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Are Thor in Norse mythology and Indra in Hindu mythology the same? Do the people of that particular area know Indra as Thor?

I had seen ancient aliens Program in history channel About Thor they compare Indra with Thor thats why I asked the Questions.

Pandya
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Bhavin
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  • What is the purpose of this question , what are the valid points that make you think so , is there any person or any book mentioning him the king of 3 lokas or as similar to Indra ? – Friendy Jul 21 '15 at 13:34
  • I had seen ancient aliens Program in history channel About Thor they compare Indra with Thor thats why..... – Bhavin Jul 22 '15 at 04:00
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    You should add what you said in the comment to the question. – Suhasini Jul 22 '15 at 09:12
  • So-called Pagan religions, Ancient Rome , Egypt and India worshipped the natural elements, forces of nature and death as gods with different names. There was definitely a common master faith that spawned all of them. – Karthik PV Aug 20 '18 at 05:45

4 Answers4

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Indra and Thor are different if we compare.

  • Indra is the supreme god (King) of heaven, Thor is not the king of Valhalla.
  • Indra has Vajra as his weapon made from the bones of the sage Dadhichi, where as Thor owns a different weapon.
  • Indra is carried by Airavata (five-headed Divine Elephant), Thor does not have this.

Common thing is that both are associated with thunder, lightning, storms so is Zeus in the Greek mythology.

Triyugi Narayan Mani
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Wiz
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Of course they are. Just slightly different, which is normal after thousands of years and thousands of miles distance, because things evolve. But vedic and germanic mythology still have the same indo-european roots. Just compare the norse description of Thor, or the german description of Donar with the Rig-Veda 10.22.3-4 or 10.96. A blond man, with a blond beard and golden hammer on a chariot with two animals in front of it (yes, thats right, Indra's vajra is described like a hammer there). And he also loves too drink a lot of Soma.

Indra is the son of Dyaus (heaven) and Prithivi (earth) Thor/Donar is the son of Odin/Wotan (heaven) and Jörd (earth)

I think most indian people do not have that much insight into north-european mythology, as most europeans know almost nothing about hinduism or the veda. That way both sides overlook the vast amount of similarities.

Community
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Just-a-Guest
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Indra and Zeus can be compared to more extent. Both are the kings of Gods, both have lightning as their weapons(Zeus's Thunderbolt to Indra's Vajra), both have been captivated by women other than their wives, their kingdoms are the heavens etc. I am sure we could bring out a lot more similarities with someone who has more familiarity with both the cultures.

Nik
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    Welcome to Hinduism StackExchange. This looks like commentary rather than answer. Visit [answer] and also bother to cite some sources. – Pandya Aug 22 '18 at 08:36
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I too think that Thor is the norse/germanic Indra.

Both of them are gods of thunder and lightning
Both of them are regarded as protector of earth and mankind.
Indra slays the snake Vritra.
Thor slays the Snake Jörmungandr.

Aditya-Isanah
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    Welcome to Hinduism StackExchange, you should cite some sources. Also the current answer looks like comment, visit [answer]. – Pandya Mar 15 '18 at 13:28