Mjolnir- Norse ArtifactArtifact · Weapon"Thor's Hammer"

The Wager of the Dwarves

Mjölnir's creation arose from one of Loki's schemes. He had cut off the golden hair of Sif, Thor's wife, as a malicious prank. When Thor threatened to break every bone in his body, Loki promised to descend to Svártálfaheim and obtain from the dwarves hair of real gold that would grow like natural hair.

Loki went to the sons of Ivaldi, master dwarven smiths, who forged the golden hair for Sif and the spear Gungnir for Odin, among other treasures. Pleased with these, Loki wagered his own head with another pair of dwarven brothers, Brokkr and Sindri, that they could not forge treasures to match the sons of Ivaldi.

Sindri set to work at the forge while Brokkr operated the bellows, which had to pump continuously or the work would be ruined. As they created their first treasure, a golden boar named Gullinbursti whose bristles glowed in darkness, Loki transformed into a fly and stung Brokkr's hand. The dwarf continued pumping. For their second treasure, the golden ring Draupnir that dripped eight equal rings every ninth night, Loki-as-fly stung Brokkr's neck. Still the dwarf continued.

For the final treasure, Sindri placed iron in the forge. Loki, desperate to win the wager, stung Brokkr on the eyelid so that blood ran into his eye. For just a moment, Brokkr stopped pumping to wipe the blood away. That moment was enough. The hammer's handle was forged too short.

Judgment and Escape

The dwarves brought their treasures to Asgard for judgment. The gods examined each item. When Thor lifted Mjölnir, the judgment was clear. No other treasure could defend Asgard against the giants.

Brokkr demanded Loki's head as the price of his lost wager. But Loki argued that while the dwarves might have his head, they had no claim to his neck, and they could not take the head without cutting the neck. The gods agreed, and Brokkr had to settle for sewing Loki's lips shut with an awl. A painful but temporary punishment that the trickster eventually escaped.

The Hammer's Power

Because of its shortened handle, Thor requires Járngreipr, iron gauntlets, and Megingjörð, a belt that doubles his strength, to wield the hammer properly. Despite its size, Mjölnir can level mountains. It never misses its target and returns to Thor's hand of its own accord, compact enough to hide inside his shirt.

The Theft of Þrymr

The giant Þrymr stole Mjölnir and hid it eight leagues beneath the earth, then demanded Freyja as his bride in exchange for its return. Without the hammer, the gods could not defend themselves.

Rather than surrender Freyja, they disguised Thor as a bride, with Loki as his handmaid, and sent him to Þrymr's hall. At the wedding feast, Þrymr was alarmed by his bride's appetite: Thor devoured an ox and eight salmon and drank three casks of mead. Loki explained these away as signs of eagerness for the wedding night. When Þrymr brought out Mjölnir to lay in the bride's lap for the traditional blessing, Thor seized the hammer and slaughtered every giant in the hall.

The Encounter with the World Serpent

Thor's fishing expedition against Jörmungandr is recounted in the Hymiskviða and retold in Gylfaginning. Thor traveled to the hall of the giant Hymir and demanded to go fishing. Hymir, dismissive of his guest, told Thor to find his own bait. Thor tore the head off Hymir's largest ox, Himinhrjóðr, and set out in the giant's boat.

Rowing far beyond where Hymir wished to go, Thor baited his hook with the ox-head and cast his line into the sea. The Midgard Serpent took the bait. Thor hauled with all his strength, his feet punching through the bottom of the boat and bracing against the ocean floor itself. The serpent's head broke the surface, venom streaming from its jaws, and Thor raised Mjölnir for the killing blow.

In Snorri's telling, Hymir cut the fishing line in terror, and the serpent sank back into the depths. Thor's fury at Hymir was almost as great as his rage at the serpent. In the Hymiskviða, the outcome is more ambiguous. Either way, the moment of confrontation, Thor poised with Mjölnir above the serpent's head, was carved into the Altuna runestone and other Viking Age monuments.

Hallowing

Thor's two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr, pull his chariot across the sky. When he needs food on a journey, he slaughters them and eats their flesh. The next morning, he hallows their bones and hides with Mjölnir, and the goats return to life, whole and unharmed. The power has limits: when a farmer's son breaks a leg bone to suck the marrow, the goat is lame ever after.

The hammer also consecrated marriages. The blessing of a bride by placing Mjölnir in her lap was a recognized custom, as the Þrymr episode makes plain.

Mjölnir at Ragnarök

At Ragnarök, Thor will face Jörmungandr for the last time. The serpent whose venom can kill even gods, the enemy he nearly killed on Hymir's fishing boat. Thor will wade into the chaos with Mjölnir in hand.

The hammer will strike true, and the World Serpent will die. But Jörmungandr's death throes will spray venom across the battlefield, and Thor will stagger back nine paces before falling dead himself.

Mjölnir will pass to Thor's sons Magni and Móði, who survive the destruction. They will carry the hammer into the renewed world that rises green from the sea.