Thjálfi and Röskva

In Norse mythology, Þjálfi (Thjálfi in English orthography) and Röskva are two siblings, male and female respectively, who are servants of the god Thor. Þjálfi receives a single mention in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material, while both Þjálfi and Röskva are attested in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson and in poetry of skalds.

In the Poetic Edda, Thor recounts an incident where Þjálfi is chased away by she-wolves but gives no additional information about him. In the Prose Edda, Þjálfi and Röskva are the children of peasant farmers. Thor and Loki stay a night at their farmstead and there Thor shares with the family the meat of his goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. Þjálfi, sucks the marrow from a leg bone from one of the goats. When Thor resurrects the goats the next morning, he finds that one of the goats is lame in the leg and becomes enraged. As a result, Thor maintains Þjálfi and Röskva as his servants.

Thialfi (Marvel Comics)

Thialfi is a Marvel Comics character adapted from Þjálfi, a character in Norse mythology by Dan Jurgens.

Character history

Childhood and Apotheosis

Thialfi began his life as a human boy centuries ago. Viking marauders from the north raided his peaceful Norse village and his parents ran for their lives. They were intercepted by a marauder, who brutally murdered his father and left Thialfi and his mother to die. Later, when the Vikings were celebrating their victory and giving praise to Odin and Asgard, a young and naive Thor appeared before them to join in their revelry. Thialfi's mother P'aesi interrupted them, however; she accused Thor of inciting the Vikings to murder, which Thor of course denied, claiming death was simply a consequence of battle. P'aesi assured Thor that there was no battle, merely the wholesale slaughter of a village, including women and children. Thor decided to see the battlefield and judge for himself, but as he walked away a Viking declared P'aesi a blasphemer and killed her.