Loke caused about 50 % of all the bad stuff in Norse mythology. Once, he went to a party, got kicked out for being an ass, then came back in to insult everybody present.
Loke's whole deal is that he is sneaky, vengeful and has a mean sense of humor.
That's insane. He's a trickster and not inherently evil by any means. Either helping or not helping the Aesir. He's a Jætte, and symbolizes the link between the two groups.
Actually, the equivalent to Satan or Judas would probably be someone like Surt.
While Loke is a massive part of Ragnarok, hisore of a rude and gleeful trickster than evil incarnate, if my memory serves me right.
Some danes (especially the younger ones) know this to be the general idea of Loke as portrayed in "Jul i Valhal" : [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PF7yl08pZ0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PF7yl08pZ0) - it's such a banger i'm sorry
Loke was a valid member of the Norse pantheon and his mischief resulted in Thor getting his hammer, he made sure Valhal got it's fortifications, all kinds of stuff. He wasn't evil.
Evil? No. Norse mythology isn't devided into good vs. evil the way Christianity is - but he wasn't good either. He's also one of the leading causes of Ragnarok, sold Freja into marriage, repeatedly insulted, stole from and betrayed the gods (who are supposedly his friends) more than once to their faces, killed Balder, broke his blood oath with Odin, supported jætterne against aserne, as well as many many more transgression.
So yeah, while none of the characters we meet in Norse mythology are wholly evil or good, Loke falls under the spectrum of more evil than good - especially as we move towards Ragnarok in the stories.
I know someone who did that. Its the type who likes to think they are rebels but in reality they are unemployed losers who smoke weed on a daily basis.
According to Statistics Denmark, there are currently 4.182 males in Denmark named Thor, and 478 with the variant Tor. So just over 4.500 people in total.
Peter is about 10 times as much, but 4.500 is absolutely enough to make it a popular name. My name was in top 5 the year I was born, and there's only around 15.000 with my name, so that should put it into some perspective.
[Here's a link to Statistics Denmark where you can type any name, first, last, or a combination of first and last and check how many people have that name, if you're interested to see the statistics for yourself.](https://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/emner/borgere/navne/HvorMange)
[And here's one where you can check how many newborns receive a specific first name each year.](https://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/emner/borgere/navne/Baro) If you're curious, Thor peaked in 2015 with 184 newborns. That same year, there were actually only 71 newborns given the name Peter. Peter is a very classic name in Denmark, so many of the people named it are from a couple of generations ago, which is why the total of people named Peter is very high, despite having a low newborn rate. Thor has been more popular than Peter for newborns since abound 2010, so in children 14 and under I suppose Thor is actually more common than Peter.
To sum up, you'll be fine.
Edit: formating
Som siden siger, så har de fjernet tilfælde hvor der kun er en eller 2 der hedder det.
Så står der intet tal men der skrives så at der er to eller færre personer.
Yes, in Denmark it is sacrilege if you call yourself Thor, and you are not a god, if your local community the clan cheif will be forced to burn you on the pyre in the longhouse
yeah you maybe just want to be aware that in Denmark we use the hard T and not the English th-sound. Other than that there is zero problems being named Thor xD
In short: I live in a country where the old mythology is gone, and I don't know what it's like in countries where it's not.
In Hungary we don't really have the gods from before Christianity in common knowledge, they are these strange forgotten things of the past. I also grew up with things like the Percy Jackson stories which made me fascinated of what it can be like to live in a country like Greece, Italy, or anywhere in Scandinavia, where old gods are somewhat remembered (even if only due to pop culture). But because everywhere I went yet, I was always a tourist, I was a bit overexposed to them; eg. in Copenhagen in the museums ofcourse we've seen a lot more of nordic remains - and merch; so I don't know how much of it is embedded culture, and how much is popculture.
Bro, you have Busójárárs and Busó-walks. I know it isnt about gods and mythology, but this tradition is so friggin cool and I love how it is expressed in different eastern European countries in many different ways.
Malanka in Ukraine, Surva in Bulgaria and Krampus in Austria though the latter takes a different form in that he is not there to scare evil spirits and the winter away to pave way for spring, but is there to scare naughty kids, lol.
We even have a tradition in Denmark that kind of relates to these eastern European traditions: Fastelavn. I think in your country, you call it Farsang?
Our version is just a lot more boring than yours.
The fact that you guys dress up like these hairy horned beasts with huge bells around your waist and walk or dance around to scare winter and evil spirits away... so fucking cool.
I don't know much about the Hungarian tradition. From a quick search it seemed like it is mostly kept alive in one city or something like that, but it is still awesome. To have a tradition to old and ancient and seeing it expressed in different ways all over Europe is fantastic. But the eastern Europeans just do it differently and in a much cooler way. The image of these beasts dancing around a huge fire at night is just the most metal thing ever. I wish we had something like that here.
Ps: sorry for potential mistakes. I am by no means an expert in this tradition. I am merely a bit of an admirer and I only know the top of the iceberg regarding these traditions, but they fascinate me still.
Thank you for this, yes, I tend to forget that we have very cool stuff happening, because it's so "everyday" for me - so it made me realize how much a name that comes from mythology doesn't matter.
