This article contains lore based on real-life sources from Norse mythology as introduced from the God of War Norse era.
“ | Seeing the Valkyries fight- all strength and style, no apologies- it gave me clarity. For the first time, I saw my path forward. Clear as day. | ” |
–Thrúd to Loki |
Thrúd (Old Norse: Þrúðr, Nordic: ᚦᚱᚢᛞ) also known as Thrúd Thorsdóttir (Thrúd, daughter of Thor), is the daughter of Thor and Sif, younger half-sister of Magni and Modi. After her father's death in Ragnarök, she inherits his hammer Mjölnir and his mantle titles as the Goddess of Thunder for herself.
Norse Mythology[]
Þrúðr (Old Norse: [ˈθruːðz̠], "strength"), sometimes anglicized as Thrud or Thrúd, is a daughter of the major God Thor and the Goddess Sif in Norse Mythology. Þrúðr is also the name of one of the Valkyries who serve ale to the Einherjar in Valhalla (Grímnismál, Stanza 36).
The Poetic Edda poem Alvíssmál features a dwarf named Alvíss who claims to be engaged to Thor’s daughter. While the daughter is not named, she might be Þrúðr.
The Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál (4) tells that Thor can be referred to by the kenning "father of Þrúðr" (faðir Þrúðar). Eysteinn Valdason uses it in his poem about Thor (2). The Skáldskaparmál (21) adds that her mother is Sif. In Bragi Boddason's Ragnarsdrápa, the jötunn Hrungnir is called "thief of Þrúðr" (Þrúðar þjófr). But there is no direct reference to this myth in any other source. Skáldskaparmál (17), in which Snorri relates the fight between Thor and Hrungnir, mentions a very different cause, and Þjóðólfr of Hvinir's Haustlöng only describes the fight without giving the reason for it. This poem depicts two mythological scenes painted on a shield, the first being Iðunn's abduction by the Giant Þjazi. Margaret Clunies Ross suggested that the two episodes might be complementary, both dealing with the abduction of a Goddess by a Giant, its failure and the death of the abductor. Another kenning may allude to this Myth: in Eilífr Goðrúnarson's Þórsdrápa (18), Thor is called "he who longs fiercely for Þrúðr" (þrámóðnir Þrúðar).
In the God of War Series[]
Backstory[]
Thrúd was born from the marriage of Thor and Sif and grew up in Asgard with her brothers, Magni and Modi.
God of War (2018)[]
While on their way to Thamur' chisel, Kratos and Atreus overheard Magni and Modi nearby, having sensed their presence. They come across Sindri hiding from them, and Kratos demands he tell what he can about the two. Sindri goes on about their status as only demigods, not full gods, having separate mothers which he describes as a 'sordid story.' He begins to mention their relations to other Aesir and that they have a sister, but before he can name her, Kratos becomes annoyed and clarifies that he wants to know how Magni and Modi fight, not their relations. The sister Sindri refers to is undoubtedly Thrúd.
God of War Ragnarök[]
When Atreus, who's referred to as Loki during his time in Asgard, is welcomed into a room by Odin himself and left alone, Thrúd appears, pointing her blade at him and walks into his privacy before she reveals that the room originally belonged to Modi, her brother that Atreus killed. Luckily, she doesn't show any ill will towards him and dropped her giant blade into the floor, instead offering him a handshake. They warm up to each other easily and go for a walk; Atreus attempts to dislodge her sword to hand it to her but cannot budge it, to which she bemusedly pulls it out with one hand and assures that someone will repair the damaged floorboards. Along the way, she talks about the origins of her gigantic blade and expresses her aspirations to become a Valkyrie someday. If Atreus stays with her, she goes to introduce him to her mother, Sif, who has already met Atreus, and doesn't take kindly to him because of what he's done to their family with the help of Kratos, to Thrúd's embarrassment. Thrúd pulls him away and allows him to go to Odin, only to remind him that this is the chance to prove himself if he wanted to get anywhere.
After the mission with Thor, Thrúd welcomes Atreus back and is happy to hear that Thor kind of behaved himself.
Behind the giant stone wall between Asgard and the Midgardians, Thrúd comes to tell Atreus that Odin has requested to see him, while Skjöldr stays awkwardly but leaves them to do their duty, leading her to say that Midgardian males are weird sometimes. Afterward, Thrúd leaves Atreus to go see Odin while she goes to deliver some milk curd from Skjöldr to her mother.
