Thamur: killed by his own chisel
the greatest stonemason the world had seen
Thamur was the finest stonemason in the Nine Realms. Thor drove the giant's own chisel through his skull, and his falling corpse crushed a village.
Thamur was a Jotunn of the Norse realms, renowned as the greatest stonemason the world had ever seen. His frozen corpse lay across a vast stretch of Midgard, and the magical chisel buried in his skull became the key that Kratos and Atreus needed to reach Jotunheim. His story was told to them by Mimir. (God of War (2018))
The mason and his son#
During the war between the Giants and the Aesir, Thamur set out to build a wall around Jotunheim to protect his people from Thor. Believing the work too great to finish alone, he tried to make his only son Hrimthur help him. But Hrimthur had the heart of a warrior, not a builder, and refused. The two argued fiercely until Thamur struck his son, and Hrimthur ran away into the night. Filled with shame and regret, Thamur chased after the boy, but in his desperation he became lost and alone in Midgard. (God of War (2018))
Slain by his own chisel#
Thamur's shouting drew the attention of Thor, the one being he least wished to meet alone and far from home. In the battle that followed, Thor drove the giant's own chisel clean through his skull. As Thamur fell, his gargantuan corpse crushed a village famed for worshiping the Vanir god Njord, and his death loosed a great burst of frost that instantly froze everything around him, leaving ice stretching for miles. Though the destruction of the village was only chance, Thor boasted ever after that he had planned the whole thing. Mimir, who knew better, said plainly that the truth was the giant had simply fallen and Thor had gotten lucky. (God of War (2018))
The chisel and the reanimation#
Long after Thamur's death, Mimir led Kratos and Atreus to the frozen corpse, for they needed the tip of Thamur's chisel to carve the travel rune to Jotunheim and to open sealed chambers across the realms. The fragment lay under ice that not even Mjolnir could crack, so Kratos toppled the giant's enormous hammer to shatter it open. The noise drew Magni and Modi, the sons of Thor, and Kratos slew Magni before claiming a piece of the chisel. (God of War (2018))
Kratos and Atreus returned to the site when Jormungandr, about to collapse, spat them out near the corpse. There Baldur and Freya arrived, and a fight broke out. When Atreus unintentionally freed Baldur of his immortality, a desperate Freya reanimated Thamur's vast body, even drawing the chisel from its skull, and commanded it to loose its icy breath upon Kratos and Atreus. Atreus summoned Jormungandr, who attacked and seemingly destroyed the undead giant at last. (God of War (2018))
Frequently asked questions
- Who was Thamur?
- Thamur was a Jotunn of the Norse realms, renowned as the greatest stonemason the world had ever seen. His frozen corpse lay across a vast stretch of Midgard.
- Why did Thamur try to build a wall around Jotunheim?
- During the war between the Giants and the Aesir, Thamur set out to build a wall around Jotunheim to protect his people from Thor. Believing the work too great to finish alone, he tried to make his only son Hrimthur help him.
- How did Thamur die?
- Thamur quarreled with his son Hrimthur, struck him, and then chased after him in shame, becoming lost and alone in Midgard. His shouting drew Thor, who drove the giant's own chisel clean through his skull, and as Thamur fell his corpse crushed a village that worshiped the Vanir god Njord.
- What happened to the land when Thamur died?
- Thamur's death loosed a great burst of frost that instantly froze everything around him, leaving ice stretching for miles. Though the destruction of the village was only chance, Thor boasted ever after that he had planned it, while Mimir said the giant had simply fallen and Thor had gotten lucky.
- Why was Thamur's chisel important to Kratos and Atreus?
- Kratos and Atreus needed the tip of Thamur's chisel to carve the travel rune to Jotunheim and to open sealed chambers across the realms. The fragment lay under ice that not even Mjolnir could crack, so Kratos toppled the giant's enormous hammer to shatter it open, then slew Magni when the noise drew Thor's sons.
Sources
- GameGod of War (2018), Santa Monica Studio, 2018
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Atreus (Loki): Kratos's Son and the Truth of His Name
Atreus was the son of Kratos and the Jotunn Faye, born in Midgard and given the hidden name Loki. Across two great journeys he grew from a sickly boy into the prophesied champion of the Giants, the god of mischief whose fate was bound to Ragnarok.
Hrimthur: the stonemason who doomed Asgard
Hrimthur was a Jotunn stonemason, the son of Thamur, who completed the Great Walls of Jotunheim and then sought vengeance on the Aesir. Disguised as a mortal, he rebuilt the walls of Asgard and hid a weakness within them that would one day open the realm to its destruction.