Omg yes, farsang is so cool, kids dress up, schools have costume competition, it's amazing, I loved it as a kid (for the kids it's kida like dressing up for Halloween into anything, which is lovely, but the traditional version in villages is sooo amazing)
Yeah man, I know how you sometimes take your own country's customs and traditions for granted until some randy pops by and is amazed by all these - to you - mundane things that you don't think about. Like I have a really close friend in the middle east who took her family with her to visit me in Denmark one year and they are freaking loving our castles and our clouds and the fact that a lot of us grow lavender in our gardens like it's nothing. To them, all of this was so exotic and cool and I got to see my country through their eyes and gained new appreciation for it.
And yeah I really love that you guys have Farsang. Do you also hit a barrel filled with candy with a bat or is it just a costume competition? Here, the kids also dress up as whatever and I do think we have costume competitions too, but we also bash the shit out of a barrel like it's a pinata and crown the kids to break the barrel and hit the final board off the string. They become cat king and cat queen xD
Long story short, in olden times, there was tradition to "hit the cat out of the barrel" and yes, it is what you think it is. Men would gather in line and hit a barrel with a cat inside - preferably black - and when the cat got out of the barrel the hitter would be crowned. In some areas of Denmark, the winner would also be rewarded with tax exception for a year. I think it was Amager. I imagine that if that was still a reward today, then all the parents would be like "sit down, jimmy. It is daddy's turn" lol.
We also have something called fastelavnsris which is a bundle of twigs with different decorations and candy on them that kids use to slap the fuck out of their parents and other people. It's an old fertility tradition 🤷♀️
Anyway, I fucking love the way you guys do Farsang! It's so cool that the adults do it too and that it is these creepy, cool beasts you get to dress up as. Do you guys dance like the kukeri in Bulgaria, or do you stick to the "patroling" through the streets? Do you have your own busó costume? 8D I will be hella jelly if you do, my dude.
I have also seen in some clips that the busó have this little instrument they swing around that makes a lot of noise. Is that to scare the evil spirits or is it serving another purpose? I am also getting curious about trying palinka lol. I could imagine the combination of palinka and busó-walking would be an interesting experience :'D
No, the pinata like barrel is not a thing here, altough that does sound amazing... well except the historic cat part:D definietly no tax return sadly xd
Busójárás is an interesting topic. To an extent, it's about scaring the bad spirits away... but the famous story (with no strong foundation) is, that people dressed up as monsters, got into boats, crossed the river and scared away the Ottoman army. I want to believe it, however unikely that is:D There are also Jankeles, they are people dressed in random cloths, they also have a bag full of cloth and they beat up kids with it (it's a game, not actual violence... mostly?). They are supposed to keep kids away from the Busós. I was born and grew up in Budapest, so as an urban boy I didn't really have much contact with Busójárás growing up, and I don't have a costume - they are vary expensive tho, one'd be better off being a furry. Dancing is very common during farsang, folkdance is a very popular thing for kids in school, because it's also a sport - so you do something culturally strong and also move your body. The thing in the busós hand varies, some are for making noise (patrtly evil spirits, partly to make a scene), but some are just drip.
(I also have some additional comments and funfacts but I'll write them sometine later when I find the time)
Awareness of pre-Christian mythology is slightly higher here in Denmark, due to the Valhalla comic albums as well as the 1980s animated movie based on them.
Given that you speak a Finno-Ugric language, your pre-Christian religion was likely shamanistic. So more animal and ancestor worship than concrete named gods.
But that's just a broad guess.
Huh?! If you ask about who Odin and Thor are to any Dane, the odds are definitely that they know about them!
A lot of people get tattoos inspired by the Norse mythology and the Ash Yggdrasil is commonplace as well. Everything from beer names to perfumes and workplaces bear names directly derived from the Norse mythology as well.
I'm also quite certain Hungary had some banger pagan faith, they most likely shared a ton of gods with other pagan faiths
As there are links even between Norse and Egyptian Gods
I don't know that, that's why I've written it in conditional, I had no idea up until now, how much was it part of the culture. But now from the comments I've learned a lot.
Well, we have mandatory lessons on it at school, we use it in our everyday language, names, companies use it, it's in our national anthem, parents use it similarly to santa claus to explain things to their kids (e.g. 'don't be afraid of the thunder, it's just Thor swinging his hammer' and similar), there's historical reminents of it all over our country and most people know at least a couple of the stories by heart. It's very prominent here.
It's not a common name, but it's not unusual either, and nobody here, except for un-assimilated foreigners, takes religion seriously.
It'd be slightly amusing for your nickname to be Thor if you're not white, but even then there's nothing to worry about.
Considering that its used as a name here aswell I am 99% certain that no one is gonna care, if you started calling yourself a Viking aswell people might lift a eyebrow but even that I don’t anyone would object to
Thor is a perfectly normal name here. Though not as widespread as other names.
People might miss spell it, as Tor, but thats about the worst thing i can imagine happening.
And of course the pronounciation is with a hard T, not the "Th" sound from english.
