Mjölnir ( , ; from Old Norse Mjǫllnir ) 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.
Etymology The etymology of the hammer's name, Mjǫllnir, is disputed among historical linguists. Old Norse Mjǫllnir developed from Proto-Norse *melluniaR and one proposed derivation connects this form to Old Church Slavonic mlunuji and Russian molnija meaning 'lightning' (either borrowed from a Slavic source or both stemming from a common source) and subsequently yielding the meaning 'lightning-maker'. Another proposal connects Mjǫllnir to Old Norse mjǫll meaning 'new snow' and modern Icelandic mjalli meaning 'the color white', rendering Mjǫllnir as 'shining lightning weapon'. Finally, another proposal connects Old Norse Mjǫllnir to Old Norse mala meaning 'to grind' and Gothic malwjan 'to grind', yielding Mjǫllnir as meaning 'the grinder'.Simek 2007: 219–220.
Attestations Kvinneby amulet
Likely worn around the neck, the Kvinneby amulet is a small copper amulet found in Öland, Sweden that dates from the 11th century and features an Old Norse Younger futhark inscription that invokes Thor and his hammer. Runologists Mindy MacLeod and Bernard Mees translate the amulet as follows: 'Here I carve for you (runes of) help, Bofi. Help me! Knowledge (?) is certain for you. And may the lightning hold all evil away from Bofi. May Thor protect him with his hammer which came from out of the sea. Flee from evil! It (?) gets nothing from Bofi. The gods are under him and over him.'MacLeod & Mees 2006: 28. The amulet inscription references narratives recorded hundreds of years later in both the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda (see discussion regarding Hymiskviða and Gylfaginning below).
Poetic Edda In the Poetic Edda, Mjölnir is mentioned in the eddic poems Vafþrúðnismál, Hymiskviða, Lokasenna, and Þrymskviða. In a stanza from Vafþrúðnismál, the wise jötunn Vafþrúðnir tells the disguised god Odin that after the events of Ragnarök, Móði and Magni, sons of Thor, will wield Mjölnir:
Benjamin Thorpe 1866 translation: Vidar and Vali will the gods' holy fanes inhabit, when Surt's fires will be quenched. Môdi and Magni will Miöllnir possess, and warfare strive to end.Thorpe 1866: 18.Henry Adams Bellows 1923 translation: "In the gods' home Vithar and Vali shall dwell, When the fires of Surt have sunk; Mothi and Magni shall Mjollnir have When Vingnir falls in fight."Bellows 1923: 82.Carolyne Larrington 2014 revised translation: 'Vidar and Vali will live in the gods' sanctuaries, when Surt's fire is slaked; Modi and Magni shall have Miollnir and demonstrate battle-strength.'Larrington 2014: 45.
In Hymiskviða, after gaining a tremendous cauldron that the jötunn (and personified ocean) Ægir has requested so that he may brew the gods ale, Thor battles malicious jötnar with the hammer (referred to here as whales as a poetic device):
Benjamin Thorpe 1866 translation: From his shoulders he lifted the kettle down; Miöllnir hurled forth towards the savage crew, and slew all the mountain-giants, who with Hýimir had him pursued.Thorpe 1866: 60.Henry Adams Bellows 1923 translation: He stood and cast from his back the kettle, And Mjollnir, the lover of murder, he wielded; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . So all the whales of the waste he slew.Thorpe 1923: 149. In a footnote accompanying this stanza, Bellows says "No gap is indicated in the manuscripts. Some editors put the missing line as 2, some as 3, and some, leaving the present three lines together, add a fourth, and metrically incorrect, one from late paper manuscripts: 'Who with Hymir followed after.'"Carolyne Larrington 2014 revised translation: He lifted from his shoulders the outstanding cauldron, he swung Miollnir before him, keen to kill, and he struck down all the lava-whales.Larrington 2014: 79, 294.
In Lokasenna, in which the deity Loki and other gods trade insults (see flyting). In the poem, the gods threaten Loki with Mjölnir as part of a refrain repeated in all four stanzas in which he speaks.Larrington 2014: 90–91.
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.Larrington 2014: 93.
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.Larrington 2014: 94.
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.
