Norse & Germanic
Mjölnir
Mjölnir
Smashes anything, and returns to its owner's hand when thrown.
WeaponFirst recorded 1220
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Photograph: A nineteenth-century plaster cast of a fifteenth-century Danish drinking horn. The curving, tapering horn is densely covered in relief, with a band around the wide mouth.
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2,048 × 1,069 PX2048×1069
ArchiveNorse & Germanic · Treasure
Gjallarhorn
Gjallarhorn
When blown it echoes through all the worlds, announcing Ragnarök.
- Owner
- Heimdall the watchman
- Maker
- Unknown
- First record
- Poetic Edda, Völuspá1270
- Gallery
- Norse & Germanic
Notes on the photograph 3
Story
Heimdall is the watchman of Bifröst, the rainbow bridge leading to Asgard, world of the gods. He hardly sleeps, sees a hundred leagues even by night and can hear the grass and the wool grow.
Völuspá sings that when the end of the world comes, Heimdall lifts Gjallarhorn high and blows. The sound rings through the nine worlds, and the gods go out to Ragnarök, their last battle against the giants.
Snorri's Prose Edda also says that in ordinary times this horn lies beside Mímir's well of wisdom, and that Mímir drinks from the well with it and gains wisdom.
The object in the photo
The photograph shows Drinking Horn(Danish, 19th century (original dated 15th century)), a real museum object that evokes the legendary artifact.
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