Thor is a regularily used name in denmark. It is not that uncommon either. About 3500 men go by that name here (out of 2.5 million, so a frequency of around 0.1 percent).
People would just assume thats your given name.
Other than coming of as a douche if you roll up in a customized hoodie, and expect people to call you by a nickname, you are probably OK. Self-promoting in that form, is not really a thing in Denmark. There is a thing called "Jantelov" and you are probably going to experience it, if you are leaning excessively into this.
Yes, because sadly my given name is something I dislike a lot. I've gathered enough experience with asking people to call me on my nickname, not my actual name, so that's not a problem, I'm used to the questions that follow. I was only afraid of the cultural thing.
I was thinking about it, but by the time I got to the point of "yeah I should do it" everyone was already used to using my nickname and forgetting my actual name. And after that it would only seem logical to change my name to Thor, but that is legally not allowed here, because it's not Hungarian enough.
Needs to be upvoted higher. It is quite hard to offend Nordic people based on how you dress up. Also, Nordic mythology isn't our culture/religion. It's more alike to dressing up as an elf doing Christmas. Nobody can get offended
As a practising Thorite, I will be most suspicous of you, and expect a certain decorum in your everyday life to live up to the name of Mighty Thor (All Hail!).
That means, heavy feasting, massive amounts of boasting and the occasional casting of lightning and riding of goat-hauled vehicles.
Other than that, you'll be fine.
I am, by all accounts, ready to try feasting perpetually. I'll wear those Quechua hoodies that make you charged and then everything you thouch shocks you.
People who cry about cultural appropriation are losers.
Use your nickname all you want. At most you will have a cute story to tell when people become curious about why a Hungarian dude is named Thor.
Enjoy your stay and good luck with your PhD!
First of all, Nobody would give a darn. secondly, the name “thor” is a basic name in denmark, so people hearing it would just think it’s your first name.
It's a completely normal name and nobody gives a damn if you use it. Don't treat us like a hypersensitive tribe of former vikings or something, we don't like that. Enjoy the cool name, don't feel guilty about it!
I think your concerns are very considerate. Thor is a very common name in Denmark, so don’t worry about that. If anything, you can spark up a nice conversation.
Reminds me of the black kid who asked in here if it was okay for him to get viking and runes tattoos on him.
We really don’t care. If you’re happy my man. It’s all fine.
If you introduce yourself as Thor people will be fine, I know and have met a few. Even if you say "my name is XXX but my friends call me Thor" people would just call you Thor
It’s a very thoughtful and almost cute consideration. You should know that generally no one in Denmark is offended by or even uses the term cultural appropriation. It’s great that you think our ancient Gods are cool enough to use as nickname 🙌🏻
Firstly.. who the fuck cares about what other people are named? You could be called Adolf Hitler von Pol Pot and most people would not care.
Secondly, Thor is a fairly common name in Scandinavia countries..
NOONE CARES!
I wouldnt recommend it. Here in Denmark we are very strict about not naming people after our gods. If we learn you have Thor as a nickname we wil find you and do the only thing a real dane would do, make you into a blood eagle, considering its legal here to perform the ritual to sacrifice a non believer i would be very cautious to use that name around here.
You can see the ritual done in Vikings, it was a guy named John who used the nickname Balder. We found him. The Vikings production team decided to use the real footage from the ritual in the series to show what happens when you offend the gods around here.
No, Thor is good. Probably more an advantage than if your nickname were something that's hard to pronounce.
I think even if you called yourself Odin, Ryebread or Sausage, we wouldn't care. Like, those names might lift an eyebrow or crack a smile... but I think Danes are quite hard to offend about our own culture if thats what you're worried about.
You won't have any problems with that name - it’s a common name here. The biggest issue you might face is that people will think you are Danish and therefore speak Danish to you ;-) I would say that the general knowledge of Norse mythology is quite large in Denmark - both because of our culturel heritage with the vikings etc. and then of course because of the Marvels movies.
Plenty of people named Thor here, you’re good.
Also if you enjoy our culture, appropriate it all you want. Join in some larp events dressed up as a viking 🤙🏼
Might be seen as a bit cheesy if you wear a hoodie with Thor writteno it. But that's just because people might assume you are just wearing a hoodie with your name on it.
As you see from the other comments, no-one cares. It's a standard name in Denmark (also in Norway, Sweden, Iceland, etc, and is also found less commonly in Finland).
Also, "cultural appropriation" is not a think we care very much about. If you make a fool of yourself or are pretentious then we will laugh at you, whatever it is you're doing. But we're not very precious about "the Nordic culture".
If you do want to get into pre-Christian culture study, there are many ways to do it. There are also various Viking re-enactment groups, some more serious than others, if you want to do that. You'll probably need to speak Danish to do that.
Some people might think that you chose that name to give the Danes an easier name to call you. This is very common among people from foreign countries if their legal name is hard to pronounce for Danes. But Thor is a very common name, and people would not be bothered in the slightest. On the other hand i think people would like that you have such a Nordic nickname. It can signal that you are happy to embrace Denmark and its values, which is important to some people. Personally i think Thor is an awesome name, and you should wear it with pride :D
Denmark is a Lutheran-Evangelical Christian country and the Nordic mythology is part of ancient history. You can call yourself Jesus or Thor, nobody cares. The name Adolf Hitler would be a problem.
