal=Neophilologus |language=en |volume=107 |issue=4 |pages=701–713 |doi=10.1007/s11061-023-09773-w |s2cid=261040519 |issn=1572-8668}}</ref>

All Germanic forms of Thor's name descend from [[Proto-Germanic]], but there is debate as to precisely what form the name took at that early stage. The form {{lang|gem-x-proto|Þunuraz}} is suggested by Elfdalian {{lang|ovd|tųosdag}} ('Thursday') and by a [[runic inscription]] from around 700 from Hallbjäns in [[Sundre, Gotland]], which includes the sequence ''þunurþurus''.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=709–11}} Alternatively, the form {{lang|gem-x-proto|Þunaraz}} is attractive because it is identical to the name of the ancient Celtic god ''[[Taranis|Taranus]]'' (by [[Metathesis (linguistics)|metathesis]]—switch of sounds—of an earlier {{lang|cel-x-proto|*Tonaros}}, attested in the dative ''tanaro'' and the [[Gaulish]] river name ''[[Tanaro (river)|Tanarus]]'').<ref>{{harvnb|Orel|2003|p=429}}, {{harvnb|Delamarre|2003|p=290}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Birkhan |first=Helmut |title=Germanen und Kelten bis zum Ausgang der Römerzeit |publisher=Böhlau |year=1970 |pages=316–332}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Finally, the form {{lang|gem-x-proto|Þunraz}} has also been suggested by Hjalmar Lindroth (1917) and has the attraction of clearly containing the sequence ''-unr-'', needed to explain the later form ''Þórr'', although the similarity with Celtic theonym *''Tonaros'' is lost.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=708}} According to [[John T. Koch]], the form {{lang|gem-x-proto|Þunraz}} is from earlier [[Germanic parent language|pre-Germanic]] stage that predates [[Grimm's law|Grim's Law]].{{Sfn|Koch|2020|pp=142–144}}

These Proto-Germanic forms are probably further related to the common [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root for 'thunder' {{lang|ine-x-proto|*(s)tenh₂-}}, also attested in the Latin epithet [[Jupiter Tonans|''Tonans'']] (attached to [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]]) and the Vedic ''stanáyati'' ("thunders").<ref>{{harvnb|Delamarre|2003|p=290}}; {{harvnb|Matasović|2009|p=384}}; {{harvnb|Koch|2020|pp=142–144}}.</ref> Scholar Peter Jackson argues that those theonyms may have emerged as the result of the fossilization of an original [[epithet]] (or [[epiclesis]], i.e. [[invocation]]al name) of the Proto-Indo-European thunder-god {{lang|ine-x-proto|[[Perkwunos|Perk<sup>w</sup>unos]]}}, since the Vedic weather-god [[Parjanya]] is also called {{transliteration|sa|stanayitnú-}} ('Thunderer').<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jackson|first=Peter|date=2002|title=Light from Distant Asterisks. Towards a Description of the Indo-European Religious Heritage|journal=Numen|volume=49|issue=1|pages=61–102|doi=10.1163/15685270252772777|issn=0029-5973|jstor=3270472}}</ref>

The potentially perfect match between the thunder-gods *''Tonaros'' and *''Þunaraz'', which both go back to a common form *''ton(a)ros'' ~ *''tṇros'', is notable in the context of early Celtic–Germanic linguistic contacts, especially when added to other inherited terms with thunder attributes, such as *''[[Mjölnir|Meldunjaz]]''–*''meldo-'' (from *''meldh''- 'lightning, hammer', i.e. {{lang|ine-x-proto|*Perk<sup>w</sup>unos}}' weapon) and *''[[Fjörgyn|Fergunja]]''–*''[[Hercynian Forest|Fercunyā]]'' (from {{lang|ine-x-proto|*perk<sup>w</sup>un-iyā}} 'wooded mountains', i.e. *Perk<sup>w</sup>unos' realm).{{sfn|Koch|2020|pp=142–144}}

=== Name of the weeks ===
The English [[weekday]] name ''[[Thursday]]'' comes from Old English {{lang|ang|Þunresdæg}}, meaning 'day of Þunor', with influence from Old Norse {{lang|non|Þórsdagr}}. The name is [[cognate]] with Old High German {{Lang|goh|Donarestag}}. All of these terms derive from a Late Proto-Germanic weekday name along the lines of {{lang|gem-x-proto|Þunaresdagaz}} ('Day of {{lang|gem-x-proto|Þun(a)raz}}'), a [[calque]] of Latin {{lang|la|Iovis dies}} ('Day of [[Jove]]'; compare modern Italian {{lang|it|giovedì}}, French {{lang|fr|jeudi}}, Spanish {{lang|es|jueves}}). By employing a practice known as {{lang|la|[[interpretatio germanica]]}} during the [[Roman Empire period|Roman period]], ancient Germanic peoples adopted the Latin weekly calendar and replaced the names of Roman gods with their own.{{sfn|Simek|2007}}<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', s.v. "Thursday (''n.'' & ''adv.''), Etymology," September 2023, {{doi|10.1093/OED/8603919228}}.</ref>

=== Personal names ===
Beginning in the [[Viking Age]], [[personal name]]s containing the [[theonym]] {{lang|non|Þórr}} are recorded with great frequency, whereas no examples are known prior to this period. {{lang|non|Þórr}}-based names may have flourished during the Viking Age as a defiant response to attempts at Christianization, similar to the widespread Viking Age practice of wearing Thor's hammer pendants.{{Sfn|Simek|2007|p=321}}