Thamur
the greatest stonemason the world had seen
Thamur was a Jotunn mason of unmatched skill who tried to wall off Jotunheim against Thor. Slain by his own chisel in Midgard, his vast frozen corpse became a landmark, and his death froze a whole village in ice.
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.
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.
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 an icy landscape 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.
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.
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.
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 an icy landscape 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
- WikiThamur — God of War Wiki entry
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Related entries
Atreus
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
Baldur was the Norse God of Light, made invulnerable by his mother Freya and driven mad by a curse that robbed him of all sensation. Sent by Odin to hunt a giant, he crossed paths with Kratos instead, and his death at the foot of Thamur's corpse set Fimbulwinter and Ragnarok in motion.
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 in16 entries
Baldur
Baldur was the Norse God of Light, made invulnerable by his mother Freya and driven mad by a curse that robbed him of all sensation. Sent by Odin to hunt a giant, he crossed paths with Kratos instead, and his death at the foot of Thamur's corpse set Fimbulwinter and Ragnarok in motion.
Baldur's Death
Baldur's death was the slaying of the Aesir god of light at the hands of Kratos, made possible only after the spell of invulnerability his mother Freya had laid upon him was broken by a mistletoe arrow. It served as the prelude to Fimbulwinter and the coming of Ragnarök.
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
Jormungandr was the World Serpent, a Jötunn so vast he encircled all of Midgard within the Lake of Nine. Sworn enemy of Thor and fated to clash with him at Ragnarök, he aided Kratos and Atreus and was revealed to be a giant reborn from a serpent and cast backward through time.
Jörmungandr: the World Serpent
Jörmungandr, the World Serpent, was a colossal Jotunn serpent who grew so vast that he encircled all of Midgard. Awoken from the Lake of Nine by Kratos and Atreus, he became their ally, and was destined to fight Thor at Ragnarok.
Magni
Magni was the eldest son of Thor and the favored grandson of Odin, a towering warrior who joined his uncle Baldur in hunting Kratos and Atreus across Midgard. His confidence proved his undoing when Kratos killed him at the foot of 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
Modi was the younger son of Thor, a demigod who lived in the shadow of his favored brother Magni. After Magni's death he was beaten by his own father and broken in body and spirit, meeting his end at the hands of a vengeful Atreus.
Modi's Death
The death of Modi, younger son of Thor, came at the hands of Atreus upon the mountain of Midgard. Broken in body and spirit, the demigod returned to face his enemies a final time, and a vengeful Atreus stabbed him in the throat and cast him into a chasm against the wishes of Kratos.
Njörd: Vanir god of the sea and king of Vanaheim
Njörd was the Vanir god of the sea and the ruler of Vanaheim, father of Freyr and Freya and grandfather of Baldur. He fought in the Aesir-Vanir War, losing his wife Nerthus to the sons of Thor and his daughter Freya to a marriage with Odin.
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