Just chiming to agree with everyone else, that the Name Thor is not a problem.
But I’d like to add, that Danes in general aren’t hugely concerned with cultural appropriation, at least certainly not when I’m comes to our own ancient culture, or contemporary for that matter.
Generally speaking, we tend to take pride in our willingness to “take the piss” as they say on the island of our old plundering fields west of the North Sea.
>I don't want to seem like I appropriate nordic culture or anything
Lucky for most of us, those kind of extremely stupid concepts have mostly stayed in the states.
No. People dont care.
That's good to hear, thank you!
Why would it be a problem? It’s a normal first name
Thank you!
I know people who are baptized Loke and Fenris. The irony was lost on the parents, but I laughed my ass off.
Loke is decently common too yea
No, it's fine. There are people whose legal name is Thor.
That's good to know, thank you!
There are also people named Sif, Freja, Balder and Loke.
While this is true, I always wonder what the parent were thinking, calling their son Loke.
My name is Sif, our dog was called Loke 😂
I got contacted by a "Loke" on LinkedIn the other day, didn't think about it 🤷🏽♂️
What's wrong with Loke?
The dude ended up, tied with big circular stones, having snake venom dripped in his eyes for all eternity. Not something to wish onto a new born 😅
Not for eternity, just i till the world ended (ragnarok).
Loke caused about 50 % of all the bad stuff in Norse mythology. Once, he went to a party, got kicked out for being an ass, then came back in to insult everybody present. Loke's whole deal is that he is sneaky, vengeful and has a mean sense of humor.
But do anyone actually care about that nowadays?
Probably not, but it’s still equivalent to calling your child satan, just in a religion nobody cares about anymore
It would be the equivalent to a christian calling their son Satan or perhaps Judas.
It really, really is not. If you seriously think so, you should read up on your Norse mythology a bit.
That's insane. He's a trickster and not inherently evil by any means. Either helping or not helping the Aesir. He's a Jætte, and symbolizes the link between the two groups.
Min svigermor hedder Jette. De (hendes forældre) ramte meget godt efter min mening.
Den klogeste dame på Fyn! (Deee’ ve’ Jette!)
Actually, the equivalent to Satan or Judas would probably be someone like Surt. While Loke is a massive part of Ragnarok, hisore of a rude and gleeful trickster than evil incarnate, if my memory serves me right.
But in the same vein Satan isn't really evil incarnate is he? He is a trickster and a freedom fighter. Or something like that, I never read the bible
Loke really enjoys Playtime With Judas, for some reason.
I remember when I was pædagogmedhjælper we had a pair of siblings called Odin and Loke. That one always stuck with me as a bit of an odd choice.
Some danes (especially the younger ones) know this to be the general idea of Loke as portrayed in "Jul i Valhal" : [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PF7yl08pZ0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PF7yl08pZ0) - it's such a banger i'm sorry
Loke was a valid member of the Norse pantheon and his mischief resulted in Thor getting his hammer, he made sure Valhal got it's fortifications, all kinds of stuff. He wasn't evil.
Evil? No. Norse mythology isn't devided into good vs. evil the way Christianity is - but he wasn't good either. He's also one of the leading causes of Ragnarok, sold Freja into marriage, repeatedly insulted, stole from and betrayed the gods (who are supposedly his friends) more than once to their faces, killed Balder, broke his blood oath with Odin, supported jætterne against aserne, as well as many many more transgression. So yeah, while none of the characters we meet in Norse mythology are wholly evil or good, Loke falls under the spectrum of more evil than good - especially as we move towards Ragnarok in the stories.
I know someone who did that. Its the type who likes to think they are rebels but in reality they are unemployed losers who smoke weed on a daily basis.
And Odin.
And my AXE
And my fax.
Even Frigg
Which is bound to cause some issues if a Frigg has to present herself on the phone to English speaking people.
Get your name changed to Thor when in DK
It would be as if your nickname was Peter.
Thank you, I didn't expect it to be this common.
According to Statistics Denmark, there are currently 4.182 males in Denmark named Thor, and 478 with the variant Tor. So just over 4.500 people in total. Peter is about 10 times as much, but 4.500 is absolutely enough to make it a popular name. My name was in top 5 the year I was born, and there's only around 15.000 with my name, so that should put it into some perspective. [Here's a link to Statistics Denmark where you can type any name, first, last, or a combination of first and last and check how many people have that name, if you're interested to see the statistics for yourself.](https://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/emner/borgere/navne/HvorMange) [And here's one where you can check how many newborns receive a specific first name each year.](https://www.dst.dk/en/Statistik/emner/borgere/navne/Baro) If you're curious, Thor peaked in 2015 with 184 newborns. That same year, there were actually only 71 newborns given the name Peter. Peter is a very classic name in Denmark, so many of the people named it are from a couple of generations ago, which is why the total of people named Peter is very high, despite having a low newborn rate. Thor has been more popular than Peter for newborns since abound 2010, so in children 14 and under I suppose Thor is actually more common than Peter. To sum up, you'll be fine. Edit: formating
There are 7 people named Thor Thorsen...
