| Mjolnir | |
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Other Names |
Mjǫllnir |
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First Appearance |
Norse Myth |
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Created by |
Unknown |
Origin[]
Mjölnir is the hammer of the thunder god Thor in Norse mythology, used both as a devastating weapon and as a divine instrument to provide blessings. The hammer is attested in numerous sources, including the 11th century runic Kvinneby amulet, the Poetic Edda, a collection of eddic poetry compiled in the 13th century, and the Prose Edda, a collection of prose and poetry compiled in the 13th century. The hammer was commonly worn as a pendant during the Viking Age in the Scandinavian cultural sphere, and Thor and his hammer occur depicted on a variety of objects from the archaeological record. Today the symbol appears in a wide variety of media and is again worn as a pendant by various groups, including adherents of modern Heathenry.
The hammer is a focal point of the eddic poem Þrymskviða. In the poem, Thor wakes one day to find that his hammer is missing. Furious, the god pulls his beard, shakes his head, and searches for the absent weapon. Thor consults with Loki, informing him that only he knows that his hammer is missing.
Thor and Loki go to the goddess Freyja, and Loki asks her if he might use her feather garment. Freyja readily agrees, Loki puts on the cloak, and flies to Jötunheimr. There he finds the jötunn Þrymr sitting on a burial mound and caring for his animals.
The two speak, and Þrymr confirms to Loki that he has stolen the hammer. Þrymr says that he has buried it deep in the ground and no one will ever get it back unless they bring him Freyja to be his wife. Loki flies back to Asgard and meets with Thor. Thor asks Loki if he has any news, and Loki tells Thor Þrymr's ultimatum.
The gods meet together in counsel and discuss how to get the hammer back. The god Heimdallr proposes that Thor put on a bridal head-dress and wear Brísingamen as if he were Freyja. Thor initially rejects the proposal, but Loki convinces him that if he doesn't, the jötnar in Jötunheim who stole his hammer will soon call Asgard their home. The gods dress Thor in bridal gear, Loki dresses as "Freyja's" maid to accompany him, and the two drive Thor's goat-led wagon to Jötunheimr, producing flames and splitting mountains along the way.
From the hall yard, Þrymr spots the duo arriving and tells his retinue to prepare by tossing straw on the hall benches. That night, Þrymr says that he is surprised to find his bride-to-be ferociously eating and drinking, consuming nine entrees—one ox and eight salmon—and three casks of mead. Loki responds that "Freyja" had neither drank nor eaten for eight nights before this one as she was so eager to come to Jötunheimr.
Þrymr lifts "Freyja"'s bridal veil to kiss her, only to spring back: The bride's eyes were "terrifying", as if "fire is burning from them". The disguised Loki explains this was because "Freyja" had not slept for eight nights before this one, because she was so eager to arrive in Jötunheim.
Finally, Þrymr calls for Mjölnir to be brought forth to sanctify the bride with the assistance of the goddess Vár. When "Freyja" sees the hammer and laughs internally before grabbing it, killing Þrymr and another jötunn, and pummeling the gathered wedding guests. The poem ends with a prose note indicating that this is how the god got his hammer back.
Early in Gylfaginning, High describes the god Thor and his "three special possessions": his hammer Mjölnir, his iron gloves Járngreipr, and his belt Megingjörð. High explains that Thor must wear his gloves with his hammer, and that Mjölnir is well known among the jötnar due to the skulls of many jötunn it has smashed over time.
Gylfaginning also contains a retelling of the material found in Hymiskviða. In this version, Thor throws his hammer and strikes off the head of the great serpent Jörmungandr. Third notes, however, that he does not believe that this occurred: Third says he believes that the serpent still lives in the sea, coiled around the world.
Later in Gylfaginning, High recounts the death and ship funeral of the god Baldr. The gods are unable to move the ship on their own, and so request that the powerful jötunn Hyrrokkin comes from Jötunheim to help. Hyrrokin arrives riding a wolf with vipers as reins, and pushes the ship; though it launches from her first touch, the push also causes intense flames and earthquakes. This infuriates Thor: He desires to crush Hyyrokkin's skull with his hammer but the other gods convince him not to attack her.
Baldr's body is carried on to the ship. Baldr's wife, the goddess Nanna, sees it, and she dies of sorrow. The assembled place her with Baldr on the ship's pyre, before lighting it. Thor consecrates the boring ship with his hammer. A dwarf named Lit runs before his feet, and he kicks him into the flames, where he burns.
