Search results
Mjölnir (UK: / ˈmjɒlnɪər / MYOL-neer, [1] US: / ˈmjɔːlnɪər / MYAWL-neer; [2] from Old Norse Mjǫllnir [ˈmjɔlːnir]) 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.
Dec 8, 2020 · One of the most powerful and well-known artifacts of the Norse gods was Mjölnir, the war hammer that was wielded by the god of thunder. Thor used this remarkable weapon to such an extent that it became his most identifiable attribute. Eventually, Mjölnir became a symbol of more than just Thor.
Mjollnir, in Norse mythology, the hammer of the thunder god, Thor, and the symbol of his power. Forged by dwarfs, the hammer never failed Thor; he used it as a weapon to crash down on the heads of giants and as an instrument to hallow people and things. Mjollnir was stolen by the giant Thrym, who.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Learn about the symbolism and history of Thor's Hammer, the weapon and tool of the god of thunder and storm. Discover how it was used in rituals, ceremonies, and battles to protect and bless the cosmos against chaos.
- Overview
- History Origin
- Properties Mjolnir was crafted from a nugget of Uru, a powerful nigh-invulnerable Asgardian metal.[8] Additional enchantments placed upon it by Odin made it virtually indestructible.[12] It has survived Kang the Conqueror's antimatter screen,[39] heat as extreme as the heart of suns, and blasts powerful enough to destroy planets. Almost nothing is capable of withstanding a blow from Mjolnir, not even the armor of the powerful Celestials.[40] A rare exception is primary adamantium.[41] In later years, Mjolnir demonstrated to possess remnants of the God Tempest's sentience. Moving on its own,[42] and preventing Odin from lifting it.[16] Mjolnir could even temporarily project a physical form capable of talking, though this power required a great deal of energy and would likely be at least a hundred years before it could be done again.[42] As the "God of Hammers", Mjolnir created a feminine avatar out of divine lightning to wield itself and confront Thor.[1] Worthiness Enchantment
- Destruction
- Others Deemed Worthy to Wield Mjolnir
- Mjolnir's Duplicates
- Notes
- See Also
Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.
—Mjolnir's enchantment
Origin
Ages ago, a moon made of Uru was shattered during a battle between two Elder Gods, with one of the pieces eventually crashing to Nidavellir and being claimed by the dwarves. The dwarves bestowed this chunk of Uru to Odin, the recently-crowned All-Father of the Asgardians, as a gift after he saved their realm from an invasion of Trolls. Some time later, an unimaginably powerful cosmic storm called the God Tempest approached Asgard, and Odin battled the storm for many days to defend his kingdom. Once the storm was weakened enough, Odin defeated the God Tempest by trapping it in the chunk of Uru. From the Uru, Odin ordered the Dwarves of Nidavellir to forge Mjolnir. On the Godmaker forge, the blacksmiths Eitri, Brokk, and Buri needed to use the tremendous heat of a star to get the forge hot enough to manipulate the Uru. The hammer was completed in seventeen weeks. In the process the star exploded and almost took Midgard with it; that event may explain the extinction of the Dinosaurs, about 65 million years ago. After Mjolnir landed on Earth, Odin retrieved it. When Odin first tried to wield Mjolnir, he couldn't control it due to the God Tempest still retaining its power. The hammer devastated Asgard as it flew out of control. Out of spite, Odin cast an enchantment on the hammer to prevent anyone else from wielding it. Despite struggling to control it, Odin wielded Mjolnir during his tenure as a member of the prehistoric Avengers, but after he assumed the throne the hammer was stored away in Asgard's armory, where it sat for untold ages. The God Tempest purportedly died, but its power would remain inside Mjolnir. Although powerful in and of itself, the hammer also received several potent spells from Odin, who slew the Frost Giant Laufey with it.
Thor
Much later, Mjolnir was bequeathed to his son Thor, after he proved himself worthy through several trials. With few exceptions, Thor has carried Mjolnir throughout his adventures. Thus, the history of Mjolnir follows that of Thor. Although Asgard was destroyed in Ragnarök, Thor and the hammer, survived.
