Mystical systems
Mjolnir
Direct answer
Mjolnir is the hammer of the Norse god Thor, his weapon against the giants in the Eddas, and the model for small hammer pendants worn as amulets in the Viking Age.
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At a glance
- Also called
- thors hammer, mjölnir, hammer of thor
- Found in
- Mystical Systems
- Related
- Valknut, Runes, Amulet, Aegishjalmur
Mjolnir is the hammer of the Norse god Thor, his weapon against the giants in the Eddas, and the model for small hammer pendants worn as amulets in the Viking Age.
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What does Mjolnir mean?
Mjolnir, in Old Norse Mjǫllnir, is Thor's hammer. In the myths it never misses, returns to his hand and can be made small enough to tuck inside his shirt. With it he defends gods and humans against the giants. It also blesses: in the poem Thrymskvida it is laid in a bride's lap to hallow a wedding, and in Snorri's telling Thor uses it to bring his goats back to life.
As a symbol it survives in metal. Around a thousand small hammer pendants are known from Viking Age Scandinavia and the lands the Norse settled, most from the ninth to the eleventh centuries, the period when Christianity was arriving. Many scholars think the fashion for wearing them grew partly in answer to the Christian cross.
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What sets Mjolnir apart
Mjolnir has a fixed set of traits in the sources that mark it off from an ordinary weapon. It is short in the handle, a flaw explained by a story of sabotage at the forge. It is thrown and comes back. It hallows as well as kills, being raised over a bride, a funeral pyre and the bones of Thor's goats. The archaeology adds something the texts do not: the pendants come largely from the conversion period, and at least one craftsman cast hammers and crosses in the same mould.
- Old Norse name: Mjǫllnir; the etymology is uncertain
- Made by: the dwarfs Brokk and Sindri, in the Prose Edda, about 1220
- Theft story: the poem Thrymskvida, in which the giant Thrym steals it
- Pendants known: about a thousand, mostly ninth to eleventh century
- Inscribed example: Købelev, Denmark, found 2014: runes reading this is a hammer
- Shared mould: Trendgården, Denmark: cavities for crosses and a hammer side by side
Often mistaken for something else: The valknut is an unexplained carving tied to Odin by inference; Thor's hammer is named in the texts and identified on a pendant by its own inscription.
The story behind Mjolnir
The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson, written about 1220, tells how the dwarf brothers Brokk and Sindri forged the hammer and how a fly, Loki in disguise, bit the smith so that the handle came out short. A pendant found at Købelev in Denmark in 2014 carries a runic inscription reading this is a hammer, which settled doubts about what the pendants show. A soapstone mould from Trendgården in Denmark has cavities for both crosses and a hammer.
Why Mjolnir matters
Mjolnir is one of the few pagan Norse symbols whose use by ordinary people is shown by hundreds of finds and not by guesswork.
How to read Mjolnir
Modern Heathens wear it as the main emblem of their religion, much as the pendants appear to have been worn a thousand years ago.
Mjolnir in practice: an example
A person who wears a small hammer on a cord today may mean faith in the old gods, pride in Nordic roots, or simply a liking for the myths.
Where readings of Mjolnir go wrong
Like other Norse signs it has been borrowed by extremist groups; on its own it is a religious and cultural emblem.
Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Mystical Systems
- Aliases
- thors hammer, mjölnir, mjolnir meaning, hammer of thor, thor hammer symbol
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
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Common questions
What does Mjolnir mean?
The origin of the name is uncertain. It has been linked with words for crushing or grinding and with words for lightning in related languages. In the myths it is simply the name of Thor's hammer.
Why did Vikings wear Thor's hammer?
Most likely for protection and as a sign of loyalty to Thor. The pendants become common in the ninth and tenth centuries, and many scholars see them as a pagan counterpart to the crosses worn by Christians.
Is Thor's hammer still a religious symbol?
Yes. It is the most widely used emblem of modern Heathenry. In 2013 the United States Department of Veterans Affairs added it to the emblems allowed on government headstones.
