From Floamanna Saga, Iceland, 14th century.
Thorgils ran a farm in Floi in southern Iceland. When Christianity came to Iceland Thorgils was among the first to be converted. Soon after Thor visited him in a dream, the god gave Thorgils an evil look and said he had been betrayed. Furthermore the silver allocated to him had been hurled into a stinking pond. Thor promised to pay Thorgils back in kind. Thorgils was undaunted and replied that God would defend him, and furthermore said he was glad to have broken his friendship with the heathen god.
When Thorgils woke he found his hayfield boar lying dead. Knowing Thor to be responsible he buried the animal near a ruined house so no one would eat of the beast Thor had claimed. Thorgils dreamed that Thor visited him again. Thor threatened to kill Thorgils, just as he had killed the boar, but again Thorgils claimed the protection of God. Thor threatened to kill more of farmer's beasts and Thorgil said he didn't care.
The next night a bull was killed. The following night Thorgils stayed up to guard his beasts and came back in the morning covered in bruises. The folk of Floi were convinced that he had met with Thor. After that no more animals were killed.
Afterwards Thorgils received an invitation from Erik the Red to accept a large farm in Greenland. After considerable thought Thorgils decided to pack up and settle in Greenland taking his cattle, family, servants and slaves with him.
Again Thorgils dreamt of a now familar, large and red bearded man. Thor warned Thorgils that if he travelled to Greenland his journey would be hard, unless he changed his faith and placed his trust in his former patron. Thorgils told Thor that he would never want his help again and dismissed him curtly. Once more he stated that God would protect him. In his dream Thorgils was led to a cliff top where Thor pointed to the crashing waves below. Thor told him that such a sea would be the end of Thorgils unless he renounced God. Yet again Thorgils reasserted his faith in Christianity.
When Thorgils woke he told his wife about the dream and she was greatly concerned and advised him not to travel. However when fair winds blew Thorgils and his household embarked for the voyage. As soon as the ship was out of sight of land it was becalmed. Time passed and the folk grew short of food and water.
Thor appeared to Thorgils in another dream, and repeated his same threats and promises of help should Thorgils change his alligence. Thorgils told him to go away. As more days passed Thorgils' household became increasingly concerned and asked if they might invoke Thor for assistance. Thorgils firmly refused and told them that anyone who made such a sacrifice would regret it, and said it in such a tone that nobody asked again.
Thorgils dreamed of Thor again that night. Thor complained that Thorgils was endangering the lives of the folk who still honoured him. Thor promised to see the ship to land in seven days if Thorgils would return to him. Thorgils said that he would rather die. The god replied sourly that Thorgils could at least return his property.
The last comment puzzled Thorgils and he wondered what Thor could be refering to. Then he remembered that one of his oxen had been dedicated to Thor as a calf. Despite the complaints of his staving family Thorgils had the ox thrown overboard.
After a difficult journey during which the ship was all but wecked Thorgils and his household made the crossing to Greenland.
Source: The Complete Sagas of Icelanders, Edited by Vidar Hreinsson, Leifur Eiriksson Publishing, 1997.
(Thor seems to have taken over from the Christian devil here in an almost Biblical tale of temptation and piety. There are also similarities between Thor's behaviour and the stories of malevant ghosts and monsters from Icelandic folklore. Bear in mind that this story was recorded in the fourteenth century - three hundred years after the official conversion - a time when all 'heathen' material would have been coloured by the new faith.
Even so Thorgils' long struggle against the legendary thundergod is greatly to the man's credit. What happened during the one to one fight in the cattleshed is never explained, maybe the storyteller intended to show Thorgils successful in defending his property.
The story also gives interesting clues to the manner of heathen worship. Thor was invoked for peaceful sea voyages and the protection of livestock, a role that the vengeful pagan demon of this tale turns on its head. Thor was given gifts of silver and cattle, indeed the bull may be a cult animal as it also appears in the serpent-fishing myth. Thor is also given an intensely shamanic role with his influence over dreams, though whether this is a survival from heathen beleif or a Christian slant to the story is difficult to say.')