Respect the REAL Thor.
Ive been meaning to do this for some time now. A thread dedicated to comparing the Marvel Thor to the real thor from Norse lore.
Thor's intelligence
Unfortunately in marvel and even amongst heathens today their is this impression that Thor is dumb, this not the case. Well in marvel I would not say Thor is thick, but there was one incident in The Avengers when Thor suggested that he could be the leader. She Hulk basically said he was not intelligent enough. Anyway lets see what Norse lore has to say about this:
http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/rune/399/alvismal.html#top
Thór said:
35. "I never learned like lore to dwell
in the breast of any wight born;
with wiley words outwitted thou art:
above ground finds thee, dwarf, the day;
now the sun is seen in thy hall."
This is taken from the Lay of Alvis verse 35. Let me explain whats going on here. A dwarf has come to ask Thor if he can marry his daughter. Instead of Thor killing him outright he decides to trick him instead. Thor basically tests the dwarves knowledge and asks him questions until the sunrises. When the sun rises the dwarf is turned to stone.
Dwarves are highly intelligent, the dwarves are responsible for creating the treasures of the gods, Thor's hammer being one of those treasures. Lets put its this way if its wasn't for Thor's hammer the gods would be toast.
Thor also doesnt just use brute force to get want he wants. In heathen lore Thor disguses himself as a youth in order to trick the giant Hymir.
It is also worth noticing that Thor wanted to kill the giant but he controlled himself:
http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/rune/399/gylfaginning.html#top
Thór, however, said he would be able to row a long way out from the shore all the same, and that it wasn't certain that he would be the first to demand to be rowed back; and he got so angry with the giant that he was ready incontinently to set the hammer ringing on his head. He controlled himself, however, as he was intending to try his strength in another place.
Giants are not dumb either. Alot of norse gods are descendents of giants. Some giants have vast magical powers and some giants like Mimir are extremely intelligent. It also it has been suggested that Thor used shape shifting powers to disguise himself.
Also one of Thor's names is The Deep Thinker. Thor was also the patron god of law.
Thor compared to Odin
Another thing you see in Marvel is that Thor is less powerful than Odin and that Thor takes orders from Odin. In heathen lore this is not the case. Yeah some gods are more powerful than others but with the major gods they are all All-Fathers in their own right. Just because Odin wants something done does not mean that his orders are going to be followed, if the other gods dont like what Odin has to say they wont do it end of story.
This is shown in particular in the Gautrek sagas where the gods decide to meet in order to determine the fate of Starkad. Thor does not like Starkad and basically engages in a battle of wills against Odin. For every blessing that Odin gives Starkad, Thor gives him a curse. This shows that if Thor wants to he can match Odins wits.
Its also worth noting that When Loki killed Balder, it was Thor that caught Loki and nobody else. Obvoulsy Thor had to use his wits to find him because it was not an issue of brute strength.
In Norse lore Thor also has his own realm which he lives in within Asagard. Thor lives in a place called Thrudrheim (Power home) and has his own hall called Bilskirnir
Why did Marvel make Thor dumb?
Im know Marvel did some research on Thor but not very good research but I think I now why they decided to make Thor not so intelligent. There is a poem called The Lay of Harbard where Odin disguses himself and Thor does not notice him, basically Odin takes the piss out of him and makes him look rather dumb. To just take this poem and conclude that Thor is dumb is inaccurate. Odin is always getting tricked by his wife is Odin considered to be stupid, no.
Another story that people use to imply that Thor isn't very smart is when Thor travels to Utgard Loki's lair. Basically Thor gets tricked by the giant Utgard Loki, but what people fail to understand is that Loki was there to and was tricked as well , so Loki (There were two loki's in the story Loki and Utgard-Loki)isnt any smarter than Thor is.
The problem is that Thor is a completey honest and pure being, this is why sometimes he can be percieved as being not to bright but he has enough "showings", in norse lore to prove he is just as intelligent as Odin and Loki.