If Atreus choose to eavesdrop, he can hear Thrúd and Sif arguing about Thrúd needing to think about her duty other than the dreams she wants to make come true.
Tasked to go to Helheim and retrieve the last part of the mask, Thrúd arrives to hear that she has an opportunity to prove herself to the All-Father by going with Atreus alongside the annoying Heimdall who has something else to do in Helheim. Odin sends them to Helheim to do their work while he goes to complete his task. Throughout the journey, Thrúd stubbornly dismisses Atreus when he brings up the numerous terrible things that Odin has done, presumably due to having fed lies by Odin and the Aesir. She also explains that she wants to become a Valkyrie because in the past, after a giant argument with Sif, she spied the Valkyries training and she immediately knew that's what she wanted to do in the future. When Atreus releases Garm, Thrúd is both angry and scared, worried that Odin will punish her, though she protects Atreus against Heimdall who scolds him for this terrible mistake. Heimdall then proceeds to mock Thrúd and her father, and she angrily tries to attack him, only for Heimdall to easily evade her blows. Eventually, Atreus steps in and tries to calm her down, and she relents, to which they return to Asgard, with Heimdall's taunts continuing, teasing that the All-Father will be furious with them. With her opportunity to impress Odin and prove herself to the Aesir failing miserably, Thrúd was extremely angry with Atreus.
Odin later tells Atreus to find Thor to accompany him to Niflheim, and Atreus asks Thrúd where he might be. Together they find him in a tavern, extremely drunk, which sickens Thrúd. To no avail, she attempts to stop Thor from drinking, worried that he'll become violent, only for Thor to do just that, throwing a canteen at Atreus that hits an Einherjar soldier, which starts a massive brawl. Whilst Thor gets stuck into the action, Thrúd and Atreus fight off multiple drunken Einherjar, with Thrúd assuring Atreus that Odin won't punish them for killing Einherjar since they're technically dead already. As Thor kills the last Einherjar captain, Thrúd tries to talk sense into Thor, but an oblivious Thor gulps the rest of his mead and collapses, forcing both her and Atreus to carry his heavy hide outside. There she berates Thor for his drunken, violent behavior, saddened by the fact that he'd relapsed again due to Odin's cruel treatment of him, as well as reassuring him that she and Sif were there for him when he needed it.
By the time of Ragnarök, it had been a few days since Atreus last saw Thrúd because he was forced to escape Asgard, and because he's brought an entire army to her home, she sees him as an enemy and tries to kill him, pinning him up to the wall. Still, she refuses to understand that Odin is evil and doesn't care for her, especially when Atreus states that Odin plans to execute the Midgardians, including their friends. Finally, she submits to see reason once her mother comes in with a bloody Skjöldr, and explains that Odin was always a deceiver and that he'd execute anyone, even his own family if they were a threat. Choosing the right side, she goes to try to stop her father as he's the main obstacle between them and Odin.
Busting through a wall with the help of Sindri, Kratos meets her in-person and compliments her fighting abilities. The battle between Thor and Jörmungandr gains their attention and Thrúd is told to run with the mask and Atreus as far as they can. Jörmungandr is sent back in time and Thor, believing Kratos was going to hurt Thrúd, attacks the Spartan in a blind rage despite his daughter's pleas.
After the battle between Kratos and Thor, Thrúd is horrified to see her father murdered by Odin as retribution for finally standing up to him. Thor reaches out to Thrúd before he dies and disintegrates. Odin tries to blame Thor's death on Kratos and Atreus, but Thrúd refuses to believe his lies any more. She tries to attack Odin only for him to grab Mjölnir and use it to hurl Thrúd out of Asgard and to safety.
In the aftermath of Ragnarök, Atreus discovers that Thrúd and her mother survived and are sitting together by a fire, with Thrúd being fussed over by her mother for her injuries. Their plans are to take some Asgardians to Vanaheim to help rebuild. Atreus comforts Thrúd, telling her that in the end Thor had tried to change, which she does take comfort in. She tells Atreus that it was an honor to fight alongside him, and reveals that rather than go to Vanaheim, she plans to find something. Atreus wishes her luck on her search and the two say their goodbyes to each other.
