weapon

Mjolnir

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.

Description

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.

Primary Sources

“The hammer was defective in that the handle was rather short. Yet they judged that the hammer was the best of all the works and the greatest defence against the frost-giants.”
Prose Edda, Skáldskaparmál (Brokkr and Eitri)(c. 1220 CE)

Powers & Abilities

Lightning SummoningUnbreakableReturningMountain Shattering