Tharapita or Taara is the god of war in Estonian mythology. The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia mentions Tharapita as superior god of Oeselians (inhabitants of Saaremaa island) which was also well known to Vironian tribe in Northern Estonia. According to the chronicle, when crusaders invaded Vironia in 1220, there was a beautiful wooded hill in Vironia, where locals believe Oeselian god Tharapita was born and flown from there to Saaremaa. The hill is believed to be Ebavere Hill in Lääne-Viru County. It is usually associated with Scandinavian god Thor and interpreted as "Thor, help!" (Taara avita in Estonian). Other interpretations are "Thor the Thunderbolt" (Taara pitkne) or "Thor (is) great" (Taara pika).

Tharapita seems to be known also among the Slavs of the island of Rugen, where Danish crusaders destroyed pagan idol named Turupit in 1168.

The "flight from Vironia to Saaremaa" is sometimes associated with a major meteor disaster that formed lake Kaali in Saaremaa. One proponent of theories about meteor flight and its consequences was Lennart Meri, the president of Estonia 1992–2001, who has written several books about the subject. However, the studies of Kaali meteorite site have not confirmed the meteor event was recent enought to be preserved in the folklore.

In later Estonian folklore, Tharapita is known as Taara or Tooru. Worship of Thor in Estonia was well known. After medieval chronicles, Estonians did not work on Thursdays (days of Thor). Thurdays nights were called "evenings of Tooru ". Some sources say Estonians used to gather in Holy woods (Hiis) in Thurdsay evenings where bagpipe player was sitting on stone and played while people danced and sang until the dawn.

The variations similar to the name "Thor" are known to many Finno-Ugrian. Khants have a god named Torum, Samis have Turms, Samoyed Tere. Finnish bishop Mikael Agricola mentions 1551 a war god Turisas. These deities are associated with Finno-Ugrian word meaning "high". It is suggested that Germanic god Thor himself may be a loan from Finno-Ugrians.

Tharapitha is also inspired a Estonian neopagan movement, known as taaralased or taarausulised. In the middle of 19th century, Taara became popular among national movement. From that period, Estonian second biggest city Tartu is poetically called "Taaralinn" (city of Taara).