It’s the eve of February and the eve of a major snowstorm in Toronto. Hence the two themes in tonight’s radio program…
I devote the first hour to some Norse mythology. I briefly mentioned Thor one of their gods that we are most familiar with. Here’s more information about him, again from a very old edition of the Britannica.
“Thor, god of war, always had to fight the Frost Giants.” You might remember that he is usually pictured carrying a large hammer. The hammer was made for him by those who dwelt under the mountains–the dwarves. It seems the dwarves of Norse mythology shared a lot in common with Tolkien’s mountain dwellers. “He could kill anything with it. And whenever he threw it, it always came back to his hand. Once, in a contest with the giants, Thor drank up a good part of the ocean. Another time he hit the earth so hard with his hammer that he left a deep canyon where the blow fell. It was Thor who captured the Midgard Serpent and forced it to coil around the earth under the sea. He did this by making the snake wrap itself around the world and then swallow its tail.
“The Norse gods lived a much different existence from that of the Greek gods. Zeus, Athene, Apollo, and the others traveled among men, enjoyed their adventures and responsibilities, and lived in peace and security. But Odin and Thor and their fellow gods lived in constant fear of the Frost Giants.”
The strength of tomorrow’s storm may seem like one of Thor’s battles. Be careful on the roads. You might want to set your clock radio earlier than usual for Erin and Mike. They’ll keep you up-to-date with everything you need to know to “weather” the storm..
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Don Jackson
