Fartman queries...
I would like to ask a question about Thor. Does Thor have real-life mythology, and if so, why did Marvel choose to use him as a main franchise instead of other mythological people? How are they able to use him freely as one of THEIR characters? If Thor does not have real mythology, was he inspired by anything?
Galactus answers...
I will assume that you KNOW that Thor is a character in Norse Mythology and are asking, in your first question, whether his mythology is based on a real person--like King Arthur, who is believed by some to have been a genuine historical figure, a Romano-British leader who fought against the invading Anglo-Saxons sometime in the late 5th to early 6th century.
The answer to that question then is NO. Thor is a pagan religious invention.
Of course, since we're talking religion here, if you are Christian you may look at Thor as another evidence of a Christology in all myths. Meaning that Thor is a pagan representation of the "savior of mankind". Most every myth among all cultures have similar themes and stories that align with biblical accounts and are pointed to by religious people as evidence of man's spiritual "group think". The story of the creation, the flood, and Jesus redeeming the world have supposedly been told over and over again throughout time. Even today, Frodo represents the christ figure in Lord of the Rings, Aslan does in Narnia, and in comic books Superman descends to earth and saves the world again and again--as do pretty much ALL the comic book leading characters (Although, somebody needs to do an essay applying this theory to anti-heroes).
As for why Marvel chose Thor for their universe. Marvel creators needed a "strong" character to give the hulk a run for his money.
Writer-editor Stan Lee described Thor's genesis...
"How do you make someone stronger than the strongest person? It finally came to me: Don't make him human — make him a god. I decided readers were already pretty familiar with the Greek and Roman gods. It might be fun to delve into the old Norse legends... Besides, I pictured Norse gods looking like Vikings of old, with the flowing beards, horned helmets, and battle clubs. ...Journey into Mystery needed a shot in the arm, so I picked Thor ... to headline the book. After writing an outline depicting the story and the characters I had in mind, I asked my brother, Larry, to write the script because I didn't have time. ...and it was only natural for me to assign the penciling to Jack Kirby..." --Quote from Wikipedia
So I guess Marvel's Thor ALSO owes his inspiration to The Incredible Hulk!
And since nobody can trademark a Norse myth, Marvel didn't need to ask permission to use the character in their comics. Of course they HAVE trademarked their version of Thor: blonde, with the big circles down his front, the red cape and such. So if you market your own comic book with their exact look for Thor YOU can be sued. I remember in the early days of Image, Rob Leifeld did a version of Thor with red hair and a long handle hammer. Anybody remember that?
Would any of you other Geeks like to add? How about naming off all the other characters from myths that Marvel has stolen for their universe.