Modern Age
After Nick Fury whispered Thor a revelation that consolidated the God of Thunder's deepest belief, that of Gorr the God-Butcher being right about claiming the gods were selfish and uncaring for mortals, Thor lost his confidence about his godhood and consequently his ability to wield Mjolnir. The hammer laid on the Moon, mostly untouched, where it was eventually lifted by its new wielder, Thor's former lover, Jane Foster. During this time, the inscription of the enchantment changed to "if she be worthy." During Hydra's takeover of the United States, Jane Foster was separated from the hammer and an alternate evil version of Captain America lifted it to prove the worthiness of his cause. Without his knowledge, Madame Hydra had used a Cosmic Cube shard to alter the hammer's enchantment so it could be lifted by the "strongest" rather than the "worthy." When the real Steve Rogers returned and confronted his evil self, the alterations to Mjolnir had faded away, and the evil Captain America failed to lift the hammer when he tried to. Following the defeat of the evil Captain America, Mjolnir was returned to Jane Foster. Jane Foster had been fighting cancer even before lifting Mjolnir. Unfortunately for her, all progress from chemotherapy became lost whenever she used Mjolnir to transform into Thor. Since the magical transformation purged all toxins from Jane's body, it did so to the chemotherapy drugs, but left the cancer behind since it was part of her body. Jane attempted to let go of using Mjolnir for the sake of her health, but saw herself forced to return to action to confront the Mangog, even if that meant that she would die if she transformed back one last time. Following an arduous fight, Jane tied the Mangog up with chains originally created to bind the Fenris Wolf, and fastened them to Mjolnir so she could hurl the monster into the Sun. With the Mangog dead and Mjolnir destroyed, Jane returned to her human form and succumbed to her cancer; however, she was successfully revived by the Asgardians and the God Tempest, which had been set free following Mjolnir's destruction. Jane later handed Thor a small piece of Mjolnir she was able to retrieve. Near the end of the War of the Realms, Thor nailed himself to Yggdrasil, which was growing out of the surface of the Sun to gain knowledge on how to rescue his parents from the clutches of Malekith. Thor was forced to sacrifice one of his eyes and the last remaining shard of Mjolnir in his possession to unlock the answers. During the final battle against Malekith, the God Tempest manifested in the Sun, and Thor commanded it from Earth to reforge his weapon. The restored Mjolnir then made landfall at Thor's feet, becoming able to wield it once again upon his realization that the constant struggle to be worthy was itself what made him worthy. Its inscription was also changed to "if they be worthy." However, 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. Despite becoming worthy again, Thor noticed Mjolnir becoming heavier to lift after becoming Asgard's new All-Father, the will of the hammer deeming him unworthy of wielding it. After performing a test in Broxton, Thor discovered that something had happened to Mjolnir's worthiness enchantment, causing everyone else to become worthy to wield Mjolnir while it became more difficult for him to wield it. Thor eventually deduced that this was because - as king - he was no longer Asgard's lead warrior, and he left the unruly hammer at Avengers Mountain for safekeeping. Manifesting a feminine humanoid avatar from the God Tempest's divine lightning, Mjolnir embarked on a rampage across the Ten Realms; committing a genocide against the dwarves of Nidavellir and annihilating the city of Broxton. When confronted by Thor, Mjolnir's avatar dubbed herself the "God of Hammers" after a prophecy said to bring about Asgard's ruination. Shattering one of Thor's arms, the God of Hammers was stopped from killing him by the intervention of Odin and Sif, who used the Bifrost to transport Mjolnir to the farthest reaches of the cosmos. Mjolnir returned within seconds and broke Odin's spine, revealing to Thor that being "worthy" of Mjolnir had never been about being a noble warrior or true of heart, but having the bloodlust and will to use the hammer for its intended purpose: as a weapon. Sneering that she had grown bored of his speeches and politicking, the God of Hammers revealed that after being reforged she had absorbed the Mangog's dark essence and was consumed by its ineffable rage and hatred. After Odin sacrificed himself to bestow Thor with the entirety of the Power of the All-Father, an enraged Thor teleported the God of Hammers to the forge where Mjolnir was made, the Godmaker. Igniting the forge with the heat of a billion suns, Thor burned the God Tempest's corrupted essence out of the hammer, shattering it in the process. With Thor lapsing into the Odinsleep for four months, his sister Angela enlisted the Angels of Heven to gather the pieces and restore it, leaving Mjolnir seemingly powerless and covered in glowing golden cracks, and Odin's spirit now inhabiting it as he was unable to rest in Valhalla, due to it being completely empty. During a conflict between Thor and the Hulk, Odin took control of Mjolnir to help Thor. Upon the arrival of Iron Man, who began to fight the Hulk, Thor was transformed into a gamma mutate as a colateral damage of a gargantuan explosion caused by Hulk. As Thor was fighting the Savage Hulk, Banner asked Odin for help. Odin agreed and piloted Mjolnir to Hulk, allowing Banner to regain control of Hulk as well as bestowing the power of Thor to Hulk. Unable to stop Thor even with the help of the Hulk, Odin finally used Mjolnir to completely purge Thor's gamma energy, returning him to normal. After the return of Valhalla, Odin's spirit left Mjolnir to pass to the afterlife guided by the light of Valkyrie's Undrjarn. Thor eventually used his divine lightning and the All-Power to reforge and fix Mjolnir's cracks, while also making it stronger than ever before.