Gylfaginning concludes with a foretelling of the events of Ragnarök, during which the world suffers from cataclysm and disasters before returning green and beautiful. High describes the return of various gods after Ragnarök, including Thor's sons Móði and Magni, who return to Asgard holding their father's hammer, Mjölnir.
The Skáldskaparmál offers an explanation of the hammer's manufacture by the dwarf brothers Eitri and Brokkr. In this narrative, Loki cuts the goddess Sif's hair. Upon discovering this, Thor grabs Loki and threatens to crush every bone in his body if he does not come up with a solution. Loki goes to the svartálfar, and for him the Sons of Ivaldi make three special items: Sif's hair of gold, Freyr's ship Skíðblaðnir, and Odin's spear Gungnir.
Seeing this, Loki wagers his head with the dwarf Brokkr on whether his brother Eitri can make three more items of equal quality. As Eitri works on the three precious objects, a fly enters the room and bites him three times: First, the fly lands on the dwarf's arm and bites it, but Brokkr does not react: He places a pig skin in the forge and from it pulls the golden boar Gullinbursti; second, the fly lands on and bites the back of the dwarf's neck, but he does not react: after inserting gold, he pulls from the forge Draupnir, a golden ring that produces eight more of itself every nine nights; and third and final, the fly lands on the dwarf's eyelid and bites him, causing blood to obscure his vision. Nonetheless, Brokkr inserts iron into the forge and pulls from it a hammer, Mjölnir.
The gods Odin, Thor, and Freyr assemble to judge the quality of these items. While reviewing items and explaining their function, Brokkr says the following about Mjölnir:
- Then he gave Thor the hammer and said he would be able to strike as heavily as he liked, whatever the target, and the hammer would not fail, and if he threw it at something, it would never miss, and never fly so far that it would not find its way back to his hand, and if he liked, it was so small that it could be kept inside his shirt. But there was this defect in it that the end of the hammer was rather short.
The three assembled gods judge the hammer to be the best of all the objects, and the tale continues without further mention of the object.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Mjolnir from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Poetic Edda
- Prose Edda
- Gylfaginning
- Skáldskaparmál
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- Weird Comics #1-5: Believing that the world needed a defender, Thor, son of Odin and supreme ruler of Valhalla, bestowed upon the human Grant Farrel his own powers, which Grant used to become a crime fighter. He wielded Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, which could be thrown hard enough to smash through multiple tanks but, like a boomerang, would return to his hand.
- Out of This World #11: Charlton's version of Thor was a normal Scandinavian man who was weak and cowardly compared to his Viking brothers. He discovers a cave that glowed with strange light. Bathing in these rays caused Thor to grow strong. He also discovered a hammer-shaped object in the cave which, when thrown, shot lightning and destroyed any obstacles.
- Humdinger #3, 5: Mickey Starlight is told the story of of Thor and the Mountain Giant and How Thor Recovered His Hammer.
- Unusual Tales #18: In the Incredible Walking Stick, A man briefly owns a walking stick made from the hammer of Thor.
- Hit Comics #38: When the Kid Eternity summons Thor on a case, and his hammer misses its target, the god was incensed. He later manages his own return, and, with Kid Eternity, together they solved the mystery: his bolt missed the target because of a hidden antenna.
Public Domain Comic Appearances Inspired by Mjolnir[]
- Air Fighters Comics v1 #5: A Nazi posing as Thor, wearing Roman-style armor, attacks the French with a swastika-adorned boomerang hammer and a flying chariot pulled by monstrous bird-beast creatures. Iron Ace defeats him by redirecting the hammer into a castle pillar, collapsing the roof on the Nazi. Though Thor is believed dead, the story leaves his fate uncertain.
Notes[]
- In modern pop culture, Mjölnir has been depicted not only as Thor's signature weapon but also as having a mind of its own or even personified as a person in some stories. Examples include:
- In the anime/manga series Soul Eater, Marie Mjolnir is a woman who transforms a weapon based on Thor's hammer.
- In the episode "Thor, Loser" of Dave the Barbarian, Lula, Dave's living sword, tries to impress her sister Molly by making their family look heroic. Molly's visit is also the reason Thor appears to reclaim his hammer, Mjolnir, which is actually Molly herself. It also revealed that her cousin is the trident of Poseidon.
- In Marvel comics after the War of the Realms event, unbeknownst to Thor, Mangog's dark essence was absorbed by the reforged Mjolnir and melded with that of the God Tempest, giving the hammer sentience. Manifesting a feminine humanoid avatar from the God Tempest's divine lightning, Mjolnir embarked on a rampage across the Ten Realms and dubbed herself the "God of Hammers".