12 Facts About Vikings And Thor

A new Thor movie is around the corner, so we've been taking a look back at the previous ones, at their humor and at their Easter eggs. But we've also been thinking about the real Norse people. The Vikings had some strange battles and strange practices, and we're digging up more about them all the time. The Vikings actually tried to shut down the old Norse myths, but the myths are coming back in style (and are weirder than the movies).

Here's a look back at the facts we learned this week. The links all lead to full articles with much more info, so click every one that interests you, or Korg will sit on your chest. 

1. A man named Thor Thors gave Thor's hammer to the U.N. 

This gift from Iceland later broke while being thumped to quiet Nikita Kruschchev during a tantrum. 

2. The Viking Age ended because a dude got stabbed in the junk. 

A warrior stood on a bridge and fended off every attacker, then someone floated under the bridge in a barrel and speared him, and so the Vikings lost to England. 

3. In one Norse myth, Thor almost drowns in a river of pee. 

The pee comes from one of Geirrod's giant daughters (other sources say it's her menstrual blood). Thor avoids drowning by throwing a rock up and blocking the flow. 

4. The first Thor movie wasn’t ready for just how huge Hemsworth could get.

5. Vikings were fined for not brewing beer. 

Brewing became mandatory to promote Christianity—and if you broke the law three times, they seized everything you owned. 

6. After 1,000 years, Paganism is coming back to Iceland.

Norse Paganism is the largest non-Christian religion in Iceland, as well as the fastest-growing religion.

7. Vikings used onion soup to find out if people would die. 

They'd feed onion soup to the wounded soldier, and if the wound then smelled of onion, that revealed internal injuries, which meant the patient was beyond help. 

8. Pennywise the Clown could lift Thor's hammer.

Okay, this one's not quite a verifiable fact, since both the clown and the hammer are fictional, but we still invite you to consider this. 

9. The Punisher once went nuts on the Norse gods. 

10. A museum accidentally smashed the biggest Viking ship ever.

The museum already displayed Viking ships, they set a digger loose to expand the building, and they accidentally bumped into another ship that just happened to have been buried there. 

11. Vikings were less violent than anyone else who lived around then. 

Oh, they were very violent when it came to warring and plundering. But based on their skeletons, they experienced less interpersonal violence than their contemporaries. 

12. In the comics, Thor once teamed up with Hitler.

Okay, this is tough to summarize. You definitely need to read the details on this one.