Mjolnir was crafted from a nugget of Uru, a powerful nigh-invulnerable Asgardian metal. Additional enchantments placed upon it by Odin made it virtually indestructible. It has survived Kang the Conqueror's antimatter screen, heat as extreme as the heart of suns, and blasts powerful enough to destroy planets. Almost nothing is capable of withstanding a blow from Mjolnir, not even the armor of the powerful Celestials. A rare exception is primary adamantium.
In later years, Mjolnir demonstrated to possess remnants of the God Tempest's sentience. Moving on its own, and preventing Odin from lifting it. Mjolnir could even temporarily project a physical form capable of talking, though this power required a great deal of energy and would likely be at least a hundred years before it could be done again. As the "God of Hammers", Mjolnir created a feminine avatar out of divine lightning to wield itself and confront Thor.
Although an incredibly powerful weapon, Mjolnir is not indestructible. It has been damaged several times over the years:
•A force beam from the Destroyer slices it in two in Journey Into Mystery #118. Mjolnir was then repaired in Journey Into Mystery #120.
•The Molecule Man dispels the atomic bonds between the hammer's molecules, vaporizing Mjolnir in Avengers #215. Mjolnir was later restored in Avengers #216.
•The hammer shatters after channeling an incredible amount of energy at the Celestial Exitar in Thor #388 and was restored by the Celestials' Replicoid in Thor #389.
•The Dark God Perrikus slices Mjolnir in half with a magical scythe in Thor (Vol. 2) #10. Mjolnir was restored in Thor (Vol. 2) #11.
•The hammer is shattered when it collides with the Uru weapons of Loki's followers Ulik, Fenris Wolf, and Hyrm, resulting in an atomic-scale explosion in Thor (Vol. 2) #80. Mjolnir was repaired in Thor (Vol. 2) #85.
Earth-616 reality
•Buri[143] •Ulik[144] •Bor[145] •Odin •Donald Blake •Beta Ray Bill[146] •Red Norvell[147] •Thunderstrike[148] •Captain America[149][150][151] •Wonder Man[152] •Jake Olson[153] •Throg[154] •Awesome Andy[155] •Air-Walker[156] •Loki (after having his moral compass magically inverted)[157] •Ororo Munroe[158] although at that time she was under Stormcaster's enchantment, and Thor also held on to the hammer, the fact that she was able to manage a hammer in his hand greatly surprised Thor. •Jane Foster[159] •Squirrel Girl[160] •Gwenpool (when using Thor's severed arm)[161] •Captain Marvel (when infused with the DNA of Thor's clone)[162] •Moon Knight (thanks to his divine power of controlling objects which were made out of moon rock)[163] •Khonshu (thanks to his divine power of controlling objects which were made out of moon rock)[164] •Adam Aziz[165] •Prehistoric Black Panther[166] •Black Panther[166] •Venom (under the possession of Captain Universe)[167] •Toranos (On the grounds that Toranos needed to have Thor's "power" of compassion)
Alternate Realities
•Alexander Power of Earth-5631[168] •Conan the Barbarian from Earth-83600[169] •Thoth-Amon from Earth-83600[169] •Sarah Rogers from Earth-9811[170] •Dargo Ktor from Earth-8710[171] •Bruce Banner from Earth-3488[172] •(No worthiness restriction) Gregory Stark,[114] Magneto,[111][173] Modi Thorson,[115] Valkyrie from Earth-1610;[174] and Hyperion from Earth-31916.[110] The hammer was later claimed by the Asgardian Volstagg of Earth-616[129] and briefly wielded by Thor (Jane Foster) before being returned to Old Asgard.[175] It later sought to be wielded by Volstagg and returned to him.