Study › Runes & Norse › Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr
Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr are the two goats that pull Thor's chariot. Thor can kill and eat them, and raise them alive again with his hammer.
Thor's goats
Thor's chariot is drawn by two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr, 'Teeth-Barer' and 'Teeth-Grinder'. Their thunder across the sky is the rumble of his wheels.
The goats that come back
They have a remarkable gift. Snorri tells how Thor, travelling with Loki, stopped for the night with a farmer, killed and cooked his goats, and invited the family to eat, telling them to throw the bones onto the goatskins. The next morning Thor raised Mjollnir over the skins, and the goats stood up alive again — except that one was lame in its hind leg. The farmer's son Thjalfi had split its thigh-bone to get at the marrow.
Thjalfi and Roskva
Thor's fury was terrible, and to calm him the farmer gave him his two children, Thjalfi and Roskva, who became Thor's servants and followed him on his journeys, including to the hall of the giant Utgarda-Loki.
Read about Thor, Mjolnir and Thor's journey to Utgard.
Questions
What do Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr mean?
"Teeth-Barer" and "Teeth-Grinder".
Why is one of Thor's goats lame?
The farmer's son Thjalfi split its thigh-bone for the marrow.