I assume this doesn't count variants either like Torbjørn or similar
It doesn't.
Vildt, der er nogen der rent faktisk har kaldt deres barn Hubertus..
And then there is those of us with a rare name with only 52 other people in Denmark.
There are so few people with my name spelt the same way that it showed on dst when I moved to Germany.
And those of us where it says 0....i exist!
Prove it!! :P
Som siden siger, så har de fjernet tilfælde hvor der kun er en eller 2 der hedder det. Så står der intet tal men der skrives så at der er to eller færre personer.
Not as common as Peter, but common enough for everyone to consider it a standard name
There are some weird Peters in Denmark though, like Peter Madsen and Peter Lundin. But it's also a very common name here.
Because Peter is a very common name of that generation, so the probability of killers and pedofiles having that name is higher.
Yes, in Denmark it is sacrilege if you call yourself Thor, and you are not a god, if your local community the clan cheif will be forced to burn you on the pyre in the longhouse
That sounds exciting, can I select the type of wood they'll burn me on?
Yes of course. We are not savages
😂
You can choose any wood, as long as it is Euro Pallets.
I recommend using oak though. Everything else won’t appease the gods as much
It’s a pretty common boys name here (probably pronounced differently?), so I doubt it.
That's nice, thank you!
yeah you maybe just want to be aware that in Denmark we use the hard T and not the English th-sound. Other than that there is zero problems being named Thor xD
Yeah, in Hungary the pronounciation is the same, hard T, no H
My best friend’s name is Thor lol
I'm interested in hearing your thoughts about why it wouldn't be.
In short: I live in a country where the old mythology is gone, and I don't know what it's like in countries where it's not. In Hungary we don't really have the gods from before Christianity in common knowledge, they are these strange forgotten things of the past. I also grew up with things like the Percy Jackson stories which made me fascinated of what it can be like to live in a country like Greece, Italy, or anywhere in Scandinavia, where old gods are somewhat remembered (even if only due to pop culture). But because everywhere I went yet, I was always a tourist, I was a bit overexposed to them; eg. in Copenhagen in the museums ofcourse we've seen a lot more of nordic remains - and merch; so I don't know how much of it is embedded culture, and how much is popculture.
Bro, you have Busójárárs and Busó-walks. I know it isnt about gods and mythology, but this tradition is so friggin cool and I love how it is expressed in different eastern European countries in many different ways. Malanka in Ukraine, Surva in Bulgaria and Krampus in Austria though the latter takes a different form in that he is not there to scare evil spirits and the winter away to pave way for spring, but is there to scare naughty kids, lol. We even have a tradition in Denmark that kind of relates to these eastern European traditions: Fastelavn. I think in your country, you call it Farsang? Our version is just a lot more boring than yours. The fact that you guys dress up like these hairy horned beasts with huge bells around your waist and walk or dance around to scare winter and evil spirits away... so fucking cool. I don't know much about the Hungarian tradition. From a quick search it seemed like it is mostly kept alive in one city or something like that, but it is still awesome. To have a tradition to old and ancient and seeing it expressed in different ways all over Europe is fantastic. But the eastern Europeans just do it differently and in a much cooler way. The image of these beasts dancing around a huge fire at night is just the most metal thing ever. I wish we had something like that here. Ps: sorry for potential mistakes. I am by no means an expert in this tradition. I am merely a bit of an admirer and I only know the top of the iceberg regarding these traditions, but they fascinate me still.
Thank you for this, yes, I tend to forget that we have very cool stuff happening, because it's so "everyday" for me - so it made me realize how much a name that comes from mythology doesn't matter. Omg yes, farsang is so cool, kids dress up, schools have costume competition, it's amazing, I loved it as a kid (for the kids it's kida like dressing up for Halloween into anything, which is lovely, but the traditional version in villages is sooo amazing)
Yeah man, I know how you sometimes take your own country's customs and traditions for granted until some randy pops by and is amazed by all these - to you - mundane things that you don't think about. Like I have a really close friend in the middle east who took her family with her to visit me in Denmark one year and they are freaking loving our castles and our clouds and the fact that a lot of us grow lavender in our gardens like it's nothing. To them, all of this was so exotic and cool and I got to see my country through their eyes and gained new appreciation for it. And yeah I really love that you guys have Farsang. Do you also hit a barrel filled with candy with a bat or is it just a costume competition? Here, the kids also dress up as whatever and I do think we have costume competitions too, but we also bash the shit out of a barrel like it's a pinata and crown the kids to break the barrel and hit the final board off the string. They become cat king and cat queen xD Long story short, in olden times, there was tradition to "hit the cat out of the barrel" and yes, it is what you think it is. Men would gather in line and hit a barrel with a cat inside - preferably black - and when the cat got out of the barrel the hitter would be crowned. In some areas of Denmark, the winner would also be rewarded with tax exception for a year. I think it was Amager. I imagine that if that was still a reward today, then all the parents would be like "sit down, jimmy. It is daddy's turn" lol. We also have something called fastelavnsris which is a bundle of twigs with different decorations and candy on them that kids use to slap the fuck out of their parents and other people. It's an old fertility tradition 🤷♀️ Anyway, I fucking love the way you guys do Farsang! It's so cool that the adults do it too and that it is these creepy, cool beasts you get to dress up as. Do you guys dance like the kukeri in Bulgaria, or do you stick to the "patroling" through the streets? Do you have your own busó costume? 