Of all the Gods, and Dwarfs, and Giants, THOR
Was most puissant - in fact, omnipotent!
Not in all Homo sapien folklore
Will be found a spirit so truculent,
So fierce, ruthless, lethal, and virulent.
No, not Baal, nor Poseidon, nor Shiva,
Jupiter, Juno, Hades, Jehovah.

Thor's beard was red, his temper bloody hot.
His wrath made god or giant quake in fear.
Of God Woodin was he the first-begot:
Woodin: wise, strong father of gods. His sphere
Was everywhere. He saw all, far and near.

Of the universe he was Chancellor,
This Woodin was; his son was this great Thor.

Thor was god of thunder, and when he rode
(His chariot was drawn by goats, take note!)
The earth would tremble and the skies explode,
Lightening flash and thunderclaps commote
All across heaven. The rivers did bloat.
He had a belt that when he buckled it
His strength was doubled. So it has been writ.

And more wonders about Thor can I tell:
The goats that hauled him also served for fare.
For when at night he heard the dinner bell
Thor would cut their throats and cook the pair.
From smelly goats a stew he would prepare.
But carefully he saved all skin and bone:
Each morning made them live again fresh-blown.

Striking was Thor's hammer, cited before,
Forged by dwarfs who lived in mountain deep.
With this hammer the Thunder God could war
Against the race of giants - those who did keep
A realm all dark and gloomy. Men would weep,
And gods as well, at the giants' evil ways.
They loved to cause destruction and malaise.

Gods and giants grappled over the fate
Of men on earth. The gods wished all men well.
But giants, larger by far, used all their weight
For mischief's sake. Universal death knell
For men and gods did these giants impel.
I must give you a notion of their size.
Lest the feats of Thor you do minimize.

A great god was Thor, and we may assume
That he was great in bulk as well, for note:
Two entire big fat steers he did consume
For supper. He washed the meat down his throat
With vast sea's draft - such is the anecdote.
He feasted on eight salmon and an ox,
And followed that with ale - more than three crocks!

But to the giants all these were mere ATOMS,
And great God Thor - imagine if you can -
A quark! The smallest of the giants' breadcrumbs
Is the earth compared to a flea's wingspan!
Giants taunted Thor: "Stand up and be a man!"
The thumb of a giant's glove was spacious hall
To Thor with his goats, friends, chariot and all.

Thor with his hammer tried to crush the skull
Of a sleeping giant. Three times he struck,
Each a hundred times harder. But so dull
Were these blows that instead of brains and yuck,
The giant felt leaves or feathers of a duck.
And yet these blows did rip out canyons deep:
Look 'cross the mountains over which we creep!