So, my favorite Eddic story is Þrymskviða, in which Mjölnir is stolen and Thor must disguise himself as Freya to get it back, with Loki's help. I'm not exactly sure what divine lesson I'm supposed to learn from it, but it is definitely hilarious.

But anyway, the mental image of Thor in a dress, all bearded and looking furious sends me into a fit of giggles, until I read this:

http://sciencenordic.com/what-vikings-really-looked

To paraphrase: It turns out scientists have a lot of difficulty telling Viking Age male and female skeletons apart. Obviously the Vikings were going to be muscular considering their lifestyle, but it turns out that the body structure of men and women were more similar than they are today. Women had more masculine faces and muscular builds, and the men had more feminine faces.

That makes Thor's story make SO much more sense!! If he shaved off his beard or his bridal veil covered the lower half of his face (I don't know what they looked like, but he does indeed wear one), and considering the Vikings were known to keep their hair long and well-groomed, then it's much more reasonable that he could pass for a woman in a dress!



Just adds an element of hilarity to the story that I thought I'd share.