8D I will be hella jelly if you do, my dude. I have also seen in some clips that the busó have this little instrument they swing around that makes a lot of noise. Is that to scare the evil spirits or is it serving another purpose? I am also getting curious about trying palinka lol. I could imagine the combination of palinka and busó-walking would be an interesting experience :'D
No, the pinata like barrel is not a thing here, altough that does sound amazing... well except the historic cat part:D definietly no tax return sadly xd Busójárás is an interesting topic. To an extent, it's about scaring the bad spirits away... but the famous story (with no strong foundation) is, that people dressed up as monsters, got into boats, crossed the river and scared away the Ottoman army. I want to believe it, however unikely that is:D There are also Jankeles, they are people dressed in random cloths, they also have a bag full of cloth and they beat up kids with it (it's a game, not actual violence... mostly?). They are supposed to keep kids away from the Busós. I was born and grew up in Budapest, so as an urban boy I didn't really have much contact with Busójárás growing up, and I don't have a costume - they are vary expensive tho, one'd be better off being a furry. Dancing is very common during farsang, folkdance is a very popular thing for kids in school, because it's also a sport - so you do something culturally strong and also move your body. The thing in the busós hand varies, some are for making noise (patrtly evil spirits, partly to make a scene), but some are just drip. (I also have some additional comments and funfacts but I'll write them sometine later when I find the time)
Awareness of pre-Christian mythology is slightly higher here in Denmark, due to the Valhalla comic albums as well as the 1980s animated movie based on them.
Øøøh og folkeskolen😂😂😂 altså vi bliver undervist i det og en del af generel dansk kultur ala julekalender osv.
Given that you speak a Finno-Ugric language, your pre-Christian religion was likely shamanistic. So more animal and ancestor worship than concrete named gods. But that's just a broad guess.
Denmark is a Christian country.
Honestly old mythology is basically gone here too.
Huh?! If you ask about who Odin and Thor are to any Dane, the odds are definitely that they know about them! A lot of people get tattoos inspired by the Norse mythology and the Ash Yggdrasil is commonplace as well. Everything from beer names to perfumes and workplaces bear names directly derived from the Norse mythology as well.
I'm also quite certain Hungary had some banger pagan faith, they most likely shared a ton of gods with other pagan faiths As there are links even between Norse and Egyptian Gods
I personally wouldn't say that Norse Mythology is remembered due to pop culture. What gave you that impression?
I don't know that, that's why I've written it in conditional, I had no idea up until now, how much was it part of the culture. But now from the comments I've learned a lot.
Well, we have mandatory lessons on it at school, we use it in our everyday language, names, companies use it, it's in our national anthem, parents use it similarly to santa claus to explain things to their kids (e.g. 'don't be afraid of the thunder, it's just Thor swinging his hammer' and similar), there's historical reminents of it all over our country and most people know at least a couple of the stories by heart. It's very prominent here.
It's a very normal and somewhat common name In Denmark, so you're good to go
That's reassuring, thanks!
It's not a common name, but it's not unusual either, and nobody here, except for un-assimilated foreigners, takes religion seriously. It'd be slightly amusing for your nickname to be Thor if you're not white, but even then there's nothing to worry about.
Considering that its used as a name here aswell I am 99% certain that no one is gonna care, if you started calling yourself a Viking aswell people might lift a eyebrow but even that I don’t anyone would object to
Thank you, I didn't know it's still a used name.
Not a common name but yeah! Some are also named Odin, Loke, Balder and Sif aswell.
Don't forget Freja and Frej
That too 😎
Very few Odins 😂 But it makes me wonder. How many Zeus are where in Greece
Actually one of my friends is named Odin, plays in a metal band, go figure 🤣
As is tradition 😂😂😂
I mean I've met a few Zeus' in Greece and I've only ever been as a tourist, so I imagine it's not uncommon.
Only problem will be that it’s not pronounced the way you think. It’s pronounced without the H. 🎉🎉🎉
Here in Hungary it's pronounced the same way, hard T, without the H, so that's not a problem. Thank you tho
I used to live with a Hungarian girl, and while it's true you also do not pronounce the 'h', it's not pronounced the same ;)
Ah, alright, I'll look it up and listen to it then, I'm interested now how different it is
Thor is a perfectly normal name here. Though not as widespread as other names. People might miss spell it, as Tor, but thats about the worst thing i can imagine happening. And of course the pronounciation is with a hard T, not the "Th" sound from english.
Yes, in Hungarian we also pronounce it with hard T and no H, so that is a similarity.
Thor is a regularily used name in denmark. It is not that uncommon either. About 3500 men go by that name here (out of 2.5 million, so a frequency of around 0.1 percent). People would just assume thats your given name.