Thrúd was later found by Kratos, Freya and Mimir near the desert shop in Alfheim, having found Mjölnir there. She tells her father that she will make him proud before flying into the air with her new hammer, to which Mimir expresses his congratulations. Lúnda states that she has a good feeling about Thrúd wielding Mjölnir, regardless of her lineage, with Freya agreeing that Thrúd was an impressive young woman. Lúnda remarks how awestruck Thrúd was to meet Freya, who was the queen of the Valkyries, and the latter expresses her belief that since Thrúd is now armed with her father's hammer, she would seek out Sigrún for training. Before the trio depart, Lúnda laments that Brok and Sindri would've been happy that Mjölnir was finally in good hands.
Valhalla[]
When Kratos goes to Valhalla at the behest of a then-unknown party, he is eventually confronted by Freya and the remaining Valkyries for his actions. As he continues to progress through the challenges of Valhalla, he is continuously thrust back to the shore, at which point he and Mimir inquire on the state of affairs in the other realms. During one of these points, Kratos will ask about the state of the Valkyries, to which Sigrún will say that though they are doing their best their efforts are nonetheless hindered by how there are only three remaining Valkyries left to attend to the dead. She also says that they have begun recruiting new Shield-Maidens to make up for the loss of Valkyries during Ragnarok, and that even before the call had left their lips, Thrúd wanted to join. Hearing this, Kratos gives his full support behind her, complimenting both her fighting skills and vouching for her trustworthiness. Sigrún, momentarily shocked, agrees that if the General who led the armies against Asgard during Ragnarok recommends her, they couldn't possibly ignore her -- while also joking that even if they tried, the daughter of Thor wouldn't let them.
Personality[]
Thrúd is introduced as a strong-willed, headstrong, determined young girl. As shown with her interactions with Atreus, she is generally kind and friendly towards others and will do her best to respect them. She was also shown interacting cordially with Skjöldr, showing she doesn't hold any prejudice against Midgardians or other species, unlike several of her fellow Aesir. Thrúd especially holds the Valkyries in high esteem, with joining their ranks being her dream.
She cares deeply about her parents. However, she would often get into arguments with Sif since she did not want to see Thrud get killed the same way that Magni and Modi did, thus objecting her desire to become a warrior and Valkyrie. It's heavily implied that Thrúd did not have a good relationship with her brothers, possibly being bullied by Modi when they were younger, and while she appeared to be saddened by their loss, she claimed that they were better off without them. Most notably, she loves her father Thor a great deal and seeing him becoming drunk again not only embarrasses her but also leaves her saddened that he had broken his promise to stop drinking. Thrúd nonetheless supports and loves her father deeply and it is ultimately for her sake that finally convinces Thor to be better and stand up to Odin.
Thrúd's relationship with her other family members are vague at best but she mentioned that she hardly knew her uncle Baldur since he was rarely home. She held no ill will towards Atreus for killing Modi, stating that they were better off without him anyway, indicating that she had a bad relationship with him. She also didn't have a good relationship with Heimdall unsurprisingly, due to the Watchman's arrogance and condescending nature, attacking him when he cruelly mocked her father and of her goal of becoming a Valkyrie. As a result, she wasn't particularly upset upon hearing of Heimdall's death. Whilst she almost never mentions Magni to Atreus at all other than briefly stating that her room used to belong to him, the fact that she makes such sparce reference to him suggests that she didn't have a close relationship with her eldest sibling.
Similar to many of the other Aesir, unfortunately, Thrúd was fanatically supportive of her grandfather, believing him to be a wise, caring ruler. As a result, she would refuse to believe Atreus when he told her about all of the crimes Odin had committed. Then, when Ragnarök arrives and Thrúd confronts Atreus again, she raises her sword at him and nearly kills him. When Atreus reveals that Odin purposefully placed the Midgardians on the front lines to slow down the enemy, Thrúd still refuses to believe him. It's only after Sif arrives that she's convinced to help Atreus stop Odin. As Thor is killed before her eyes, Thrúd clearly sees through Odin's lies and charges toward her grandfather, finally going against Odin and seeing him for the monster he really was.
Appearance[]
Thrúd is best described as a Goddess of brawny build and tall stature for her age, notably standing taller than other characters her age like Atreus and Skjöldr, likely due to the genetics of her half-Giant father, Thor. She has pale skin, blue eyes, freckles and shoulder-length ginger hair, with a more vibrant streak of red in a tuft across the right side of her head. The back of her hair is joined in an elaborate lattice braid, held together with burnished, bronze hair cuffs and hemp-rope strings. Upon her face are various visible scars, which streak across her skin akin to slash wounds. These scars are more prominent on the left side of her face, with only a few being seen on her right forehead.
