Thor’s Hammer

Dating to the first millennium A.D., over 1,000 T-shaped pendants have been discovered across Northern Europe. Named the Mjollnir amulets, they were initially assumed to represent Thor’s hammer. But this could never be confirmed, and their odd shape led to speculation that they had been completely misidentified. Now Danish archaeologists have found the answer—they are Thor’s hammer after all.

Earlier this year, the archaeologists uncovered a 10th-century Mjollnir amulet in Kobelev. The bronze pendant bore the inscription “Hmar x is.” When translated, the conveniently straightforward text reads: “This is a hammer.”

The only pendant found with such an inscription, it clearly connects the amulets with the legend of Thor. The god of thunder in Norse mythology, Thor used his mighty hammer to protect Asgard from hostile giants. Believers probably wore the hammer pendants for protection or as tokens of their belief, much in the same way Christians might wear the crucifix today. In fact, as Christianity gained popularity in Scandinavia, some Vikings apparently began wearing both the hammer and the cross for double protection.