Who are Thor’s Goats, Toothgrinder and Toothgnasher?
These two are the Greatest Of All Time.
With Thor: Love and Thunder‘s release date fast approaching, Marvel keeps dropping little treats to tide us over. A series of gorgeous new movie posters gave us new group photos, along with a series of solo character designs. The single posters feature one for Thor (Chris Hemsworth) himself, Jane Foster/Mighty Thor (Natalie Portman), Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi), new villain Gorr (Christian Bale), and even Zeus (Russell Crowe).
These posters might be distractingly pretty, but the best one centered on two CGI goats. For the first time, Thor’s two goats will appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let’s get to know these adorable horned creatures.
From the pages of Marvel Comics
Created by Steve Englehart and John Buscema, Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder first appeared in Marvel back in 1976’s Thor Annual #5. The pair are very large, measuring around 6 feet tall at the withers (shoulders), and they weigh about 1700 pounds. As the great big boys they are, these goats are also much stronger than the average goat (even with size adjustment accounted for). Even Mjolnir’s almost indestructible uru metal took damage from the goats.
But they are more than just battering rams (haha a goat pun); Thor depends on them. Their primary function is to pull a chariot for Thor. Since Thor himself can fly with the aid of his hammer, Thor usually leaves the goats to protect and ferry others safely through the cosmos. Both can fly through all the 10 realms.
Norse Inspiration
As with many comic Thor elements, the goats originated in ancient Norse mythology. Several Norse gods traveled via chariot pulled by animal familiars. My favorite being Freyja (goddess of love and war), who had large house cats pulling her around (who needs horses when you have cats). But Thor’s goats are a close second.
Originally named Tanngrisnir (Toothgnasher) and Tanngnjóstr (Toothgrinder), they transported Thor wherever he wished. Thor would also cook them and eat their meat when he required it. Every morning after he ate them, Thor used power from Mjolnir to resurrect them. They only retain damage from being eaten if their bones are broken.
If you watched the trailer carefully (or looked in the background of other posters), you may have spotted the goats pulling huge boats full of people in New Asgard. It seems like they will be doing their normal job, but I hope they are featured a bit more than that. Marvel Comics has a lot of cool animal characters that should be introduced into the movies or used more after their cameo appearance.
(feature image: Marvel)
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