The Thor Effect

Ragnar Ole sighs, “Just another day.” He works in the mailroom of the law firm, Johnson and Beam, and has done so for the past six years. Every day, he arrives at four in the morning and starts bundling the mail by departments. It must be ready for delivery by eight when the lawyers arrive. It’s mind-numbing work, and Ragnar often feels like a robot going through the motions. It’s little wonder that while on his lunch break, he can be found poring through books of Norwegian history. When he was a young boy, his father told him how his great-grandfathers believed they might have the blood of Thor coursing through their veins. “After all,”, his father would say, “Our clan and family name is quite old.” His father would always chuckle after telling the tale, and Ragnar thought he could hear just a hint of hope in his father’s voice that it might be true.

The mailroom supervisor enters the lunchroom to find Ragnar munching a sandwich and reading. He picks up the book and looks at the title. “The Ancient Gods of Norway: Fact or Fiction.” He tosses the book back down on the table and asks, “Well, which is it? Fact or fiction, uh?”

Ragnar’s crystal-clear blue eyes study Mr. Mason for signs of ridicule. When Ragnar was young, he mistakenly told the other children of the connection between his family and Thor, but they laughed and taunted him, a feeling he never outgrew.

Ragnar purses his lips. “It’s hard to say. They might be legends based on actual persons.”

Mason lifts his eyebrows. “What!Are you saying that these Norse gods actually existed?”

Ragnar shakes his head. “No.What I’m suggesting is that there may have been a small group of people who exhibited unusual talents or powers that the common folk of that time may have mistakenly assumed to be those of gods.”

“So, what happened to these so-called Mason makes quotation marks in the air people-gods?”

Ragnar responds nonchalantly, “Perhaps there were so few of them they just dwindled away. You know, like the Neanderthals.”

Mason winces. "Can gods dwindle away?”

Ragnar leans back in his chair and folds his arms. “I’ve already stated that they might have been actual humans with supernatural powers. So, yes, they could have because they are not immortal. But, by mating with regular humans, their bloodline might have continued.”

Mason strokes his chin. “But we are told through legends that they were indeed gods. Wouldn’t it be below their status to mate with ordinary humans?”

“I don’t see why. Genesis 6:1-4 tells us angels took human women to be their wives.”

“I never heard that!” Masters exclaims while typing on his iPhone. Oh! Look here in Jude 1:6,7. It says God forbade the angels from taking human women as wives because their children would be giants!”

Ragnar shrugs. “God forbids us from doing all sorts of things, but we do them anyway. The key point here is that Thor was a handsome man with red hair and a beard, who also happened to be the champion of men. He likes regular humans, so who’s to say he didn’t bed a nice-looking gal every now and then? But what I would like to know is how Thor generates lightning. I think it is mostly through his hammer but, I have read that on occasion, he can do it with just his hands.”

Mr. Mason toys with the book lying on the table, “Why are you so fascinated with Thor in the first place? It seems almost personal, if I may say so.”

Ragnar’s mind scrambles for a way to explain his quest to find his connection to Thor through blood without invoking ridicule. It’s hard to face this humiliation again.

Ragnar swallows hard. “Mr. Mason, my last name is Ole. It’s derived from Olafr, which means “ancestor’s descendant” or “heir of the ancestors.” It can also be understood to mean an ancestor’s relic, a relic from the past.My grandfather and all my grandmothers before him believed our family had a connection with Thor, possibly through his daughter, Thruda. It is said she may have fallen in love with a human man named Varg and borne his son Raul. Both names have something to do with wolves, a highly regarded figure in Norse lore. Raul was the first of the Olafur line.

Mason quips, “Is it my understanding that you, Ragnar Ole, a twenty-six-year-old mail clerk, believe he might be related to the god Thor?”

Ragnar straightens in his chair and locks eyes with his boss. “Correct.”

“So then is it your quest to study and discern if you might have inherited any of Thor’s godly powers?”

“Again, correct.”

“Well then, Ragnar, I wish you luck. And if you do find you possess any such power, I’m sure you’ll find it to be most” Mason pauses “Shocking!”

Mason walks away laughing, obviously amused by his clever pun. Watching Mason wiping his tears away fills Ragnar with fury so intense he can feel a tingling in his fingertips.

Over the next three weeks, Ragnar studies everything he can about how superheroes were able to manifest their powers. Classical mythology offered no insight into how these gods utilized their powers, only that they possessed them. Ragnar even read “The Science of Superheroes” and “The Science of Superheroes: Speed, Strength, and Flight” to no avail. Instead, they proved that such powers in humans can’t exist according to science and physics. The best explanation he discovered was a statement that any power possessed by a superhuman is under the control of the person’s mind. That is, if they have an intense desire to reach for something, the brain will respond. Ragnar concluded that to build muscle, one must engage in regular exercise. The same must be true with a super ability. Exercise.

Ragnar sits in front of a large mirror in the lotus position and meditates. closes his eyes and, with palms facing upward, he breathes deeply and slowly. In his mind’s eye, he focuses on the laughing face of Mr. Mason, tears running down his boss’s face. Ragnar experiences the same rage he felt that day, and his fingers begin to tingle. He lifts his hand and points it toward the mirror.He closes his eyes even tighter. Sweat starts to run down his face. His entire upper torso quivers, his back arches. Ragnar repeats, “I hate you, Mr. Mason”, as he intensely focuses his rage. He hears a soft crackling sound. Rahner’s eyes fly open, and, astonished, he sees a light blue light emanating from his fingertip. The room spins and he collapses onto the floor.

…

Over the past six months, Mr. Mason has noticed a change in Ragnar’s appearance. Ragnar’s hair is longer and a sort of auburn color, as well as a small goatee he is sporting on his chin. His physical build seems more toned than before; Ragnar definitely looks stronger, larger somehow. With a straight face, Mason cautiously approaches Ragnar and inquires, “So, Ragnar, how is your research coming along?”

Ragnar points his finger at Mason, then smiles.