Original artwork, not a still
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul · 1988
Thor was the God of Thunder and, frankly, acted like it.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is Adams at his driest: the god of thunder behaving exactly as advertised, with the 'frankly' doing the work. The joke gives a mythic figure the personality of a man who cannot cope with a ticket desk, which is the whole spirit of the book. Fans quote it for any loud, stormy temperament, and it gets a fresh airing whenever Thor turns up in pop culture.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The Long Dark Tea-Time of the SoulShow the scene
The line comes from Douglas Adams's 1988 novel The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, the second Dirk Gently book, in which Norse gods have ended up living rough in modern London. Thor is the book's angriest god: he is trying to fly from Heathrow's Terminal Two to Oslo without a ticket, credit card or passport, and his temper wrecks the check-in area, turning a fighter jet into an eagle and a clerk into a drinks machine. Kate Schechter, who is queuing behind him, pays for his ticket and is drawn into the mess. The narrator's quip about his thunderous behaviour belongs to the book's account of him; the exact chapter could not be confirmed.
Sources (3)
- Wikiquote: Douglas Adamssection for The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988)Reference checked
- Wikipedia: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the SoulPlotReference checked
- Dirk Gently wiki: ThorBiographyReference checked
Context reviewed
