Thor and the Devil

A folktale of Thor from Sussex England


Thorskegga Thorn of Thorshof


In ancient times Thor was fond of sitting on Treyford Hill beside a series of five burial mounds. One day while Thor was taking a nap on the hilltop, the Devil came past. The Devil spotted the five barrows and could not resist leaping between five barrows on top of the hilltop.

The Devil's leaping and thumping woke Thor who was less than pleased to be roused in so rude a fashion, he shouted at the Devil to go away. The Devil laughed and continued leaping, taunting Thor that he was too old to join in. Thor grabbed a huge boulder and hurled it at the Devil, catching him in the belly in the middle of his highest leap. The Devil howled and fled, and has not been seen on Treyford Hill ever since.

Place names connected to the Anglo-Saxon thunder god Thunor are most common in the South of England so it is not surprising that there are also two folktales of the god in Surrey and Sussex. However it is very unlikely that this story survives from heathen times and is probably a more recent invention.

The use of the name 'Thunor' seems to have died out in England at the height of the Viking settlement, when the Anglo-Saxons were largely Christian and the Norse gods were more familiar.


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