[132] It was seemingly destroyed by Mangog,[133] but there was enough of it left to be temporarily used by Jane Foster to become Thor once more. After it fell apart, it transformed into a vambrace that attached itself to Jane's arm. •Magni Thorson from Earth-3515[176] •Woden Thorson from Earth-691[177] •Thorion from Earth-9602[178] •Rogue from Earth-941066[179] •Cecil McAdam from Earth-928 •Ragnarok, of Earth-616, became the wielder of a Mjolnir from an AIM-created alternate reality.[180] •Jane Foster from Earth-788[181] •Natalia Romanova (Black Widow) from Earth-23223[182] •Steve Rogers from Earth-93074[183] •Superman (Clark Kent) from New Earth[184] (through Odin's permission) •Wonder Woman (Diana Prince) from New Earth[185] •Odin of Earth-199999[137] •Vision of Earth-199999[140] In fairness, Stark speculates why Vision is able to lift Mjolnir. He says since he's not human, the rules of the hammer probably don't apply to him. •Stan Lee of Earth-13122[186] •Wade Wilson of an Unknown Reality[187] •Jen Walters of an Unknown Reality[188] •Carol Danvers of Earth-16045[189] •Hela of Earth-199999[141] •Captain America (Steve Rogers) of Earth-199999[190] •Danielle Cage of Earth-21923[191] •Brigid Thorsdottir of Earth-20368[192] •Ghost-Spider (Gwen Stacy) of Earth-65[193] •Jane Foster of Earth-199999[142] •Hela of Earth-TRN1092[194] •Kahhori of Earth-TRN1091[195] •Throg of Unknown Reality[196] •Thor of Unknown Reality[195] •Thor of Unknown Reality[195]
Thor's sacred uru hammer has been duplicated with varying degrees of success over the years:
•Three unnamed duplicates of Mjolnir was created by Professor Zaxton using his duplicating machine,[197] all of which eventually faded away into the nothingness from which they came.
•Unnamed duplicate of Mjolnir was created by Orikal for Ulik at the behest of King Geirrodur.[144]
•War-Hammer - is an exact copy of Mjolnir by order of Odin for Red Norvell,[198] who had once with the powers of Thor claimed Mjolnir and sacrificed himself to save Asgard.[147]
•Stormbreaker - was forged by Eitri and the Dwarves of Nidavellir by order of Odin for Beta Ray Bill[199] after he proved worthy to wield Mjolnir.[146]
•After Thor defeated an unarmed humanoid antibody of Exitar with Mjolnir, more humanoid antibodies swarmed him -- all armed with similar hammers.[200]
•The hammer's name is pronounced "mmyol'-neer".[citation needed]
•Mjolnir was classified by the Initiative as an "Omega Class Weapon," at the level of the Tactigon.[210]
•The Worthy, powerful warriors affiliated with the Serpent, wielded 8 similar powerful hammers, those being:
•Hammer of Skadi
•Hammer of Kuurth
•Hammer of Nul
•3297 appearance(s) of Mjolnir
•8 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Mjolnir
•499 minor appearance(s) of Mjolnir
•112 mention(s) of Mjolnir
•13 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Mjolnir
•4 invocation(s) of Mjolnir
Learn about the sentient enchanted weapons of choice used by Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Mjolnir is a hammer and Stormbreaker is an axe, both made of Uru metal and forged by dwarves.
People also ask
What does Thors hammer stand for?
Does THOR Hammer make him litnig?
How Thor got his hammer back?
How did Thor get his hammer in Norse mythology?
Mjølnir [3] is a powerful enchanted war-hammer forged by the Dwarves for the Asgardian Royal Family, and was used by Odin before he passed it down to Hela and then Thor. The hammer was used extensively by Thor as his primary weapon until it was destroyed by Hela in 2017.
