Norse Pantheonweapon
Mjolnir
- Lightning Summoning
- Unbreakable
- Returning
- Mountain Shattering
The legendary hammer of Thor, god of thunder. Capable of leveling mountains with a single blow, it always returns to its wielder's hand and summons devastating lightning storms.
About Mjolnir
Short handle, returning hammer
Snorri's Skáldskaparmál: Loki wagers his head that Brokkr and Eitri cannot match the Sons of Ivaldi. A fly (Loki) spoils the bellows; the hammer Mjöllnir comes out with a short handle. It never misses, returns to the hand, and can be small enough for the pouch. Thor hallows as well as smashes. Þrymskviða in the Poetic Edda has Thrym steal it. Viking Age amulets copy the shape; they are devotion and jewelry, not the literary hammer in a temple inventory. The forge-story is Icelandic prose of the thirteenth century, using older kennings.
Origin
Forged by the dwarf brothers Sindri and Brokkr as part of a wager with Loki, who sabotaged its creation resulting in its short handle.
Sources and further reading
Source notes
These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.
- Prose Edda, Skáldskaparmál (Brokkr and Eitri)
About this entry
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.
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