Elegant Urnes-styled tattoos can be found inked across Thrúd's arms, shoulders and hands in a vibrant blue, ending just before reaching her shoulder-blades yet finding subtle continuity in the design along her golden breastplate. As evidenced in Lúnda's Workshop Notes, traditional Aesir design elements are incorporated alongside Elven motif on her breastplate, suggesting Thrúd herself had a hand in the build of her attire and found inspiration in foreign patterns. Most visible regarding her outfit is the shaggy brown pelt Thrúd wears along her waist, hanging over the majority of her attire and creating a window down the center where her dark brown trousers are hardly visible underneath her brown fur-covered boots. Golden, decorative tasset plates and rings hang at both ends of her fur pelt to compliment her breastplate, while various soapstone medallions hang from the center of the chestnut-brown tasset guards at her waist and hips. This leather piece also aids in carrying Thrúd's weapons, which both hang from an embellished leather strap and dual-sheath from behind her. The fur lining Thrúd's boots is fastened with rope, while multiple small cuts of brown hemp-rope can be seen acting as accessories along her forearms.
Thrúd carries around two personal weapons of choice to match the versatility of the Valkyries, having in possession an ornate machete and mace—both serving as indirect nods to her brothers Magni and Modi. The machete is the more decorated of the two, the silver blade adorned with golden firegilded knotwork while the pommel and guard are enriched with similar swirl-patterns on shiny steel. The handle itself is a light tan wood. Thrúd's mace isn't as elaborate as the former weapon, made up of a sturdy silver steel affixed to light brown wood, its handle wrapped in green fabric. Swirl-pattern knotwork is still present in this weapon as well, though it isn't as prominent as the machete.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
As the daughter of Thor and Sif, Thrúd is a powerful Aesir Goddess.
- Immortality: As a Goddess, Thrúd is immortal. Once she reaches adulthood, she will stop aging, she can't get sick, and she can only be killed by stronger Gods or magic weapons.
- Superhuman Strength: As the youngest of Thor and Sif's children, Thrúd was capable of taking on the Einherjar during the fight in Black Thunder. She was even able to lift her inebriated father, albeit not without Atreus' aid or significant difficulty.
- Superhuman Durability: Thrud was able to withstand a Mjölnir throw from Odin with little injuries to show, albeit he implied that he had no intentions to kill her.
- Electrokinesis: Like her father and brothers, Thrúd has the power to generate and manipulate electricity. She can imbue her weapons with electrical energy and deliver powerful electrical blows.
- Flight: After claiming Mjölnir, Thrud gained the ability to fly using electricity.
Abilities[]
- Expert Combatant: Thrúd is a born warrior, she is so skilled that even Kratos was impressed with her battle skills upon seeing it, even suggesting her name as a potential Valkyrie recruit to Sigrun.
- Expert Swordswoman: She is quite skilled in the use of her two swords.
Weapons[]
- Thrúd's Sword and Mace: Thrúd carries a sword and a mace.
- Mjölnir: After her father's death and Asgard's destruction, Thrúd manages to find Mjölnir and claim the hammer for herself.
Gallery[]
Photo Mode[]
Cosplay Guides[]
Concept Artworks[]
Trivia:[]
- When Thrúd tells Atreus that the room he's using used to belong to Modi, there is a scene where she goes to one of his shields and seems to be a bit sad about it. This indicates that she did miss him and that they used to be close when Modi was still alive.
- Thrúd's weapons appeared to have been recycled from old concept art of Magni, who was depicted wielding two smaller swords instead of the greatsword that he was shown wielding in the game. Thrúd's swords also appear quite similar to the concept art of Magni's weapons.
- Thrúd, along with her brothers, embodies their father's features:
- Thrúd (Þrúðr) (Old Norse: "Strength").
- Modi (Móði) (Old Norse: “Courage, wrath"; anglicized Módi or Mothi).
- Magni (Old Norse: "Great, mighty").
- A Thrúd 'bot cameos in Astro Bot, labelled "Thunder Goddess." Its description reads "Big hair, bigger heart."
Reference[]
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