Kratos
Kratos was the demigod son of Zeus who rose from a Spartan general to the Greek God of War, destroyed the pantheon of Olympus in a quest for vengeance, and then began again in the Norse realms as a father seeking to leave his bloody past behind.
Mimir
Mimir was a Celtic fae who rose to become Odin's advisor and the ambassador of the Aesir before the All-Father imprisoned him for over a century. Freed and reanimated as a disembodied head by Kratos and Atreus, he became their guide, conscience, and friend across the Nine Realms.
Baldur: the god who could feel nothing
Freya's spell made Baldur invulnerable but stripped every sensation from him, and a century of numbness drove him mad. Kratos killed him beside Thamur's corpse.
Freya
Freya was the Vanir goddess of love, war, and magic who married Odin to end the Aesir-Vanir War and was cursed to remain in Midgard. Once the Witch of the Woods, she aided Kratos and Atreus, swore vengeance after the death of her son Baldur, and at last turned her wrath on Odin himself.
Mentioned in20 entries
Baldur: the god who could feel nothing
Freya's spell made Baldur invulnerable but stripped every sensation from him, and a century of numbness drove him mad. Kratos killed him beside Thamur's corpse.
Baldur's Curse: the spell of invulnerability
Baldur's curse was a spell of protection that Freya wove around her son to cheat a prophecy of his pointless death. It made Baldur impervious to every wound, whether dealt by weapon or sorcery, but it stripped him of all physical sensation, drove him into madness, and left mistletoe as its single fatal flaw.
Baldur's Death: mistletoe and a broken neck
A mistletoe arrow broke Freya's spell of invulnerability over Baldur, and Kratos snapped his neck as he moved to strangle her. Fimbulwinter followed.
Bergelmir: the Beloved King of the Giants
Bergelmir was a Frost Giant who, with his wife, alone survived the flood of Ymir's blood that drowned the rest of his race. He found a new land, named it Jotunheim, and repopulated the Jotnar as its king, refusing all vengeance against Odin. He died of old age surrounded by his kin and was remembered ever after as Bergelmir the Beloved.
Council of Valkyries: The Hidden Throne Circle of Midgard
The Council of Valkyries, known in the old tongue as the Rocstoll aff Valkyrs, was a secluded council chamber in Midgard where the Valkyries met in private, away from the eyes of Odin. Left ruined and abandoned after the All Father cursed the sisterhood, it became the place where Kratos and Atreus summoned and slew Queen Sigrun, and later the campsite from which a vengeful Freya hunted them through Fimbulwinter.
Freya
Freya was the Vanir goddess of love, war, and magic who married Odin to end the Aesir-Vanir War and was cursed to remain in Midgard. Once the Witch of the Woods, she aided Kratos and Atreus, swore vengeance after the death of her son Baldur, and at last turned her wrath on Odin himself.
Hrimthur: the stonemason who doomed Asgard
Hrimthur was a Jotunn stonemason, the son of Thamur, who completed the Great Walls of Jotunheim and then sought vengeance on the Aesir. Disguised as a mortal, he rebuilt the walls of Asgard and hid a weakness within them that would one day open the realm to its destruction.
Hrimthur's Wall: the rampart of Asgard
Hrimthur's Wall was the colossal rampart that ringed Asgard, raised by the giant Hrimthur after the Aesir left their defences half built. Into it he set a secret flaw, a hidden weakness meant to one day bring the fortress down.
Jormungandr: the World Serpent of Midgard
Jormungandr was so vast he encircled all of Midgard within the Lake of Nine. Thor struck him so hard at Ragnarok that he was hurled backward through time.
Magni: Thor's eldest son, killed by Kratos
Magni was Thor's firstborn and Odin's favoured grandson. He hunted Kratos and Atreus with Baldur, and Kratos buried an axe in his skull at Thamur's corpse.
Magni's Death
The death of Magni, eldest son of Thor, came at the hands of Kratos upon the frozen plain of Thamur's corpse. Though Magni was only a minor Aesir, his fall kindled the lasting hatred of Thor and Sif and set the gods of Asgard against Kratos and Atreus.
Modi: Thor's second son, killed by Atreus
Modi lived in the shadow of his brother Magni. After Magni died, Thor beat him nearly to death for cowardice, and Atreus stabbed him in the neck.
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