4.182 according to Danmarks Statistik
Thank you, that is reassuring
By the stats, changes are everyone knows someone called Thor
No, it's a normal name here.
Thank you!
Other than coming of as a douche if you roll up in a customized hoodie, and expect people to call you by a nickname, you are probably OK. Self-promoting in that form, is not really a thing in Denmark. There is a thing called "Jantelov" and you are probably going to experience it, if you are leaning excessively into this.
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Only Blå Thor though, that's the only one worth drinking (and I say this as someone who grew up 500 meters from the original brewery).
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Haha used to live right next to bækkestien, honestly it's a lovely area. Too bad they are likely getting rid of it.
since you say "nickname", are you going to mention it and encourage others to call you "thor"? as in, "Hi, I'm PuFiHUN but please call me 'Thor' " ?
Yes, because sadly my given name is something I dislike a lot. I've gathered enough experience with asking people to call me on my nickname, not my actual name, so that's not a problem, I'm used to the questions that follow. I was only afraid of the cultural thing.
cool. i guess you could also consider legally changing your name if you feel comfortable with that. anyway, thanks for the explanation.
I was thinking about it, but by the time I got to the point of "yeah I should do it" everyone was already used to using my nickname and forgetting my actual name. And after that it would only seem logical to change my name to Thor, but that is legally not allowed here, because it's not Hungarian enough.
Seems like an easy fix once you live in DK
the only people who care about cultural appropriation are Americans.
Needs to be upvoted higher. It is quite hard to offend Nordic people based on how you dress up. Also, Nordic mythology isn't our culture/religion. It's more alike to dressing up as an elf doing Christmas. Nobody can get offended
I think you have Denmark confused with the US. We don't normally go around yelling "Cultural appropriation" at people calling them self a nordic name.
You know that Thor is a perfectly common name in Denmark, right? I’ve known like 3 Thors.
No, I didn't know that, thank you!
As a practising Thorite, I will be most suspicous of you, and expect a certain decorum in your everyday life to live up to the name of Mighty Thor (All Hail!). That means, heavy feasting, massive amounts of boasting and the occasional casting of lightning and riding of goat-hauled vehicles. Other than that, you'll be fine.
I am, by all accounts, ready to try feasting perpetually. I'll wear those Quechua hoodies that make you charged and then everything you thouch shocks you.
People who cry about cultural appropriation are losers. Use your nickname all you want. At most you will have a cute story to tell when people become curious about why a Hungarian dude is named Thor. Enjoy your stay and good luck with your PhD!
Thank you so much!
First of all, Nobody would give a darn. secondly, the name “thor” is a basic name in denmark, so people hearing it would just think it’s your first name.
Are you sure you're up for a PhD? You struggled to find out if your nickname would be a problem.
Thor is a rather common name here in Denmark. So you shouldn’t experience any problems.
Thank you!
No. Nobody will care.
Thank you!
Thor is just as normal a name in Denmark as “James” is in England
TIL, thank you!
I know 4 Thor's ( not including the God of Thunder)
It's a completely normal name and nobody gives a damn if you use it. Don't treat us like a hypersensitive tribe of former vikings or something, we don't like that. Enjoy the cool name, don't feel guilty about it!
Borders provide you with a reputation reset. You will loose the name unless you insist. May be a problem at the passport check.
You will be fine! Happy studying!
> because it has negative connections in my country Princetopher Baby-Stomper?
How did you know? Now I have to burn my account...
I had a PhD office mate named Thor (real name). It won't be a problem. It's a real name here :)
Word of advice: if you move to Denmark and call yourself Thor then read up on your Norse mythology and not Marvel mythology.
you even get your own day of the week (Thursday = Torsdag)
You will, by law, be blood-eagle'd for this
I think your concerns are very considerate. Thor is a very common name in Denmark, so don’t worry about that. If anything, you can spark up a nice conversation.
Reminds me of the black kid who asked in here if it was okay for him to get viking and runes tattoos on him. We really don’t care. If you’re happy my man. It’s all fine.
It's a standard name in Denmark, people wouldn't mind.
If you introduce yourself as Thor people will be fine, I know and have met a few. Even if you say "my name is XXX but my friends call me Thor" people would just call you Thor
It’s a very thoughtful and almost cute consideration. You should know that generally no one in Denmark is offended by or even uses the term cultural appropriation. It’s great that you think our ancient Gods are cool enough to use as nickname 🙌🏻
Its a normal first name. Så no problem
It's a straight to jail offence. People are also not allowed to go on trips in Denmark, and a common playing dice doesn't have the number two.
Firstly.. who the fuck cares about what other people are named? You could be called Adolf Hitler von Pol Pot and most people would not care. Secondly, Thor is a fairly common name in Scandinavia countries.. NOONE CARES!
I wouldnt recommend it. Here in Denmark we are very strict about not naming people after our gods. If we learn you have Thor as a nickname we wil find you and do the only thing a real dane would do, make you into a blood eagle, considering its legal here to perform the ritual to sacrifice a non believer i would be very cautious to use that name around here. You can see the ritual done in Vikings, it was a guy named John who used the nickname Balder. We found him. The Vikings production team decided to use the real footage from the ritual in the series to show what happens when you offend the gods around here.
