Norse & Germanic
Giant's Sword
Ealdsweord eotenisc
So large an ordinary man could not lift it. Its blade melted in the monster's blood.
WeaponFirst recorded 1000
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Photograph: A French war hammer of the mid-fifteenth century. One side of the steel head is a hammer, the other a pointed beak, on a wooden haft.
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2,419 × 4,000 PX2419×4000
ArchiveNorse & Germanic · Weapon
Mjölnir
Mjölnir
Smashes anything, and returns to its owner's hand when thrown.
- Owner
- Thor
- Maker
- The dwarf brothers Brokkr and Eitri
- First record
- Snorri Sturluson, Prose Edda1220
- Gallery
- Norse & Germanic
Notes on the photograph 3
Story
As punishment for shearing off all the hair of Thor's wife Sif, Loki had to obtain new treasures from the dwarves. He staked his own head on a bet with the dwarf Brokkr that no one could make better treasures than the sons of Ivaldi.
While his brother Eitri worked at the forge, Brokkr could not stop pumping the bellows. Loki, changed into a fly, bit him on the eyelid until blood ran; Brokkr stopped for one moment, and so the last thing they made, a hammer, came out with a slightly short handle.
Even so, the gods judged Mjölnir the finest treasure. Nothing could break it however hard it struck, it came back to Thor's hand however far he threw it, and it could be made small enough to hide in his clothing. People of the Viking Age wore little hammer-shaped amulets around their necks.
The object in the photo
The photograph shows War Hammer(French, ca. 1450), a real museum object that evokes the legendary artifact.