Thor and Loki go to Freyja. One of the two asks Freyja to put on a bridal head-dress and come with them to Jötunheim. Freyja is so enraged by this request that the hall shakes, and her necklace, Brísingamen, breaks off. The goddess refuses.
The gods meet together in counsel (see Thing (assembly)) 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.Larrington 2014: 96.
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 (on the topic of the numbers three and nine in Norse myth, see numbers in Norse mythology).Larrington 2014: 96–97.
Finally, Þrymr calls for Mjölnir to be brought forth to sanctify the bride with the assistance of the goddess Vár:
Benjamin Thorpe 1866 translation: Then said Thrym, the Thursars's lord: Bring the hammer in, the bride to consecrate; lay Miöllnir on the maiden's knee; unite us each with other by the hand of Vör.Thorpe (1866:66).Henry Adams Bellows 1923 translation: Then loud spake Thrym, the giants' leader: "Bring in the hammer to hallow the bride; On the maiden's knees let Mjollnir lie, That us both the hand of Vor may bless."Bellows (1923).Carolyne Larrington 2014 revised translation: Then said Thrym, lord of ogres. 'Bring in the hammer to sanctify the bride, lay Miollnir on the girl's lap. concentrate us together by the hand of Var!'Larrington 2014: 97.
"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.
Prose Edda Mjölnir receives mention throughout the Prose Edda books Gylfaginning and Skáldskaparmál.
Gylfaginning 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.Faulkes 1987: 22.
The enthroned figure of Third reluctantly relates a tale in which Thor and Loki are riding in Thor's chariot, pulled by his two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. Loki and Thor stop at the home of a peasant farmer, and there they are given lodging for a night. Thor slaughters his goats, skins them and puts them in a pot. When the goats are cooked, Loki and Thor sit down for their evening meal. Thor invites the peasant family to share the meal with him and they do so.Faulkes 1987: 37–38.
At the end of the meal, Thor places the skins of the goat on the opposing side of the fire and tells the peasants to throw the bones of the goats on to the goatskins. The peasant's son Þjálfi takes one of the goat ham-bones and uses a knife to split it open, breaking the bone to get to the marrow. After staying the night at the peasants house, Thor wakes up and gets dressed before the break of dawn. Thor takes the hammer Mjölnir, raises it, and blesses the goat skins. Resurrected, the goats stand, but one of the two goats is lame in the hind leg. Noting this new lameness, Thor exclaims that someone has mistreated the bones of his goats; that someone broke the ham-bone during the meal the night before.Faulkes 1987: 38.
In a tale recounted by Third, the gods Loki and Thor, along with Thor's servants Þjálfi and Röskva, encounter an enormous forest when they arrive in Jötunheimr. The group has difficulty finding lodging until they encounter a huge and peculiar building with a very wide entrance. They decide to spend the night in the structure. At midnight they experience an earthquake and decide to search the building. They find nothing. Mjölnir in hand, Thor guards the hall's entrance until the crew hears intense groaning and rumbling.Faulkes 1987: 38–39.
At dawn, Thor leaves the hall and sees an enormous man asleep and loudly snoring. Thor realizes he had in fact heard the snoring of this tremendous man. The god puts on his belt, his strength increases, and the man stands. Seeing his height, Third says that "and the say that Thor was for once was afraid to strike him with the hammer, and asked him for his name". The large man says that his name is Skrýmir and reveals that Thor, Loki, Þjálfi, and Röskva had slept not in a hall but rather in Skrýmir's glove.Faulkes 1987: 39.
Skrýmir tells Thor that he doesn't need to introduce himself because he already knows that he is Thor. Later in the trip, Thor attacks Skrýmir as he sleeps in three separate occasions: In the first instance, Skrýmir awakes and asks if a leaf has fallen on his head; in the second instance, Skrýmir awakes and asks if an acorn fell on his head; and on the third and final instance, Skrýmir asks if birds above him may have knocked twigs down on to his head.Faulkes 1987: 39–40.
Later Skrýmir reveals that this had all been an illusion: For example, the enormous Skrýmir was in fact the sorcerer Útgarða-Loki and the blows Thor landed terrified him: He details that had they hit him, they would have killed him, and that his blows had hammered a deep valley in the landscape.Faulkes 1987: 44–45.