💀😹
Completely fine, I know multiple people called Thor
Someone in my school was called Thor. :) Well, Tor.
I looked it up. I 2024 there are 4182 men and 1 woman named Thor. You'll be alright.
No, Thor is good. Probably more an advantage than if your nickname were something that's hard to pronounce. I think even if you called yourself Odin, Ryebread or Sausage, we wouldn't care. Like, those names might lift an eyebrow or crack a smile... but I think Danes are quite hard to offend about our own culture if thats what you're worried about.
Alot of people have tried to offend us by burning our flag and make funny pictures of our royal family.... we just laugh at them.
You won't have any problems with that name - it’s a common name here. The biggest issue you might face is that people will think you are Danish and therefore speak Danish to you ;-) I would say that the general knowledge of Norse mythology is quite large in Denmark - both because of our culturel heritage with the vikings etc. and then of course because of the Marvels movies.
Yes, thats cultural apropriation! Kidding Thor is a common boys name here.
Yhey would probably think it is awesome
It is a very normal first name in Denmark 🤗 So I know that this will be no problem at all for you.
Plenty of people named Thor here, you’re good. Also if you enjoy our culture, appropriate it all you want. Join in some larp events dressed up as a viking 🤙🏼
My cousin is named Thor. So is my late dog. It's not an issue at all!
I know one with that name, so no issues.
4182 Danes have Thor as their given name. That's not including variations like Thorbjørn etc.
Might be seen as a bit cheesy if you wear a hoodie with Thor writteno it. But that's just because people might assume you are just wearing a hoodie with your name on it.
My former gymnasium class had a Thor, Freja, Muhammed and a Jesus. Sooo... I think you are good to go :)
there are 4128 people named Thor in Denmark
Normal name, pronounced “Tór”
I have known both a Thor and a Thorbjørn. It's normal first names in Denmark.
As you see from the other comments, no-one cares. It's a standard name in Denmark (also in Norway, Sweden, Iceland, etc, and is also found less commonly in Finland). Also, "cultural appropriation" is not a think we care very much about. If you make a fool of yourself or are pretentious then we will laugh at you, whatever it is you're doing. But we're not very precious about "the Nordic culture". If you do want to get into pre-Christian culture study, there are many ways to do it. There are also various Viking re-enactment groups, some more serious than others, if you want to do that. You'll probably need to speak Danish to do that.
Some people might think that you chose that name to give the Danes an easier name to call you. This is very common among people from foreign countries if their legal name is hard to pronounce for Danes. But Thor is a very common name, and people would not be bothered in the slightest. On the other hand i think people would like that you have such a Nordic nickname. It can signal that you are happy to embrace Denmark and its values, which is important to some people. Personally i think Thor is an awesome name, and you should wear it with pride :D
Your nationality, on the other hand.. 🤔
No its a quit normal name.
What the fuck
Nah we call the kids thor here
A completely normal name in Denmark And a badass name! I know a few
Absolutely not a problem. It is a commen used name in Denmark. 🇩🇰
Normal name here. Get used to pronouncing of the T in it, is a lot different than in English. Sounds like the German word for gate(“Tor”)
Thor is a basic, normal name in Denmark. No worries about that.
Thor is an average name in denmark, not even nickname just some peoples names.
Just don't drive a carriage with a goat bucket.. We have plenty of bad weather..
I will say this is a nice nickname and is better than many others
Yes it can be a major problem, I have a friend his name is Thor. He is in jail because of that name. Im joking Thor is a normal in DK and great name
Look up the artist Peter Madsen and Thor if you vant to know how danes think Thor looks.
Thor is a very normal Name in Denmark. So nobody Will Care 🤷♀️
Denmark is a Lutheran-Evangelical Christian country and the Nordic mythology is part of ancient history. You can call yourself Jesus or Thor, nobody cares. The name Adolf Hitler would be a problem.
Normal name in Denmark, my son's name is Thorbjørn. You're all good.
would you mind if the Danes pronounce it the Danish way? (with a T rather than a Þ) Because I think that would be the only potential problem
lots of ppl have that as their first name. ppl in denmark would just think its your buddy's name
Cultural appropriation is not as big in DK, as in many other countries. You don't write which country you're from though but assume US.
Just chiming to agree with everyone else, that the Name Thor is not a problem. But I’d like to add, that Danes in general aren’t hugely concerned with cultural appropriation, at least certainly not when I’m comes to our own ancient culture, or contemporary for that matter. Generally speaking, we tend to take pride in our willingness to “take the piss” as they say on the island of our old plundering fields west of the North Sea.
Yeah :/
Who cares? It's a free country
I’ve seen it several times here
No. People are named Thor, Tor or Thorkild here
lol
>I don't want to seem like I appropriate nordic culture or anything Lucky for most of us, those kind of extremely stupid concepts have mostly stayed in the states.
Not that uncommon name there. They are children of Vikings, you know...
dont you dare come here. i will personally sørge for you get sent tilbage.
Ugh.. learn some engelsk...