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In the beginning of Thor: The Dark World movie, there's a conversation between Thor & Odin:

Odin: Is Vanaheim secure?
Thor: As are Nornheim and Ria. Though our work would have gone more quickly with you at the fore.
Odin: You must think I'm a piece of bread that needs to be buttered so heavily.
Thor: That was not my intent.

What's the meaning of all this? I am not a kind of philosopher guy, but is that a way for Thor to tell that Odin was old or weak or something to draw lots of black magic to survive wars? Why couldn't Odin go to wars?

Update:
Some are saying Thor was simply reporting without special meaning & he had a respect for Odin. Then, why did he not follow the order of Odin later in the movie? He did even insulted him at that time. So, Thor's words must have special meaning. Odin was clever enough to detect that, too. Or, why would Odin bother to say buttering thing in a serious conversation.

I want to know special meaning of Thor's words.

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    You are looking for something that isn't there. The scene is simple: Thor is reporting to Odin, Thor incidentally makes a flattering comment, Odin comments on the flattery. There is no weird mysterious secret agenda here, and you can look up the idiom "butter up" to see for yourself what it means. I gave you a link in my answer.
    – steveha
    Commented Feb 5, 2014 at 21:09
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    Agree with @steveha - The comment is intended as light-hearted flattery; "The battle went well but would have gone even better if you were at the vanguard". Odin knows full well that he's too old to fight any more battles (indeed, he's been actively considering retirement since we first met him in film one) but he acknowledges the flattery anyway.
    – Valorum
    Commented Feb 5, 2014 at 21:19
  • Regardless of the false premise, the answer to "Why couldn't Odin go to war?" is "Odin is the king, and is old and tired. He's unfit for extensive travel, prolonged combat, and other war-related activities." Commented Feb 6, 2014 at 18:16

3 Answers 3

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What's the meaning of all this?

Thor: As are Nornheim and Ria. Though our work would have gone more quickly with you at the fore.

Thor is (possibly unintentionally, based on following dialog) flattering Odin. "We did well, but we could have done it faster if you were with us."

but is that a way of telling that he was old or weak or something to draw lots of black magic to survive wars?

Odin: You must think I'm a piece of bread that needs to be buttered so heavily.

No one is implying that Odin is too weak or lacks the power. Odin is the Allfather - the commander-in-chief. While he is a mighty warrior, it's generally a bad idea to put the king of Asgard, leader of everything, and the protector of the realms on the front line unless it's absolutely necessary.

In this line, Odin basically tells Thor that he doesn't need flattery or praise.

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    You are basically saying, they were doing informal talks on serious a topic. Wasn't Odin clever enough to predict buttering? Commented Feb 5, 2014 at 20:48
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    What does being clever have to do with anything? He doesn't need to predict it. It's not like he's being attacked. His son just said, "Hey, dad! We did awesome, but you're super awesome!" There is nothing that he needs to be defensive about here.
    – phantom42
    Commented Feb 5, 2014 at 20:50
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    See the update... Commented Feb 5, 2014 at 21:03
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    In the second movie, he did even worse. Commented Feb 5, 2014 at 21:09
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    That's not insulting Odin and it doesn't mean he doesn't love or respect him.
    – phantom42
    Commented Feb 5, 2014 at 21:24
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There is an idiom in English, "to butter up" someone. It means to flatter.

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/butter+up

So, Thor isn't telling Odin to stay away from the battles. Thor is saying that Odin would be helpful in the battles. (But Thor doesn't actually say "You shouldn't stay here" or any other criticism.)

As for why Odin didn't go, I agree with @phantom42, it's a bad idea to send the King to the danger zones of battles.

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    You are basically saying, they were doing informal talks on serious a topic. Wasn't Odin clever enough to predict buttering? Commented Feb 5, 2014 at 20:48
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    I'm not sure I understand your comment and question. But Thor was giving his report, and added his comment about the battles going better with Odin's help. Thor denied any intent to "butter up" Odin, but really that comment was at least a little bit of flattery. In the first Thor movie, Thor was disrespectful to Odin, so I took this as his intentionally giving some proper respect, as a rejection of his disrespect from the first movie. I don't know about Odin predicting the flattery, but Odin certainly noticed it and commented upon it.
    – steveha
    Commented Feb 5, 2014 at 20:53
  • See the update... Commented Feb 5, 2014 at 21:05
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Odin: Is Vanaheim secure?
Thor: As are Nornheim and Ria. Though our work would have gone more quickly with you at the fore.

Translation:

Odin: Hey son, did you win in Vanaheim?
Thor: Yep! We rocked Nornheim and Ria too. Though we could've done it a lot quicker if you were with us dad!

So just normal father/son banter just in very formal language. Thor is basically saying his father is a mighty warrior who could've done the job much quicker than him.


Odin: You must think I'm a piece of bread that needs to be buttered so heavily.

Translation:

Odin: Brown noser!

Odin is just going along with the flow, accusing his son of empty flattery.

So it's quite apparent from the conversation that Thor respected and loved his father. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that Thor agrees with everything his father says or does. Hence why he disobeyed him and freed Loki. Thor still loves and respects his father, but in that particular issue he belived that he was wrong and could not stand by watching as his father made that mistake.

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